☕️ Govt introduces its tax reform bill

Today is the last weekday of autumn, which means this is our final chance to say things to our colleagues like “nice crisp morning” before it becomes “it’s forking freezing!”

The quote: “Arrogant prick.”
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor describing Anthony Albanese in Question Time on Thursday. He later withdrew his comment after the Speaker of the House Milton Dick asked him to.

The stat: 254. The number of diphtheria cases in Australia, according to Health Minister Mark Butler. He said roughly 60% of the cases are in the Northern Territory with a majority of the other cases in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, and a handful in Queensland and South Australia. To learn more about Australia’s worst diphtheria outbreak on record, listen to our podcast on it here.

The big question:

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The Federal Government is exploring a plan that would see scam victims automatically reimbursed up to $3,000.

Banks would be required to refund customers who are genuine victims of fraud.

The plan is similar to an existing scheme in the UK that has seen scam levels drop. The UK scheme covers losses up to £85,000 (AU$160,000).

So, what could this plan look like?

An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey found that in the 2024-25 financial year, 2.7% of Australians (or almost 600,000 people) were scammed.

In the first nine months of 2025, Australians lost $260 million to scams, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre.

In 2024, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator announced victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams can be automatically reimbursed.

An APP scam is when a scammer tricks a victim into sending money through a bank transfer.

Victims of these scams can be automatically reimbursed up to £85,000 ($AU160,000) by their banks.

In 2025, the regulator found scams had dropped by 15% compared to the previous 12 months.

On Thursday, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced the Government was looking into an automatic reimbursement scheme.

Under a plan included in the Scam Protection Framework (SPF), victims could be automatically reimbursed by banks, telcos and digital platforms through the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Reimbursements would be capped at $3,000, and apply to verified scam victims.

Mulino told the ABC: “We don’t want to have the wrong incentives for perpetrators to see Australia as a soft target.”

However, he added that for small claims, “we don’t want to have processes that are completely disproportionate to the value of the sum in dispute.”

“Scams are costing Australians billions, and the human impact is even greater,” Mulino said.

Australian Banking Association CEO and former Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham said there “may be merit in some streamlined processes for considering low-value losses”.

However, he flagged that losses should not be “shuffle[d]... around the economy,” warning it could “incentivise scammers to target low-value opportunities”.

“Our scam laws need to cover the full gamut of scam activity... such as [via] dating apps and crypto platforms,” Birmingham said.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, co-founder Sam takes us through the unfolding cave rescue mission in Laos. Listen on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

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On Thursday, the Government introduced its changes to capital gains tax (CGT) and negative gearing to Parliament.

The changes were first announced in the Federal Budget. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the changes will be legislated in parts, with small business and startup consultation to inform later elements.

The Opposition has flagged it will not support the changes, while accounting body CPA encouraged the Government to “consult first and legislate later.”

Here’s what you need to know.

CGT applies to the profit from the sale of an investment, including property and shares.

Since 1999, if you held an investment for more than 12 months, you only paid tax on half the profit when you sold it.

From 1 July 2027, the flat 50% discount is gone. Instead, your original purchase price will be adjusted to account for inflation. You’ll only pay tax on the gain above that adjusted figure.

But, no matter what, you’ll always pay a minimum tax rate of 30% (on gains made after 1 July 2027).

Gearing refers to borrowing money from a bank for a purchase, such as an investment property.

Negative gearing is when a landlord spends more on an investment property than they make from the rental income.

Under negative gearing, this loss can be deducted from their taxable income, so they pay less tax overall.

The Government announced negative gearing will be restricted to newly built properties, taking effect from 1 July 2027, but applying to homes bought on or after Budget night (12 May).

On Thursday, Chalmers introduced bills covering changes to CGT and negative gearing to Parliament.

The Treasurer said the CGT change “better aligns the tax rate on gains with the tax rates paid by most workers.”

He said negative gearing “will continue to support those residential properties which genuinely add to supply”.

The Government has flagged it will consult on potential carve-outs, including for small businesses and startups.

It said it had introduced only the “core” parts of its changes to Parliament and would proceed with more changes later.

“This provides certainty to taxpayers and the market, while enabling further consultation,” Chalmers said.

Specifically, this includes “consulting with stakeholders on the treatment of capital gains of small and startup businesses”.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor called the changes “toxic taxes” that the Government “wants to rush... through the Parliament without proper scrutiny.”

Taylor said he would “love the Prime Minister to be honest about how this capital gains tax is going to work for small businesses.”

CPA tax lead Jenny Wong said: “Introducing significant tax changes into Parliament before properly engaging with affected stakeholders is not how tax reform should be done.”

Labor has a majority in the House of Representatives, so the bill is expected to pass there. The bigger test is the Senate, where it will need support from the Coalition, or from minor parties and crossbenchers.

The Coalition has criticised the changes, while the Greens will make their stance clear following a Senate inquiry report due 22 June.

“[They] will go through the inquiry process to ensure they get the scrutiny they need,” Greens Leader Larissa Waters said.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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Forever chemicals, or PFAS, are a group of chemicals that have been used in household products since the 1950s. They don’t break down easily in the environment and have been linked to a range of diseases. Environment and Climate Change Canada scientists studied a colony of northern gannets on an island off Canada’s east coast and found the levels of 17 forever chemicals in their bodies had decreased significantly between 1969 and 2024. The level of chemicals peaked in the 1990s but dropped off after scientists raised the alarm about PFAS and governments acted to regulate.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

Drag queen Pattie Gonia has released a statement for the first time since clothing giant Patagonia filed a lawsuit against her for trying to trademark her name.

Pattie Gonia is an environmental activist who has raised just under $US4 million ($AU6 million) for charity.

Patagonia filed a lawsuit against the drag queen in January for selling ‘Pattie Gonia’ branded clothing which they said would “irreparably harm” their brand, according to The Guardian.

She wrote on Instagram: “What they’re actually trying to do is take away my name permanently and threaten me with more than $1 million dollars in legal fees… This is a corporation trying to erase an activist. This is how corporations bully individuals who cannot match their resources.”