☕️ What's in the budget for young people?

If you’re just waking up, we’ve got everything you need to know about last night’s Budget all in one place in today’s 1 minute section and podcast.

If you’re looking for something to ease you into the day, here’s a riddle for your Wednesday:

Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain on Earth?

Answer is in the tidbit!

"The unchecked proliferation of fake news, hate speech, pornography, child exploitation, and incitement to violence on platforms such as Facebook is unacceptable."
A statement from Papua New Guinea's Police Minister, Peter Tsiamalili, after the country shut down Facebook on Monday. The move was a "test" under the country's counter-terrorism laws. It's not clear how long the test will last.

6.8 magnitude
The magnitude earthquake recorded off the coast of New Zealand’s South Island yesterday. Earlier in the day a 6.7 magnitude earthquake was felt in the same region, with the National Emergency Management Agency warning residents in coastal areas to avoid swimming as they monitor for tsunami activity.

Boondoggle [boon-dog-gull]
Definition: An unnecessary or wasteful object.
Used in a sentence: This pen keeps running out of ink, what a boondoggle of a pen!

Last night, the Federal Government delivered its annual Budget, outlining its spending priorities for the 2025/26 financial year.

The biggest budget announcement was a $268 tax cut for Australians earning above $45,000.

The Budget also outlined a ban on non-compete and ‘no-poach’ clauses which block workers from switching jobs within certain industries.

An election is due by 17 May, meaning a change of government could upend some of these funding pledges.

Here’s what you should know.

The Government announced its plan to give every taxpayer an income tax cut.

It plans to cut the tax rate for the lowest income tax bracket, between $18,200–$45,000, if it’s re-elected.

Currently, the rate of tax in that bracket is 16 cents for every dollar. That will come down to 15 cents a dollar from 1 July 2026, and then 14 cents in July 2027.

It will mean anyone earning above $45,000 will pay $268 less in tax a year from next July.

The Government said it plans to implement a framework called “A Better Deal For Renters,” which will target evictions and rental increases.

This will involve meetings with state and territory leaders on regulatory reform.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told TDA the Federal Government “can’t regulate the rental markets,” but said it will “use its leverage” to negotiate with the states and territories for renters.

The Government has increased funding for Medicare, the national health insurance scheme. This includes $8.5 billion until 2030 to increase the bulk billing rate, encouraging GPs to bulk bill all patients.

Earlier this month, the Government also announced the maximum cost of medications listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which are medicines subsidised by the government, will drop from $31.60 to $25.

The Coalition has promised to match both Medicare funding commitments.

The Government wants to ban non-compete and ‘no-poach’ clauses uses for most workers, under a broader budget measure.

Non-competes prevent workers switching jobs within certain industries. ‘No poach’ clauses stop staff from being hired by competitors.

The Government estimates a ban on non-compete clauses would lift an impacted worker’s wage by 4% a year.

The government will legislate the ban if it wins the upcoming election, due by 17 May.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich, Lucy Tassell and Emma Gillespie.

The White House has confirmed that a journalist was accidentally added to a group chat where a number of top U.S. officials were discussing a planned strike against the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

On Monday, The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed he was added to a private Signal group chat titled ‘Houthi PC small group’ earlier this month.

The U.S. strikes targeting the Houthis in Yemen have continued this week.

Before we explain the group chat, it’s important to understand the context of what they were discussing.

The Houthis are an Iran-backed group based in Yemen. They have been fighting in a civil war in Yemen since 2014.

Houthi forces control parts of Yemen, a country that borders the Red Sea – which is a popular trade route for international commercial vessels, accounting for roughly 12% of global trade.

Since October of 2023, the Houthis have been launching sporadic attacks on military and commercial ships in the Red Sea, as well as directly at Israel. The UN has previously said these attacks are designed to support Hamas.

Earlier this month, the U.S. launched major strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. U.S. airstrikes have continued this week, with the group reporting 101 people have been killed and 30 injured.

Trump has previously said the attacks are designed to “protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom.”

On Monday, the Editor-in-Chief of the Atlantic (an American media outlet) published a story called ‘The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans’.

In this article, Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that earlier this month he was accidentally added to a private group chat on Signal (a messaging service).

Goldberg claimed the group he was added to was called ‘Houthi PC small group‘. He said the group included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Intelligence head Tulsi Gabbard among other top national security officials.

In his article, Goldberg said that the group was created by Mike Waltz, Trump’s National Security Advisor. According to Goldberg, it was explained the group was created to discuss “coordination on Houthis” ahead of impending U.S. attacks.

Goldberg says that throughout the discussion, Vice President Vance questioned whether attacking the Houthis was a mistake, arguing Europe would benefit more than the U.S. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” he wrote.

According to Goldberg, the text debate ended when an account believed to be Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote: “As I understand it the president was clear: green light...”

The following day, U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegeseth sent a message titled “TEAM UPDATE,” which detailed strike targets, weapons, and operational plans.

Two hours later, the Houthis were hit by U.S. airstrikes at the exact time the message had indicated.

Goldberg left the chat earlier this month and contacted some of the officials in the Signal chat directly, asking them to confirm the group was real.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council has confirmed the group was real.

The spokesperson said: “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”

The Trump administration has downplayed the incident, calling the chat a sign of “deep and thoughtful policy coordination.”

A Vance spokesperson insisted he fully supports the President’s policies.

Trump denied knowledge of the chat.

A Democratic Armed Services Committee member called it “one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen.“

Reporting by Joe Casey.

Elevate your cleaning game with Skipper

Australia's leading just-add-water home and body care brand, Skipper’s innovative tablet-based system offers concentrated alternatives for everything from household cleaners to body wash products.

Using tablets wrapped in compostable packaging, Skipper's stylish dispensers are designed to be refilled, reused, and on display, so you can keep your home looking and feeling fresh.

🍊 Brisbane announces a new stadium for the 2032 Olympics. Details here.
🍊 The ‘Great Barrier Thief’ keeps on stealing. More here.
🍊 One of the NBL’s brightest stars is leaving the league. Who?
🗞️ Also in yesterday’s Sport Newsletter: cricket, soccer, and more…

The Curiosity Rover is a car-sized vehicle that travels the surface of Mars to detect if the planet ever had the right environmental conditions to support life.

These findings come from a new analysis of a rock sample, which found fragments of fatty acids - key components to living organisms on Earth.

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

In Donald Trump’s words, “Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves”.

Trump took to Truth Social earlier this week to express his dismay with a painted portrait of himself hung in the Colorado State Capitol. 

He claimed the painting “was purposefully distorted to a level that even [he], perhaps, [had] never seen before”.

We’ve all been there, some of us more than others…

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

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Riddle answer: Mount Everest! (Just because we didn’t know about it, doesn’t mean it didn’t exist!)

The Federal Government has handed down its annual Budget ahead of the upcoming Federal Election.

In today's podcast, we explain the headline measures in the Budget, including tax cuts, non competes and housing.