What’s making news today
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, May 18. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.
- Popular support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor has slumped following Labor’s budget last week, new Resolve Political Monitor polling by this masthead shows. The government was marked down by voters for breaking election promises not to touch tax breaks for negative gearing or capital gains.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. WHO said there had been more than 300 cases and 87 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo virus – a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
- The Australian sharemarket is set to slide, with futures pointing to a fall of 38 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was trading at US71.58¢ at 5.12am AEST. Rising oil prices are raising pressure as the war with Iran continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to oil tankers, driving up oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.3 per cent to settle at $US109.26 ($152.91) and is well above its level of roughly $US70 before the war.
- And Xi Jinping asked directly whether the US would defend Taiwan in a war, Donald Trump said at the weekend, while he was divulging key details of his conversations with the Chinese president after a high-stakes meeting in Beijing.
Plibersek says government not concerned about today’s polls
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says the government is not concerned about new polling that shows its popular support declining, and that it will take some time for Australians to understand the changes proposed in Labor’s budget last week.
“It’s one poll, and we’ll keep doing our job of reminding people why we’ve made this decision, because we want kids today and the next generation and the next generation to have what we have, a home of our own, a roof over their heads for their family,” she told Seven’s Sunrise.
“I think that’s pretty normal. I think it’s pretty natural … People take a little while to listen to everything that they’re hearing on TV, in the newspapers from our leaders, and they’ll make their mind up over time.”
New polling this morning showed the government was marked down by voters for breaking election promises not to touch tax breaks for negative gearing or capital gains.
Public health emergency declared after Ebola outbreak in DRC, Uganda
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
The WHO said there had been more than 300 cases and 87 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo virus – a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
They said the virus did not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency such as COVID-19, but that countries sharing land borders with the DRC were at high risk of further spread.
Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in the DRC and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported.
Labor’s primary vote slumps, new polling shows
The federal government’s primary vote has slumped 3 percentage points to just 29 per cent after Labor broke a slew of promises on tax policy, but support has flowed to One Nation rather than the Coalition following the release of the pivotal “tough decisions” budget last Tuesday.
The government was marked down by voters for breaking election promises not to touch tax breaks for negative gearing or capital gains, with 36 per cent of people saying their view of Labor had been damaged, 31 per cent saying their view had not changed, just 14 per cent saying it had improved and 18 per cent undecided.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor will be buoyed by the news that he is now voters’ preferred prime minister, leading Prime Minister Anthony Albanese 33-30, with 37 per cent of people undecided, in a poll conducted by Resolve Political Monitor exclusively for this masthead in the budget’s wake.
The poll found 36 per cent of voters supported removing the 50 per cent CGT discount, with 21 per cent opposed and 42 per cent undecided, while 35 per cent supported restricting negative gearing and 21 per cent opposed, with 44 per cent undecided.
What’s making news today
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, May 18. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.
- Popular support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor has slumped following Labor’s budget last week, new Resolve Political Monitor polling by this masthead shows. The government was marked down by voters for breaking election promises not to touch tax breaks for negative gearing or capital gains.
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. WHO said there had been more than 300 cases and 87 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo virus – a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines.
- The Australian sharemarket is set to slide, with futures pointing to a fall of 38 points, or 0.4 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was trading at US71.58¢ at 5.12am AEST. Rising oil prices are raising pressure as the war with Iran continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to oil tankers, driving up oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.3 per cent to settle at $US109.26 ($152.91) and is well above its level of roughly $US70 before the war.
- And Xi Jinping asked directly whether the US would defend Taiwan in a war, Donald Trump said at the weekend, while he was divulging key details of his conversations with the Chinese president after a high-stakes meeting in Beijing.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
