Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
The Albanese government today confirmed that it will not revisit negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions.
Speaking with Sky News, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, confirmed that “No doors have been opened here. We’re not doing negative gearing. That’s been made manifestly clear and none of that has changed.”
Guardian Australia has also been told that the government ruled out winding back the capital gains tax concessions available to property investors.
This is despite mounting calls for the government to rethink its position following Anthony Albanese’s purchase of a $4.3m clifftop property. The opposition labelled Albanese’s decision to make the purchase “out of touch”. Some Labor MPs were also dismayed over the timing, ahead of an election in which cost and availability of housing is likely to be a central issue.
Top news
Australia to donate 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine | The donation, supported by the opposition, is in addition to previously announced support that included 120 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles. The total value of Australia’s military assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country has now topped $1.3bn.
Multi-car crash leaves two dead on Sydney Harbour Bridge | NSW police said emergency services were called to the bridge at about 1.40pm on Thursday, and found four cars and a bus had collided. The bus driver was uninjured and had no passengers onboard.
Nine apologises unreservedly after bombshell report | An independent report released on Thursday has found Nine Entertainment has a systemic issue with the abuse of power and authority, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment across the company. The board has apologised to affected staff and pledged to implement all 22 recommendations in the report.
Strong September jobs figures | Australia’s economy added 64,100 jobs last month, far more than expected, making it less likely the Reserve Bank of Australia will opt for an interest rate cut this side of Christmas. The unemployment rate in September was 4.1%.
Kamala Harris’s testy Fox News interview | Harris sat down for a 25-minute interview with the rightwing channel where she faced questions on policies including including immigration, the rights of transgender people and Joe Biden’s performance. Meanwhile, Trump used a Miami town hall appearance to defend his stance on mass deportations.
Trudeau says India made ‘horrific mistake’ violating Canadian sovereignty | The Canadian PM’s comments come amid an escalating diplomatic row over the murder of a Sikh separatist in British Columbia and allegations of a broader campaign of threats and violence against Indian exiles.
Duterte drug war back in ICC spotlight | A Philippines former police colonel has testified to a parliamentary committee that former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s office offered police up to $17,000 to kill suspects as part of his “war on drugs”, sparking calls for the evidence to be referred to the international criminal court.
Liam Payne dies aged 31 | Buenos Aires authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of the former member of One Direction, who died after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Palermo. Alexis Petridis writes that Payne’s career was only just getting started.
Blaze destroys multimillion-euro fire station | A state-of-the-art fire station in western Germany, that was proudly unveiled last year at a cost of tens of millions of euros, has burned to the ground because it had not been equipped with a fire alarm.
In sounds
Regent honeyeaters have ditched their typical tune for a shorter, simpler song. Why?
ANU researchers tracked and classified the calls of wild regent honeyeaters and their success at pairing and nesting between 2020 and 2022, continuing previous data collected between 2015 and 2019 that indicated some male birds were singing a clipped version of their typical song.
What they said …
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“We got booed. We got kicked. I still support Trump though.” – a Trump rally attendee removed after making a pro-Palestine demonstration
Kamala Harris says “exhaustion and boredom” leads to Trump supporters leaving his rallies early. The Guardian tested that proposition on Tuesday, and found supporters had a variety of reasons to walk out. One unnamed attendee spoke to being forcibly removed – but that hasn’t dampened their spirits.
In numbers
Australians hold supermarkets more responsible for the cost-of-living crisis than they do energy companies (82%), banks (73%), and the government (71%).
Before bed read
A ‘putrid’ find in a museum cupboard could be the key to bringing the Tasmanian tiger back to life
Breakthroughs sometimes turn up in unexpected places. The researchers working on the international push to bring back the thylacine say they found theirs in a long-ignored bucket in the back of a cupboard at a Melbourne museum, writes Adam Morton.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: FLOW. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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