Australia news LIVE: Treasurer to deliver a record $22 billion surplus; Voter enrolment surges ahead of Voice referendum

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Key posts

  • Record $22b surplus to come from ‘war and inflation’
  • Record numbers of Australians enrolled to vote in Voice referendum
  • Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp
  • This morning’s headlines at a glance

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Record $22b surplus to come from ‘war and inflation’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver Australia’s largest budget surplus, and the first since the introduction of the iPhone, off the back of strong commodity prices and high inflation, with signs the government could deliver a second windfall this financial year.

Final budget figures for 2022-2023 will be unveiled today showing the government gained a surplus of $22.1 billion. The treasurer said the government had delivered the surplus while also providing billions in cost of living relief for households.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, pictured on budget day earlier this year, will reveal a record surplus on Friday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Our responsible budget management has not just delivered the first surplus in 15 years, it has also taken pressure off inflation, interest rates and the cost of living,” Chalmers said.

It is an enormous turnaround from the $77.9 billion deficit forecast for 2022-23 in the pre-election fiscal outlook from May last year, and a significant improvement from this year’s May budget forecast of a $4.3 billion surplus.

Earlier finance data showed the budget improvements had come from increased revenue from higher commodity prices and income tax.

Continue reading about this here.

Record numbers of Australians enrolled to vote in Voice referendum

Back in Australia, a record number of Australians have enrolled to vote in the Voice referendum on October 14.

It could take days or weeks for the referendum to be decided as an expected 1.2 million postal votes will need to be counted.

Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers says both the level of misinformation and the volume of vitriol directed towards election officials has been growing.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers revealed 17.7 million, or 17,676,347, people were registered at the close of the rolls as he warned against the growing threat posed by online election conspiracies and revealed social media platforms were refusing to remove online posts about harming election staff.

There are currently 200,000 more applications for postal ballots for the October 14 referendum than at the same point in the 2022 general election.

“People have asked me, ‘will we get a result on the night?’ The answer is, I don’t know. It depends on how close the result is on the day,” Rogers said.

Read more about enrolments here. 

Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp

After building an empire over seven decades, Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as the head of Fox and News Corp.

The Australian-born media mogul announced on Thursday (US time) that he will transition from his roles as chair of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp in November.

His son Lachlan will become the sole chairman of both companies, while Rupert Murdoch will become “chairman emeritus”.

Rupert Murdoch is transitioning out of the top jobs at Fox and News Corp.Credit: AP

The 92-year-old informed staff of his decision in a letter that stated he was still in good health but “the time is right to take on different roles.”

He added that he would continue to “be involved every day in the contest of ideas” and warned that the “battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.”

Learn more about Murdoch’s decision from North American correspondent Farrah Tomazin.

This morning’s headlines at a glance

Good morning, and thanks for your company.

It’s Friday, September 22. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s what you need to know before we get started:

  • A record number of Australians have enrolled to vote in the Voice referendum, with the Australian electoral commissioner revealing 17.7 million people were registered to vote.
  • Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is stepping down from Fox, News Corp saying “the time is right to take on different roles”.
  • The Productivity Commission is calling on the federal government to give international airlines unlimited access to Australia, saying it would immediately lower costs.
  • Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver Australia’s largest budget surplus off the back of strong commodity prices and high inflation.
  • Qantas’ board of directors all received an increase in total pay for the past year, despite the airline suffering repeated blows to its reputation and brand.
  • Australia’s COVID-19 inquiry will call on premiers who steered their states through the pandemic but will not investigate major decisions they took individually.
  • In overseas news, India’s suspends Canadian visa services as the diplomatic row escalates over the assassination of a Sikh independence activist.

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