AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 22 at 0800
Federal (CANBERRA)
Labor will attempt to push through controversial changes to the tax system before parliament takes a long winter break.
Negotiations are under way between the Greens and the Albanese government on the major overhaul as parliament returns on Monday for the fortnight before the five-week recess.
A Labor-led committee handed down its final report on Friday, recommending legislation proposing changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax be passed.
On the same day, a separate parliamentary inquiry into the overhaul of the NDIS delayed its report for a second time, pushing the deadline back to Tuesday.
The Greens are withholding support for both plans, arguing the grandfathering of tax concessions is too generous while also insisting on an extension for the NDIS inquiry.
UK Starmer (LONDON)
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering his political future after rival Andy Burnham's decisive by-election victory to parliament prompted more ministers in the governing Labour Party to call for him to go.
Struggling with some of the lowest popularity ratings for any United Kingdom prime minister in modern political history, Starmer could decide as soon as Monday whether to step aside or fight a leadership contest against Burnham, one source said.
The scale of victory Burnham won for a parliamentary seat in northwestern England on Friday has piled pressure on Starmer, with dozens of MPs and some ministers privately calling for him to set out a timetable for his departure to clear the way for the former Greater Manchester mayor.
Iran (BUERGENSTOCK)
US Vice President JD Vance says "great progress" has already been made at talks between US and Iranian officials in Switzerland aimed at hammering out a long-term peace deal.
"What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran," Vance said in the mountain resort of Burgenstock, where the talks kicked off just hours earlier on Sunday.
"We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we'll make additional progress," Vance said.
The talks - dubbed the "Lake Lucerne Summit" - began on Sunday afternoon on the shore of Lake Lucerne.
According to the foreign ministry of Qatar, which is mediating between the warring countries alongside Pakistan, the initial high-level meeting involved representatives from the US and Iran as well as delegations from Pakistan and Qatar.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea have suspended civilian petrol sales as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.
Governor Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.
He later wrote on social media that local petrol stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.
"Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea," Aksyonov said on Sunday.
"I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information."
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Flu (SYDNEY)
Australia's poultry industry is on high alert after the nation's first mainland detection of a deadly bird flu stain that could devastate the sector.
The H5N1 variant of the virus was confirmed in a sick brown skua found on a remote beach near Esperance in Western Australia, about 700km southeast of Perth.
Esperance Poultry Association president Gavin Millard said local growers and backyard bird owners were shaken by the detection and had already moved to tighten precautions.
"Everyone's quite shocked with the discovery of it," he told AAP.
The association has cancelled a poultry show planned for July and is urging owners to restrict bird movements and reduce contact with wild birds.
"There are a lot of people throughout the Esperance district and town especially who have got backyard chooks," Mr Millard said.
Economy Preview (CANBERRA)
Oil and dairy prices will shed light on Australia's inflation fight in a big week for domestic economic data.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures are expected on Wednesday to show headline and underlying inflation edged up in May as the Middle East conflict continued to impact supply chains across the economy.
Importantly, it will reveal how quickly and widely the second-round impacts of higher oil, gas and fertiliser prices were being passed on by businesses.
One item to watch will be milk.
Perishable goods tend to be first to record price increases and the prices of home-brand milk increased in very late April, said ANZ economists Madeline Dunk and Adam Boyton.
"We expect prices to have been a little higher than usual in some of the fresh food expenditure classes, such as milk, fruits and vegetables," the duo said in a research note.
Iran (ZURICH/DUBAI/WASHINGTON)
Negotiators from the United States and Iran are set to start peace talks in Switzerland, even as US officials dispute Iranian claims about closing the key Strait of Hormuz.
A high-level Iranian team arrived in Switzerland for peace talks with the US, Iranian state media reported, as US Vice President JD Vance left Washington on Saturday for meetings that will begin on Sunday.
Although the US and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire while negotiations take place, Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut, though the US military said commercial vessels continued operating in the waterway.
Those developments could complicate talks in which both sides seek to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to end their almost four-month war.
Fuel (MELBOURNE)
Motorists will benefit as a cut to fuel taxes is extended for another month, although at half the previous discount.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a scaled-back extension of the fuel excise reduction, meaning petrol and diesel will be 16 cents per litre cheaper in July than they would be without the discount.
The current saving at the bowser is 32 cents per litre, brought into effect three months earlier in response to the conflict in the Middle East, which sent global oil prices surging due to the de facto closure of key shipping channel the Strait of Hormuz.
The full discount will end after June 30, having cost the federal budget an estimated $2.9 billion in lost revenue.
Mr Albanese said gradually scaling back fuel relief was the sensible thing to do.
In finance ...
Economy (MELBOURNE)
Australia has the resources it needs to be a globally prosperous economy, but it is failing to convert those assets into meaningful growth, a think tank says.
Abundant renewable energy, critical minerals, a world-class research sector and ties to the world's fastest-growing region are among its advantages.
But it risks falling behind unless governments pursue more ambitious reforms to lift business investment, innovation and economic dynamism.
These were the findings of the Committee for Economic Development for Australia's inaugural State of the Nation report, released on Monday.
"We have a strong hand," the think tank said.
"However, national advantage does not convert into prosperity automatically, it requires deliberate choice."
The report found Australia's long-term economic performance was weakening across several key measures.
In entertainment ...
US Concert (NEW YORK CITY)
A 51-year-old man has fallen to his death from an upper deck of Madison Square Garden during a concert, police say.
Officers responding to a call at 9.51pm on Saturday found the man unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicating a fall from an "elevated position," New York City Police said.
Police did not say how far the man fell but said he was in Section 300.
They declined to release his name.
The man was with his wife, according to police.
He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The rock band Goose was performing.
In a statement on Facebook, the band said it was "deeply saddened and heartbroken to learn of the tragic event that occurred".
Hockney (LONDON)
The funeral of David Hockney has taken place in private with just his partner Jean-Pierre Goncalves de Lima and great-nephew Richard in attendance.
A number of memorial services for the British artist will take place from next year after Hockney, best known for works such as The Splash, A Bigger Splash, and Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures), died peacefully at his London home aged 88 on June 11.
"We have been overwhelmed by your tributes which have meant so much to us and we wanted to thank you," his publicist Erica Bolton said.
"As we have already received so many inquiries about David Hockney's funeral arrangements and memorials, we would like to clarify that it was David's clear wish that his funeral should be attended only by his partner, JP, and his great-nephew Richard; and that their privacy would be respected.
In sport ...
Wim Serena (LONDON)
American legend Serena Williams is to make a stunning return to singles tennis, attempting to reclaim her Wimbledon title at the age of 44, nearly four years since her last match at the US Open.
Seven-times champion Williams was handed the final women's singles wildcard by the All England Club on Sunday evening (Monday AEST) in a wholly unexpected development.
The woman considered perhaps the greatest player of all-time had already been assured of a shock return to the championships for the first time in four years by accepting a doubles wildcard to play alongside elder sister, 46-year-old Venus Williams.
But the singles news came quite out of the blue, with Wimbledon declaring on its Instagram account: "This is not a drill."
Wim Aust (LONDON)
It's 15 years since an Aussie kid shook up Wimbledon by reaching the quarter-finals at the tender age of 18, the youngest to get to that stage of the men's draw since the 1985 wunderkind champ himself, Boris Becker.
But now at 33 and having gone through an extraordinary undulating, polarising career during which he was once dubbed the tour 'bad boy' who'd squandered an enviable talent, Bernard Tomic is back in London, a very changed, admirable figure.
The misunderstood youngster once perceived to not care a jot about the sport is not afraid these days to admit he's a bloke who really needs his tennis as he battles on in its unglamorous hinterland, trying to return to a grand slam main draw for the first time in five years.
Ends Bulletin
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