Categories
Business

Rental crisis: employer’s shock at real estate agent’s questions

Rental crisis: employer's shock at real estate agent's questions

Support has piled on for an employer who called out real estate agents who asked “invasive” questions about one of his employees, prompting other Aussies to share their own horror stories and distrust for the industry.

Taking to Twitter, Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari shared his dismay at being asked questions about his employee that he said had no relevance to applying for a rental property.

“I was a reference for an employee & the agent asked q’s like: Total salary, do they come to work on time, are they hard working,” he shared.

“These q’s are none of the agents business & no boss should have the power to spike where u live.”

Now, others on Twitter are sharing their own experiences, and backing up Mr Hilakari’s stance.

“Have you had many girlfriends? Would you trust him with your kids? Does he like to go out late?” answer one. “True questions recently asked to my reference when applying for a rental. Get in the bin.”

“I’ve done one of these too, but even worse,” replied another employer. “It’s stupid. Even if the employee is seconds away from being fired, there is no incentive and a lot of risk for a manager to write anything remotely meaningful. I cannot discuss an employee’s performance with a real estate agent.”

Another was quick to speculate it was likely the real estate agent had taken it upon themselves to ask the questions, and questioned if landlords even knew this was happening: “This is total power tripping and I bet the landlord has no idea it’s even happening and isn’t given that info.”

“That’s 100% correct. Real estate agents think that they are a law unto themselves. They are the root of the housing crisis, as well as developers riding roughshod over homebuyers and governments,” agreed another.

Although most were firmly against the apparently not uncommon line of questioning, not everyone supported renters, with one Twitter user replying that these were fair questions to ask.

“Of course they’re relevant questions. If they don’t make enough money then they may not be able to afford the rent. If they don’t come to work on time then they might not pay their rent on time. If they are not hard working then they may not look after the rental property,” they said.

“Sorry to burst the bubble but these kind of things add up to someone who is probably responsible and would probably reliably pay their rent on time,” said another.

While some argued that seeking to find out what type of person an agent might be allowing to rent a property is fair, others pointed out that those looking to buy weren’t held to the same standard.

“I recently got a mortgage and they didn’t call my employer,” a Twitter user commented. “Pay slips/bank statements were enough. Renters are being scrutinized to a greater degree for a much shorter term/less beneficial to them financial commitment.”

We all know that the process of applying for an overpriced rental is competitive, invasive and absolutely stacked in the landlord’s favor — just look at the reaction one potential tenant got when he asked for something as simple as a reference for the landlord.

Now, Mr Hilakari says changes to the Victoria’s Residential Tenancies Act are needed to regulate the types of questions real estates can ask.

Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Hilakari further explained that he was concerned with invasive questions like this were not only getting worse, but unfairly gave an employer too much power of their employees’ life.

“We’ve received reference checks for rentals before for and the questions being asked are getting much more invasive,” he said.

“As the rental market has tightened, it seems real estate agents think they have the unfettered right to ask whatever they want.

“Employers are put in the terrible situation of either having to give personal information or risk their employee missing out on a house to live in.

“I’ve had both employers and renters reach out and say they have universally had a gut full. Renters feel completely put over a barrel and feel they have no choice but to share their personal data.

“The system has to change.”

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Categories
Technology

AMD’s next-gen Ryzen 7000 CPUs will arrive before September ends

AMD's next-gen Ryzen 7000 CPUs will arrive before September ends

AMD will ship its next-generation Ryzen 7000 processors this quarter, AMD executives confirmed. That means Ryzen 7000 will hit the streets by the end of September.

Previously, AMD had said that Ryzen 7000 would ship in the second half of the year, but the company narrowed its release schedule in a conference call with analysts. AMD representatives indicated that the change in timing should be taken as a clarification, not as a change in the company’s roadmap.

AMD made it clear that Intel’s unexpected, catastrophic loss this quarter was mainly due to Intel’s execution, rather than wider industry problems, with AMD delivering record revenue for the eighth straight quarter.

The good times appear ready to keep rolling, too.

Chief executive Dr. Lisa Su said that AMD’s fourth quarter will be highlighted by the company’s new lineup of 5nm products, that we’re very excited about.

Those include the Ryzen 7000 lineup but also Radeon’s next-gen RDNA3 graphics cards. AMD expects the new RDNA3 GPUs will deliver more than 50 percent generation-over-generation improvement, a combination of design as well as the 5nm process technology.

Ryzen 7000 CPUs will slot into motherboards featuring AMD’s new AM5 socket.

Ryzen 7000 should run well over 5GHz, using the new AM5 socket, according to previous AMD disclosures. In January, when AMD first announced the Ryzen 7000 and its Zen 4 architecture, the company specified the second half of 2022 as the launch date for the new chip.

At Computex, AMD executives nailed down the fall as the launch timeframe for its new processor. Now, it’ll be ready by the end of September.

AMD executives wouldn’t say exactly when the new Ryzen 7000 chips will launch or whether they would generate revenue in the third quarter. However, the names of four chips — the Ryzen 9 7950X, Ryzen 9 7900X, Ryzen 7 7700X, and the Ryzen 5 7600X — leaked on AMD’s own website, according to VideoCardz.

Unfortunately, key details such as price, core counts, and clock speeds have yet to be officially confirmed.

What AMD’s results do tell us, however, is that Ryzen’s momentum continues, and that PC makers and end customers continue to buy in.

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Categories
Sports

Heimgartner Supercars chassis ‘won’t race again’

Heimgartner Supercars chassis 'won't race again'


Slade Perrins

Heimgartner’s chassis will not race again. Picture: Ross Gibb

The chassis used by Andre Heimgartner which was involved in the startline crash at The Bend Motorsport Park will not race again, Brad Jones Racing has confirmed.

Heimgartner’s #8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore collected a stalled Thomas Randle at the start of Sunday’s Race 22 of the OTR SuperSprint.

Both drivers are set to return for the next round at Sandown, with Randle eager to get back behind the wheel, though the respective cars are much worse for wear.

In a video posted to BJR’s social media, crew chief Sam Cosgrove confirmed that chassis BJR 012, dubbed ‘Cathy’, is a write off.

Cosgrove shed light on the extent of the damage, explaining the tunnel and main hoop were particularly compromised.

“We’ve had a lot of questions as to if this chassis will ever race again; the answer is definitely not,” Cosgrove said in the video.

“All the bar work is extensively damaged… the big damage… is the tunnelwork.

“The main hoop is creased…the fact that is all damaged that bad…sadly to say, she won’t see a race track ever again.”

Heimgartner will switch to one of BJR’s spare chassis, which is having the salvaged components from ‘Cathy’ transferred across.

Randle was confident Tickford Racing would be able to repair his chassis involved in the crash, but nonetheless will compete in Zak Best’s Mustang at Sandown.

The Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint takes place from August 19-21.

Categories
Australia

Queensland child commission, advocates call for use of spit hoods on minors to be banned

A man wearing a gauze hood on his head.

The use of spit hoods on young people is “completely unacceptable and should be outlawed,” Queensland’s Family and Child Commission (QFCC) says.

Principal Commissioner Luke Twyford says there are a range of alternatives to the fabric hoods, which are put over a detainee’s head to prevent spitting or biting.

Mr Twyford’s remarks on ABC Radio Brisbane follow revelations Queensland police have used spit hoods on 20 young people in Queensland watch houses since 2015.

Yesterday a budget estimates hearing was told that the hoods were in use up until about seven months ago and there had been eight instances of use in the state since 2019.

Greens MP Michael Berkman asked Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll how many times spit hoods had been used.

A man speaks to the media during a press conference.
Michael Berkman asked about the use of spit hoods in Queensland.(AAP: Glenn Hunt)

Ms Carroll acknowledged that Queensland was one of the few jurisdictions where the hoods were still in use.

“We are looking at very closely working with the Children’s Commissioner to stop that use in the future,” she said.

“We are working closely with the Children’s Commissioner to look at other options.”

When asked what steps the government was taking to ban the use of spit hoods and restraint chairs, Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government needed to get the policy mix right in order to work with the operational requirements of the Queensland police.

“Certainly it would be the government’s view that we would work alongside the Police Service to ensure that they had appropriate use of force options which did not include spit hoods,” he said.

A woman in a police uniform sitting at a police station.
Katarina Carroll says are working to put an end to the use of spit hoods. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)

Ms Carroll confirmed spit hoods could be used inside watch houses in Queensland.

‘Dangerous and archaic’

Mr Twyford said all of Australia’s children commissioners had already written an open letter calling for the practice to be banned.

“We are working with the Queensland Police Commissioner there to ensure that they are not used,” he said.

“When a young person is in a heightened state, putting a bag over their head isn’t a sensible solution.”

Change the Record co-chair Cheryl Axleby said the idea that it was acceptable to put a bag over the head of a distressed child or adult was “cruel” and “archaic”.

A woman stands in front of a yellow Indigenous artwork.
Cheryl Axelby says First Nations people are at higher risk of being subjected to spit hoods. (Supplied)

She said the organization had called on the Queensland government and every other state and territory government to follow the lead of South Australia, where spit hoods have been outlawed.

“First Nations peoples are affected by discrimination at every point of the criminal justice system,” Ms Axleby said.

“This means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are at a greater risk of being subjected to the use of cruel and inhumane treatment like the use of spit hoods when in police or prison custody.

“In an era where we have world-class [personal protective equipment] there is absolutely no need for these dangerous and archaic devices.”

ABC’s Four Corners showed footage of a child detainee bound to a restraint chair with their face covered by a spit hood in the Northern Territory’s Don Dale detention center in 2016.

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Categories
US

Police identify 2 people killed, reveal ages of 6 injured

Police identify 2 people killed, reveal ages of 6 injured

DETROIT – Police revealed the identities of the two people who were killed in a shooting sparked by an argument over the way cars were parked for a birthday party in a detroit neighborhood, as well as the ages of the six people who were injured.

what happened

The shooting happened at 2:44 am Sunday (July 31) in the 11600 block of Coyle Street, near Plymouth Road on Detroit’s west side, according to authorities.

Detroit police Chief James White said Winston Kirtley Jr., 36, of Detroit, got upset about the way people had parked their vehicles for a birthday party directly across the street from his house.

“This was a birthday party where people were parked all around the home, and our suspect became upset about where the vehicles were placed,” White said. “My understanding is that perhaps one of the vehicles was blocking the driveway.”

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Police said the parking situation sparked a dispute that ultimately led to Kirtley firing multiple shots from what officials called a “high-powered rifle.” Gunshots were fired from both the first and second floors of the home, authorities said.

Eight people were struck by gunfire, police said.

“Instead of contacting the police department, instead of notifying the NPOs, which we have to handle such matters, he decided to take matters into his own hands, engaging them, and ultimately shooting up the home, striking our eight victims, and again, two of them are sadly deceased,” White said.

Kirtley arrested, charged

Police said officers entered Kirtley’s home, and he was inside in the dark. He has a military background and had placed weapons around the home so he could access them if engaged, White said.

Once police identified Kirtley and made contact with him, he gave himself up and was taken into custody without incident, according to authorities.

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Police said they recovered 11 weapons from strategic locations throughout the home.

“Eleven weapons were strategically placed throughout the home, so as he moved through the home, he would have access to these weapons,” White said.

Kirtley was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, six counts of assault with attempted murder, two counts of discharge at a building, and 10 felony firearm violations.

He was arraigned Wednesday morning and remanded to the Wayne County Jail.

A probable cause conference is scheduled for 8:20 am Aug. 18, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for 1:45 pm Aug. 25.

Police revealed the identities of the two people who were killed in a shooting sparked by an argument over the way cars were parked for a birthday party in a Detroit neighborhood, as well as the ages of the six people who were injured.

Shooting victim information

Andre Willis, Jr., 38, of Detroit, was pronounced dead from gunshot injuries at the shooting scene, authorities said.

Police announced Monday that a second person had died from her injuries. She has since been identified as Toyake Thirkeild, 39, of Detroit.

“It’s incredibly sad that two families have to bury their loved ones who were killed over a minor dispute by someone who had no respect for the lives of others,” White said. “Thankfully, our officers were able to take this suspect into custody before anyone else was hurt, but this shooting should never have happened. We need every business, every faith-based organization, every school and every Detroiter to step up and work together to put an end to the violence we’re seeing.”

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The six other shooting victims are a 40-year-old man, a 39-year-old woman, a 35-year-old woman, a 35-year-old man, a 32-year-old woman, and a 19-year-old year-old man, according to officials. All six are Detroit residents.

Police said Monday that all six were recovering from their injuries. At the time, one person was in critical condition, while some others were in serious condition.

You can listen to the full DPD update on this shooting below.

Detroit police provided an update on the shooting that left two people dead and six others injured after a parking dispute.

Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.

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Categories
Business

Wild video of plane’s close landing over Maho Beach

Wild video of plane's close landing over Maho Beach

Incredible footage shows the moment an Embraer plane landed on an island, leaving beachgoers gasping.

A short strip of sand is all that separates Maho Beach in the Caribbean island of St Maarten and its Princess Juliana International Airport.

So, whenever a plane is heading for the landing strip, it almost always ends in screams of fright and awe from those below.

Plans come from out over the water and fly right over the beach; they are around 20m over the tops of people’s heads, but still makes them feel the need to duck.

Footage shared to Twitter shows just how close plans get to beachgoers. Or, perhaps the other way around with people seen playing a game of chicken to get the perfect view and shot.

The slow motion clip shows holiday-makers with their phone pointing towards the sky as they watch the Empress of London City’s Embraer 190 land.

They can be seen making just enough space for the aircraft.

“Yep that was me on approach,” one woman said in response to a ‘shocked’ gif. “As for takeoff, it was like going up in a rocket.”

“Whoever built that ocean put it way to close to that airport,” another added.

Maho Beach is a popular spot for people to gather and watch departing and approaching aircraft.

When the plans depart, they do so facing the same way which means those on the beach often get blown away by the engines’ jet blast if they don’t move out of the way.

If you search ‘St Maarten jet blast’ on YouTube it will pull up plenty of footage.

“I literally thought people were [expletive] crazy for doing this!” tourist Tennille told GrindTV via Jukin Media. “I was beside myself, especially here, as it was a 747! The jet stream blows people away.”

“It was the strangest feeling; the jet stream was blowing people from the beach into the water,” Tennille said.

She said people were holding on to the fence so they wouldn’t blow away.

In 2017, a New Zealand woman died after a blast from a jet knocked her into a retaining wall.

The 57-year-old had been standing at a fence that separates Maho Beach and the runway.

At the time of the incident, the unidentified woman had been hanging onto the fence along with several others, according to a statement from the Police Force of Sint Maarten.

The police statement acknowledged that watching planes take off and land at the airport is “well known worldwide as a major tourist attraction” but notes that doing so is extremely dangerous.

Airport and local officials have posted signs along the airport’s chain-link fence, warning them of the dangers of standing there while a plane is taking off, and officers patrol the area during busy hours.

Despite that, the area is still a huge drawcard for thrillseekers and aviation enthusiasts.

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Categories
Technology

The Hidden Way to Monitor Your Mac’s Temperature for Free

The Hidden Way to Monitor Your Mac's Temperature for Free

Image for article titled The Hidden Way to Monitor Your Mac's Temperature for Free

photo: pisaphotography (Shutterstock)

Apple silicon—including the M1 and new M2 chips—has a reputation for staying cool even under intense workloads. Intel Macs, on the other hand, run notoriously hot. They’re still capable computers, but they heat up fast, which, in turn, slows things down. If you have an Intel-based Mac, you’ve probably experienced this computational heatwave for yourself. Rather than guessing how hot your computer is getting, however, there’s a hidden monitor built into every Intel-based Mac that lets you know exactly what the internal temperature is.

Why your Mac overheats (and why it’s bad)

I talked about this subject beforewhen I mostly focused on laptops. Whether you have a MacBook or an iMac, however, the general principle is the same: You don’t want your machine to overheat.

Computers heat up because the internal components, namely the CPU and GPU, generate heat as they work. Depending on your computer, you might not notice it while performing light tasks. Once you start pushing the machine, however, you’ll feel the temperature ramping up.

It’s not that this heat will damage or break your computer. I mean, it absolutely could, but manufacturers make sure that will never happen. A little heat is okay; the parts are designed to operate normally within a wide range of temperatures. However, when the chips start to get too hot—usually around 90 degrees FAhrenheit—your computer will slow down its processing speed in order to cool things down, a process referred to as “throttling.”

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Throttling sucks, because it means you’re not getting the performance you expect from your machine. Truea slow machine is better than a burnt and broken one, but avoiding the overheating problem in the first place can help you prevent throttling before it kicks inand push your Mac to its maximum potential.

While there are many ways to combat overheating, one is to keep tabs on your Mac’s temperature. And if you have an Intel Mac, you already have a monitor built right into macOS.

macOS’ hidden temperature monitors for Intel Macs

You won’t find these temperature monitors by searching through the apps installed on your Mac. You won’t even find them in Activity Monitor, as useful a utility as it is. Rather, your Mac’s temperature monitor is found in Terminal. Using Terminal likely seems intimidating to many users, because it allows you to control your Mac using only text-based commands. But you don’t actually need to memorize any of thosee commands to use Terminal; a copied and pasted command works just as well.

There are plenty of useful Terminal commands everyone can use (we covered many of them in this piece) but we’re focusing on the temperature monitors this time. There are two commands you can use here. The first lets you see temperature stats for your Mac’s CPU. Copy and paste the following command exactly as-is into a new Terminal window (quotation marks and all):

sudo powermetrics —samplers smc |grep -i “CPU die temperature”

If done right, Terminal will ask for your password. Enter it (you won’t be able to see what you’re typing, unfortunately), then press the return key. After a moment, you’ll begin seeing temperature readings, updating roughly every five seconds. The temperatures are written in Celsius, so you’ll need to convert to Fahrenheit on your own, but, after a while, you start to pick up which temperatures are cool, warm, hot, and too hot.

Speaking of which, you will also get access to one of my favorite data points in macOS: When things start to get too hot and your Mac decides it needs to cool things down, you’ll see (fan) written next to the temperatures (if your Mac has fans, that is). That lets you know the fans are starting to work harder to move hot air out of your machine. Fans are obviously a good tool for cooling computers, but they aren’t perfect: If your CPU is still heating up to unsafe levels—usually 98 degrees Fahrenheit, going by my experience in Terminal—you’ll start to see (power) instead. When this reading appears, it means macOS is throttling your CPU to keep the temperature from going overboard.

You can also check your GPU temperatures with the following command:

sudo powermetrics –samplers smc |grep -i “GPU die temperature”

Notice that you won’t see (fan) or (power) appear on this Terminal windowonly temperature readings.

Options for Apple silicone

While Apple’s suite of silicon chips don’t face as many heat ramps as Intel-based Macs, they can still overheat and throttle like any other chip. Unfortunately this built-in Terminal command won’t work on M1 and newer, since those chips are designed differently than Intel chips in how they handle heat.

The only solid temperature monitor for Apple silicon available rright now is TG-Prowhich comes at a cost. It’s usually $20, though at the time of this writingit’s on sale for $10. If you’re looking for a temporary solution, the app offers a two-week free trial, so you can monitor your temperatures on M1, M2, or any other Apple silicon variant for 14 days free of charge.

Hopefully, as Apple silicon is adopted by more and more of the Mac user base, developers will write more temperature monitoring apps for the platform. Hey, maybe Apple will even make their own—for free.

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Categories
Sports

Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers, Api Koroisau crowd drama, preview, news, Viking clap,

Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers, Api Koroisau crowd drama, preview, news, Viking clap,

The Raiders will welcome the Penrith Panthers to the nation’s capital for the first time in four years – where an increasingly heated recent rivalry will come to the fore once again.

Since the Panthers last visited GIO Stadium in 2018, tensions between the two sides have ratcheted up multiple levels thanks to a series of incidents, from Panthers fans mocking the Green Machine’s famous Viking Clap on Penrith soil, to the heated failures after Raiders prop Joe Tapine was caught in the middle of a Panthers try celebration.

Now both sides are ready to summarize what has become one of the most fierce showdowns in the past two seasons, with plenty on the line for both sides.

According to Nine, an unnamed senior Canberra staff member declared the club had been waiting for this match all season – and are out to ‘ambush’ a Panthers side they labeled ‘arrogant’.

“We don’t like their attitude – plain and simple,” the senior Raiders official said.

“We have been waiting for this game and are planning an ambush.

“They are arrogant and we aim to bring them down a few pegs.”

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Panthers fans perform the ‘Viking Clap’ when hosting the Raiders at BlueBet Stadium in April.Source: Getty Images

But it’s not just the home side who is fired up for the clash against ladder-leading Penrith, needing to bounce back from a defeat to Parramatta but missing Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai.

Panthers hooker Api Koroisau said his side was more than ready for the heat coming their way.

Koroisau told the Western Weekender: “I just remember the last few times we’ve played Canberra; it’s always been very hostile – we’ve started a mini rivalry I think.

“To go down there, I think their crowd has always been a bit hostile, so I’m not expecting much of a reception from them on Saturday.”

Canberra sit ninth on the ladder on for-and-against, but have put together three-straight wins in their hunt for a finals spot.

“They have so much to play for, they are a really dangerous team and, when they do get it right, they do really challenge teams,” Koroisau said.

“We’re going to have to be at our best. Obviously, we’ve got a few people out but that’s no excuse these days because there’s so many good players around and so many people coming up in the team.

“We’re going to have to be up for the challenge this weekend.”

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Categories
Australia

WA infrastructure advisory body floats per-kilometre charge to ease traffic pressure

WA infrastructure advisory body floats per-kilometre charge to ease traffic pressure

Infrastructure WA, the body charged with advising the Premier’s Department on the state’s medium and long-term infrastructure needs, has proposed overhauling road funding by eventually replacing the fuel excise with a road-user charge that also creates incentives to reduce congestion.

The wide-ranging 20-year plan, Foundations for a Stronger Tomorrow, was tabled in State Parliament on Wednesday.

One of the 93 recommendations involves planning for the eventual transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles and how road infrastructure will be funded with the decrease of the fuel excise.

Nicole Lockwood, chair of Infrastructure WA, told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth that while the switch to electric vehicles would be “fantastic for the environment and climate change,” it also posed challenges.

“It does mean that the revenue source that comes from our fuel at the moment, that goes towards paying for our roads, will diminish over time,” she said.

“SW [the recommendation] is trying to find a mechanism where the government still has the ability to fund that infrastructure in a way that doesn’t disincentivize people from moving towards electric vehicles.”

EV tax coming in 2027

While the state government has already announced it will introduce a 2.5 cent per kilometer charge for EV’s from mid-2027, Infrastructure WA’s recommendation 58 goes further, proposing that WA work with other states to develop a nationally consistent road user charge that could influence driver behaviour. .

“The scheme has the potential to include vehicle mass, distance, location and time-of-day pricing elements,” the recommendation says.

Such a scheme could potentially charge different rates for road usage in peak hours, or differential rates for different roads.

A mix of cars and trucks fill four lanes of peak hour traffic on the freeway.
Ms Lockwood says the report recommends looking at ways to influence congestion and road use.(ABC News: Andrew O’Connor)

“What we’ve said is, let’s design a mechanism that has flexibility, so that in time if we wanted to use those levers we could,” Ms Lockwood said.

“We saw it very starkly during COVID, when people were not using the roads during the day, at certain times suddenly we had huge amounts of capacity.

“In the future, when we can’t continue to build more lanes, we will need other mechanisms to be able to manage demand on the system.”

The proposal met with a mixed response from ABC Radio Perth listeners:

Mike: “Again lower socio-economic people who cannot afford to live close to work will pay the most, the system working to keep the gap between the haves and the have nots.”

Greg: “The state government is not incentivizing enough the use of electric vehicles. The proposed road tax is a major disincentive. The benefit to the environment is the major issue and there won’t be the gains there should be. We pay for our roads Mainly via our local government rates so EV drivers will be paying double if we get this bad policy.”

Cynthia: “Surely a toll on cars with only one occupant would make sense? Or a fast lane for cars with two occupants.”

An artist's impression of people walking on Hay Street Mall with light rail lines in the background and a train in the background.
While Max Light Rail was shelved in 2016, Infrastructure WA recommended future planning around light rail and rapid bus networks.(Supplied: PTA)

Planning for light rail mooted

The report also recommends the state government look again at the role of light rail and rapid bus transit in Perth’s public transport mix.

A previous plan to link Perth suburbs through the Max Light Rail network was shelved by the Barnett government in 2016, and the McGowan government has been focused on delivering its expansion of the heavy rail network, Metronet.

Ms Lockwood said a plan to link people across suburbs and between stations was still needed.

“We very much back the government’s commitments to Metronet and the heavy rail system, but what we see in the future is a need to look at the next tier of connection for the city,” she said.

“That mid-tier public transport system that links buses and other parts of the network into the Metronet network is really important.

“Part of that is about making sure that the [already identified transport] corridors are protected.

“We really have to think about the spaces we’ve got and how we use them… then the state government needs to then pull a plan together to map that out for the whole of the metro area,” she said.

The infrastructure report also recommended a new desalination plant at Alkimos, a whole-of-government emissions reduction target and a package to reform hospital emergency departments.

The WA Government has six months to respond to the report and is obliged by legislation to respond to each recommendation as well as provide an implementation plan for the ideas that it accepts.

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Categories
US

Why IRS’ $80B expansion is a ‘nightmare’ for small businesses

Why IRS' $80B expansion is a 'nightmare' for small businesses

Small business owners may soon be in for a lengthy and expensive battle with the IRS, tax experts warn.

A key provision in the Inflation Reduction Act — which throws an extra $80 billion to the IRS to improve the agency’s collection of under-reported income — will end up targeting small business owners to pay for the legislation, according to nonpartisan watchdog the Joint Committee on Taxation.

The group estimates that between 78% and 90% of the estimated additional $200 billion the IRS will collect will come from small businesses making less than $200,000 annually.

Just 4% to 9% would come from businesses making north of $500,000 a year — meaning the legislation is in sharp contrast to President Biden’s longstanding claim that he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000.

“The IRS will have to target small and medium businesses because they won’t fight back,” Joe Hinchman, executive vice president at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, told The Post. “We’ve seen this play out before … the IRS says ‘We’re going after the rich’ but when you’re trying to raise that much money, the rich can only get you so far.”

I.R.S.
Increasing the number of IRS agents could hurt small businesses most.
Getty Images

In fact, going after the lower and middle class can actually be more lucrative for IRS auditors than trying to get more money from the wealthy. “The rich have their lawyers and fight it — that’s why the poor are easier to go after,” Hinchman adds.

Accordingly, tax experts warn that the IRS’s audits will be far more painful and costly for small business owners — even for those who think they’re filing their taxes correctly.

manchin
Sens. Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer have reached a deal that would give the IRS an extra $80 billion.
Getty Images

“Most small businesses aren’t doing anything wrong,” Daniel Bunn, executive vice president at the Tax Foundation, told The Post. “We don’t make the tax code simple and the complicated tax code makes it difficult for small business owners to comply with all the requirements.”

Even if small business owners get everything right, they may still be faced with a headache since part of the IRS expansion will involve sending out more notices and letters to businesses, Bunn adds. For individual contractors or small businesses, an IRS letter that they owe more money or made an error on their taxes can put them underwater.

“Anytime you get an IRS letter, it could take months or years to get it settled — we’re talking many thousands of dollars to address,” Bunn added. “Large companies have constant reviews and lawyers going through everything… small business doesn’t have the resources to fight back in the way.”

The White House has dismissed claims the bill will hurt lower- and middle-income Americans, instead noting the JCT estimate doesn’t take into account how much the bill will offset costs for average Americans like prescription drugs.

But tax experts aren’t so sanguine about the reality of giving the IRS more resources.

“The approach here is to double the IRS workforce, take the leash off, and see how much they can collect,” Hinchman adds. “I think they’ll collect it but it will be quite painful.”

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