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Chapter 1: What recent international events are affecting the Strait of Hormuz?
a listener production. Hi, Sasha Barbagat with you. Welcome to The Briefing. The 2026 federal budget is shaping up to be one of the biggest in recent years when it comes to tax reform. So just how much can we expect that to impact us?
I think there's a lot of disappointment in this Labor government up till now.
Chapter 2: How are grocery prices in Australia impacted by global conflicts?
They haven't really done enough. They've been given a whole term. They just got a massive swing to them in their second term. I feel that the pressure is on for them to actually do something with that big majority in parliament.
We break down all the areas we can expect to see changes in tax policy on May 12 after the headlines. With Helen Smith, it is Thursday, April 23rd.
Morning Sash. Starting in the Middle East, Iran says the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is impossible if the ceasefire continues to be breached. Iran's President Massoud Pesachian says they have welcomed dialogue and agreement and continue to do so, but their main concerns are the U.S.
's breach of commitments, blockade and threats, posting on X that the world sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.
Yeah, so this is all in the wake of Donald Trump announcing that they will extend the ceasefire. It was actually due to wrap up this morning, our time, but they are waiting for a unified proposal from Iran before proceeding with any further peace talks.
Now, this all comes amid claims from Iran that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had seized two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz because they were disrupting order and safety.
Now, these captured ships reportedly belong to Greece and Panama, and they appear to be part of a larger convoy that belongs to the world's biggest shipping company, MSC, which had been operating in the Persian Gulf before the conflict began.
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Chapter 3: What changes are being proposed for the NDIS and who will be affected?
Meantime, we've heard from the White House with Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt unwavering when asked about the continuation of the blockade in the Strait.
Operation Economic Fury continues and the effective and successful naval blockade continues as well of ships and vessels that are moving to and from Iranian ports. We are completely strangling their economy through this blockade.
Now, a timeline for the new extension of the ceasefire between the US and Iran has not been confirmed yet, but it has renewed hopes of a second round of peace talks between the two nations within the next couple of days. Those talks would take place in Islamabad, in Pakistan, and as a result, the city has been on lockdown.
But again, Iran says they won't agree to meet until the US ends its blockade on Iran's ports.
Yeah, locals in Islamabad have started complaining because they are still in lockdown because a bunch of streets had to be shut down, shops had to be shuttered, all for the safety of the delegates from the US and Iran. And they are still in lockdown, even though these talks don't have a scheduled date to start yet. So locals there are complaining about that.
Now, bringing it closer to home, we are starting to see some trickle-down effects of the war in Iran here when it comes to our grocery prices.
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Chapter 4: How is the first home buyer scheme influencing housing prices?
We've been warned for weeks, almost months, that we can expect our grocery prices to go up. And now Coles has increased the cost of its home brand milk prices by up to 20 cents a litre and Woolworths is expected to follow. So that's the first in possibly a long line of price increases at the supermarket.
Mm-hmm. Another item that is also being impacted across the globe is condoms. Oh my gosh. So one of the world's biggest condom producers, Carex, is saying that they plan to raise their prices by 20 to 30% due to the war on Iran. And just for some context, they are the owners and suppliers of Durex.
So- the biggest brands in the world.
One of the biggest brands. So it's interesting to see how something just like rubber or latex and the production of that can be so impacted by one conflict.
Australians with autism are set to be the cohort most impacted by sweeping changes announced to the NDIS. Health Minister Mark Butler yesterday unveiled the reforms, which will include tightening eligibility rules, which is set to kick 160,000 people off the scheme.
Right now the NDIS costs too much and it's growing too fast.
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Chapter 5: What tax reforms are expected in the upcoming federal budget?
And unless we take action to make it sustainable, it simply will not be there in the future for the Australians who need it most.
The changes are designed to slow the ballooning costs of the scheme, which last year grew at a rate of 10% to $50 billion a year, Helen.
While details of how the new eligibility assessment will work are limited, people on the autism spectrum will be the most impacted by the changes. So right now, they make up four out of five new entrances on the NDIS, largely due to automatic qualifying for the scheme based on diagnosis.
And that's the main reform Labor is looking to make, saying people's functional capabilities should be assessed to determine what level of support they need.
Yeah, so basically doing it on a needs basis, not, oh, you have been diagnosed with X disability, therefore you are eligible for the NDIS. It's saying we need to look at what people need and their functional capabilities.
Now, while that seems like an intuitive move, one of the big reasons autistic Aussies have been funnelled to the NDIS is because support services are lacking outside the insurance program. The federal government says it is looking to alleviate those issues through the already announced Thriving Kids program, which is designed for children on the spectrum.
It's also asked the states and territories to create more supports outside the NDIS. Health ministers from the states and territories were briefed late yesterday following Butler's announcement.
The changes to eligibility are set to come into force from January 2028. with a new advisory group set up to begin developing the new assessment tool.
And, Sash, a recent ANU study found evidence that the introduction of the NDIS led to a 32% increase in reported autism prevalence, with disability service providers more likely to provide autism diagnosis that would ultimately enable access to the National Disability Scheme.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of proposed changes to capital gains tax?
Yeah. Well, it also hasn't addressed serviceability issues, which are now considered one of the biggest barriers for first home buyers. So that is how you afford to actually pay the mortgage. So if you buy with a 5% deposit, it means you're taking on a loan for 95% of the purchase price.
So what that does is that while, sure, you might be able to afford it in that moment that you're purchasing the property, it leaves you vulnerable to things like higher repayments when prices and interest rates rise. So it is something that kind of ticked one box, but it completely ignored three and four others and has potentially created a bigger issue when it comes to affordability.
It's been revealed Kiss FM is turning the tables on its dumped radio stars and is suing Kyle and Jackie O. In court documents seen by nine newspapers, ARN is now pursuing the pair for legal costs of cleaning up their contractual blow-up.
The network claims it's lost advertising revenue and profits after Jackie Henderson and Carl Sanderlance breached their contracts and is also chasing down a significant chunk of a $3 million signing bonus it paid to Sanderlance.
Now, this all comes after the radio duo was sensationally axed from Sydney and Melbourne's Kiss FM breakfast show and had their $200 million contracts torn up following an on-air spat between Kyle and Jackie back in February. We actually did two deep dives on this in the immediate weeks after that. It was huge news right across the country. I will pop the links to those in the show notes.
We are now seeing Henderson and Sanderlands separately suing ARN. They claim the network failed to honour the terms of their contracts and they're chasing a combined $160 million. Also this week, we've seen court documents filed by ARN in its defence against Kyle. So this is Kyle's case today. saying that, you know, they owe him $85 million. So this is their defence.
And they've detailed all of these comments that have been made by Kyle on the show publicly as their defence saying, well, here's all of the evidence that he breached the contract and he breached company policy. So if you want to have a read of those, maybe I won't repeat the comments, but they are published in newspapers today. So you can go check that out if you're interested.
And Netflix has revealed more details about Kylie Minogue's long-awaited intimate doco.
The streaming giant confirmed the three-part project will include home videos, personal archives and unseen interviews with the singer, as well as a behind-the-scenes look into how some of her biggest hits were made, including Can't Get You Out of My Head, I Should Be So Lucky and her breakout 1988 classic, The Locomotion.
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Chapter 7: How might negative gearing reforms impact property investors?
But at this stage, we still don't have an official trailer or release date. They are stringing us along. In the meantime, though, Kylie is set to headline this year's AFL Grand Final, making her the first Aussie to do so since 2021. I know one person who will be watching this doco when it does finally air, and that is one Chris Spirou, who rejoins us next week from the land of the USA
I don't know, Helen, we talked about this before. I appreciate Kylie and her cultural significance. Not the biggest fan of her music or anything, but I think she's great.
Yeah, I love her and I think she's just such an Aussie icon. But yeah, I'm... I mean, give me more details, Netflix. I need a little bit more. I want a trailer. I want a trailer.
Show me the trailer.
Then I'm going to be into it. Look, I'm definitely probably going to watch it. I love a doco. But yeah, I won't be blasting. I won't be blasting. I could be so lucky. That's one of her best, though, I must say. Actually, I do love that.
Better than the locomotion. Locomotion's a bit corny. Anyway, we digress. Thanks for joining us on the headlines today. Have a great day. But before you go about the rest of your Thursday, have a listen to our deep dive. Now, you would have been hearing a lot about tax reform coming up in the federal budget, and we're breaking down all the areas that we're going to see it. That's coming up next.
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Chapter 8: What is the current status of tax breaks for electric vehicles?
We're fast approaching another federal budget with Treasurer Jim Chalmers due to hand down the paper on May 12. One of the spaces he's promising the biggest changes is to Australia's tax system, forecasting sweeping reforms.
Amidst growing inflation, a looming energy crisis, soaring fuel costs and global pressures and uncertainty, Labor will struggle to balance the needs of everyday Aussies doing it tough against the budget's bottom line. So what changes are being looked at? What will they mean for you? And what does an economist make of how they could impact the country?
Matt Grudnoff is a senior economist at the Australia Institute and he joins me now. This federal budget is shaping up as one that is set to deliver pretty major tax reforms. Before we get into what they are and what they'll look like, why do you think Jim Chalmers is choosing to do this now?
I think that the budget needs more revenue. I think that the government has a lot of spending priorities that it wants to commit to. And if it doesn't raise the revenue, then it's going to struggle to balance the budget at the same time. So I think they're under pressure also because they've I think there's a lot of disappointment in this Labor government up till now.
They haven't really done enough. They've been given a whole term. They just got a massive swing to them in their second term. I feel that the pressure is on for them to actually do something with that big majority in parliament.
So let's get in then to what areas are being looked at now. We'll clarify the budget is on May 12. We haven't actually had any of these measures formally announced yet. We might get them before May 12, but these are all areas that we know Labor is considering making some big reforms in. Let's start with capital gains. First off, can you explain what this discount is briefly and how it works?
Yeah. So a capital gain just means you sold an asset for more than you bought it for. So let's say you've got an investment property. You sold it for $800,000. You originally bought it for $500,000. It's gone up in value by $300,000. You've made a $300,000 capital gain. Now, normally, if you weren't $300,000 as wages or interest or dividends on shares or however it might come,
you'd pay your marginal tax on that. You'd pay your tax on it. But if you earned it as a capital gain, we give you a special 50% discount. So what the tax office says is, let's pretend of that $300,000, half of it doesn't exist. We'll only pretend you made $150,000 and we'll add that $150,000 to your taxable income.
And then depending on how much other income you earned, you'll have to pay tax on that. So it effectively halves the tax rate on capital gains.
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