🗞️ Rents are jumping

Good morning. You might remember the name Bryan Johnson. He was the guy who attracted attention for controversial experiments to reverse ageing, including spending US$2M per year on his health and testing large doses of psilocybin mushrooms under medical monitoring.

Well, Bryan has come out with 41 new recommendations which focus on sleep, exercise, nutrition and avoiding risky behaviours.

Feels like he didn't need to spend millions of dollars on those controversial experiments to arrive at those conclusions.

All the headlines and more below...

MERITON SAYS INVESTOR VISITS JUMPED 20% THE WEEKEND AFTER LABOR SHELTERED NEW APARTMENTS FROM CGT CHANGES

Meriton recorded a 20% increase in investor foot traffic and higher sales last weekend across projects from the Gold Coast to Castle Hill. Other major developers including SRM Residential and Aland reported the same surge. SRM sold a one-bedroom apartment in Potts Point for $2.5M over the weekend.

The changes start July 2027. From that point, investors buying new apartments can still negatively gear and choose between the old 50% CGT discount or inflation-adjusted indexation at sale. Investors buying established homes lose both. Only 13% of Meriton's buyers last week used the company's in-house finance arm, down from a typical 50%, which Triguboff says means banks are lending again.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• Meriton reported a 20% jump in investor visits and higher apartment sales after the government scrapped negative gearing on existing homes and the 50% CGT discount from July 1, 2027. LINK

• Investors are demanding higher premiums on Australian government bonds as concerns grow over rising public spending and long-term financial health, with 10-year yields hitting 5.15% and spreads widening. LINK

• Rents across Australian capital cities are rising at their fastest pace in 2.5 years, as SQM Research reports a 6.9% annual increase and forecasts gains approaching 10%. LINK

• Gen X Australians face working longer as a planned 30% minimum capital gains tax from July 2027 reduces tax-free investment gains and significantly increases retirees’ tax bills. LINK

EY INTERN SAYS FIRM BLOCKED HER FROM HARASSMENT SURVEY AFTER SHE REPORTED GROPING

A former EY intern is suing the firm, alleging she was sexually harassed by a manager in early 2023, then sidelined after making a formal complaint. EY is not defending the harassment claim given the man no longer works there. But it denies victimising her.

The woman says her manager groped her during Friday drinks at a bar near the Sydney office, then followed her to the bathroom at a karaoke event. She raised it anonymously, then formally in March 2023. During that meeting, she claims senior managers told her that before "the suicide", a 27-year-old woman who took her own life at EY's Sydney office in August 2022, the firm used to pay complainants to leave quietly. After her complaint, colleagues told her to move on. She was given less work than peers. In May 2023, she was allegedly blocked from Broderick's survey. EY disputes this, saying the survey closed once sample size was met. She resigned in June.

A broader culture review led by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick dropped the next month and found staff too afraid to report bad behaviour.

COMPANY NEWS

• A female intern is suing EY in the Federal Court alleging she was victimised after reporting sexual harassment by a male manager, as EY denies any victimisation. LINK

• KPMG has embedded Anthropic’s Claude into its global tax and legal platform for 276,000 staff as KPMG US becomes a preferred consultant following Anthropic’s US$1.5B joint venture. LINK

• KPMG has faced internal scrutiny at an all partners meeting after allegations it misused confidential Lendlease board papers to pitch for work were aired under parliamentary privilege. LINK

• Westpac has told mortgage brokers it will not honour pre-approved investor loans and will reassess them, as the federal government bans negative gearing for existing properties and reduces borrowing capacity. LINK

• Google unveiled what it calls the biggest change to its web search box in 25 years as it embeds Gemini AI, adds multimodal queries and enables mini app creation for subscribers. LINK

• Webjet reported a 20% fall in FY26 underlying EBITDA to $28.1M and warned of further earnings pressure as Virgin Australia slashes commissions, cutting revenue by about $3M. LINK

• Flight Centre invested US$5M in Boston-based Blockskye to give FCM Travel early access to its blockchain-based payments network and support its wider advanced technology strategy. LINK

• A massive Aldi distribution centre the size of 15 soccer fields near the new Badgerys Creek airport is set to anchor a $1B tech-focused logistics precinct. LINK

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TRUE OR FALSE

1. Wombats are the only animals in the world known to produce cube-shaped poop.

2. The Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space with the naked eye.

3. The video game company Nintendo was founded before the sinking of the Titanic.

4. Goldfish have an extremely short memory span that lasts only about three seconds.

5. The actress Betty White was born before the invention of commercially sliced bread.

Answers below

OUR SOCIALS

ANSWERS

1. True. Wombats have highly specialised intestines that extract maximum moisture and form their faeces into distinct cubes. This shape prevents the droppings from rolling away, allowing wombats to stack them on rocks and logs to mark their territory.
2. False. This is one of the most famous space myths. In low Earth orbit, many man-made objects (like cities, highways, and large dams) are visible. However, from further out - such as from the Moon - astronauts have confirmed that absolutely no man-made structures, including the Great Wall, can be seen without optical aid.
3. True. Nintendo was founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1889 originally as a company that produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. The Titanic famously sank in 1912, making Nintendo older by 23 years.
4. False. Scientists have repeatedly debunked the "three-second memory" myth. Studies and experiments have shown that goldfish can actually remember things - such as navigating mazes, associating sounds with feeding time, and even recognising their owners - for weeks or even months.
5. True. Betty White was born on January 17, 1922. The very first commercial bread-slicing machine, invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder, wasn't put into use until July 1928. Technically, sliced bread is the greatest thing since Betty White!

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