Chris Spear

That is all we have time for for now.

But before you go, we'd love it if you could share this ep with someone who you think might enjoy it.

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Well, it helps us grow and we want to keep doing everything we do here at The Briefing and bringing you the stories that matter.

I'm Sasha Barber-Gatt.

Catch you next time.

Hey, it's Chris Spear with you.

Happy Friday and welcome to The Briefing.

Australians have battled a lot in the years since COVID, from global conflicts to a persisting housing crisis.

So it might surprise you to learn we're actually pretty optimistic when it comes to how we view our own lives and finances.

And it's shaping how we make decisions about money.

A deep dive into how we're thinking about and treating money in 2026 is coming up in the second half of this episode.

First, though, let's get into the headlines with Sasha Barber-Gatt on Friday the 29th of May.

Yeah, it prompted heated debate on the floor of Parliament yesterday with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor apparently heard calling the Prime Minister an arrogant prick.

Yeah, and look, despite the bill passing the lower house and appearing to secure support from the Greens in the Senate, it will now come under further scrutiny at an inquiry.

And that's because the Senate passed a motion earlier this month to require substantive new laws starting on July 1, first to be probed by an inquiry, which has to happen by June 22.

While the top 1% of income earners would lose about $400,000 worth of tax concessions over their lifetime, those people make a minimum of $375,000 a year.

which I know we include facts like that to balance out these stories, but that's pretty significant.

If you're someone who, I know you're a top earner and we don't really have sympathy for top earners, but if you've kind of banked your future or planned your future around these tax concessions to then kind of have them removed...

I can understand why there's a discussion that's ongoing and I can understand why they're outraged, you know, why they're pissed off.