u/neon_overload

> For years, it has been clear that the combination of a capital gains tax discount, along with the ability for property owners to deduct rental losses from wage and salary income (“negative gearing”), had given highly leveraged property investors a leg-up in the housing market. > > Last night, Treasury gave us yet more evidence of this. > > Analysis of tax data showed that the top 1% of income earners (with incomes of around $800,000 per year) over their working lives have received an average benefit of more than A$700,000 since 2000. This compared to a benefit of just $12,400 for the typical income earner, who earns around $62,000 per year.

Article authors from Grattan Institute, published 13 May

> “Consumers are increasingly trying to make food choices that are good for the planet, and manufacturers know it. What we’re finding is that the labels designed to guide those choices are largely unregulated and that creates real risks of greenwashing.”

> Mandatory Health Star Rating labelling would enhance consumer choice and create a level playing field for food producers, providing clarity and consistency across the market. > > The Health Star Rating system is currently voluntary, with only 39 per cent of foods in Australia and 36 per cent in New Zealand displaying a rating.

> Four Australians are among the 149 people aboard a luxury cruise ship stranded off the coast of western Africa after a suspected deadly hantavirus outbreak. > > Three people — a Dutch couple and a German national — have died, and three others fell ill on the MV Hondius, which is sitting off Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean, after it was banned from docking at the port of Praia, the country's capital.