The Rapture: Australia Undone

  They were erecting tents along the perimeters of the cliffs; where we could edge, where we could soar, where all could be lost in a simple, single flick. The stakes barely held against the wind. The fronts of the tents were flapping in the cold air. Soldiers sought shelter inside the flimsy structures. All was not lost.  He had just turned 74, celebrated might be overstating the case, but the shock of it, he hadn't expected. So he suddenly just started pottering, like an old man, and everything that he had longed for suddenly seemed so far away. Yet new roads opened. Birds soared off cliffs. Arrangements were made. We came to you with open arms and you turned inward, denying your fate. Denying the work that needed to be done. He was appalled at his own behaviour, frightened of the consequences, moving silently in fear; and yet, there truly was hope.  The whale migration was moving up the coast. His old stomping ground at the Cross, once Australia's premier entertainment...

  NEWS SUMMARY In the past 24 hours, Australian political coverage has centred on the Albanese Labor government’s defensive posture amid ongoing fallout from its contentious 2026 federal budget tax reforms. The government has been forced into partial retreats on measures targeting capital gains tax (CGT), trusts, and related areas after widespread backlash from business, industry groups, accountants, lawyers, and even religious organisations. Critics have framed these backdowns as a humiliating “strategic surrender” and “damage control as performance art.” Headlines such as “Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers try damage control as performance art” (The Australian, 20 June 2026) and reports of the government retreating on “contentious budget tax measures” have dominated commentary. The changes—exempting testamentary trusts from a proposed 30% tax (dubbed a “death tax”), preserving CGT concessions for small businesses up to a higher threshold, and limiting ministerial discretion—wer...