At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A property investment expert has warned rents could rise sharply if the federal government changes negative gearing rules in tonight’s budget. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to unveil housing and tax reforms aimed at improving affordability, including possible changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions for investors. Real estate investor Nathan Birch claims the move could place extra pressure on renters, with some weekly rents potentially jumping by as much as 30 per cent. He said smaller “mum and dad” investors would be hit hardest, arguing many could pass higher costs on to tenants. The government says tougher action is needed to address growing housing pressures and concerns about affordability for younger Australians. Details of the proposed reforms are expected to be revealed in the federal budget. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australian passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, linked to a hantavirus outbreak, are expected to return home this week under strict health precautions. Five travellers including four Australian citizens and one permanent resident will arrive on a charter flight from the Canary Islands accompanied by medical teams in full protective equipment. On arrival, passengers heading to New South Wales will be transferred directly to Australia’s first specialised biocontainment facility at Westmead Hospital in Sydney for health checks and quarantine assessment. The outbreak aboard the expedition ship has already claimed three lives, while several others became ill. Passengers and crew were isolated in their cabins to help contain the virus. Health authorities say the risk to the wider public remains very low. Hantavirus is usually spread through contact with infected rodents and only rarely passes between people through close, prolonged contact. Australian officials are continuing to coordinate quarantine and transport arrangements with state health departments as monitoring and medical assessments continue. Source : Guardian News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. සාම්ප්‍රදායික මෝටර් රථ රක්ෂණ සහතික වෙනුවට ඩිජිටල් මෝටර් රථ රක්ෂණ කාඩ්පත් හඳුන්වා දීමට රක්ෂණ සමාගම් තීරණය කර ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකා රක්ෂණ නියාමන කොමිෂන් සභාව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රක්ෂණ සංගමය සහ රක්ෂණ අංශයේ අනෙකුත් කොටස්කරුවන් එක්ව මෙම තීරණය ගෙන ඇත. පොලිස්පතිවරයා දැනටමත් සියලුම පොලිස් ස්ථාන දැනුවත් කර ඇති අතර මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවශ්‍ය උපදෙස් නිකුත් කර ඇත. ඒ අනුව, මෝටර් රථ රක්ෂණ ආවරණය දැන් ක්‍රම තුනකින් ලබා දෙනු ඇත: ඩිජිටල් මෝටර් රථ රක්ෂණ කාඩ්පතක්, රක්ෂණ ඔප්පුහිමියාගේ ඉල්ලීම මත පමණක් නිකුත් කරන ලද මුද්‍රිත සහතිකයක් සහ ජංගම දුරකථන යෙදුමක් හරහා රක්ෂණ ඔප්පුහිමියාට ලබා දෙන ඩිජිටල් රක්ෂණ කාඩ්පතක්. මේ අතර, ඩිජිටල් රක්ෂණ පද්ධතියට අමතරව ජාතික රක්ෂණ සත්‍යාපන පද්ධතියක් ද හඳුන්වා දී ඇති බව පොලිසිය පැවසීය. මෝටර් රථ රක්ෂණයේ වලංගුභාවය තහවුරු කිරීම සඳහා ක්‍රම කිහිපයක් හරහා පද්ධතියට ප්‍රවේශ විය හැකිය. ඒ අනුව, ඕනෑම ජංගම දුරකථන ජාලයකින් 1338 අමතා වාහන අංකය හෝ රක්ෂණ සහතික අංකය ඇතුළත් කිරීමෙන්, රක්ෂණ ඔප්පුවේ වත්මන් තත්ත්වය පරීක්ෂා කළ හැකිය. ඊට අමතරව, පරිශීලකයින්ට වාහන අංකය හෝ රක්ෂණ ඔප්පු අංකය *1338# වෙත කෙටි පණිවිඩයක් හරහා යැවිය හැකි අතර, ඉන් පසුව රක්ෂණ ඔප්පුවේ තත්ත්වය ක්ෂණිකව පිළිතුරු පණිවිඩයක් ලෙස යවනු ලැබේ. Source : News First Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Albanese government is preparing to unveil its 2026 federal budget, with a strong focus on housing, cost-of-living relief, national security and long-term economic stability. Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to deliver the budget on May 12 as Australia faces rising living costs, global energy uncertainty and growing national debt. Here are the key measures expected in the budget: Housing and infrastructure The government will invest an extra $2 billion in roads, water, power and sewerage projects to support new housing developments. The funding is expected to help deliver up to 65,000 homes over the next decade, including support for regional areas. Another $500 million will go toward speeding up approvals for housing, energy and critical minerals projects, including new AI-powered systems. Fuel security boost Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a $10 billion package to strengthen Australia’s fuel reserves and supply chains. The plan includes: $7.5 billion in support for fuel and fertiliser supplies $3.2 billion for a national fuel reserve Increased minimum fuel stock requirements The reserve is expected to store around one billion litres of fuel. Counter-terrorism funding The government will establish a new online counter-terrorism centre led by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police. Around $80 million will be spent on tackling online extremism and youth radicalisation. Changes to property tax rules The government is reportedly considering major changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing. The current 50 per cent CGT discount for investment properties could be removed and replaced with a system linked to inflation. Negative gearing tax benefits may also be scaled back, with existing investments likely protected under grandfathering arrangements. One-off tax relief Reports suggest workers could receive a one-time tax offset between $200 and $300 to ease cost-of-living pressures. The government has not officially confirmed the payment. Business and tax measures The budget is also expected to include: A minimum 30 per cent tax on trust distributions Extended tax support for businesses recovering from losses Increased research and development tax incentives Farmers and testamentary trusts are expected to be excluded from some changes. Melbourne rail funding The federal government will contribute an additional $3.8 billion to Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop East project. The underground rail line will connect major education, health and employment hubs across the city. Possible fuel excise extension The government is considering extending the temporary fuel excise cut introduced earlier this year to help households and businesses manage fuel costs. Medicare urgent care clinics An extra $1.8 billion will be allocated to expand Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Australia. The clinics provide bulk-billed urgent medical treatment without appointments. NDIS reforms The government plans to reduce NDIS spending by $15 billion over four years through tighter eligibility checks and anti-fraud measures. Officials say the reforms are aimed at controlling rising costs and protecting the long-term future of the scheme. Defence spending increase Australia’s defence budget will rise by more than $53 billion over the next decade under the National Defence Strategy. The funding boost comes amid growing global security concerns and tensions in the Middle East. Source : News.com More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A major cyberattack on global education provider Instructure has disrupted schools and universities across Australia, exposing data linked to millions of students worldwide. The breach is believed to have affected over 200 million users and more than 9,000 institutions, putting education systems on high alert. In Australia, platforms like QLearn and Canvas widely used in schools and universities may have been impacted. Authorities say student and staff details such as names, email addresses, locations, and ID numbers could be involved. Importantly, there is currently no evidence that passwords, financial details, or sensitive identification data were accessed. Education officials are now working quickly to notify affected families and provide support especially for vulnerable groups, including those linked to child safety services. Several universities, including institutions in Adelaide, Tasmania, and Melbourne, have confirmed potential exposure. Instructure says the issue has been contained and systems are now secure, with no ongoing unauthorised activity detected. Investigations are still ongoing as authorities assess the full scale of the breach. Source : News.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය වර්ධනය කිරීමේ අරමුණින් රජය විසින් යෝජනා කළ රටවල් 40කට free visa පහසුකම් ලබාදීම සඳහා වූ නීති රීති, ආගමන හා නිගමන පනත යටතේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් අනුමත කර ඇත. මහජන ආරක්ෂාව හා පාර්ලිමේන්තු කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය අනන්ද විජේපාල මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පැවසුවේ, මෙම නව නියාමන යටතේ එක්සත් රාජධානිය (United Kingdom), එක්සත් ජනපදය (United States), කැනඩාව (Canada), ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව (Australia), නවසීලන්තය (New Zealand), ඔස්ට්‍රියාව (Austria), බෙලරුස් (Belarus), බෙල්ජියම (Belgium), චෙක් ජනරජය (Czech Republic), ඩෙන්මාර්ක් (Denmark), ෆින්ලන්තය (Finland), ප්‍රංශය (France), ජර්මනිය (Germany), ඉතාලිය (Italy), නෙදර්ලන්තය (the Netherlands), නෝර්වේ (Norway), පොලන්තය (Poland), ස්පාඤ්ඤය (Spain), ස්වීඩනය (Sweden), ස්විට්සර්ලන්තය (Switzerland), බහරේන් (Bahrain), ඉරානය (Iran), ඉස්රායලය (Israel), කසකස්තානය (Kazakhstan), කුවේට් (Kuwait), නේපාලය (Nepal), ඔමානය (Oman), පාකිස්තානය (Pakistan), කටාර් (Qatar), සෞදි අරාබිය (Saudi Arabia), දකුණු කොරියාව (South Korea), තුර්කිය (Turkey), එක්සත් අරාබි එමීරේට්ස් (UAE), චීනය (China), ඉන්දියාව (India), ඉන්දුනීසියාව (Indonesia), ජපානය (Japan), මලේසියාව (Malaysia), රුසියාව (Russia) සහ තායිලන්තය (Thailand) ඇතුළු රටවල් 40කට මෙම පහසුකම ලබා දෙන බවයි. අමාත්‍යවරයා සඳහන් කළේ, මීට පෙර නිදහස් වීසා පහසුකම ලබා දී තිබුණේ චීනය (China), ඉන්දියාව (India), ඉන්දුනීසියාව (Indonesia), ජපානය (Japan), මලේසියාව (Malaysia), රුසියාව (Russia) සහ තායිලන්තය (Thailand) යන රටවලට පමණක් බවයි. නව නියාමන අනුව, සංචාරක වීසා (visit visa) දින 30ක කාලයක් සඳහා නොමිලේ ලබා දෙන බවද ඔහු පැවසීය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, එම රටවලින් පැමිණෙන සංචාරකයින් සියලුම අනෙකුත් ක්‍රියාපටිපාටි අනුගමනය කළ යුතු අතර, වීසා ගාස්තුව පමණක් ඉවත් කර ඇති බවත්, ඔවුන්ට විද්‍යුත් සංචාරක අනුමතිය (Electronic Travel Authorization - ETA) ලබා ගැනීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බවත් අමාත්‍යවරයා පැහැදිලි කළේය. මෙම free visa ක්‍රමය හේතුවෙන් රජයට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 75ක පමණ ආදායම් අහිමිවීමක් සිදුවිය හැකි බව සඳහන් කළ ඔහු, එමඟින් අතිරේක සංචාරකයින් 247,000ක් රටට ආකර්ෂණය වනු ඇති බවද ඇස්තමේන්තු කර ඇතැයි පැවසීය. “අමතර සංචාරක පැමිණීම් හේතුවෙන් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 317ක ආදායමක් උපයා ගැනීමට හැකි වනු ඇත. එමඟින් නිකර ලාභය ලෙස ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 242ක් ලැබෙනු ඇත,” යනුවෙන් අමාත්‍යවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. Source : Daily Mirror More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Western Australia has unveiled a new budget focused on easing cost-of-living pressures, including a $100 fuel credit for every driver’s licence holder. The state recorded a strong $3.5 billion surplus, boosted by rising GST revenue. Leaders say the plan aims to keep the economy strong while supporting families. Key highlights: • $100 fuel credit for drivers from July 1 • Over $1 billion in cost-of-living support • Up to $2,000 in total assistance for families with two children • Student payments of $150–$250 per child • Free public transport for students, seniors (off-peak), and Sundays Housing remains a major focus: • $4.7 billion investment to boost housing supply • 34,000 new homes planned with federal support • Stamp duty relief expanded for first home buyers • More funding for social and affordable housing Health and infrastructure also see major funding, including $9 billion for health services and new hospital capacity. However, critics argue the measures fall short, saying many families still face rising living costs and housing stress. The government says it has struck a balance but debate continues over whether it’s enough. Source : News.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. A major cybersecurity breach affecting more than 200 million people worldwide has impacted students and teachers across Queensland. The breach involves Instructure, the third-party provider behind the Queensland education system’s Qlearn online platform since 2020. John-Paul Langbroek said the global incident has affected over 9,000 educational institutions, including schools and universities in Australia and overseas. Early investigations suggest the exposed information may include names, email addresses, and school locations linked to Queensland students and staff who used the system since 2020. Authorities say there is currently no evidence that passwords, financial details, or dates of birth were accessed. Schools have started contacting affected families and teachers as the investigation continues. Source : 9 News Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Australia has announced a new AUD 2 million partnership with the FAO and Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Ministry to support recovery efforts after Cyclone Ditwah. The 12-month program, launched in Colombo, will focus on rebuilding vegetable farming in the hard-hit districts of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla two key areas for the country’s food production. The initiative will support more than 2,400 small-scale farmers through improved seed and nursery systems, climate-smart farming methods, and better access to resources. The project also aims to strengthen food security, improve rural livelihoods, and help farming communities become more resilient to future climate challenges. Australia says it will continue working closely with Sri Lanka to support long-term agricultural recovery and sustainable food systems following the cyclone. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. The Australian Government has unveiled a massive $10.7 billion fuel security package ahead of next week’s federal budget, aiming to strengthen the country’s fuel reserves after recent supply disruptions linked to conflict in the Middle East. The plan includes $7.5 billion for a new Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility, designed to boost local fuel storage and supply through loans, guarantees and industry support. Another $3.2 billion will go towards creating an Australian Fuel Security Reserve. The reserve is expected to store around one billion litres of diesel and aviation fuel to improve long-term energy security. The government also plans to increase minimum fuel stockholding requirements by about 10 days. Australia currently holds around 43 days of petrol supply and 33 days of diesel supply still well below the 90-day target required for members of the International Energy Agency. Australia remains heavily dependent on imported fuel and now operates only two oil refineries, located in Brisbane and Geelong. Concerns intensified after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz triggered fuel shortages and panic buying earlier this year. The package also includes funding for new fuel storage projects, refinery feasibility studies, and ongoing industry coordination to prepare for future supply shocks. Additional emergency measures already introduced by the government include temporary fuel excise cuts, relaxed fuel quality standards, support for fuel imports, and the removal of some heavy vehicle charges. The opposition has criticised the government’s response, arguing Australia needs even larger fuel reserves and more domestic energy production to avoid future shortages. Source : carexpert.com Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Meta Platforms is rolling out new AI tools to identify and remove underage users from its platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, as part of efforts to comply with Australia’s upcoming social media rules for users under 16. The system will scan public profiles for signs of age. This includes analysing posts, captions, comments, and bios for clues such as birthday references or school-related information. It will also review photos and videos for visual indicators like appearance and physical development. According to Meta, the AI can combine these signals to assess whether an account likely belongs to a minor. The company says testing will begin in the United States, with wider global use planned for users under 13 first, followed by expansion to under-16 users in Australia in the coming months. Meta’s safety chief Antigone Davis said the company has heavily invested in AI to detect and remove underage accounts and improve online safety for young users. She added that while the tools are important, the most effective long-term solution would be age checks at app store level, allowing parents to manage access across all apps in one place rather than relying on each platform separately. Source : News.com.au Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka, your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans in Australia and beyond. Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a new ground handling contract for SriLankan Airlines at Sydney Airport, ensuring services continue without disruption. The previous agreement ended on April 30, 2026, prompting a limited international tender. Three bids were reviewed, with Menzies Aviation (Australia) Pty Ltd selected as the best-qualified and most cost-effective option. The contract, approved on the recommendation of the procurement committee, runs for three years from May 1, 2026, and is valued at approximately AUD 8.32 million. Source : Daily Mirror More updates to come on AusNewsLanka.