Mike Kaiser

Some information was released overnight about the LNP Housing Plan, ahead of today's State Budget reply speech. While there are still many details to come, it's encouraging to see some of the proposed measures in scope, including shared equity programs and major infrastructure partnerships with local government to increase housing supply. New and innovative concepts for maximising church-owned land and utiliising vacant bedrooms make for interesting reading. And if the reports are accurate, there is a strong commitment to achieving housing targets leading up to 2046. Q Shelter is looking forward to unpacking all the details and providing useful budget analysis for the sector. This will include areas of convergence with the major parties on housing policy and differences in approaches. https://lnkd.in/g6FcR_Qh Stay tuned. #StateBudget #Housing #Homelessness #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #Queensland

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The ACT Government welcomes the wide range of initiatives in the 2024-25 Commonwealth Budget that will benefit Canberrans and our city. We know that Canberra households have faced significantly rising costs over the past two years. The $300 Energy Bill Relief for every household in the ACT will provide much needed relief for nearly two hundred thousand Canberra households. Across the five jurisdictions in the National Electricity Market the ACT will continue to have the lowest standing offers in 2024-25 after other jurisdictions increased by up to 29% last financial year. The ACT Government will assess further energy bill relief for Canberra households in the June Territory Budget once the ICRC final price determination is known. The redesigned Stage 3 Tax Cuts will provide income tax relief to every worker in the ACT from 1 July 2024. Collectively, ACT residents will benefit the most from these tax cuts as we have a high proportion of pay-as-you-earn taxpayers in the relevant income tax brackets. We welcome the changes to the tax cuts that were designed to support lower and middle income workers to manage cost of living pressures. While rising cost of living pressures have been broad based, households’ ability to deal with these pressures is unevenly distributed, impacting employees substantially more than others. Almost four in every five taxpayers in the ACT will receive a larger tax cut compared to the previous Liberal Government’s plan. We also welcome the HECS debt relief for 57,000 people in the ACT, predominantly providing support to younger Canberrans who have recently graduated. The changes, particularly the fact they have been backdated, are a necessary intervention to avoid unfair outcomes for young workers now and into the future. The ACT has the highest proportion of university level educational attainment in the country so, collectively, Canberrans will be the greatest beneficiaries from these changes. The deeming rates freeze will also provide additional cost of living relief to an estimated 14,500 income support recipients in Canberra. Additionally, the Federal Government’s investment through the Strengthening Medicare fund in partnership with the ACT Government will take the pressure off our hospital system and continue to ensure Canberrans get the care they need when they need it. This investment will strengthen our partnership to make our nurse-led walk-in centres even better, delivering more healthcare workers and more services and ensure we can better support older Canberrans can stay out of hospital and get home sooner. We also support the decision in the Budget to freeze the cost of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The increase of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by a further 10 per cent, building on the 15 per cent increase in last year’s Budget will benefit approximately 7,300 Canberra households.

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A new free data resource providing timely, high-quality insights about regional visits was launched this week by Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)'s Tourism Research Australia.   The new mobility data, which uses de-identified and aggregated data from several million mobile phones, harnesses technology to provide insights regarding domestic travellers that traditional surveys can’t.   Mobility data is published by TRA monthly, typically within a fortnight of month's end. This complements TRA’s more comprehensive National #Visitor Survey, which will continue to be published each quarter.   The monthly #Data is a fast and reliable source of insights on domestic visitors for the #Tourism industry.   My colleague Grant Ferres outlines that we have been publishing mobility data at a national and state/territory level for several months. He says this week's inaugural release of data for all 76 tourism regions is a continuation along TRA’s path of delivering data at more granular levels of geography and on a more timely basis. We have been able to develop this data for publication thanks to additional funding from the Australian Government   TRA's mobility data model draws on data from a variety of sources, including mobile phone network and GPS data, population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and inputs from TRA’s own National Visitor Survey. All data is anonymised and aggregated, to ensure confidentiality and privacy is prioritised at every stage.   The free new data resource is published in a user friendly interactive dashboard, which allows users to choose the geographic location and month of interest. The data is presented as a comparison with the same month from the previous year, to assist with understanding changes and trends in visitation.  It will greatly assist Regional Tourism Organisations and Local Governments to understand movement by travellers (ie those who are travelling for day trips, overnight trips).   Mobility data also forms an important and major component of a new domestic ‘big data’ product called Domestic Tourism Statistics (DoTS), which will replace the current National Visitor Survey as the source of official domestic tourism statistics from early next year.     Improving data and insights is a priority of Australia’s national long-term strategy for the visitor economy, THRIVE 2030, and the new data supports Australia’s broader Data and Digital Government strategy.   View the monthly regional mobility data at https://lnkd.in/d7DSHjgU   #DomesticTravel #Travel #TourismStatistics #TravelStats #InformingDecisions #RTOs #LocalGovernment Queensland Tourism Industry Council NSW Tourism Association Tourism Industry Council SA (TiCSA) Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) Tourism Industry Council Tasmania Tourism Top End Tourism Council WA Australian Regional Tourism Ltd (ART) Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW)

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👋 Mackay Airport. From large renewable energy projects to small regional airports, loans facilitated by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) are bringing transformational benefits to communities in the north. This week I announced that the NAIF has reached a significant milestone, with an incredible $2 billion now invested in infrastructure projects across northern Australia. Loans facilitated by the NAIF are creating jobs, unlocking economic opportunities in regional areas, and driving the nation’s transition towards a net zero economy. Data from NAIF shows project proponents are on track to create 7,638 jobs in Queensland, 6,806 jobs in WA and 3,946 in the Northern Territory!

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The NSW Budget is saving on bills, moving towards net zero and protecting our environment. $3.5 billion on Climate Change and Energy $3.1 billion to deliver Renewable Energy Zones Plus $2.4 billion for Environment and Heritage Our investment includes: ⚡️$238 million for the upcoming Consumer Energy Strategy 🏡$87 million for energy saving upgrades to social housing 💵$435 million for energy bill rebates 💡$128 million to upgrade roads and infrastructure between Port of Newcastle and Renewable Energy Zones 🦎$75 million to look after our national parks ⚡️$39 million for more workers to conduct biodiversity assessments for renewable energy projects ♻️$43 million to transform the waste and recycling industry 🌳$87 million for environmental grants 🐨And our funding for wildlife continues, including the creation of a Great Koala National Park

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South Australian households and businesses are bracing for more cost of living pain from July 1 with SA Water bills likely to be hiked after the Malinauskas Government failed to make an investment in last week’s State Budget to support previously announced land releases. The final SA Water determination for the next regulatory period 2024-28 is due in the coming days and will reveal how much water bills are set to increase from July 1. The former Liberal Government saved South Australian households an average of $200 per year on water bills during the last regulatory period, while small businesses received deductions of approximately $1,350. This is in direct contrast to the former Labor Government, with an independent inquiry finding they deliberately inflated the value of SA Water’s regulated asset base, driving up the cost of water bills for all South Australians. Last week’s State Budget didn’t include any new funding for supporting infrastructure, raising concerns water bills will be hiked to support the development of land releases announced more than 12 months ago. Labor’s much-hyped land releases have hardly been the “fast track” to housing as promised, with not a single house built yet and Renewal SA recently dubbing the Dry Creek site “incredibly complex” adding “there are a range of issues associated with it”.

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South Australian households and businesses are bracing for more cost of living pain from July 1 with SA Water bills likely to be hiked after the Malinauskas Government failed to make an investment in last week’s State Budget to support previously announced land releases. The final SA Water determination for the next regulatory period 2024-28 is due in the coming days and will reveal how much water bills are set to increase from July 1. The former Liberal Government saved South Australian households an average of $200 per year on water bills during the last regulatory period, while small businesses received deductions of approximately $1,350. This is in direct contrast to the former Labor Government, with an independent inquiry finding they deliberately inflated the value of SA Water’s regulated asset base, driving up the cost of water bills for all South Australians. Last week’s State Budget didn’t include any new funding for supporting infrastructure, raising concerns water bills will be hiked to support the development of land releases announced more than 12 months ago. Labor’s much-hyped land releases have hardly been the “fast track” to housing as promised, with not a single house built yet and Renewal SA recently dubbing the Dry Creek site “incredibly complex” adding “there are a range of issues associated with it”.

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Grant opportunity: Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) Grants Opened 24/04/24; Closes 05/06/24; $100,000 up to $3M; National This grant supports short-term (up to 3 years), industry-led research collaborations. Projects must: -develop a product, service or process that will solve problems for industry and deliver real outcomes -benefit small to medium enterprises (SMEs) -include education and training activities. To be eligible as a lead applicant you must: be an SME, have an ABN, and be incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation. Your trading activities must be either: -enough to be called a trading corporation -a major, not minor, part of your overall activity. Note: review the budget workbook understand the detail you need to incorporate. #pruesgold #grants #grantwriting

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Support for innovative SMEs to commercialise and grow their business

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Wonderful to see a local government leading on the need for a new PDA to help unlock huge potential for new housing supply as it seeks to deal with population growth and other challenges. We met with Cairns Mayor, Amy Eden, and the Director of Planning, Ed Johnson, this week to discuss the council's push for a Priority Development Area (PDA) in the Mt Peter Southern Growth Corridor. We were discussing the opportunities presented by the new Economic Development Queensland remit that recently passed through the Queensland Parliament, including the role of community housing providers (CHPs). We expressed our sector’s keen interest, which is also one of our key state election asks, to identify more PDA’s across Queensland to assist manage growth. We know conservatively there is an under supply of about 5,300 social homes in Cairns and by mid 2030, that under supply will jump to 11,500, subject to housing commencements. Cairns is also in the top 10 cities in the country for unmet housing need. By working closely with the Cairns Regional Council, and our local housing networks, we are confident that every lever is being pulled and explored locally, so it is time to lean into these options to unlock even more potential in the north. We look forward continuing the discussions about the PDA opportunity for Cairns and playing a partnership-role with the rest of the system to support this direction. #PriorityDevelopmentAreas #Cairns #HousingSupply #Planning #Development #Growth #CommunityHousing

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Getting there ... #digitalID legislation is good ✅ and now terrific to see some funding for trials of #digitalwallets and #verifiablecredentials as part of the Australian Government Digital Identity System (AGDIS). Identity is great but only half the story. We need an end-to-end and secure system. It is pointless to be able to prove who you are digitally if you still have to produce/copy/send paper documents and certificates.

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GSEM has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the development of a new Plan for Victoria by the state government, which aims to ensure that we continue to thrive as a dynamic and self-sustaining region. We are advocating for robust policy and action to support the region's ongoing development and prosperity, with our submission outlining several critical areas of focus: - More jobs closer to where people live: Aligning job opportunities with residential growth to ensure that employment is available and accessible to residents. - Better connectivity: Developing transport and infrastructure to better connect communities within the region. - Housing located with services and infrastructure: Ensuring that new housing developments are planned alongside essential services and infrastructure. - Coordinated infrastructure delivery: Establishing a cohesive approach to infrastructure planning and delivery across local, state, and federal levels. You can read our submission here: https://lnkd.in/gczdn_q4 #gsem #greatersoutheastmelbourne #victoria #springst #planforvictoria

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EnergyAustralia’s unique approach to community engagement and how it is accelerating the clean energy transition. As one of Australia’s big three generators and retailers, EnergyAustralia takes its role in the national energy transition very seriously. So, what is the organisation doing to help Australia lower its carbon emissions, and how does it ensure the community is engaged in the process? David Wilson, Head of Community Engagement, says a combination of new infrastructure and repurposed sites will see EnergyAustralia make a sizeable contribution to the clean energy transition in coming years. “We try to co-locate a lot of this new energy infrastructure with existing infrastructure, so that it reduces the impact on the community in which it’s delivered. That way we can leverage some of the social license we already have to operate on those sites." Read the full article: 👇 👇 👇

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The 2024-25 Budget outlines our comprehensive plan to build a better NSW. We understand families and households across the state are doing it tough right now, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet. As residents juggle high rents, low vacancy rates and other cost-of-living pressures, they’re also faced with an average moving cost of $4,000 and the prospect of having to pay a new bond before their old one is returned. That’s why we’re investing $6.6 million to develop and deliver the nation’s first Portable Rental Bonds Scheme. Millions of renters across the state will soon be able to move homes and transfer their bond with them. This scheme will give important cost of living relief to renters as they move, ensuring they don’t have to set aside extra money while they wait for their bond to be refunded.

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How is your council supporting its incoming councillors to be effective communicators? In just over a month, Victorian councils will have new boards of directors. The dynamic and ever-changing local government environment requires these leaders to be able to: ·        build trust with stakeholders ·        advocate strongly for resources ·        perform well in media interviews ·        deliver engaging and inspiring speeches ·        convey their viewpoint with clarity and confidence ·        engage hearts and minds in achieving the community vision. All the while: ·        staying calm under pressure ·        being informative and persuasive ·        communicating with both logic and empathy ·        coming across with authenticity and credibility ·        ensuring message, voice and body language alignment. The RESONATE Advanced Communication Skills for Local Government Leaders training covers: ·        Personal communication ·        Stakeholder communication ·        Media interviews ·        Speeches and presentations ·        Social media communication For more than 30 years, I’ve mentored and trained hundreds of local government leaders to be more effective communicators, in both day-to-day communications and in times of crisis. Want to know more? Post RESONATE in the comments section or send me a DM, and I’ll send you the brochure. #LocalGovernment #CommunicationSkills #LeadershipCommunication #EnhanceYourReputation

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The Albanese and Miles Labor Governments are jointly investing $35 million to establish a Care and Support TAFE Centre of Excellence at Queensland TAFE’s Cairns campus. The Centre of Excellence will advance partnerships with care providers, universities (including the University of the Sunshine Coast and Griffith University), Jobs and Skills Councils, unions, and Queensland and national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island health councils. The Centre will ensure TAFE students receive the high-level skills training they need to succeed in the care and support workforce and respond to workforce challenges. It will strengthen capability and capacity for the aged care, disability support and mental health care sector by: *progressing new vocational pathways in health and health leadership to help grow and retain care and support workforces. *increasing accessibility for regional, rural and remote students, by reducing the digital divide to support equitable access to training in the care and support sector, and *supporting the acceleration of commitments to Closing the Gap by partnering with First Nations stakeholders to develop and deliver culturally appropriate and safe training pathways for First Nations students. Boosting the number of skilled workers across the care and support sector is vital to meet the growing demand for essential care and support workforces.

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After tireless advocacy and relentless efforts, I’m elated to hear the Albanese government plans to address the pressing issue of HECS debt. HECS debts is projected to surge by over 4%, which will put a huge financial burden on students in my Fowler electorate and across the nation. The proposed changes in HECS indexation rate and timing, set to be unveiled in the Federal budget, signify a significant stride towards alleviating the financial strain on students. The commitment to making HECS loans ‘simpler and fairer’ echoes the sentiments echoed by many, including myself, who have long called for reform in this area since my election to Parliament in May 2022.   The Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), now known as the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), has seen debts skyrocket by 7.1% last year alone, causing immense financial stress for students. With debts set to increase by an additional 4.2% to 4.8% in June, the need for action is more urgent than ever. For students grappling with an average debt of $26,494, this means facing an additional burden of $1,113 to $1,272.   I await further details on the proposed changes but, it’s heartening to know that our voices have been heard. Just like this speech I will continue to push for policies that prioritise the well-being and future prospects of our students as well as address the high cost of living crisis that will impact the lives of our next generation. #HECSRelief #LaborGovernment #StudentDebt #DaiLeMP #FowlerMP #DaiLeMPFowler #VoiceForWesternSydney #AusPol #AusPolitics #Budget2024 #CostOfLiving Jennifer Shahin Margaret Cheng

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The recent closure of the single entity in NZ dedicated to electricity and small consumers is disappointing for consumers. There is an opportunity though.... taxpayers face a cost of living crisis, while many in the electricity sector reap substantial profits. I'm thinking the Consumer Advocacy Council's legislation permits funding through levies of the electricity sector. Read more in Emma Hatton's article in Newsroom NZ today. #ConsumerAdvocacy #ElectricitySector #Budgets #consumers #electricity #Energy

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