Thursday, 28 May - Don't call it a comeback

May 28, 2026

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 28 May. In your Squiz Today…

  • The Albanese Government will introduce its controversial Budget reforms into parliament today

  • NSW pulls off a huge comeback in State of Origin Game One

  • And NASA’s plans for a moon base are firming up…

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Alice Dempster, Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“You know the Eiffel Tower at night when it’s sparkly? I kind of think I look like that a little bit.”

Said tennis star Naomi Osaka of her first round French Open outfit - a gold, sequinned Nike tennis dress and black Kevin Germanier gown. Her form continued on the court - she outshone Germany’s Laura Siegemund in straight sets. She’s serving aces - and lewks…

Not budging on the Budget

The Squiz

After 2 and a bit weeks of vigorous debate, the tax changes from the Albanese Government’s 12 May Budget will be introduced to parliament today. They’ll include 4 high-profile reforms - a change to the way the Capital Gains Tax works, changes to negative gearing, a $250 tax offset for Aussie workers, and a $1,000 standard tax deduction for work expenses. But, in an attempt to ‘wedge’ the Coalition, they’ll all be part of the same bill - so anyone voting for one reform has to vote for all of them - or none of them…

Whazza wedge?

A wedge is basically a tactic designed to put an opposing party on an unpopular side of an issue - in this case, the Coalition. The Coalition doesn’t support the change to the CGT, which moves it from a 50% discount to an inflation-based rate. But it does support the tax offset - and by packaging them all up at once, Team Albo is forcing the Coalition to vote them all down. And it’s fair to say the Coalition isn’t alone in its opposition to the CGT changes - they’ve been the subject of an ongoing campaign from small business owners and startup founders who say that they’ll hurt investment and innovation in Australia, by limiting the possible rewards for those who take the risk of starting their own company. And that’s raised the prospect of something called a carve-out…

What’s being carved out?

To try and keep the business community happy while also avoiding a full backflip on the policy, the government could apply the CGT change to some areas - and not others. For example, it might decide that the new CGT rate would apply if you sell an investment property, but not if you’re a startup founder selling your business. But if that happens - and it is an if - it probably won’t be today. PM Anthony Albanese has flagged that consultation is underway, and those carve-outs might happen in a separate bill. But former Labor PM Paul Keating is urging the government to stay the course - he says the impact on businesses and founders is marginal - and the original idea of the changes, which was to make it easier for young Aussies to enter the housing market, is worth sticking with. We’ll see if the government does…

Winter is coming...

Aussies (should) know that the potential for UV damage doesn't go away when the temperatures drop, and that's why daily SPF is one of those year-round habits worth forming. If you're fresh outta sunscreen post-summer, iHerb has a buy one, get one 50% off deal across its SPF range until 9 June, with products for face, body and sensitive skin. It’s better to be safe than sorry…

Squiz the Rest

Fighting ramps up in Lebanon

The Israeli military warned people living in southern Lebanon to leave yesterday, as it expanded its attacks against the militant group Hezbollah, which Israel says has been breaching the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. It’s the first such warning since that truce began on 17 April, and comes a day after at least 31 people were killed in strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon on Tuesday night. For its part, Hezbollah says it hasn’t signed up to the ceasefire, and it has continued to launch repeated drone attacks at northern Israel and Israeli troops. Something to note - a stop to the fighting in Lebanon is one of Iran’s key conditions for reaching a long-term truce in its war with the US, so this escalation plays into that. The latest there: US President Donald Trump says he’s not satisfied with Iran’s proposal yet, so a ceasefire extension is still pending…

A heatwave in Europe

While most of southern Oz is being drenched, parts of Europe are sweating through an early heatwave. The unusually high temperatures have broken records for the month of May, and at least 11 deaths have been attributed to the unseasonable heat - 9 of them drownings, as people take to the water for relief. In London, temps went north of 35C - the hottest May day on record. While it’s not unusual to see temps above 30C in the UK in summer, it usually doesn’t happen until July and August - and it’s wreaking havoc with the London Tube, much of which doesn’t have aircon. France also recorded its hottest May day, hitting 37.1C in the country’s south-west, with Norway’s Casper Ruud saying the temps at the French Open left him feeling “like a zombie”. 

A rescue operation in Laos

A team of cave divers have found 5 villagers trapped in a flooded cave alive and “in good spirits” overnight, with the search continuing for 2 more. Last Wednesday, 7 villagers in the province of Xaisomboun went into the cave system to look for gold deposits and wildlife, but were unable to get out after flooding blocked the entrance. So a team of rescuers - some of whom were involved in the rescue of the Thai soccer team that were trapped in similar circumstances in 2018 - have been navigating the tricky terrain to try and find them. And find them they did, but the job’s not done - as well as searching for the remaining 2 villagers, the team still needs to get the survivors out of the cave. As Finnish rescue diver Mikko Paasi put it, “the extraction is still ahead and it ain’t going to be easy”.

Nearly Blue it

NSW pulled off the biggest comeback in State of Origin history last night to win Game One of the 3-game series, 22-20. The Blues were in deep strife on home turf when they were down 20-0 after 20 minutes, but they stayed in it and were 14 points behind with 23 minutes to go. That’s when the big talking point happened: Queensland fullback Kalyn Ponga was sent off for a shoulder charge - which Maroons players claimed was an accidental head clash - leaving Queensland one player down. Get ready to hear that one debated in the office/pub/park/street today… After that, NSW made their move - and a last-minute try from fullback James Tedesco secured the win. It was a thrilling start to the men’s series… Tonight, it’s the final game of the women’s series with NSW looking to complete a 3-0 sweep of Queensland on the Gold Coast at 7.45pm AEST.

Spacious property available, no neighbours

It’s just sent humans further into space than ever before, and now NASA’s revealed the next steps in its plan to build a permanent base on the moon. The space agency aims to land humans back on the moon for the first time in over 50 years with the Artemis IV mission in 2028. If all goes to plan, the base will be built on the moon’s south pole, and it’ll be a base for future Mars missions. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is one of 4 US companies awarded contracts to start building robotic landers, moon buggies and drones for it, posthaste. But don’t expect any Star Wars-type cities up there - the blueprint so far extends to setting up habitats, power systems and labs, with moon rovers to get around. Still, it could be one giant leap for mankind, with NASA saying it’ll be “humanity's first outpost on another celestial world”.
*If you’d like to know more about the Artemis space program, we’ve got a Squiz Shortcut for you…

Apropos of Nothing

After 39 days and 900kms, Travis Lovett completed his National Walk for Truth from Naarm (Melbourne) to Parliament House in Canberra yesterday, where he met the PM and called for a formal truth-telling commission. What a journey…

We just can’t get her out of our heads… It’s Aussie singer/icon Kylie Minogue’s birthday today. She turns 58yo - and if you want to know a bit more about her, we published a Squiz Shortcut all about her career and cultural impact this week… 

And fans of the Paddington movies will be happy to know there’s a fourth film in the works, with Armando Iannucci writing the next adventure… He’s the brains behind The Thick of It and Veep, so in those hands, there shouldn’t be any need for hard stares…

Squiz the Day

7.30am (AWST) - West Australian Treasurer Rita Saffioti will deliver a post-Budget business address - Perth

10.00am (AEST) - Declaration of the poll for the federal seat of Farrer to formally confirm One Nation's David Farley as the member - Albury 

12.00pm (AEST) - New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver the NZ government's 2026 Budget - Wellington

12.30pm (AEST) - Clare O’Neil, the Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities will address the National Press Club on 'Homes for Australia: Reforming Australia’s Broken Housing System' - Canberra

7.45pm (AEST) - Rugby League: Women's State of Origin game 3, Cbus Super Stadium - Gold Coast, watch on 9Now

The first tranche of Budget measures will be introduced to parliament

ABS data release: Private new capital expenditure and expected expenditure, March 2026

A birthday for Aussie singer Kylie Minogue (1968)

Anniversary of:

  • the deaths of authors Anne Brontë (1849) and Maya Angelou (2014)

  • Neville Chamberlain becoming PM of the United Kingdom (1937)

  • the founding of Amnesty International by lawyer Peter Benenson in London (1961)

  • Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan entering his third decade of ruling after claiming victory in the election (2023)