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Good morning!
In case you missed it, we could be close to a peace deal between the U.S, Israel, and Iran.
In a statement yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.”
He even missed his son Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding over the weekend because he “has a thing called Iran”.
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “Our changes are pro-aspiration, and pro-supply, so we can help people get into a home of their own.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a speech delivered to Victorian Labor’s state conference on Saturday. It comes after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor called Albanese’s latest Budget an “assault on aspiration”.
The stat: 82. The death toll from a gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine in China's northern province of Shanxi late on Friday. The incident is China's deadliest mining accident since 2009, when a gas explosion at the Xinxing Mine in Heilongjiang province killed 108 people.
The big question:
Friday’s results: 68% of you had used a generative AI tool in the past week. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [3,264 votes].
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
A man has died after opening fire at a White House security checkpoint. It was the third incident of gunfire in the vicinity of President Donald Trump in the past month. The man approached a checkpoint shortly after 6pm on Saturday, "removed a weapon from his bag and began firing at posted officers", the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement. Officers returned fire, hitting the gunman, who later died in hospital. A bystander was also struck, but a law enforcement official said it wasn't clear whether that person was hit by the suspect's bullets or those fired by officers. Authorities confirmed Trump was not "impacted".
Mexican-themed chain Guzman y Gomez has pulled out of the U.S. market, closing all of its restaurants in Chicago effective immediately. The decision was made because the financial performance of the U.S. business was not acceptable or meeting targets, the company said in a statement to investors. Guzman's U.S. experiment lasted about six years, after it opened its first store in Chicago in January 2020. Founder and co-chief executive Steven Marks said he had “realised this was going to take significantly more time and capital than we had expected.” The chain’s restaurants in Australia, Singapore, and Japan will stay open.
Together with AAP.
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I’ve got 1 minute
Thousands of NSW renters have been refunded almost $180,000 after being charged illegal fees by landlords, real estate agents and rental platforms.
The refunds follow a statewide crackdown on banned rent payment and background check charges introduced under the Minns Government’s rental reforms last year.
Investigations into thousands of rental matters over the past 12 months found more than 3,000 tenants were still being charged the fees despite the rules.
Here’s what to know.
Recent laws
Last year, the NSW Government passed major rental reforms aimed at strengthening protections for the state’s 2.3 million renters.
The changes included:
Banning “no-grounds” evictions.
Limiting rent increases to once a year.
Preventing landlords from rejecting pets without a valid reason.
Ensuring renters have fee-free ways to pay rent.
Banning charges for rental background checks.
Illegal fees
The NSW Government also established a dedicated Rental Taskforce within Fair Trading to investigate landlords and agents breaking the rules.
Over the past year, the Taskforce investigated almost 8,000 rental matters and uncovered thousands of illegal charges.
In one case, nearly 2,400 rental applicants were charged $19.95 each for background checks through an online rental platform.
Those renters have since been refunded more than $48,000, and the company was forced to remove the background check feature from its website.
Another agency was found to have issued more than 2,000 illegal dishonour fees to almost 800 tenants between July 2020 and April 2025, despite late payment penalties being banned in NSW.
The investigation resulted in tenants being refunded more than $124,000, including one renter who was charged nearly $2,400 in fees.
Reporting by Achol Arok.
Quick hits
🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, co-founder Zara and editor-in-chief Billi explain Australia’s diphtheria outbreak.
🏆 Want to know what’s happened with the Enhanced Games? Or stay across the biggest AFL and NRL storylines from the weekend? Sports journalists George and Pav have you covered in TDA Sport. Sign up here and it will land in your inbox at 4:30pm today.
Good finds
🎬 Missed the Cannes buzz? MUBI's curated Cannes Takeover Collection brings together the festival's most talked-about films – all in one place. New members get 30 days free with TDA, so head to MUBI to start watching.
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I’ve got 2 minutes
Since last week’s Federal Budget, talk has been growing around the Government introducing a ‘death tax’ through changes to trusts.
Under the proposed changes, discretionary trusts would face a minimum 30% tax on trust income.
The changes would apply to new discretionary trusts created through wills after someone dies, but not existing trusts or fixed testamentary trusts. Around 10,500 Australians have these trusts.
The Opposition says including them makes the policy a ‘death tax’.
So, what are they?
Background
Let’s start with a refresh on trusts.
Put simply, a trust is a legal structure where money or assets are held on behalf of someone else.
Beneficiaries are the people or companies entitled to income from the trust, and they pay tax on their share of that income.
Changes included in the Budget mean distributions from discretionary (or family) trusts would be taxed at a minimum rate of 30%, rather than at each beneficiary’s personal income tax rate.
So why is it being labelled a ‘death tax’?
The term was first published by The Australian last week due to the inclusion of testamentary trusts.
Testamentary trusts are used to distribute a person’s assets after they die and can remain in place for years, including across generations.
According to ATO data from 2022-23, there were around 10,500 testamentary trusts in Australia, representing about 0.1% of taxpayers.
The changes are grandfathered, meaning they will not apply to these existing trusts.
Responses
The Coalition has launched a petition against the changes, claiming they were “hidden in the budget papers”.
They called the policy a “30% inheritance tax... targeting popular family trust structures used by everyday Australians to save, invest, and pass on assets to their children.”
Independent MP Monique Ryan rejected the claim, saying these changes “are not a death tax” and describing the Coalition’s petition as a “scare campaign.”
Will it change?
The Budget changes still need to pass Parliament before becoming law.
This means the proposed minimum tax rate on discretionary trusts has not yet been legislated.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Government is considering reversing the policy for testamentary trusts.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not confirm the reports, telling TDA the Budget measures would be introduced as legislation.
Reporting by Emily Donohoe.
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Give me some good news
Credit: Instagram
Las Vegas is set to host a parade celebrating female athletes, following a push from American rapper Flavor Flav.
The rapper is a long-time supporter of women’s sport, taking the role of “official hype man” for the women’s water polo team back at the 2024 Olympics, and inviting the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s ice hockey team to celebrate their achievement with him earlier this year. That invitation to the hockey players has expanded into the four-day ‘She Weekend’, which will see more than 100 female athletes gather in Las Vegas for “events, activities, concerts, and community moments”. This week, the local council approved a parade down the Las Vegas Strip as the centrepiece of the festival.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
TDA titbit
In case you missed it, a humanoid robot in China stole the show last week after confidently dancing to Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean before collapsing mid-routine.
The AGIBOT Expedition A3 had been gliding through surprisingly smooth moves when it lost balance near the edge of the stage and folded straight onto the floor as the music kept playing. A staff member was then forced to drag the android away.
Robots may take our jobs one day, but for now they’re still losing battles with gravity.
Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.
TDA asks
