NewsBite

Michael Sukkar

October 2024

Housing construction is hampered by planning laws.

Don’t blame HomeBuilder for inflation: economists

The Coalition and economists have rejected the pandemic inquiry’s criticisms of the $2.6 billion housing construction stimulus.

  • John Kehoe and Michael Bleby

September 2024

Anthony Albanese on the hustings in Tasmania on Wednesday

PM yet to be convinced housing tax changes won’t hurt supply

The prime minister says Treasury is looking at ways to curb the use of negative gearing and capital gains tax, but it wasn’t his idea.

  • Phillip Coorey
Julie Collins was all about the First Home Buyer Guarantee.

Clare O’Neil in housing policy hall of mirrors

Labor wholeheartedly adopted the First Home Buyer Guarantee Scheme upon winning office. And would go on to announce it many, many times.

  • Myriam Robin

August 2024

The latest data is showing “positive gains” as cost growth in the second half of 2023-24 fell, says National Disability Insurance Agency CEO Rebecca Falkingham.

NDIS comes in $600m below budget as reforms bite

Budget measures to cap growth in the National Disability Insurance Scheme are beginning to bring the cost of the scheme under control.

  • Tom Burton

January 2024

Education ministers are nervous and teachers are not ready to bear the brunt of teaching so many more autistic kids says Nicole Rogerson, founder of Autism Awareness Australia.

Fears NDIS alternatives won’t be enough to stop scheme growth

Disability advocates warn that reforms to prepare schools for a large number of children with autism will take too long and not be adequate to stem the growth of the NDIS.

  • Tom Burton
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August 2023

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with NSW Premier Chris Minns and NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles.

Doubts on Labor’s $3.5b fast-tracked housing plan

The Albanese government has offered state and local governments $3.5 billion in incentives to fast-track the construction of 1.2 million homes over the next five years.

  • Phillip Coorey and Tom McIlroy

June 2023

‘All about the game’: PM accuses Greens of policy fraud

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather acknowledged his opposition to the government’s $10 billion social housing fund is motivated by fomenting broader civil dissent against the growing wealth gap.

  • Phillip Coorey

March 2023

Former assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar says all his ministerial appointments were “highly credentialed and appropriately qualified individuals, determined on merit”.

Senate’s consultancy inquiry promises plenty of fallout

Besides PwC’s leaks scandal, senators face a strange trail of appointments by the former government.

  • Neil Chenoweth
Tax Practitioners Board chairman Ian Klug confirmed two members of the TPB were beneficiaries of the PwC Partnership Agreement, but said they had recused themselves from any consideration of PwC matters.

Treasury reviews Tax Practitioners Board positions after PwC scandal

Board members can reapply for their roles as their terms on the Tax Practitioners Board expire in the aftermath of the PwC leaks scandal.

  • Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros

February 2023

Treasurer Jim Chalmers: “We are taking seriously the recommendations of the review that the Liberals sat on and ignored.”

Tax agent regulator gets more teeth in wake of PwC leaks

The Tax Practitioners Board will be given its own budget while loopholes that allow deregistered tax agents to continue operating will be closed.

  • Neil Chenoweth
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking in parliament.

PM faces pressure to rework $10b housing fund

The Greens want housing funded by appropriated revenue, not a volatile investment fund.

  • Phillip Coorey

January 2023

Treasurer Jim Chalmers faces a rare opportunity to change the relationship the government has with Big Four firms.

How a paper tiger mauled PwC

Shock revelations by the Tax Practitioners Board offer the government a major reset of how it takes advice on tax policy from the big four accounting firms.

  • Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros
The cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme is rising rapidly.

Uncapped NDIS has created new inequalities in healthcare

Repeated NDIS cost blowouts are causing alarm among healthcare advocates, who fear funding cuts in other areas.

  • John Kehoe
Former Assistant Treasurer and PwC alumni Michael Sukkar believes individual should be targeted for breaching confidence, not the firm.

Sukkar dismisses calls to sanction PwC over leaking scandal

The former assistant treasurer and PwC alumni cemented the big four firm’s position as the dominant supplier of government tax advice.

  • Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros

April 2022

“I like to get stuff done,” says Superannuation Minister Jame Hume.

Jane Hume on leaked text messages and getting women into politics

The minister for superannuation acknowledges that Australians are going to live through a hell of a campaign.

  • Michael Read
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March 2022

As many first home buyer suspected, house prices kept moving out of reach in 2021. Rising a shocking 27.5 per cent nationwide and closer to 30 per cent in Hobart, Canberra, and Brisbane.

Mortgage brokers escape Hayne crackdown on commissions

Mortgage brokers can keep their commissions after the government dumped plans to review the industry.

  • John Kehoe
Army Lieutenant Thomas West (front) and other soldiers load gear onto trucks at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane as part of Operation Flood Assist 2022.

Labor to consider civilian disaster response workforce

The decision to create an emergency taskforce could be made within months of a Labor victory in the federal election.

  • Tom McIlroy

February 2022

North Queensland is no stranger to tropical cyclones such as Yasi in 2011.

Insurers question premium claims for $10b reinsurance pool

The Morrison government said its $10 billion reinsurance premium would offer big discounts for policyholders in North Queensland, but insurers aren’t so sure.

  • Updated
  • Mark Ludlow and Liam Walsh

December 2021

“There’s 120,000 extra people we’re expecting to come to Australia because we’re opening the borders effectively six months earlier,” Josh Frydenberg tells The Australian Financial Review.

We’ve got the migration settings right: Frydenberg

Population growth is at its lowest in more than 100 years, but the Treasurer is resisting calls to ramp up the permanent migration intake.

  • Ronald Mizen
Josh Frydenberg

States and federal government to streamline charities rules

Ending costly regulation on the charitable and non-profit sector could save costs of as much as $13.3 million a year.

  • Tom McIlroy

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/michael-sven-sukkar-1ncu