Budget tax shake-up puts housing and investors in the firing line The federal budget’s changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and other concessions are being framed as a structural reset that could redirect investment towards new builds, but also risk short-term price volatility and fierce political backlash. Several papers argue the burden will fall unevenly—particularly on younger Australians—setting up a generational fight over who pays and who benefits. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The West Australian, The Age. Taylor’s budget reply: bracket indexation and a new tax-war battleline The Coalition is moving to make tax bracket indexation a centrepiece of its pitch, arguing it would stop “bracket creep” and provide predictable relief, in contrast to Labor’s offset-heavy approach. With both sides tying tax to housing affordability and cost-of-living, the coverage signals the budget reply as the opening salvo of

Cole takes over in Stellar rebrand Hayley Cole has taken sole ownership of Stellar Communications and will shift to a more personal, focused model, rather than the traditional agency structure. “Communications has changed significantly over the past decade," Cole said. "Technology has created efficiencies and changed the pace of the industry, but thoughtful strategy, strong relationships and experienced judgement have become even more valuable as a result. Clients increasingly want direct access to senior people who understand their category deeply and can help guide communications with clarity and long-term perspective.” Under its new identity as Stellar PR (stellarpr.com.au), the agency will focus on hospitality, travel and leisure, and currently boasts a client roster that includes Elysium Noosa Resort, Manly Pacific Hotel, Bathers’ Pavilion, Cafe Sydney, Maestro Hospitality’s Cibaria, a’Mare and Ormeggio venues, The Boathouse Group and The Bathhouse Group “We’ve

On Wednesday, Influencing had the pleasure of attending “Builders Day” at the Amazon Web Services Summit in Sydney.   Held at the International Convention Centre, the event will see over 10,000 attendees across both Day One and Day Two.  Day One kicked off with a keynote speech at the TikTok Entertainment theatre. It was delivered  by outgoing AWS ANZ Managing Director Rianne Van Veldhuizen. She announced that while she’s vacating the MD role, she’s remaining with the company.  Chris Casey, AWS Director for APJ Partnerships, was announced as her successor. In his speech, Casey discussed the impact of AWS’s focus on renewable energy and AI/Cloud training investments. Simon Davies, CBA’s General Manager for Core Banking, discussed his bank’s complete technology overhaul project, which has taken place over the last 18 months.  OneNZ’s Summer Collins addressed her telco’s creation of a ‘Network C

TVNZ Political Editor Maiki Sherman   A homophobic slur uttered by a political reporter at a drinks function has become a proxy war over race, media trust and political pressure in New Zealand. The departure of TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman has plunged the Land of the Long White Cloud into furious debate. Providing a detailed timeline of events, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith provides some straight reporting in The Spinoff. As she notes, Sherman left TVNZ on May 8 after intense scrutiny over a 2025 incident at pre-Budget drinks in Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ office, where she used a homophobic slur towards Stuff journalist Lloyd Burr. Sherman apologised at the time, said the remark followed “deeply personal and inappropriate” comments, and later said her position had become “untenable”. Her resignation also followed a separate five-day suspension from Parliament for breaching press gallery rules.   Waiwiri-Smith also notes that the allegations resurfaced throug

Wednesday, 13 May 2026 #1  ·  Front Page  ·  Breaking news / Investigative NEET-UG cancelled after 'paper leak', 23L students hit, CBI to probe case By Nandini Vaish, Krishnadas Rajagopal   ·   The Times of India  ·  Page 1 The NEET-UG examination has been cancelled following a confirmed paper leak scandal affecting approximately 23 lakh students who had appeared for the test. The CBI has been handed the investigation into the leak, which has triggered a major political and institutional controversy over the integrity of India's medical entrance examination system. The story combines breaking news with a detailed string-of-controversies timeline, deploying multiple named sources and tracing the institutional failures that led to the cancellation — going well beyond a simple announcement. Its framing of the downstream consequences for 23 lakh students gives it genuine analytical weight. #2 

Questions around press freedom and online speech have surfaced in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu after recent government-linked takedown actions targeting social media content critical of political leaders and parties. The developments come shortly after newly formed governments in both states publicly assured support for press freedom and journalist safety during and after the election period. In West Bengal, award-winning journalist and Millat Times CEO and Editor-in-Chief Shams Tabrez Qasmi said content shared by him on X regarding post-election clashes in Kolkata was flagged by the Kolkata Police. In a post on May 9, Qasmi wrote: “Received an email from X with a Kolkata Police letter flagging a video I shared on recent post-election clashes in Kolkata. The letter seeks action against the news content. The same video was shared by many others, including TMC MP Sagarika Ghose.” He further criticised the move, stating: “Appalled at this attempt to silence independent journa