PUBLISHED: 06:00 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 07:52 BST, 15 September 2021
Australians earning $120,000 a year are set to receive a tax cut of up to $2,430 when they submit their tax return.

The Covid pandemic caused economic upheaval and saw the federal government last year delay the budget by five months to October.

Tax relief for the wealthy, announced in the 2019 budget just before the election, wasn't meant to come into effect until July 2022.

But under last year's pandemic budget, this was backdated to July last year.

This means those earning $90,000 to $120,000 will pay 32.5c in the dollar instead of 37c when they submit their tax return for the 2020-21 financial year.

H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman said Australians of all income levels were in for a treat.

'Australians will get a bumper tax return this year,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

More than 10 million Australians are set to get generous tax refunds, and those prepared to do extra paperwork in line for a bigger windfall in the thousands.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the May 2021 budget extended the low and middle-income tax offset for those earning up to $126,000.

In the 2020-21 financial year just gone, 4.6 million Australians earning between $48,000 and $90,000 will receive $1,080 as another 1.8 million people earning $37,000 to $48,000 get back $255.

Those earning between $90,000 and $126,000 will get back a smaller amount from the tax offset, but will benefit from the tax bracket changes.

An Australian on an average, full-time salary of $90,000 is already set to get back $1,080.

But because the tax offsets were delayed by five months last year, someone stands to get an extra $400 on top of that based on $20 a week foregone times 20 weeks.

Together, that takes the tax offset relief to almost $1,500 for an average income earner.

Australians have until October 31 to submit their tax returns online if they don't want to hire an accountant.

Professionals can build on their tax refund by making work-from-home claims.

H&R Block calculated someone who spent all year working from home stood to be able to claim back an average of $1,500 in deductions.

That is based on the special 80c an hour rate brought in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, which was extended until June 30 this year.

PUBLISHED: 06:52 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 06:53 BST, 15 September 2021

Gee, how did they find him? Chaotic moment 'hoon' who drives a FLUORO YELLOW Holden is confronted by police outside an auto shop
The man was approached in the yellow sedan at Browns Plains on August 30
He allegedly tried to flee before police took him into custody after a chase
The 22-year-old from Nundah was later charged with more than 30 offences
Police alleged the man was involved in hooning activity at Logan and Rocklea

The fine art of disguise appears to have been lost on the driver of a fluoro yellow Holden Commodore, who was arrested in broad daylight and charged with more than 30 hooning offences.

Vision released by Queensland Police showed officers approaching the man in the carpark of a business park complex at Grand Plaza Drive, Browns Plains, south of Brisbane at 3pm on August 30.

The motoring aficionado was seen sitting in a bright yellow Ford sedan outside a Supercheap Auto shop, the duco above the back wheel hubs stained black from tyre burnout.

A used tyre could be seen stacked in the back seat space.

As police approached the sedan, a 22-year-old Nundah man allegedly ran from the scene.

He was then taken into custody after a short foot chase.

Police charged the man with driving without a licence, driving an uninsured vehicle, obstructing police and driving an unregistered vehicle. He was released on bail.

But after further investigations, police searched an address on Kao Street, Marsden, and took the same man back into custody.
Police alleged the man was involved in recent hooning incidents in Logan and Rocklea.

He was charged with more than 30 offences, including five counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle, seven counts of driving without a licence and six counts of driving an unregistered vehicle.

He also faces charges related to stealing wheels, driving off without paying for fuel, and two counts of breach of bail.
The man appeared in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on September 13 where he was remanded in custody and is next due to appear on October 11.

Queensland Police had already received more than 12,000 hooning reports through Policelink this year.

The service recently introduced a simplified online form for members of the community to upload photos and videos of hoon activity.

In April this year, a gathering of more than 1,000 people at a PImpama industrial estate on the northern Gold Coast saw police pelted with bottles, stones and fireworks during a hoon meeting that attracted about 600 vehicles.

'This behaviour is outrageous, clearly dangerous and will not be tolerated on our streets and in our suburbs,' Gold Coast Acting Chief Superintendent Geoff Sheldon said at the time.

By TITA SMITH FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 07:19 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 08:07 BST, 15 September 2021

'Oh look, it's a boy!' Police hunt for gender reveal hoons who celebrated the birth of a baby boy in a VERY bogan way
Queensland Police have released footage of an unusual gender reveal in Logan
A Holden Commodore driver performed burnouts to billow blue smoke in the air
Police have launched an investigation into the dangerous operation of the car
Anyone with information about the driver's identity is urged to come forward

A police manhunt is underway for a gender reveal hoon who was spotted performing burnouts in a suburban street, billowing clouds of blue exhaust smoke into the air.

Queensland Police have released footage of a red Holden Commodore spinning its wheels in Logan, south of Brisbane, about 11.25am Saturday as part of gender-reveal party.

The unusual take on the tradition - which typically involves expectant parents popping balloons to be showered in either pink or blue confetti - was carried out over multiple Marsden streets in front of a crowd of delighted spectators.

'The vehicle conducted a 'burn-out' on Burrinjuck Street and then Timberlee Drive,' a Queensland Police Service statement said.

'[This] created excessive noise and blue smoke which obstructed the visibility of other motorists on the public roadway.'

Police said a group of people gathered nearby taking photos and videos.

Officers have launched an investigation the dangerous operation of the vehicle and are appealing for anyone with information about the identify the driver to come forward.

Footage of the incident has gone viral, racking up more than 1400 reactions since it was shared on the Queensland Police Facebook page on Wednesday, with many were amused by the brazen stunt.

'Gives a new meaning to 'boys in blue", one person joked.

'Guess the driver won't be their to see the birth!' another added.

'Give the driver a job as a driver instructor at a racetrack. Poor choice of venue for a reveal, but brilliantly executed,' a third said.

It is not the first time parents-to-be have gone viral after opting for an unconventional gender-reveal ceremony.

In May, a couple from Sydney's west asked a Turkish restaurant to inscribe the gender of their baby on a plate hidden beneath a mound of kebab meat and chips to unveil the sex to their loved ones.

By TOM SARGEANT FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 06:48 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 08:38 BST, 15 September 2021

Queensland follows in the footsteps of other states and allows over 60s the chance to get the Pfizer jab to speed up the state's lagging vaccination rate
From Saturday Queenslanders over the age of 60 will be able to receive Pfizer
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the news via Twitter
Hoping to spark her state and increase the lagging vaccination percentages
Queensland has the lowest rate of fully vaccinated residents, being only 38.8%

The Queensland government will allow residents over 60 to receive the Pfizer vaccine from this Saturday as the state feverishly attempts to increase its lagging vaccination rate.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the news in a video on Twitter, calling for anyone in the age bracket who was putting off getting the jab to stop dragging their heels.

According to the federal government's department of health Queensland currently has the lowest rate of first doses received and the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated residents.

Only 57.1 per cent of the population have rolled up their sleeve for their first dose, and 38.8 per cent of residents have received both jabs.

'I need everyone over 12 who is eligible to be vaccinated,' Ms Palaszczuk said.

'This weekend right across Queensland we are having a super Pfizer weekend.

'We need everyone vaccinated to prevent Delta coming in to Queensland, so this weekend walk on in to a vaccination centre and get your Pfizer.'

This announcement comes as Queensland recorded zero locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hour period.

However one new case was confirmed in hotel quarantine after a student tested positive while isolating yesterday.

As Queensland lags behind in the vaccination race, the nation's capital has the highest rate of fully vaccinated residents.

In the ACT 52.1 per cent of residents have received both jabs, compared to Queensland and Western Australia's measly 38.8 per cent.

In a bid to boost the Western Australia vaccination rate, Premier Mark McGowan also announced on Tuesday that people over the age of 60 were eligible for the Pfizer vaccine from Monday.

NSW has seen a huge surge in the population rolling up their sleeves, with 79.5 per cent of residents having received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Victoria and Tasmania are neck and neck in the first dose percentages, with 67.7 and 67.5 respectively.

But Tasmania has clearly taken to vaccination earlier, with 49.3 per cent being fully vaccinated, compared to Victoria's 41.4 per cent.

The national total is slowly increasing with 68.5 per cent of Australians rolling up their sleeves for one dose.

By CHARLIE MOORE, POLITICAL REPORTER and LEVI PARSONS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 07:22 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 07:55 BST, 15 September 2021

Kevin Rudd's multi-millionaire wife is blasted by eastern suburbs MP for demanding to know why Sydneysiders aren't being arrested for LEGALLY sunbathing while she enjoys lockdown-free life in $17m mansion
Kevin Rudd's wife has been slammed by social media users over lockdown tweet
On Saturday she asked why Sydney sunbathers were 'not being arrested?'
Liberal MP Dave Sharma said the comment was 'divisive' and 'judgemental'
Ms Rein did not realise that recreation was allowed under NSW health orders

Kevin Rudd's wife Thérèse Rein has been criticised for asking why sunbakers were not being arrested as they enjoyed a 30C day during Sydney's Covid lockdown.

In response to a tweet about how 'insanely busy' Sydney's Balmoral Beach was on Saturday, Ms Rein wrote: 'Why are they not being arrested?'

The multi-millionaire 63-year-old, who lives in a $17million waterfront mansion with former Labor prime minister Mr Rudd on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, did not realise that recreation is allowed under NSW public health orders.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma, who has repeatedly defended law-abiding beachgoers in his Wentworth electorate which includes Bondi Beach, said Ms Rein's comments were 'divisive and judgemental'.

'It's been tough for Sydney during lockdown. Getting outdoors has been one of the few relief outlets available for people,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.

Mr Sharma also said it was wrong for Ms Rein to criticise Sydneysiders for taking in the sunshine while she enjoys lockdown-free life in Queensland.

'It's both churlish and uncharitable to demand - from interstate no less - that people be arrested for engaging in activities that are in accordance with the public health orders, and which all evidence to date demonstrates do not pose public health risks,' he said.

'Comments like this only sow division. Let's all try to be a bit more understanding, and a little less judgemental, and we will come through this crisis the better for it.'

An hour after posting her initial tweet on Saturday, Ms Rein admitted she did not realise recreation was allowed - but she called for tougher lockdown rules.

'I guess the rules are different in NSW under lockdown than they were in Qld under lockdown. But it's just that, with as many new cases a day as NSW has, one wonders if the rules are quite adequate,' she wrote.

A source close to her said she wasn't calling for people to be arrested, only asking why they were not.

Due to the low risk of Covid spread outside, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has been encouraging Sydney residents - who have been in lockdown since late June - to go outside to keep in good mental and physical health.

While it's possible to catch Covid outside, it is extremely rare - with people
generally having to be in close proximity - less than two metres - for a 'significant' period of time.

Several angry Twitter users criticised Ms Rein - who reportedly made up to $150million when she sold her employment and business psychology services business Igneus in 2014 - after she made the comment on the hottest Sydney day since January.

'Imagine sitting in your mansion in Queensland with Kevin07 calling for people interstate to get arrested for going to the beach,' one commenter said.

Another wrote: 'Because they're not criminals hun' and 'because we don't arrest people for being in a public place that they are permitted to be in'.

'I know this is challenging for a lot of people to understand. But, after lengthy research into the details of current restrictions, it appears that it is not technically illegal to be outside,' another said.

Thousands of sun-starved Sydneysiders who've been living under stay-at-home orders for more than 13 weeks descended on the city's beaches over the weekend as temperatures climbed to 30C.

Beaches from Manly in the north to Cronulla in the south saw jam-packed crowds with photos from Bondi and Coogee in the eastern suburbs looking more like snaps taken before the Covid pandemic hit.

The nearby Woollahra Council was even forced to rope off Camp Cove at Watson's Bay and Redleaf beach at Double Bay, after massive crowds swarmed the popular harbourside spots.

Many followed Covid protocols by visiting with just one friend and wearing a mask, but police were out in force reminding sunseekers to follow public health orders - as the number of new coronavirus cases continues to hover between 1200 to 1500 each day.

Photos showed officers approaching scantily-clad Bondi residents to tell them to wear face coverings while they were not swimming, surfing, walking, or jogging.

Sydney residents face $500 fines for not wearing a mask 'in all indoor or outdoor areas, other than a place of residence'.

But infectious disease professor Peter Collignon said the risks associated with outdoor transmission are actually extremely scarce - about 20 to 30 times lower than indoors.

'Essentially, if you are outdoors and particularly if you keep your distance of two metres, you're very unlikely to get the virus. If you're outdoors and you're closer than that [for significant periods], then wear a mask,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'I think we shouldn't discourage people from going outdoors. It is safer to spend time with your family outdoors than it is indoors.

'Secondly, there's an emotional and psychological cost of staying inside for so long.'

But despite the barrage of criticism levelled at Ms Rein for her hand-cuff happy comments about beachgoers, many on social media agreed with the respected rehabilitation counsellor and social entrepreneur.

'There's still a curfew in western Sydney with helicopter fly-overs at dusk!! Unbelievable double standard,' one person wrote.

Others accused Liberal Party Premier Gladys Berejiklian of 'giving up'.

Another wrote: 'Death doesn't care who you are... this pathogen has been unleashed now... these people will find out soon enough.'

By BRETT LACKEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 06:51 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 06:51 BST, 15 September 2021

Hero saves four children and a dog from ferocious blaze while mum undergoing cancer treatment went to get breakfast for the family
Four children and a dog have been save from a house fire in Brisbane
They were sleeping inside when they were woken up by bangs on the doors
Their mother had gone out to get breakfast for the household
An anonymous hero saved four children and a dog from a burning house while their mother, who is set to begin cancer treatment, was out getting breakfast.

The blaze erupted about 4.15am on Wednesday in the Brisbane suburb of Ellen Grove as the three teenagers and a 10-year-old were asleep inside.

One of the teens, Richard Stacey, 18, said he was woken up by someone banging on the windows and doors and walked out of his bedroom to see the hallway filled with thick smoke.

He said he then ran around the house getting everyone up - adding he had not met the hero neighbour before but had seen him on the street.

'If he didn't wake us up we'd probably still be asleep. I think he must have been late for work or something because he was on his phone for a bit and then he raced off.' he told 7News.

Mr Stacey said he also took it upon himself to alert the other houses surrounding theirs as they waited for fire crews to arrive.

'We had to run around the back and jump the fence. We know everyone around here, we help them out and it just goes the same way.'

Mr Stacey's mother Tamiel Malone said she had got up early as she was set to begin her treatment for cancer that day and popped out to get petrol and breakfast for the household.

She said she arrived back to find her house engulfed in flames but was ecstatic no one had been injured.

'Home is anywhere as long as we have each other. As long as my kids are alright that's the main thing,' she said.

Samantha Rudzitis, 18, who was also in the house said she was also woken by someone banging on the windows and doors from outside.

'Then we woke up to the boys screaming that there was a fire so we just got everyone out - made sure they were safe,' she said.

She added she ran back into the burning building to save her pet dog who was also uninjured.

Police and fire crews are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Canberra could stay in lockdown for WEEKS after it hits 70 per cent vaccination while it waits for other states to catch up
Even if the national jab rate reaches 70 per cent, ACT may remain in lockdown
Comes after lockdown was extended by four weeks on Tuesday after 22 cases
In Canberra, more than 50 per cent of residents aged 12 and older double-dosed

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS and ANDREW PRENTICE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 08:08 BST, 15 September 2021 | UPDATED: 08:10 BST, 15 September 2021

Canberra will stay in lockdown until the national vaccination average hits 70 per cent – even if the ACT achieves the feat weeks earlier.

The Australian capital is set to start opening up gradually after its lockdown, which is slated to end on October 15 following a four-week extension.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr expects the ACT to be in a strong position to start reopening gradually as national vaccination thresholds of 70 per cent from mid-October and 80 per cent from early November are reached.

He argued to end lockdown before the national average caught up would be contrary to the national reopening plan, and would be risky because so many people moved in and out of Canberra.
'We are an island jurisdiction within NSW without the capacity to have hard borders. So we also need the population that's coming into the city to be vaccinated as well,' Mr Barr told reporters on Wednesday.

'We expect restrictions to gradually change as we transition through these vaccination phases in October and November, with the caveat that they may need to be adjusted to respond to increased risk of Covid-19 spread.'

In Canberra, more than 50 per cent of residents aged 12 and older are double-dosed.

As of Wednesday, 75 per cent were partially vaccinated.

Mr Barr stuck to his guns as he sparred with reporters who noted that Canberra was projected to hit 70 per cent fully vaccinated 20 days before the national average.

However, he acknowledged that in the very unlikely scenario that NSW and Victoria's vaccination rates 'fell in a hole' and the gap became 'untenable', he would revisit the issue.

The chief minister said the ACT would soon have administered first doses to everyone who wants one.