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🗞️ Healthy tax
The ATO is billing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers for the Medicare Levy Surcharge this week after not holding private health insurance during 2023-24.
Pick & Scroll News
June 26, 2026
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Good morning. Back-to-back earthquakes have killed at least 164 people in Venezuela, with the second quake the strongest to hit the country since 1900.
Rescuers are searching through rubble in Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira, where dozens of buildings including a ten-storey hotel have collapsed.
The US Geological Survey warns the final toll could run into the thousands, and the Venezuelan government even unblocked X so it would aid with comms.
All the headlines and more below...
NEARLY A MILLION AUSTRALIANS JUST COPPED A $1,284 TAX PENALTY FOR SKIPPING PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE.
The ATO is billing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers for the Medicare Levy Surcharge this week after not holding private health insurance during 2023-24. The number paying it jumped 15% in a year and 74% over three years.
885,087 taxpayers paid the Medicare Levy Surcharge in 2023-24, averaging $1,284 each.
The surcharge hits singles earning over $101,000 and families over $202,000 who don't hold hospital cover. It's charged at 1-1.5% of income on top of the existing 2% Medicare Levy. The surcharge is calculated daily across the full financial year. You can't dodge it now by taking out cover.
The cheapest basic hospital policy averages $993 a year, slightly less than the minimum $1,050 surcharge. But basic policies cover almost nothing beyond ambulance trips and restricted psychiatric, rehab and palliative care. The ATO has also started data-matching past returns and clawing back penalties from years prior where exemptions were claimed incorrectly.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
Australia’s latest jobs data shows employment rose by 40,300 in May as the unemployment rate edged to 4.4%, intensifying scrutiny of RBA interest rate decisions amid stubborn 3.6% core inflation. LINK
APRA has warned that frontier AI is driving a dangerous rise in AI-powered cyber threats and grey zone warfare, as Australia’s broader financial sector struggles to keep pace. LINK
Australia is losing an estimated $1.2B to greenwashing, a deceptive advertising practice spanning sectors from airlines to restaurants, according to a new ACCC crackdown. LINK
The government has pledged to fix a capital gains tax “widow tax” flaw affecting an estimated 680,000 jointly owned, supposedly grandfathered properties after Senator David Pocock’s intervention. LINK
Policy Institute Australia has found Australian taxpayers will provide $2.7B in childcare and parental leave to families earning over $300,000 as the government’s universal childcare plan could cost $5.5B annually. LINK
The government has introduced a bill for a “managed growth funding” model that caps Commonwealth-supported places to boost enrolments of poorer and regional students. LINK
COMPANY NEWS
Fortescue has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment of women at its remote mining sites, following similar actions against Rio Tinto and BHP. LINK
Qantas and Jetstar have scrapped 4 underperforming trans-Tasman and domestic routes from October due to falling demand, higher fuel, wage and tax costs. LINK
Judo Bank suffered a near 40% share price plunge after revealing a sharp spike in bad debts, higher FY26 credit losses of $116M to $122M and rising impaired loans. LINK
Corporate Travel Management has delayed releasing its financial accounts until August as it works to restate results back to 2019 and repay ÂŁ118M to ÂŁ128M overcharged to the UK government. LINK
A2 Milk declared a US$300M fully franked special dividend to be paid on 24 July after China’s SAMR approved transitioning its acquired infant formula registrations. LINK
Lendlease sold its remaining 25.1% stake in retirement village operator Keyton to Aware Super for $525M as its Capital Release Unit totals $3.4B in asset sales. LINK
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TOGETHER WITH
Take what you’re doing offline and circle back on team wellness because real team bonding happens with puppies, not PowerPoint. Give your team an event they’ll actually look forward to with Puppy Yoga or Corporate Cuddles!
CHART OF THE DAY
Influencer purchasing power is strongest in Brazil, China and India, with the effect weakest in countries like Japan and the Netherlands, though the trend toward influencer-driven purchases is growing globally across nearly all markets surveyed.
ONE MORE SCROLL
Editor’s Pick: Supergirl movie hits theatres June 26.
Draft Pick: Upcoming Australia vs Paraguay in the FIFA World Cup.
Doctor’s Pick: Osteopenia is silently weakening bones in millions of people.
TRIVIA
Here are five events that happened on the 26th of June. Put them in order in history:
The world’s first practical helicopter lifts off, The United Nations Charter is signed, The first barcode is scanned, Hong Kong officially becomes a British colony, The world’s first Grand Prix Motor Race.
Answers below
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ANSWERS
1843 - Hong Kong officially becomes a British colony
1906 - The world’s first Grand Prix Motor Race
1936 - The world’s first practical helicopter lifts off
1945 - The United Nations Charter is signed
1974 - The first barcode is scanned
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