☕️ What the Budget means for you

Beep. Beep. Beep. That was the sound of the TDA office last night at 1am. The alarm was going off, and frankly, it had a point. We needed to go home.

But we were doing important work: breaking down the Budget for you.

In case you missed it, the Government handed down its Federal Budget yesterday. Emma, Lucy and Emily from the TDA team spent six hours locked inside Parliament House in Canberra with a very large pile of Budget papers that were under embargo until 7:30pm.

At 10pm, we recorded our podcast. At 1am, the podcast was scheduled.

Send coffee. Skim cappuccino. Extra hot. Extra chocolate. Extra inflation (*cries*).

The quote: “[Labor] went to the last election saying they wouldn’t do precisely these things, but more importantly, it won’t even deliver the outcome that they’re claiming. How can you introduce new taxes that are going to hit small businesses, that are going to hit young Australians who are saving and investing their first home deposit and increasing rents and also building fewer houses?” Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson responding to the Federal Government’s Budget. You can read more about the Government’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax below.

The stat: 86. The number of UK Labour MPs publicly calling for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign or announce a timeline for his departure, according to ITV News. It comes after Labour saw major losses in elections across England, Scotland and Wales last week. Starmer has also faced criticism this year over his appointment of former UK ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, who was friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: Yesterday’s poll was a tight contest on your favourite movie genre. 38% of you voted rom-com, 19% of you voted for action, 16% of you voted for Sci-fi/Dystopian and 6% of you voted for horror. 20% of you voted “other”. [1718 votes]. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research.

Together with AAP.

The budget is in, here’s what to watch next

The federal budget has landed, and by now you’ve seen the key headlines.

But beyond the announcements, the real question is what it means for the economy - from jobs and wages to inflation, interest rates and household income.

CommBank economists are breaking it down, cutting through the detail to explain what matters and what to watch from here.

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An Australian Army soldier has died during a parachuting training course at Jervis Bay on the NSW South Coast.

Warrant Officer Second Class Lachlan Muddle, 50, from the Special Air Service Regiment, was killed on Monday evening after a mid-air collision with another paratrooper at Jervis Bay Airfield. Another soldier was injured but did not require hospitalisation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “This tragic accident is a stark reminder that there are no easy days for those who defend our nation.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the force had “lost one of its finest”.

The House of Representatives observed a moment’s silence on Tuesday afternoon to honour Muddle, who was deployed five times during his military career, including to Afghanistan.

The death follows a number of other fatal Australian Defence Force training incidents in recent years.

In March 2024, soldier Jack Fitzgibbon – the son of former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon – died after a parachuting exercise at the RAAF base in Richmond, north-west of Sydney.

In another incident, soldier Tulsa Rumney died, and two others were injured during a training exercise in north Queensland in October 2025.

Reporting by Adella Beaini.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, Editor-in-Chief Billi and Features Editor Emma explain last night’s federal budget.

🏉 From the AFL and Rugby to Super Netball and F1, TDA Sport breaks down the biggest stories in language that actually makes sense. You can sign up to TDA Sport here to make sure the newsletter is in your inbox every afternoon.

Last night, the Federal Government handed down the 2026-27 Budget. In simple terms, the budget details how much money the Government expects to raise and where it plans to spend it over the next financial year.

This budget included changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing, as well as income tax relief measures. Here’s your guide.

This budget comes against a backdrop of global uncertainty, with the Middle East conflict disrupting global fuel supplies.

Inflation has already climbed to a three-year high of 4.6%, and the Government is now forecasting it will peak at around 5% next month.

However, he said even under a “severe scenario” where oil prices continue to surge, Australia would still avoid a recession.

There were major changes to Australia’s tax system announced.

First, let’s unpack changes to negative gearing.

Negative gearing is when a landlord spends more on an investment property than they make from rent. That loss can be deducted from the owner’s taxable income, meaning they pay less tax overall.

The Government argues the current system disproportionately benefits the wealthiest investors.

In last night’s Budget, the Government announced negative gearing will be restricted to newly built properties from 1 July 2027.

Properties already being negatively geared prior to 12 May 2026 will not be impacted by the reform.

Now, let’s talk about the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount.

CGT applies to the profit from the sale of an investment. It’s often talked about in relation to property, but it applies to a wide range of investments (including shares).

Since 1999, there's been a sweetener: if you held an investment for more than 12 months before selling, you only paid tax on half the profit. So if you made $10,000, you only got taxed on $5,000 because of the 50% CGT discount. That’s what’s changing.

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 there's a floor: no matter what, you'll always pay a minimum tax rate of 30% (on gains made after 1 July 2027).

For those who already hold assets, the new scheme will only apply to gains made on that asset from 1 July 2027 - not gains accrued before that.

Aside from these tax changes aimed at changing the housing market, the Government also announced:

Put simply, trusts are a place where money or property can be held on behalf of another.

The Government has introduced a minimum tax rate of 30% for income distributed through discretionary and ‘family’ trusts.

Currently, income earned from trusts can be split between multiple family members, who are then taxed according to their individual income.

However, from 1 July 2028, a minimum rate will apply to all distributions by trustees.

This means that a trustee cannot receive significant tax discounts by distributing to family members with lower incomes.

Trust beneficiaries will receive non-refundable tax credits.

According to the Government: “The wealthiest 10% of households hold over 90% of the value of private trusts, the majority of which are discretionary [family] trusts.”

The Budget includes a $250 permanent annual tax offset for every taxpayer from July 2027. This is in addition to a $1,000 instant deduction for work-related expenses available on this year’s tax return.

That deduction was announced last year, along with a tax rate cut for low income earners (between $18,201 and $45,000) to 15 cents per dollar from July this year, and 14 cents next year.

For someone on an average income of $81,245, the combined effect of the Government’s tax cut measures is a saving of around $2,816 by 2028.

The Government will change its migration testing to prioritise “better educated, higher-skilled and younger migrants”.

A National Credit Recognition Framework will also be established to make it easier for migrants who’ve studied overseas to receive relevant qualifications here.

Changes to the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program will “better control numbers” and a “fairer allocation” of visas. The Government did not explain exactly how it would “control” WHM visa number, nor if it would explicitly cut numbers.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe, Lucy Tassell and Emma Gillespie

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Delta Goodrem will represent Australia in its 11th year in the competition, with her first performance on Friday morning (AEST).

Last year, the competition reached a record 2.21 million Australian viewers.

The Wordle universe is expanding.

NBC has ordered a fast-paced game show version of the global hit, produced by Jimmy Fallon in partnership with The New York Times. U.S. journalist Savannah Guthrie – a self-confessed Wordle addict – will host as contestants race to solve five-letter puzzles in a battle of speed and strategy.

Announcing the series, Fallon said: “I feel very honored to be working with Savannah Guthrie on this show… I am SUPER PROUD and HAPPY and I think we developed a SOLID GAMER for PRIME-time.”

And yes, the original quote is in capitals.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.