Key news items
- Overhauling of Australia's migration system is critical for quicker pathways to permanent residency
- NDIS to be boosted with more budget
- Federal Government to invest $240 into AFL stadium in Tasmania
- Federal Government expands eligibility for home grants
- Evacuation of Australians in Sudan experiences difficulty
- Criticism for PM’s attending the wedding of radio host Kyle Sandilands and Tegan Kynaston mounts
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says overhauling Australia's migration system is critical for creating quicker pathways to permanent residency.
It comes following a review into Australia's migration system released last week [[27 APRIL]], which proposed a major reform of the system.
Australia is expected to welcome more than 700,000 migrants within the current and next financial years.
Mr Albanese says people need security of their residency status.
N-D-I-S Minister Bill Shorten has welcomed National Cabinet's commitment to improving the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The government says it will invest more than $720 million over four years to improve the National Disability Insurance Agency's [[NDIA]] capabilities, capacity and systems to better support participants.
The N-D-I-S Minister said the funding was critical to ensure every dollar of the scheme was going to support people with a disability.
Speaking at an N-D-I-S event, Mr Shorten says rebooting the scheme must consider both participants and industry professionals to deliver meaningful outcomes.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says Australia has been able to secure more seats on partnering flights for those wanting to leave Sudan, yet warns that the window of opportunity for them to do so is narrow.
Ms Wong confirmed via a post on social media that any Australians still stuck on the war-torn nation should head to the Wadi Sayyidna [[OUA-di Sa-YEE-dna]] airfield as soon as possible.
The Foreign Affairs Minister added that if people do not have access to the airfield, they should go to Port Sudan and take the ferries to Jeddah.
She says the situation on the grounds remains extremely dangerous and that people should use caution when moving around.
Friends and family members looking to team up to buy their first home will be among millions more Australians eligible to tap into government housing cash under a major expansion of three grant schemes.
The criteria for the first home guarantee, its regional equivalent and the family home guarantee will be significantly expanded from July 1 in a bid to get more people into homes.
Under the schemes the federal government acts as guarantor on up to 15 per cent of a loan for prospective home buyers, allowing them to buy a house with a deposit as low as 5 per cent and avoid paying lender’s mortgage insurance.
The changes include the definition of a “couple” as only married or de facto relationships to now becoming “any two eligible individuals” — opening up the scheme to sibling pairs, a parent and child, or two friends.
The government's announcement to invest $240 million into a new Australian Football League(AFL) stadium in Tasmania has sparked much debate.
Several M-Ps from the island state say it's an unnecessary expenditure given there's already a fully functional stadium in the region.
Tasmania's Greens M-P Cassy O'Connor says the government should focus funding on healthcare instead of a new football stadium.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has received criticism for attending the wedding of radio host Kyle Sandilands and Tegan Kynaston at Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Convicted drug smuggler Simon Main and former nightclub owner John Ibrahim were also high on the guestlist of the event.
People on social media expressed their disappointment towards the Prime Minister for choosing to attend the ceremony of an ambiguous figure such as Sandilands, especially at a time when the nation is dealing with difficult issues, such as homelessness, high migration rates and inflation.
