☕️ Opposition's 'bracket creep' plan

This morning, Lifeblood issued an urgent call for 13,000 A and O blood donations due to low supplies.

It says attendance is usually lower during the colder months because of seasonal sickness.

Make an appointment if you can! You can call 13 14 95 or visit lifeblood.com.au.

The quote: “No one should have their remains sit unidentified and no family should have to suffer the pain of not knowing what happened to their loved ones.”
Northern Territory’s Detective Acting Sergeant Glen Chatto in a statement asking family members of missing persons to reach out, in hopes of identifying the remains of a First Nations man which have been in police possession since 2012.

The stat: Two hours. The amount of time it took a jury to unanimously reject Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, the company he co-founded that owns ChatGPT. Musk had tried to argue the company had violated its original charitable mission and was now putting commercial interests first. Musk has said he intends to appeal the decision.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 84% of you said you support a 25% tax on gas exports in Australia, while 5% of you said you didn’t. 11% of you said you didn’t know whether you supported it. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [3,104 votes].

Together with AAP.

When the budget is tight, getting a little back goes a long way.

Open your first CommBank Everyday account, spend $10 and get $10 cashback at Amazon, Chemist Warehouse, Uber Rides and Uber Eats.

That’s up to $40 cashback, just for spending on your faves.

^{Disclaimer: Open your first CommBank Everyday account by 30 June 2026. Eligibility criteria & offer T&C’s apply. $10 min spend for $10 cashback per merchant for up to $40 cashback in total. Consider if appropriate for you. TMD on the CBA website. Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

Classical pianist Jayson Gillham’s lawsuit against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) began in the Federal Court this week.

In 2024, MSO cancelled Gillham’s concert over comments he made at a previous performance about Israeli forces killing Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

In court documents, MSO said Gillham’s comments were “unauthorised” and “not conduct that is expected in the classic music industry.”

Gillham alleges it was unlawful to cancel the concert over his political beliefs.

In August 2024, Gillham performed a recital in Melbourne.

Composer Connor D’Netto wrote a piece for Gillham to perform, titled ‘Witness’. D’Netto attached a note dedicating it to “the journalists of Gaza”.

Before his performance, Gillham said: “Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than 100 Palestinian journalists. A number of these... as they were travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets... In addition to the role of journalists who bear witness, the word witness in Arabic is shaheed, which also means martyr.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israeli forces have killed 264 journalists in Gaza since October 2023.

Under international law, it is a war crime to deliberately target journalists, health workers, or hospitals.

Following Gillham’s recital, MSO cancelled a second, scheduled performance.

They told ticketholders Gillham made “personal remarks without seeking the MSO’s approval or sanction,” and that it “does not condone the use of [its] stage as a platform for expressing personal views.”

In October 2024, Gillham sued the MSO in the Fair Work division of the Federal Court.

The trial began this week in Melbourne, with Gillham arguing cancelling the concert was an illegal “adverse action” taken against him over his political beliefs, and that he was discriminated against and had his reputation damaged due to those beliefs.

MSO alleges Gillham breached his contract with the organisation by not providing notice of his comments, which they called “unprofessional”.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Features Editor Emma Gillespie and Editor-in-Chief Billi FitzSimons explain why WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a global health emergency.

💶 If you want to know more about the Government exploring possible carve-outs for the capital gains tax, you can sign up to TDA Finance here to make sure the explainer is in your inbox on Wednesday morning.

🤔 We are currently running a survey to better understand our audience, in order to improve our partnerships. It takes about 2 minutes - and we’d love to hear from you! Complete it here.

Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has vowed to end ‘bracket creep’ if the Coalition wins the next election.

Bracket creep occurs when wage and inflation rises push a person into the next tax bracket, meaning any financial gains are offset by higher taxes.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC that Taylor’s plans are “irresponsible”.

Here’s what you need to know.

In Australia’s tax system, the higher your income, the more you pay. These are the brackets for the 2025-26 year.

Australia, like many economies around the world, has seen high inflation in recent years.

Wages have risen broadly in line with inflation, though not always. Increasing wages according to the rate of inflation is meant to cancel out the impact of rising prices.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows wages rose 3.3% in the year to March. In that same period, inflation was 4.6%.

In Australia, tax brackets don’t change over time unless the Government chooses to change them.

Some countries, including Belgium, Norway, and France, change their tax brackets every year to adjust for inflation, under a process called indexation.

Currently, the Government indexes payments such as Youth Allowance and JobSeeker, and loans including HECS.

In both his formal reply to the Federal Budget and to reporters on Monday, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor stated the Coalition’s plan to scrap bracket creep by indexing the lowest two tax brackets to inflation.

In a press conference on Monday morning, Taylor reiterated the Coalition’s plan to scrap bracket creep.

“We will, through our Tax Back Guarantee, ensure that bracket creep comes to an end,” he said.

In a statement to TDA, Taylor said: “The Tax Back Guarantee can be expected to return $22.5 billion to Australians over the forward estimates.”

The ‘forward estimates’ means the year the Budget is handed down and the next three years. The next election is due in 2028, meaning this would begin from the 2028-29 financial year if the Coalition won.

On Sunday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC the Government is “enthusiastically returning bracket creep” – meaning he believes its tax cuts are making up for bracket creep.

Chalmers said “responsible” management of the budget is “creat[ing] room to return more bracket creep into the future.”

He added that Taylor’s proposal is “neither responsible nor affordable.”

“What Angus Taylor is proposing to do is to pump the most money into the economy when inflation is already at its highest,” Chalmers told the ABC.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Skincare running low. Fridge needs a restock. Too exhausted to catch public transport home after work. We’ve all been there, so consider this your mini boost to help out.

Open your first CommBank Everyday account and get up to $40 cashback at your faves: Amazon, Chemist Warehouse, Uber Eats and Uber Rides. When you spend $10, you’ll get $10 cashback – it’s that easy.

^{Disclaimer: Open your first CommBank Everyday account by 30 June 2026. Eligibility criteria & offer T&C’s apply. $10 min spend for $10 cashback per merchant for up to $40 cashback in total. Consider if appropriate for you. TMD on the CBA website. Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

It comes weeks after Australia became the 30th country to eliminate the disease, which is spread through close contact with infected people and with certain flies, and can cause scarring of the eyelids and blindness. According to the World Health Organisation, as much as half of Tunisia’s population in the first half of the 20th century was affected by the disease, making its eradication even more impressive. It is the result of a decades-long public health campaign following WHO advice. Health Minister Dr Mustapha Ferjani said it was due to “the dedication of generations of health-care professionals [and] local communities”.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

A Qantas flight was diverted last week after a passenger allegedly bit (yes… bit) a flight attendant.

The plane departed Melbourne on Friday, bound for the U.S. city of Dallas, but was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Tahiti after the incident.

A Qantas spokesperson told TDA: “The safety of our customers and our crew is our number one priority and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights.”

The passenger has since been banned from Qantas flights.

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.