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Chloe Swarbrick: Public sector wage crackdown a bitter pill for pandemic heroes
OPINION: Who asked for a crackdown on wages of public sector workers?It wasn’t the teachers, nurses, midwives and border workers who toiled throughout Covid-19 to teach our kids and ensure our communities’ health and safety. You…
Budget 2021: Act Party leader David Seymour reveals alternative budget
Act Party leader David Seymour has produced an “alternative budget” which he says would nearly halve the tax rate for middle income earners while also slashing forecast debt by $23 billion. Sneaking in ahead of Budget Day on May…
Plans for Wellington's $400m social housing shortfall delayed until after Budget Day
Wellington City Council has delayed publicising options to plug its social housing arm’s $400 million shortfall until after the Government has announced Budget 2021. City Housing, which has 1927 properties and 3500 tenants, is…
Herald morning quiz: May 12
Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.
'How does it feel to be the best Labor treasurer since Paul Keating?'
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has refused to put a timeline on a return to surplus and denied being the "best Labor treasurer since Paul Keating" after handing down a budget with a $161 billion deficit.
In an interview with 9News Political Editor Chris Uhlmann on Tuesday night, Mr Fyrdenberg insisted big-spending measures to give families tax cuts, cut childcare costs and create jobs made his 2021 package "very much a Liberal budget".
Watch the full interview in the video player at the top of the page.
Before the pandemic upended government spending worldwide, the Coalition had prematurely celebrated putting the budget "back in black" with a surplus last year after what it termed Labor's "debt and deficit disaster".
But when repeatedly pressed by Uhlmann to put a timeline on a return to surplus, the Treasurer refused, pointing to the pandemic.
"This reflects the reality that we're in, with the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression," he said.
"More than 25 million Australians can be so proud of where their country is today through their contribution, both on the health front and the economic front.
"But there is a great deal of uncertainty. The job is not done. This budget seeks to secure that recovery."
Mr Frydenberg also addressed the revelation international travel would remain low until mid-2020, saying that was a budget assumption, not a policy decision.
Read all of 9News.com.au's Federal Budget 2021 coverage here:
WINNERS AND LOSERS: Who benefits the most from the Budget?
READ MORE: Will you get a tax cut?
READ MORE: The new projects in the $15.2b infrastructure spend
BUDGET EXPLAINED: Your two-minute guide
READ MORE: Budget 2021 Winners and Losers: Chris Uhlmann analysis
READ MORE: Major spend to overhaul aged care, mental health sectors
BORDER UNCERTAINTY: Budget admits doubts over travel restart
READ MORE: How an ordinary Australian family is affected by the Budget
READ MORE: Incentives to help first home buyers
READ MORE: Billions to be spent fighting COVID-19
Children killed as Israel unleashes airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza
Israel has unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza, hitting the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two border tunnels dug by militants, as Hamas and other armed groups fired dozens of rockets toward Israel.
The escalation in the conflict early on Tuesday morning was sparked by weeks of tensions in contested Jerusalem.
Since sundown on Monday when the cross-border attacks began, 24 Palestinians — including nine children — were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, Gaza health officials said.
The Israeli military said 15 of the dead were militants. During the same period, Gaza militants fired more than 250 rockets toward Israel, injuring six Israeli civilians in a direct hit on an apartment building.
In a further sign of rising tensions, Israel signalled it was widening its military campaign.
The military said it was sending troop reinforcements to the Gaza border and the Defence Minister ordered the mobilisation of 5000 reserve soldiers.
In the past, cross-border fighting between Israel and Hamas, the group that rules Gaza, would typically end after a few days, often helped by behind-the-scenes mediation by Qatar, Egypt and others.
It was not clear if such a resolution would come this time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned fighting could "continue for some time."
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday the military was in "the early stages" of strikes against Gaza targets that it had planned well in advance.
READ MORE: Israel police clash with Palestinians in Jerusalem
The overnight rockets and airstrikes were preceded by hours of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, including dramatic confrontations at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sacred site to both Jews and Muslims.
In fighting in the contested city and across the West Bank, more than 700 Palestinians were hurt, including nearly 500 who were treated at hospitals.
In a sign of widening unrest, hundreds of residents of Arab communities across Israel staged overnight demonstrations denouncing the recent actions of Israeli security forces against Palestinians, in one of the largest protests by Palestinian citizens in Israel in recent years.
The escalation comes at a time of political limbo in Israel.
Mr Netanyahu has been acting as a caretaker prime minister since an inconclusive parliamentary election in March.
He tried and failed to form a coalition government with his hard-line and ultra-Orthodox allies, and the task was handed to his political rivals last week.
One of those rivals is Israel's Defence Minister, who is overseeing the Gaza campaign.
It is not clear if and to what extent the toxic political atmosphere is spilling over into military decision-making, though the rival camps have unanimously expressed support for striking Hamas hard.
READ MORE: Israeli PM misses deadline to form coalition
Israeli media have reported the new round of violence was slowing efforts by Mr Netanyahu's rivals to form a ruling coalition among parties with a broad range of ideologies, but a shared goal of toppling Netanyahu.
The support of an Arab-backed party with Islamist roots is key for the anti-Netanyahu bloc's efforts.
The party's leader, Mansour Abbas, has essentially said he'll work with whatever political camp offers the most improvements in Arab communities, but the current tensions might deter him from joining a coalition, at least for now.
The current round of violence in Jerusalem coincided with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in mid-April.
Critics say heavy-handed police measures helped stoke nightly unrest, including a decision to temporarily seal off a popular gathering spot where Palestinian residents would meet after evening prayers.
Another flashpoint was the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of Palestinians are under threat of eviction by Jewish settlers.
Over the weekend, confrontations erupted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is the third holiest site of Islam and the holiest site in Judaism.
For four successive days, Israeli police fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at Palestinians in the compound who hurled stones and chairs.
Hundreds of Palestinians were hurt, requiring treatment at hospitals. Two dozen officers were also injured. At times, police fired stun grenades into the carpeted mosque.
On Monday evening, Hamas began firing rockets from Gaza, setting off air raid sirens as far as Jerusalem, after giving Israel a deadline to withdraw Israeli security forces from the compound. From there on, the escalation was rapid.
Lieutenant Colonel Conricus, the army spokesman, said Gaza militants fired more than 250 rockets at Israel, with about one-third falling short and landing in Gaza.
The army said a rocket landed a direct hit on a seven-story apartment block in the coastal Israeli city of Ashkelon.
Photos and videos from the scene showed a large hole in the side of the building. Israeli paramedic service Magen David Adom said it treated six people injured in the rocket strike. Two were hospitalised in moderate condition.
Lieutenant Colonel Conricus said the military hit 130 targets in Gaza, including the high-rise home of a Hamas field commander and two tunnels militants were digging under the border with Israel.
In all, Israel killed 15 militants, Lieutenant Colonel Conricus said. He said Israel's new system of concrete barriers and electronic sensors, intended to thwart tunnel digging, had proven effective.
He did not address Gaza Health Ministry reports that nine children were among 24 Palestinians killed overnight.
In Gaza, most of the deaths were attributed to airstrikes. However, seven of the deaths were members of a single family, including three children, who died in an explosion in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun and it was not clear if the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike or errant rocket.
More than 100 Gazans were wounded in the airstrikes, the Health Ministry said.
In one, an Israeli missile hit the upper floors of an apartment building in the Shati refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City early on Tuesday, killing two men and a woman inside, according to health officials.
Israel had struck scores of Gaza homes in its 2014 war with Hamas, arguing it was aiming at militants, but also killing many civilians. The practice drew broad international condemnation at the time.
Israel's tactics in Jerusalem have drawn angry reactions from the Muslim world.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia said in a statement that it condemns in the strongest terms what it said were attacks by Israeli forces against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa and the safety of its worshippers. The Saudi Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on the international community to hold Israeli forces responsible for any escalation.
Separately, the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is holding an emergency meeting of its permanent representatives in Jiddah to discuss the tensions.
Budget Winners and Losers: Chris Uhlmann analysis
Josh Frydenberg has delivered a Federal Budget that "could have been brought down by a Labor Treasurer", 9News Political Editor Chris Uhlmann says.
Unpacking the headline initiatives in the Budget, Uhlmann says the masses of spending particularly target big welfare programs and also plug some problems that the government has had, including aged care and women's issues.
"So who are the losers out of this Budget? Well, if you want to travel anywhere over the course of the next year then think again," Uhlmann said.
"This Budget assumes that the international borders will not reopen until this time next year. That's an assumption, not a government policy, but certainly something that will make the travel industry very worried indeed."
Watch the full analysis of all the winners and losers in the video player at the top of the page.
Read all of 9News.com.au's Federal Budget 2021 coverage here:
WINNERS AND LOSERS: Who benefits the most from the Budget?
READ MORE: Will you get a tax cut?
READ MORE: The new projects in the $15.2b infrastructure spend
BUDGET EXPLAINED: Your two-minute guide
LIVE UPDATES: Josh Frydenberg unveils his third Budget
READ MORE: Major spend to overhaul aged care, mental health sectors
BORDER UNCERTAINTY: Budget admits doubts over travel restart
READ MORE: How an ordinary Australian family is affected by the Budget
READ MORE: Incentives to help first home buyers
READ MORE: Billions to be spent fighting COVID-19
Car crashes into Gisborne cemetery, significant number of headstones damaged
A car has crashed into a cemetery in Gisborne, causing damage to a significant number of headstones. The vehicle left the road and rolled before coming to a stop in Taruheru Cemetery on Nelson Rd, Makauri, just after 6.30pm on Tuesday….
