Findings

Long-form analyses where a specific question is resolved against the sources. Every claim shows where it came from. Every disagreement is named.

• 29 May 2026 The budget is reforming negative gearing. On the ATO’s own record, the share of landlords running a loss has swung from 70 per cent to 42 per cent. The rules have not changed since 1999, but the loss-making share tracks the interest-rate cycle. In 2021-22 most landlords made a rental profit; by 2022-23 it was back to just under half.
• 21 May 2026 The reform fight is about betting ads. Half of what Australians lose gambling goes into poker machines. Of the $32 billion lost gambling in 2023-24, poker machines took more than half, nearly double all wagering. The one state without pub and club pokies loses far less per adult.
• 21 May 2026 Electricity prices had their biggest fall, then their biggest rise, eleven months apart. The rebate did that, not the power. The official electricity figure posted the deepest and steepest annual changes in its history within a single year. Both are the rebate arriving and leaving, not the price of power.