The conflict in Gaza should end following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, a senior minister says.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says the situation between Iran and Israel should not draw attention from that in Gaza.

“We want to see a return of Israeli hostages, absolutely we do,” she told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“But when you look at the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the humanitarian aid being prevented from entering Gaza and being distributed, the number of deaths we continue to see, I think it’s important.

“Most people see that these two conflicts are related and we need to make sure that we are urging peace in both circumstances.”

Israel’s violence in Gaza restarted after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded the nation and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023.

Israel’s bombardment, aid blockages and military action in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people and left many more on the brink of starvation.

The situation comes just days after Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire in military strikes between the two countries.

The 12-day conflict saw the US bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.

But concern still remains for more than 3000 Australians  stranded in Iran.

While thousands have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for assistance to leave the country, border restrictions and flight path closures have hampered efforts.

Ms Plibersek said work was under way to bring Australians home.

“Australia’s interest in this is predominantly in making sure that Australians who are caught up in this conflict are able to get safely out of Iran,” she said.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said it was important for a ceasefire to hold in the region.

“It is time to be able to shift back towards diplomacy … it’s in the interests of peace for Iran to not have a nuclear weapons capability,” he told Sky News.

“Iran has been in breach of international obligations (on nuclear weapons) and the US strikes were targeted very specifically at the potential of nuclear weapons from Iran, and we are glad that those setbacks have occurred.”

Lifting the federal defence budget will be based on what Australia’s military can achieve, rather an arbitrary dollar figure, a senior minister says.

Pressure has mounted on the Albanese government to lift defence spending, after NATO allies agreed to boost theirs to five per cent of GDP.

While Australia has pledged to increase its spend to 2.3 per cent by 2033/34, the US has called for a rise to 3.5 per cent.

But Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia was already lifting its spending on the military, which would also centre on the ability of the armed forces to protect the country.

“We start with the capability, we don’t start with the dollars, and that’s how we work with every financial decision that the government makes,” Mr Burke told Sky News on Sunday.

“With those capability decisions, we are already spending more than was spent before we came to office.”

Despite the push from the US, Mr Burke said Australia’s relationship with America was not at risk.

“The relationship with the United States is really important,” he said.

“We have mature, decent, respectful conversations with the United States, but as I say, the conversation doesn’t start with the dollars at our end.”

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said the instability seen around the world reinforced the need for countries like Australia to spend more on defence.

“We are seeing authoritarian regimes across the globe flexing their muscles, and open, democratic societies like ours need to stand up for what we believe in, and need to make sure we achieve peace through deterrence,” he told Sky News.

“There’s a range of things that are very clear that we need to spend on … and there’s a whole series of areas which we’re seeing are underfunded right now.”

Before the federal election, the opposition had pledged to increase the defence budget to three per cent of GDP.

However, there was uncertainty about where the extra money would come from.

Mr Taylor said the budget for the military should be increased, regardless if there was pressure from the US.

“If a government is not in a position to keep its people safe, then it has failed as a government,” he said.

“This is a disaster for Australians and for Australia, we need to get serious about it, and I’m going to continue to hold the government to account on this, because this is a failure from our government.”

Newlyweds Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez left their luxury hotel on Venice’s Grand Canal for a final night of partying, crowning a three-day star-studded wedding extravaganza.

Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening local time (Saturday morning AEST) on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from Saint Mark’s Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Jordan’s Queen Rania, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, were among the A-listers present.

Saturday’s evening bash – wrapping up celebrations for 200-250 guests estimated to have cost some $US50 million ($A76 million) – was due to take place in the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard in an eastern district of the lagoon city.

About 1000 people marched against the event on Saturday, groups of activists and residents who object to the wedding and to seeing Venice being gift-wrapped for the uber-wealthy.

Some guests were seen leaving the Gritti Palace hotel in central Venice wearing their pyjamas, sometimes beneath colourful dressing gowns, before boarding small boats to reach the party.

Bezos and Sanchez had a more sober style. He was dressed in a black skirt and suit, while she had a soft-pink off-the-shoulder dress. They kissed on the boat while greeting those around them.

At the ceremony, the bride wore a high-necked silhouette dress and a tulle and lace veil by Dolce & Gabbana, which she told magazine Vogue was based on Sophia Loren’s dress to marry Cary Grant in the 1958 film, Houseboat.

Sanchez was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings by Dolce & Gabbana, which, according to Vogue, was lent to her in keeping with the tradition that it brings good luck for a bride to wear something borrowed.

Bezos, who is No.4 on Forbes’ global billionaires list, donned a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt.

Friday’s ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have previously wed legally in the United States to avoid the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.

While some residents and activists raged against Bezos as a symbol of inequality and arrogance, Venetian businesses and political leaders welcomed the luxury nuptials, hailing them as a major boost for the local economy.

“Those who protest are in contradiction with the history of Venice, which is a history of relations, contacts and business,” Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Reuters.

“Bezos embodies the Venetian mentality. He is more Venetian than the protesters,” said the centre-right mayor, adding that he hoped Bezos, who donated three million euros ($US3.51 million ($A5.4 million)) to local institutions, would return to the city to do business.

Brugnaro said Bezos had attached no conditions to holding his wedding celebrations in Venice, and City Hall had only learned about his donations after they had already been made.

Bezos, Amazon’s executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. 

The United States and the Group of Seven countries have agreed to support a proposal that would exempt US companies from some components of an existing global agreement, the G7 says.

The group has created a “side-by-side” system in response to the US administration agreeing to scrap the Section 899 retaliatory tax proposal from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, it said in a statement from Canada, the head of the rolling G7 presidency.

The G7 said the plan recognises existing US minimum tax laws and aims to bring more stability to the international tax system.

United Kingdom businesses are also spared higher taxes after the removal of Section 899 from Trump’s tax and spending bill.

The UK government said businesses would benefit from greater certainty and stability following the agreement.

Some UK businesses had in recent weeks said they were worried about paying substantial additional tax due to the inclusion of Section 899, which has now been removed.

“Today’s agreement provides much-needed certainty and stability for those businesses after they had raised their concerns,” finance minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement, adding that more work was need to tackle aggressive tax planning and avoidance.

G7 officials said that they look forward to discussing a solution that is “acceptable and implementable to all”.

In January, through an executive order, Trump declared that the global corporate minimum tax deal was not applicable in the US, effectively pulling out of the landmark 2021 arrangement negotiated by the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden with nearly 140 countries.

He had also vowed to impose a retaliatory tax against countries that impose taxes on US firms under the 2021 global tax agreement.

This tax was considered detrimental to many foreign companies operating in the US.

Australians will get a boost to minimum wages while more will be squirrelled away into retirement nest eggs under changes taking place at the start of a new financial year.

July 1 marks brighter news for the hip pockets of Australians with increases to wages and welfare payments and continued energy bill support.

The national minimum wage will increase 3.5 per cent, with the lowest-paid workers taking home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week.

The rate at which superannuation is paid into workers’ nest eggs will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and expand to working parents who take leave to care for their babies.

A mother-of-two’s retirement savings will see a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually.

But while most Australians will enjoy more in their super accounts, those with balances over $3 million, about 80,000 people, will have their accounts tax doubled from 15 per cent to 30 per cent.

Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after July 1.

For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments due to indexation.

Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over.

Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B see their payments increase to $193.34, and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight.

While aged pension rates aren’t increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent.

Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday.

They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available.

“You simply can’t be serious about strengthening Medicare without a serious focus on women’s health,” Health Minister Mark Butler said.

“Women consume about 60 per cent of all health services in this country and they face a range of significant costs simply by virtue of being women.”

Meanwhile, energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments.

But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent.

Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent.

Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, flush from their Venice wedding ceremony, are gearing up for the final day of partying in the lagoon city with scores of celebrity guests from media, fashion and show business.

The three-day gala, estimated to cost $US50 million ($A76 million), will culminate on Saturday evening with the closing party in a former medieval shipyard where Lady Gaga and Elton John are expected to perform.

Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from Saint Mark’s Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The bride at the ceremony wore a high-necked silhouette dress and a tulle and lace veil by Dolce and Gabbana, which she told magazine Vogue was based on Sophia Loren’s dress to marry Cary Grant in the 1958 film Houseboat.

Sanchez was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings by Dolce & Gabbana, which, according to Vogue, were lent to her in keeping with the tradition that it brings good luck for a bride to wear something borrowed.

Bezos, who is No.4 on Forbes’ global billionaires list, donned a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt.

The ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Jordan’s Queen Rania, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana were among the 200-250 guests.

While the celebrities rub shoulders in the isolated halls in the east of the city, not far away activists will be protesting at what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders.

A protest march is planned at 5pm on Saturday from the railway station to the Rialto Bridge.

For days, members of the “No Space for Bezos” movement have been trying to spoil the party, hanging anti-Bezos banners on the iconic Rialto Bridge and laying out a huge canvas in central Saint Mark’s Square telling the tech-tycoon to pay more taxes.

While some residents and activists see Bezos’ extravaganza as a symbol of inequality and arrogance, Venice’s businesses and the city authorities have welcomed the event, claiming a major boost for the local economy.

“Those who protest are in contradiction with the history of Venice, which is a history of relations, contacts and business,” the city’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Reuters in an interview.

“Bezos embodies the Venetian mentality, he is more Venetian than the protesters,” said the mayor, adding that he hoped Bezos, who donated 3 million euros ($A5.4 million) to local institutions, would return to the city to do business.

Brugnaro said Bezos had attached no conditions to holding his wedding celebrations in Venice, and City Hall had only learned about his donations after they had already been made.

Bezos, Amazon’s executive chair, became engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to MacKenzie Scott.

Australians are being warned to exercise patience when lodging their tax returns and be wary of tax-time loans this end of financial year.

Some 142,000 people had amendments or their returns investigated by the tax office in 2024 after jumping the gun before it was marked ‘tax ready’.

These were returns lodged in the first 2 weeks of July 2024.

Waiting a few extra weeks gives the tax office ample time to pre-fill important information.

“We pre-fill information from your employer, banks, government agencies and health funds into your tax return to help you get it right the first time – regardless of whether you use a registered tax agent or lodge yourself,” ATO Assistant Commissioner Rob Thomson said.

That little bit of extra time reduces the likelihood of mistakes or omissions which can lead to taxpayers having to submit an amendment – causing delays and issues.

The Tax Practitioners Board has also voiced concerns over tax time loans and how they might harm vulnerable members of the community.

This involves a tax practitioner, or associated lender, providing a short-term loan or advance on an estimated tax refund to a client.

Consumers could be hit with higher fees not fully transparent to the client, a failure of the practitioner in exercising reasonable care and unlawful behaviour when engaging in the practice.

“Tax practitioners must carefully consider their legal and ethical obligations and inform their clients of the potential risks when engaging in or recommending tax time finance,” board chair Peter de Cure said.

The Australian government introduced tax cuts from July 1, 2024 that will reduce the 19 per cent tax rate to 16 per cent and drop the 32.5 per cent rate to 30 per cent.

An increased threshold for which the 37 per cent tax rate applies has gone from $120,000 to $135,000, with another jump for those in the 45 per cent rate from $180,000 to $190,000.

More changes are on the way from 2026 when every taxpayer will receive an extra cut of up to $268 from July 1 and up to $536 every year from July 2027, compared to 2024–25 tax settings.

The ATO collected $577.4 billion in revenue in the 2022-23 financial year with just over half of that stemming from individual income tax ($298 billion).

Work-related expenses resulted in half of deductions claims by individuals with 10.3 million Aussies claiming a total of $28.3 billion – an average of $2739 per person.

Major Australian and New Zealand retailers are primed for an energy switch following millions of dollars in federal funding to decarbonise their services.

Wesfarmers, who own shops like Officeworks, Bunnings, Kmart and Coles will finance rooftop solar, battery storage, a vehicle smart charging pilot and other efficiency initiatives across stores. 

This comes from a $100 million commitment from government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation, labelled Australia’s specialist climate investor.

It means Wesfarmers will be able to manage energy consumption across its retail sites and make them more efficient through storage. 

These installed or upgraded facility changes are expected to be in effect by the end of 2025.

“We have long managed our businesses with climate and carbon awareness and we are committed to continuing to take action to reduce our impact on the environment,” Wesfarmers CFO Anthony Gianotti said.

A study to accelerate decarbonisation across stores will also be undertaken under the funding envelope.

Adopting these initiatives is a “practical and speedy” way to cut the organisations carbon footprint, the climate investor’s CEO Ian Learmonth said.

“Many Australians would have enjoyed a Bunnings Saturday sausage sizzle or taken the path to Officeworks for those back-to-school necessities,” he said.

“At selected sites they will soon be able to add vehicle charging to their store visits while enjoying solar-powered air conditioning.”

Australia’s retail sector accounts for 50 per cent of energy use in the commercial property sector and five per cent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

Batteries, virtual power plants and electric vehicles can reduce grid demand through co-ordination of their charging and discharging, the Australian Energy Market Operator said.

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen said the partnership will drive down emissions and lower energy costs, while providing knock-on benefits to households. 

“This boost in finance by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will accelerate Wesfarmers’ efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, make the shift to cleaner and cheaper energy and better manage energy use,” he said.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez have married in a lavish Venice wedding, after multiple days of star-studded nuptial events.

Sánchez, 55, posted to Instagram a photo of herself beaming in a white gown as she stood alongside a tuxedo-clad Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest man.

The bride wore a classic mermaid-line gown, featuring Dolce & Gabbana’s signature Italian lace. A traditional tulle-and-lace veil completed her look.

“Not just a gown, a piece of poetry,” she wrote on Instagram, where her name now appears as Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

Friday night’s ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.

The festivities, estimated to cost about $US50 million ($A77 million), culminate on Saturday with a party in a former medieval shipyard where media outlets say Lady Gaga and Elton John are set to perform.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana are among the 200-250 guests.

Amid tight security, there have been glimpses of the celebrities moving around town, the women in summer dresses and high heels stepping somewhat gingerly off boats ferrying them around the city’s canals.

Celebrations began on Thursday evening in the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church in the central district of Cannaregio that hosts masterpieces by 16th-century painter Tintoretto.

“This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,” the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for “no gifts” and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions.

Their donations are worth three million euros ($A5.4 million).

Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is opposed by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders.

Bezos, 61, is No.4 on Forbes’ global billionaires list.

Giulia Cacopardo, a 28-year-old representative of the “No Space for Bezos” movement, complained that the needs of ordinary people were being neglected in a city that is a tourist magnet and fast depopulating largely due to the soaring cost of living.

Venice’s city centre has less than 50,000 residents, compared to almost 100,000 in the late 1970s.

“When you empty a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into a stage for big events,” Cacopardo told Reuters.

“(But) the money that Bezos spends on this wedding does not end up in the pockets of Venetians. The owners of luxury hotels are not Venetians.”

Cacopardo was one of 30-40 activists who staged a protest in St Mark’s Square on Thursday, chanting, “We are the 99 per cent” as a masked couple posed as bride and groom and one man climbed a pole to unfurl a banner reading “The one per cent ruins the world”.

Police intervened, forcibly removing the protesters.

The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and their activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of the closing party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard.

Charlotte Perkins, an Australian tourist, said she could understand the locals’ resentment at their city being treated as a celebrity playground.

“I’d probably feel the same if I lived here,” she said.

But politicians, hoteliers and some other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city.

“We are happy and honoured to welcome Jeff Bezos and his consort Lauren Sanchez,” mayor Luigi Brugnaro said.

Bezos, Amazon’s executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to MacKenzie Scott.

with AP

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez have left their luxury hotel on Venice’s Grand Canal to head to their wedding ceremony, the centrepiece of a three-day gala featuring dozens of stars but also protests by local activists. 

Sanchez, 55, waved and blew kisses to onlookers as she boarded a sleek motor boat outside the Aman hotel wearing shades and a head scarf to protect her from the blistering summer sun.

About two hours later Bezos, 61, made the same short trip across the lagoon to the small island of San Giorgio where the couple will exchange rings, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The evening ceremony will have no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage. 

The festivities, estimated to cost about $US50 million ($A77 million), culminate on Saturday with a party in a former medieval shipyard where media outlets say Lady Gaga and Elton John are set to perform.

Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana are among the 200-250 guests.

Amid tight security, there have been glimpses of the celebrities moving around town, the women in summer dresses and high heels stepping somewhat gingerly off boats ferrying them around the city’s canals.

Celebrations began on Thursday evening in the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church in the central district of Cannaregio that hosts masterpieces by 16th-century painter Tintoretto.

“This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,” the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for “no gifts” and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions.

Their donations are worth 3 million euros ($A5.4 million).

Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is opposed by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. 

Bezos is No.4 on Forbes’ global billionaires list.

Giulia Cacopardo, a 28-year-old representative of the “No Space for Bezos” movement, complained that the needs of ordinary people were being neglected in a city that is a tourist magnet and fast depopulating largely due to the soaring cost of living.

Venice’s city centre has less than 50,000 residents, compared to almost 100,000 in the late 1970s.

“When you empty a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into a stage for big events,” Cacopardo told Reuters. 

“(But) the money that Bezos spends on this wedding does not end up in the pockets of Venetians. The owners of luxury hotels are not Venetians.”

Cacopardo was one of 30-40 activists who staged a protest in St Mark’s Square on Thursday, chanting “We are the 99 per cent” as a masked couple posed as bride and groom and one man climbed a pole to unfurl a banner reading “The 1 per cent ruins the world”.

Police intervened, forcibly removing the protesters.

The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and their activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of the closing party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard.

Charlotte Perkins, an Australian tourist, said she could understand the locals’ resentment at their city being treated as a celebrity playground.

“I’d probably feel the same if I lived here,” she said.

But politicians, hoteliers and some other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city.

“We are happy and honoured to welcome Jeff Bezos and his consort Lauren Sanchez,” mayor Luigi Brugnaro said.

Bezos, Amazon’s executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to MacKenzie Scott.