The South Australian Labor party is proposing to give “empty nesters” a massive stamp duty saving of more than $100,000 to encourage them to trade their large family homes for smaller dwellings, AAP reports.
The move aims to free up crucial housing stock for growing families.
The total stamp duty abolition would apply to people aged 60 or over buying a smaller, newly built home or off-the-plan apartment worth up to $2m, saving eligible South Australians up to $103,830.
The exemption can only be accessed once.
SA’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, and opposition leader, Ashton Hurn, at a leaders debate on Friday. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAP
The state’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced the election pledge this morning, saying if his party was re-elected, the plan would stimulate housing growth and help free up larger homes for families.
Under the scheme, people purchasing a $1m home after selling their larger home would receive a full stamp duty concession worth $48,830. That would increase to $76,330 for a $1.5m home, while a maximum concession of $103,830 would apply to a $2m home.
The announcement comes a day after the government officially entered caretaker mode, with Malinauskas and his deputy, Kyam Maher, visiting Government House on Saturday morning to formally start the state election campaign.
Malinauskas said:
double quotation markOur plan to abolish stamp duty for downsizers is specifically calibrated to increase housing supply, while also freeing up larger homes for families.
By abolishing stamp duty, we are offering a real incentive to older South Australians to downsize … Under our plan, seniors can save more than $100,000, compared with $15,000 under the Liberals.
Under Labor’s proposed policy, applicants for the stamp duty discount would have to be 60 or older; be buying a new or off-the-plan home to live in that is smaller than their existing home; and selling their existing principal place of residence.
The state’s Liberal leader, Ashton Hurn, used her party’s election campaign launch to announce a policy for over-55 “downsizers” to receive the one-off stamp duty concession of $15,000.
Under the plan, older South Australians moving out of their home would pay less stamp duty when moving into a lesser-value home, with a cap on the concession on properties priced above $1.2m.
Updated at 19.13 EST
Key events
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Road deaths keep rising, peak body warns
Crash fatalities have risen by nearly 20% sine 2021, representing a failure in the national strategy aiming to halve deaths, the nation’s peak motoring body is warning.
The 12-month road toll has risen for the 32nd consecutive month, the Australian Automobile Association’s data shows.
In the 12 months to 31 January 2026, the road toll rose nationally by 0.7% to 1,313 fatalities with fatalities rising particularly sharply in NSW (up 17.3%) and Tasmania (up 36.4%). Managing Director Michael Bradley said:
double quotation markSince the National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 began in January 2021, crash fatalities have risen [nationally] by 19.7%.
The strategy aims to halve national road fatalities through the decade to 2030 – but five years in, it has instead delivered an ongoing increase in road deaths, the AAA says.
As the Australian Government is currently reviewing the strategy, association also points out that three of its five headline targets remain unmeasurable. Bradley says:
double quotation markThe starting point to addressing our worsening road toll is gathering hard facts that help us understand what’s causing it to rise in the first place.
The AAA is calling on the Commonwealth to extend its powers to conduct no-blame investigations of transport fatalities beyond aviation, rail, and maritime incidents.
The peak medical body has also called for road safety data to be shared so it can be learned from:
New ‘easy-to-understand’ online vaccination tool reflects children’s individual needs, health expert says
Continuing on from that last post, the health minister, Ryan Park, said vaccination meant kids were less likely to become seriously unwell.
double quotation markWe know that vaccination is the best thing we can do to protect our children from serious diseases like measles. With a recent spike in the community, it is important parents are aware and pro-active with vaccination. Vaccination means kids are less likely to become seriously unwell and less likely to need to visit our hospitals.
The acting director of health protection at NSW Health, Dr Vicky Sheppeard, said:
double quotation markDelaying vaccines can leave children unprotected during important stages of development, so we are strongly encouraging parents to book their children in at the recommended ages. This is when the vaccination works best.
Even if your child has a runny nose or a mild cold, don’t delay vaccination. Talk to your doctor or nurse to make sure your child is protected as early as possible.
We know that most missed childhood vaccinations in NSW are due to delays from parents who are time poor, overwhelmed or confused from the amount of information out there, so we wanted to create a trustworthy, easy-to-understand tool that reflects their child’s individual needs.
Updated at 20.27 EST
New customised schedule to support NSW parents with childhood vaccinations
The NSW government has today launched a new online tool that allows parents to create a customised vaccination schedule based on their child’s date of birth.
It will provide personalised guidance and practical reminders to help parents vaccinate their children on time and protect them from serious diseases.
In NSW, more than 90% of children are fully immunised, but 95% coverage is essential for “herd immunity”, where enough people are immune that a disease can’t spread quickly.
The tool was informed by research that found many parents and carers felt uncertain, overwhelmed or unsure where to start when it came to vaccinating their children.
Families can use the tool to automatically add a child’s vaccination dates to their parents’ phone calendar and receive a reminder one week before the vaccination date, along with a calendar entry on their phone for the day the vaccination is due.
Experts say if parents have any questions around vaccination, it’s more important than ever to have a conversation with a health professional, as vaccine-preventable diseases like measles are circulating in the community as immunisation rates are decreasing.
You can read more about what a recent survey of parents found about their attitudes to vaccination here:
Updated at 19.45 EST
‘Dire’ signs for Liberals in SA election
The federal Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has conceded next month’s South Australian election will be tough for his party.
double quotation markThe polling coming out of South Australia is very dire, and it’s understandable on some levels, given the circumstances, given the issues with previous opposition leaders at the state level in South Australia.
Premier Malinauskas is one of the most popular state leaders in our country, but I’ve got to pay immense credit and respect to Ashton Hurn for the way in which she has stood up in the most difficult circumstances.
James Paterson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
The South Australian election will be held on Saturday, 21 March.
– AAP
Updated at 19.19 EST
South Australian ‘empty nesters’ to get stamp duty windfall in $70m pledge
The South Australian Labor party is proposing to give “empty nesters” a massive stamp duty saving of more than $100,000 to encourage them to trade their large family homes for smaller dwellings, AAP reports.
The move aims to free up crucial housing stock for growing families.
The total stamp duty abolition would apply to people aged 60 or over buying a smaller, newly built home or off-the-plan apartment worth up to $2m, saving eligible South Australians up to $103,830.
The exemption can only be accessed once.
SA’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, and opposition leader, Ashton Hurn, at a leaders debate on Friday. Photograph: Matt Turner/AAP
The state’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced the election pledge this morning, saying if his party was re-elected, the plan would stimulate housing growth and help free up larger homes for families.
Under the scheme, people purchasing a $1m home after selling their larger home would receive a full stamp duty concession worth $48,830. That would increase to $76,330 for a $1.5m home, while a maximum concession of $103,830 would apply to a $2m home.
The announcement comes a day after the government officially entered caretaker mode, with Malinauskas and his deputy, Kyam Maher, visiting Government House on Saturday morning to formally start the state election campaign.
Malinauskas said:
double quotation markOur plan to abolish stamp duty for downsizers is specifically calibrated to increase housing supply, while also freeing up larger homes for families.
By abolishing stamp duty, we are offering a real incentive to older South Australians to downsize … Under our plan, seniors can save more than $100,000, compared with $15,000 under the Liberals.
Under Labor’s proposed policy, applicants for the stamp duty discount would have to be 60 or older; be buying a new or off-the-plan home to live in that is smaller than their existing home; and selling their existing principal place of residence.
The state’s Liberal leader, Ashton Hurn, used her party’s election campaign launch to announce a policy for over-55 “downsizers” to receive the one-off stamp duty concession of $15,000.
Under the plan, older South Australians moving out of their home would pay less stamp duty when moving into a lesser-value home, with a cap on the concession on properties priced above $1.2m.
Updated at 19.13 EST
Sarah Basford Canales
PM cautions politicians on divisive rhetoric
Anthony Albanese has warned politicians against using fear to divide people amid a rise in anti-immigration sentiment in parts of Australia.
In an interview with Sky News aired this morning, the prime minister said it was important leaders worked to bring the community together rather than divide it.
Anthony Albanese (centre) visiting Melbourne’s Dandenong night market during Ramadan on Thursday. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
Albanese said:
double quotation markIt’s important that people in positions of authority, including politicians, promote social cohesion … rather than seek to gain political benefit through opportunistically trying to divide people and trying to raise fear.
When asked whether immigration laws should be tightened to limit who enters the country on a visa, he said Australia already had “tight checks”.
double quotation markThis is something that politicians shouldn’t be allowed to say … things that they know isn’t true.
Because they know full well that we have checks on migration in this country and that we have checks on visas.
Updated at 18.48 EST
Car fires linked to botched kidnapping of grandfather
Police investigating the mistaken kidnapping of grandfather Chris Baghsarian are appealing for information about suspicious car fires that could be related to the case, AAP reports.
Hopes are fading of finding the 85-year-old alive, who was taken captive more than a week ago when three men stormed his Sydney home and bundled him into an SUV.
Chris Baghsarian. Photograph: NSW Police/AAP
NSW detectives are urging the public to come forward with information about two suspicious vehicle fires on Good Street, Westmead, at 11.30pm on Tuesday that may be connected to the case.
Police said the vehicles were partly destroyed.
Detectives said the targeted vehicle was a 2022 Toyota Corolla bearing Victorian registration 1UZ2BU, reported stolen from a Victorian address on 13 January.
Officers searched a derelict property in the semi-rural suburb of Dural on Sydney’s north-west outskirts on Thursday night after identifying it as a makeshift stronghold for the kidnappers.
Investigators believe the Toyota Corolla is linked to the crime scene at the Dural address, which may be linked to the kidnapping.
Read more about the case here:
Updated at 18.21 EST
Burke calls Pauline Hanson’s Lakemba comments a national security risk
Asked about Pauline Hanson’s inflammatory comments about Muslims and the Lakemba night markets within his electorate, Burke said:
double quotation markI was back in Lakemba on Friday night for the Lakemba night market during Ramadan, and a whole lot of people remembered last time Pauline Hanson went to Lakemba. She turned up with a TV crew from one of the commercial stations, expecting to be greeted with anger from people. They showed her hospitality; they were glad she was there. Some of the women gave her a hug. Really blew her mind. And afterwards, the security guard she turned up with stayed in the area and had a kebab.
I think what is happening here, is part of Pauline Hanson’s frustration with Lakemba is that it didn’t give her what she wanted. This is a generous community. There’s a whole lot of hospitality there and a group of people who sadly are used to being demonised.
But let me say this: It’s not just the cruelty of it, there’s a national security angle here as well. We’ve had a big national discussion about when antisemitism becomes normalised, it is more likely you get antisemitic violence, as we saw in Brisbane over the last night.
That is the same for any form of bigotry, including Islamophobia. I just say to people: don’t pretend to care about national security and then make it harder for our agencies and more likely that violence will occur.
Updated at 19.21 EST
Government preparing to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir
Burke is asked if there is progress on banning Hizb ut-Tahrir as part of the new hate groups laws passed last month.
He says bans were wanted for two main groups before the laws were passed, including a since-disbanded neo-Nazi group and Hizb ut-Tahrir, “which is an organisation I’ve been fighting since my first term in parliament”.
double quotation markAsio have now provided the advice that that organisation meets the threshold that Asio requires for them to be able to be banned. So the next stage is the department prepares a brief for a minister, that brief is the second threshold that has to be determined, and then, after that, presuming that that’s determined, then the leader of the opposition is advised and the attorney-general has to sign off on it.
… But the first stage on the process of a prohibited group listing happening, for Hizb ut-Tahrir is now complete. The Asio advice is in. This is the first time we have been able to ban – potentially – a group which falls short of a terrorist listing. It says you don’t have to be specifically calling for violence, but you do have to be acting in way that increases the risk of communal violence or politically motivated violence.
Updated at 18.25 EST
Coalition didn’t ‘stop their passports at the critical moment’, Burke says
Burke emphasises “we are not the people who are holding them there.”
double quotation markThey’re being held there by Kurdish authorities. They are not being allowed over a border by Syrian authorities. They went there against what the Australian government wanted. The government at the time was the Coalition.
They didn’t have an attempt to stop their passports at the critical moment, which could have caused the protection that we all now wish had happened. And that is why they are there. This is not a situation where you’re showing the images where someone is there because Australia has put them there.
Updated at 17.43 EST
No legislative power to stop Australian citizens entering country, Burke says
Asked by Insiders host David Speers if they don’t pose a threat to Australia, Burke replies:
double quotation markOn the information that we have, the best way to protect Australians has not involved any further temporary exclusion orders.
Speers goes on to ask Burke if he is actively trying to stop them, and he responds:
double quotation markWe are actively making sure we do nothing to help them. Nothing to help them at all.
Speers:
double quotation markNothing to stop them?
Burke:
double quotation markOther than a temporary exclusion order, there isn’t a legislative power to stop an Australian citizen from entering Australia. Effectively, that question goes to are we breaking the law and the answer is no.
Updated at 17.33 EST
Burke says government’s information on Australians detained in Syria ‘very strong’
Burke stresses the women are “not a coherent cohort”.
double quotation markI can give the complete confidence to community [that] we know the different individuals; we know the state of mind and the effective ideology of different individuals – they are not a coherent cohort. That is why the person where a temporary exclusion order has been issued is in a different category to other members of that group.
… our information is very strong. That’s how you can single one person from the others.
Women walk between tents in a section of the camp housing Australian family members of suspected Islamic State militants. Photograph: Baderkhan Ahmad/APShare
Updated at 18.27 EST
Coalition ‘plain wrong’ over passport rights of Australians in Syria, Tony Burke tells Insiders
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says the coalition is “just plain wrong” on the passport rights of Australian women and children in a Syrian detention camp.
On Monday night, 34 Australian women and children – the wives, widows and children of dead or jailed Islamic State fighters – left from al-Roj camp, in north-eastern Syria, after being released by Kurdish authorities for their expected repatriation to Australia.
Appearing on ABC Insiders, Burke says:
double quotation markUnder Australian law, if you’re a citizen and you apply for a passport, you get a passport. I heard the opposition claim ‘there’s this clause or that clause’. Anything would have to be under Asio advice. Of course, if our intelligence agencies said that [a] different part of the Passports Act had been activated, then we would respond to that, if they had intelligence to that effect. But the claims from the opposition that somehow the standard right for any citizen to have a passport has been suspended here is just plain wrong, and they know that.
The host, David Speers, then tells Burke that the act is “pretty clear that a passport can be denied if someone might prejudice the security of Australia”.
double quotation markThere’s been no advice from Asio that the Passports Act provisions have been activated. There has been advice for one of the people that has come to me that the threshold for a temporary exclusion order has been activated, and I have acted on that and issued the temporary exclusion order. One of my concerns with how the opposition have handled this is they’ve effectively said the minister should be able to make it up. Michaelia Cash did a long media release saying, ‘This is all the minister needs to do’, as though somehow in [the] national security portfolio, you should ignore your national security intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Updated at 18.37 EST
Federal police seize 28kg of cocaine hidden in luxury bus
Authorities have found more than 28kg of cocaine on a luxury bus in South Australia, concealed behind the vehicle’s television.
The discovery came after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers intercepted a vessel berthed at Outer Harbor, examining a roll-on/roll-off vessel on Monday 16 February.
Packages of cocaine seized by the ABF. Photograph: ABF Media
A forensic search using technology including videoscopes and detector dogs, identified “several one-kilogram packages of a white powdered substance hidden behind a television inside a luxury bus,” Australian federal police (AFP) said in a statement.
Border force officers referred the detection to the AFP who seized the illicit drugs and commenced their inquiries.
This amount of cocaine, had it reached the Australian community, had an estimated street value of about $9m, with the potential for about 140,000 street-level deals.
More than 28kg of cocaine were concealed behind a television on a luxury bus. Photograph: ABF Media
AFP Det Acting Supt Simon Lalic said the AFP – together with its state, commonwealth and international law enforcement partners – was committed to disrupting and dismantling organised criminal syndicates threatening Australia. He said:
double quotation markCriminals are driven by their own greed and profit and will attempt any method to import harmful illicit substance into our country. No matter how creative these criminals attempt to be, our message is clear – we are on to you.
Updated at 18.10 EST
Be bold in May budget, roundtable guests urge Chalmers
It’s been six months since the treasurer, Jim Chalmers’ productivity roundtable and the economists, business heads and union figures who attended are feeling cautiously optimistic, AAP reports.
The Productivity Commission chair, Danielle Wood, says she hopes the roundtable laid the foundation for broader changes in the budget and beyond.
Jim Chalmers. Photograph: Darren England/AAP
Dr Chalmers did an “amazing job” of marshalling disparate views, finding consensus in the room and communicating it to the public, according to the ANU Crawford School of Economics and Government research fellow Shiro Armstrong.
The Grattan Institute chief executive, Aruna Sathanapally, says the budget must build on the momentum of the roundtable and lead to proposals to take to the next election.
While declining to be interviewed, Dr Chalmers says via a statement that the budget will be the “main game” for economic reform.
Following Labor’s landslide election win and with the maximum distance until voters return to the polls, the timing of the budget is ripe for genuine reform, says the independent MP Allegra Spender. She says:
double quotation markIf you’re ever going to do something meaningful, this is the budget to do it, because it’s the budget where you can take the greatest risk.
Updated at 18.17 EST
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog this Sunday.
The Australian federal police have seized more than 28kg of cocaine hidden behind a television on a luxury bus in South Australia.
Meanwhile, guests of Jim Chalmers’ productivity roundtable are urging the treasurer to be bold in the May budget, acknowledging the government has already taken some important steps.
The Winter Olympics is coming to a close. It’s Australia’s most successful campaign to date, with six medallists. The Moguls champion Cooper Woods and the aerial skiing silver medal winner, Danielle Scott, were selected as the flag bearers for the closing ceremony, to take place in Verona early tomorrow morning.
Parents in NSW will be able to access a new personalised childhood vaccination schedule tool launched today by the state government amid increasing measles cases circulating in the community and decreasing immunisation rates.
Amid heightened immigration tensions in Canberra, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will appear on the ABC’s Insiders.
Let’s get into it!
Updated at 17.20 EST