Nadine Blaney

It is budget day.

It's finally here.

And ahead of its release at 7.30 p.m.

tonight, the prime minister has given a defense of why his government will break its 2025 election promise not to touch the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing.

So the prime minister said that the government is about making the right decisions for the right reasons in the ties you are in.

He said not enough has changed and people are still not able to buy houses so that changes need to be made.

So, Sean, tonight's budget firmly focused on tax, productivity and savings.

And you've got to think, you know, the prime minister really sort of making a pitch to younger voters, essentially.

Same here, Sean.

We'll be back in a moment with the rest of the day's business news.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says his party is not interested in going to the Liberal National Party coalition, not that they're being invited, but would give confidence and supply in exchange for policy concessions.

Watching history really being made and changing the political landscape here in Australia.

Back to corporate news and outdoor advertising group Omedia has rejected a $770 million takeover offer from a U.S.-based private equity group and says that it's talking to more potential suitors.

The latest rejection comes after the group knocked back a proposal from PEP or Pacific Equity Partners last week.

Yeah, I think it's going to offer due diligence to

PEP and I squared capital.

In other news, Hum founder and controlling shareholder Andrew Abercrombie has quit the ASX-listed financing company's board after a government panel found he had misled investors about a $385 million takeover offer and ordered that he offload $11 million in shares.

Abercrombie, who founded what was then known as Flexi Group in 1991, yesterday said he would step down just days before an extraordinary meeting when activist shareholders would have pushed to remove him as a director.

Bit of drama there.

In international news, Sean, an El Nino weather pattern is expected to form in coming months and could be the most powerful on record, according to the latest outlook from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.