Oh hi there. It's Monday, May 16, and here's what you need to know about today's news.
We've heard a lot of debate about using super to help buy a first home
ICYMI yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a re-elected Coalition government would allow first home buyers to use some of their superannuation savings to help pay for a home deposit.
It's a contentious idea that has been criticised by economists and the opposition as a policy which would only drive up house prices even more.
Here's what's happened since:
- On Monday morning, Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume conceded the Coalition's policy would increase house prices "temporarily", while the PM said other government policies would help to cancel out any impact on house prices
- When asked about the Coalition's plan, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he didn't like the idea:
- During a National Press Club event, Greens leader Adam Bandt said his party believed the system needed to change:
The news Australia is searching for
- The Dallas Mavericks. Led by 35 points from Luka Dončić, the Mavs have beaten the Phoenix Suns by 33 points to claim a spot in the NBA's Western Conference finals. Dallas led by as much as 46 points at one point in the game(!), before claiming the best-of-seven series. Suns stars Devin Booker and Chris Paul had 11 and 10 points respectively, which has received quite a response online
- Tonga volcano. The eruption of a volcano in Tonga in January has been confirmed as the biggest explosion ever recorded in the atmosphere by modern instrumentation, the BBC reports. It was bigger than any volcanic event of the 20th Century and any atom bomb test conducted after World War II
News you might have missed
- Adelaide's self-described 'Big Bird Bandits' — three people who stole a $130,000 costume of Sesame Street's Big Bird from a circus last year (before returning it) — have been spared jail time for their strange escapade, and instead ordered to each enter a $500 good behaviour bond for two years, while two of them will be required to do community service. Big Bird is yet to comment
- ATTENTION WHOVIANS: David Tennant and Catherine Tate are set to return to Doctor Who for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023, the BBC has confirmed. As I'm sure you remember, Tennant played the 10th Doctor on the time travel drama from 2005 to 2010, while Tate played companion Donna Noble
- It's been almost three months since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, and NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the war "is not going as Moscow had planned". British military intelligence said Russia's offensive in the Donbas region had fallen "significantly behind schedule"
One more thing...
One of the wildest court stories in recent years has just wrapped up, with a man being sentenced to nearly two and a half years in jail after pretending to be a female spy and deceiving a former sex client into paying him $718,000.
Jeremiah Deakin, 32, had pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced on Monday in the ACT Supreme Court.
You can read more about that story here.
That's it for now!
We'll get up off the floor and be back tomorrow for more, I promise.
ABC/wires
