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21 May 2026
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The current net annual cost of superannuation tax subsidies is around $40 billion, growing to more than $110 billion by 2060. These subsidies have always been bad policy, representing a waste of taxpayers' money.
Most superannuation products offered to working-age Australians are now performance-tested, and there are calls to extend these tests to account-based pensions. It's likely to result in more pain than gain, though.
A Grattan Institute report suggests lifetime annuities as a solution to people not spending their super balances. The issue is whether underspending is the real problem or a sign of more fundamental failings in our retirement system.
The benefits in retirement come at the cost of consumption in prior years and this trade-off should be the focus in making reforms to super. Otherwise, the system will continue to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor.
New research on Australia's retirement income policy argues many people (and the Budget) would be better off without compulsory super, especially when the welfare benefits of increasing home ownership are considered.
Professor Bird and Dr Gray highlight the dominance of the financial sector in Australia’s economy in their submission to the Financial System Inquiry and question whether bigger is necessarily better.
A return to indexation of capital gains would be a fairer way to compensate households for the effects of inflation than the current discount. Importantly, it opens the door to future, broader reforms to stop the taxation of inflation.
Australia may not levy formal death duties, but a growing web of tax measures is quietly shaping what wealth passes between generations. Now, the 2026 budget adds another layer.
From oil shocks to fractured alliances, the Iran war carries the hallmarks of a historic policy misstep - one that could tip an already fragile global economy into crisis.
Marketed as a fix for inequality and housing affordability, the latest budget instead delivers a tangle of tax changes that leave everyday Australians worse off.
Copper has had a rough few weeks but investors should not ignore the potential for future price increases as supply increasingly falls behind demand.
The budget’s property tax reforms are being framed as fairness measures, but they risk splitting the housing market, penalising lower‑income investors and introducing distortions that may prove costly.
The vast and opaque world of private assets is a powerful gravitational force - and when trouble hits, it's the more liquid public equities that often the feel it first.