It’s said the rich get richer and the poor get the picture but exactly how wealthier Australians seem able to pay less to own more is a little less obvious.

For the well-to-do who happen to boast a holiday home, though, the trick of extracting the most from their asset is about to become way more transparent thanks to the Australian Tax Office.

Take, for example, a savvy pair we’ll call the Smiths.

They’ve done well enough to set themselves up in a multi-million dollar mansion in Melbourne’s inner east but also have a killer holiday apartment on the Gold Coast for when they need to escape the rain.

From the outside, the Smiths are doin’ it easy but maintaining their lavish lifestyle doesn’t come cheap.

They still owe a few bucks on the beachfront pad, so there are repayments to consider as well as the interest that’s starting to bite as rates climb again.

The Millionaire’s Row getaway also attracts steep council rates made worse by the so-called view tax the Smiths are being slugged with.

Then there’s land taxes, insurance and the never-ending maintenance bill.

So, what to do about it?

To start, the Smiths advertise their costly-to-run property for rent throughout the year via an estate agent.

However they often block out periods for their own use, along the way cancelling bookings they receive for periods around Easter, Christmas and New Year.

But generous to a tee, Mr and Mrs Smith also reserve their home-away-from-home for the use of their extended family and friends.

With five children, some of them old enough to have partners and a couple with their own little ones, the number of people enjoying stays at the property at heavily discounted rents has started to add up.

Then there are in-laws and cousins, and pretty soon the place is occupied during every school holidays as well.

Despite this, and not that they’ve done anything untoward, the Smiths have continued to claim against the cost of owning the luxury unit as a rental investment.

Traditionally referred to as clever accounting, easing their burden by reducing their tax bill has in fact been a financial masterstroke.

At least until now.

Under a new draft ruling by the ATO, the Smiths and other holiday-home owners working from the same tip sheet could be in for a rude shock.

At stake is their ability to claim deductions on interest, rates or upkeep unless the home is “mainly” rented to generate income and available during peak periods.

In tax terms, it’s a big deal. The ATO calculates over two million Australian investment properties apply for tax deductions annually, with the average claim coming in around $20,000.

With the changes expected to take effect from July 1, tax officials will look at the amount of time a home is available for rent, including during popular seasonal periods, says Chartered Accountants tax leader Susan Franks.

“If you’ve got a holiday home and it is in a seasonal area, you really need to make sure that it’s mainly used for rental income during that period,” she tells AAP.

Publishing the proposal in draft form, the tax office has indicated it will crack down on aspects of existing legislation that it hasn’t previously enforced.

It is also keeping an eye on holiday-home owners who demonstrate limited attempts to rent out the property or keep parts of the home inaccessible for guest use.

This consideration won’t apply to the Smiths whose residence is in a high-rise tower, which is why they cop inflated council rates for their view of the beach.

Closer to the sand, however, someone who perhaps owns a two-storey rental but regularly quarantines upstairs for themselves, could attract scrutiny.

Publicly pricing the property well above rental market rates so as to deliberately drive away interest and letting it to family or friends significantly below value will also be frowned upon.

“(The ATO’s) interpretation of the law will be questioned by some,” Ms Franks says.

“However, there is a segment of the community whose deductions need to be reined in in relation to their use of holiday homes.”

To be sure, the ATO can now use third-party data from holiday rental platforms like Airbnb to match income and expenses and identify omitted rental income or overclaimed deductions.

Tax returns will be compared with platform data, bank records and even property listings to spot discrepancies.

Tax services specialist H&R Block is advising clients to be careful.

“Don’t claim what you’re not entitled to and make sure you have records to support and justify every item,” the company recently warned.

“Tread carefully this year – as the ATO is watching you!”

Homeowners will still be able to reasonably claim deductions on things like rental advertising and cleaning costs after a rental stay.

The federal government insists the coalition declare its stance on hate speech after splitting its legislative agenda in a move allowing Greens support on gun reform.

Both issues will be thrashed out on Tuesday as part of an extraordinary parliamentary sitting week in response to the Bondi terrorist attack.

Monday will feature a condolence motion for the victims of the December 14 massacre, after which the Senate will adjourn as a mark of respect.

Next week, we’re bringing Parliament back early to respond to the antisemitic terror attack at Bondi.

It’s time for the politics to stop, and for Parliament to work together in the national interest. pic.twitter.com/fchkuPA9iO

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 17, 2026

The government had initially proposed an omnibus bill taking in its planned gun buyback scheme, a hate group ban, and racial vilification provisions.

However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese moved to separate the proposals on Saturday after the Greens revealed they would only support the firearms legislation.

“This is a way in which (the Greens) can vote for the gun laws that they said they would vote,” he told reporters.

“These gun laws are really important, there is no reason why anyone should oppose these gun laws.”

Mr Albanese also signalled the removal of racial vilification offences from the surviving hate speech bill as they were also unsupported.

“The hate crimes legislation will continue, the racial vilification laws do not have the support of the Senate,” he said.

“That is what the Greens party and the Liberal Party have made clear, so we deal with the parliament that we have.”

With fresh battlelines drawn, Mr Albanese said it was now up to the coalition to justify its position to the community should it oppose the amended program.

“At the moment, they’re defined by what they’re against but it’s not clear what they’re for,” he said.

“They have, up to this point, of course, called for parliament to be recalled and then opposed.

“They called for hate speech laws. When they’ve seen them, they’re now against them.”

Greens leader Larissa Waters said the minor party would not back the reforms in their original form given the “significant amount of work required to meet community concerns”.

“However, the Greens, having consulted closely with gun safety advocates, are willing to pass the gun law reforms,” she said.

“If the government is, too, those changes can become law when parliament returns next week.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Friday opposed the omnibus bill, calling it “pretty unsalvageable” as the hate speech element did not explicitly criminalise phrases such as “globalise the Intifada”.

Asked whether the legislation should also specifically reference Islamophobia, she said “we’re not talking about that”.

“We’re talking about anti-Semitism and radical Islamic extremism and the rise of ISIS,” she told Nine’s Today program.

Legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders also criticised the bill as too rushed and broad.

Support for the federal government’s sweeping hate speech reforms has collapsed with the Greens revealing they will not back the proposed changes. 

Ahead of an extraordinary parliamentary sitting week to discuss the proposal, the Greens said they could not pass the government’s omnibus bill given the “significant amount of reworking required to meet community concerns”.

However, the minor party says it will pass the proposed gun law reforms put forward in the package.

“The Greens are willing to work with the government to pass gun laws next week but the rest of the omnibus bill needs a huge amount of work,” party leader Larissa Waters said on Saturday.

“With every hour that passes, more concerns are raised by legal experts, faith groups and the community about the Omnibus bill.

“This is complex legislation, with a lot of massive pitfalls and omissions, and the process to fix it can’t be rushed.”

On Friday, the Albanese government made a last ditch bid for bipartisan support for the hate speech and gun reform bill after failing to win backing from the coalition.

“The prime minister has made clear: we are open to amendments, we would like to see national unity, we would like to see the coalition and the Greens act responsibly,” Senator Wong said.

Proposed in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, the reforms include measures such as cracking down on hate preachers, introducing hate speech and racial vilification offences and creating a national gun buyback scheme.

But legal experts, Jewish groups and influential religious leaders have criticised the bill as too rushed and broad, with the coalition also confirming it would not support it.

“We are willing to sit down with the government to find a way forward but it’s clear the amount of negotiations and legal analysis required to produce a good outcome can’t be done in the extremely tight time-frame the government has created,” Senator Waters said.

“It may be simpler to start afresh with a bill that aims to protect everyone from hatred and discrimination.”

Going back to work after the summer holidays can feel brutal.

Alarm clocks are reset, inboxes are brimming over and the freedom of long days, late nights and unstructured time evaporates overnight.

For many Australians, the emotional crash is heightened by the contrast between beach weather and business-as-usual expectations.

For Clarity Health Care psychologist Jean Hansen, the so-called January blues are a predictable physiological response rather than a personal failing.

“In the lead-up to the break we get this lovely spike in dopamine, which is the neurotransmitter that gives us that feeling of motivation and excitement,” she tells AAP.

“The break also gives us this concentrated period to meet some of our core needs – things like freedom, relaxation and rest from all the demands that work or study places on us.

“When this period ends, it’s natural that our dopamine levels drop. It’s a temporary and normal way our bodies rebalance after a high-reward period.”

That slump can show up as fatigue, brain fog, low mood or low motivation, Ms Hansen says – particularly in the days leading up to returning to work or study.

For Wollongong-based digital content producer Courtney Woods, the dread is amplified by summer sunshine and the loss of opportunity work brings.

“The beautiful weather definitely adds a sense of dread because you’re just, like, ‘I could be outside, I could be relaxing, I could be going for a walk with my husband, I could be doing all these other things but I have to work’,” Ms Woods says.

“The ‘what if’ or the ‘I could be doing’ is running your brain more when the weather’s nice.”

Ms Woods works in a fast-paced corporate role with tight deadlines and multiple approval layers – pressures that don’t disappear just because the calendar ticks over.

“There’s so many different elements to it that going back to work is just like, ‘Oh, what’s waiting for me?'” she says.

“The lead-up to Christmas in my role was quite intense … and then everything just lands on your desk on that first Monday in January and everybody starts to panic.”

While post-holiday malaise is common, Ms Hansen says it’s important to recognise when the feelings turn into something deeper.

“If individuals are experiencing extreme or prolonged low mood or anxiety lasting more than a few weeks, that’s a key sign it may require deeper exploration and assistance,” she says.

“If what you’re feeling is highly distressing or prolonged, that’s an important indicator.”

Time away can sharpen awareness of dissatisfaction that already existed – particularly around workload, culture or values, she says.

“That two weeks of what your life could be like is not what your life is,” Ms Woods says.

“It kind of feels like it gets ripped away, almost, when you have to go back to work.”

Ms Hansen says these feelings can sometimes be mistaken as seasonal, when they may be signalling burnout or misalignment.

“People often minimise or feel ambivalent about their stress around work but sustained distress can point to deeper issues with work or personal life,” she says.

“You don’t have to problem-solve that alone.”

Ms Hansen also cautions against people trying to overhaul their entire lifestyle at the start of the year.

“Unrealistic self-imposed pressures are another source of post-holiday blues,” she explains.

“We place too many expectations on ourselves in those first few weeks back and for the year ahead, which can trigger social comparison, self-criticism and dread.”

Instead, she recommends building small, achievable goals into everyday routines in an attempt of easing into the year.

“Don’t force yourself into intense exercise if it’s not going to bring joy,” she gives as an example.

For Ms Woods, coping has meant drawing firmer boundaries around work and perspective.

“I was like, ‘Nah, it’s getting ridiculous. I can’t keep doing this,'” she says.

“Just because it feels super important and everything’s going to burn doesn’t mean it is.”

She says time off helped her realise work does not need to consume everything.

“Having the time off makes you readjust – you’re like, ‘It’s not that serious,'” she says.

“You go in, do the best you can, and then you log off. Then I try and disconnect by hanging out with my cats.”

That recalibration is happening at scale.

According to research conducted by business consultants Aon, two-thirds of Australian workers considered changing jobs last year with many reassessing their careers in the first quarter.

Vincent Nair, CEO of SMARTECH Business Systems, says January is a critical period for employers to reconnect with staff – but not by piling on targets.

“Psychologically, many consider January a downtime period after coming from peak holiday mode,” Mr Nair tells AAP.

“What employers should do is reconnect with their team early but not about targets or work requirements.

“Instead, talk about purpose and some highlights from the previous year to create a more exciting vibe in the workplace.”

He says non-financial factors often play a bigger role in retention than pay alone.

“Having a sense of independence is key, trusting that your employees can manage well and make the right decisions,” Nair says.

“Regular feedback sessions, even informally, keep them engaged.”

Strong leadership, he says, remains the foundation.

“People do not leave companies. They leave poor leadership.”

Flexibility must also be applied consistently to avoid resentment, he warns.

If people are being rewarded for coming into the office daily, it will have a negative impact on the people who do not, he says.

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An ASX-listed mineral exploration company seeking to develop a rare earth mine in Greenland has hired lobbyists in Washington DC and former diplomats in Denmark and Australia as it navigates a complex and volatile situation.

Energy Transition Minerals says its Kvanefjeld Project has the potential to become the Western world’s largest producer of rare earth minerals.

The minerals are crucial for electronics and electric vehicles that have come into focus as the US tries to break China’s production stranglehold.

Kvanefjeld is located in southern Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory that US President Donald Trump is threatening to seize, “whether they like it or not”.

Development of Kvanefjeld has been effectively blocked since 2021, when a socialist government came to power in Greenland after campaigning against the project, which had been given preliminary approval by the previous government.

Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals has commenced litigation against Greenland’s government with a tribunal in Copenhagen, claiming the mine was unlawfully put on hold through a retrospective law. 

That lawsuit is progressing, with a first hearing yet to be scheduled in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, ETM managing director Daniel Mamadou told AAP.

Mr Mamadou said everyone had been shocked by the US’s approach towards Greenland, and he expressed hope the welfare of its 57,000-strong population could be maintained and improved.

He added, however, that senior politicians in Greenland had publicly stated in 2025 that they wanted closer ties with communist China, including a trade deal.

“So you know, for every action, there is a reaction,” Mr Mamadou said.

“The world order that we’ve known seems to be changing.”

The controversy with the US has created a lot of noise, and Melbourne-based ETM has seen that reflected in the volatility of its share price, he said. 

“I don’t find it surprising, because the Kvanefjeld project really sits at the intersection of geopolitics and critical minerals and capital because we’re a publicly listed company,” he said.

Mr Mamadou declined to be drawn on the foreign policy drama. 

Asked if he had any message for Mr Trump, the managing director said he had a message for Greenland’s Ministry of Raw Materials.

“Which is, let’s sit down, have a dialogue, find a negotiated path to the statement of application process,” he said.

“We are flexible, we can adjust, we can adapt. We can address every single concern that has been raised in the public consultation period.

“So let’s work together to find a win/win solution.”

Earlier in January, ETM appointed Washington lobbying firm Ballard Partners as strategic advisors.

The company also added a pair of Danish senior diplomats to its advisory board in the hope of creating more channels of communication than just legal ones. 

In 2025, it brought on board former Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop.

Mr Mamadou said the goal was to help the company navigate the situation. 

“We are miners, we are business people. We have that perspective, but we feel we can benefit from perhaps a different angle,” he said

The US has been basically borrowing a page from China’s playbook by taking direct stakes in rare earth miners such as MP Minerals, the main US producer, Mr Mamadou said.

“We really consider ourselves as a Western champion for the supply chain of critical minerals. That’s how we want to be positioned,” he said.

And for investors, he said ETM offered “probably the most asymmetric, risk-adjusted return investment opportunity in the current times”.

On Friday afternoon, ETM shares were trading at 16 cents, up 60 per cent since the start of the year, giving the company a market capitalisation of $300 million.

He was a character, the genuine article, out of the box – and he looked like an unmade bed.

Ron Boswell – the long-serving, larger-than-life, permanently rumpled Nationals senator who died on January 6 – was remembered as all these things and many more at his state funeral mass on Friday.

The pews in St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane were packed with mourners including current and former prime ministers, state premiers and opposition leaders – all fanning themselves in stifling conditions.

They heard the story of a champion of Queensland, despite Mr Boswell having grown up in Doodlakine, Western Australia.

Mr Boswell was almost certainly the first resident of the tiny Wheatbelt town to receive a state funeral, celebrant Father Michael Twigg said.

His memoir was called Not Pretty, But Pretty Effective, and his daughter Cathy told the service Mr Boswell “was often referred to as looking like an unmade bed”.

Former prime minister John Howard delivered a eulogy to the man who spent time as a parliamentary secretary in his government while also leading the Nationals in the Senate for a record 17-year stint.

He said Mr Boswell’s decency and honour were respected on both sides of politics.

Mr Howard also highlighted the former senator’s trenchant opposition to extremists on his own side, referring to a speech Mr Boswell gave in April 1988, warning of the far-right League of Rights.

“It was a body that was trying to infiltrate, with malice, parties of the right and centre-right, including the National Party,” Mr Howard said.

“One of its principal clarion calls was anti-Semitism, and in the context of today, all Australians should be concerned, because it’s an evil that has to be identified and rooted out.”

Mr Howard did not mention Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, of whom Mr Boswell was also a strident critic.

In his valedictory Senate speech, Mr Boswell had claimed that defeating Ms Hanson and her “aggressive, narrow view of Australia” in 2001 was his greatest political achievement.

But Mr Howard said Mr Boswell was a firm believer in the Liberal-National Party coalition, and that during periods of fractiousness between the two, “we’d give each other a wide berth”.

“Both of us knew that in the end, common sense would triumph,” he said.

Mr Howard said you could never escape a Ron Boswell phone call – a theme that ran through the service.

Cathy Boswell said her father “rang often, and he never accepted that you might not be available if you didn’t answer”.

Fr Twigg later confirmed he had once missed nine calls from Mr Boswell during the course of a single mass.

Ms Boswell said her father did not have an easy life, but among his favourite aphorisms was the phrase “calm seas do not make good sailors”.

His greatest challenge was the sudden death of his son Stephen, aged 30, in 1999.

She said her father chose service over despair, in accordance with another of his favourite sayings: “those who turn up, rule the world”.

And Mr Boswell kept turning up, “often camping outside John Howard’s office, persistent and without apology, until a result was achieved for his constituents”.

Mr Howard said Mr Boswell saw the greater good when it came to gun law reform after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, staring down opposition from others in his party and many of those same constituents.

There was always a pound of flesh to be paid, though. 

“It meant that every so often, you gave a few hundred million for this, that or the other to legitimately meet the needs of regional Australia,” Mr Howard said.

“We thank you, and we thank God for you. May you rest in eternal peace.”

Asian stocks advanced on Friday as the artificial intelligence boom regained momentum, while the dollar held near a six-week high after upbeat ‍US economic data left traders trimming bets on rate cuts there.

Oil prices were nursing losses and safe-haven gold and silver fell after US President Donald Trump adopted a wait-and-see posture ​towards the unrest in Iran, having earlier threatened intervention.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.5 per cent and hovered near a record high hit in the previous session, as ⁠stellar results from Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC breathed new life into the AI trade.

The US and Taiwan also clinched a trade deal on Thursday that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse’s exports, directs new investments towards the US technology industry and risks infuriating China.

Overnight, gains in technology and financial stocks sent Wall Street higher, with Nasdaq futures up 0.22 per cent in the Asian session. S&P 500 futures similarly tacked on 0.15 per cent.

“We know there’s lingering doubts about the spend around capex and AI more broadly, and I guess with ‌the TSMC report yesterday ​being pretty solid and sounding optimistic, it certainly provided a much needed shot in the arm for those AI names which have been struggling ‍on Wall Street in recent months,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

“I wouldn’t say it galvanised or basically shot them higher, but it certainly provided some much needed reassurance there, that everything remains on track.”

Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.42 per cent, weighed down in part by a recovery in the yen which has retreated from an 18-month low.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.38 per cent while FTSE futures eased 0.18 per cent, after European shares scaled a record high on Thursday.

In currencies, the dollar hovered near a six-week high, after a slew of upbeat US economic releases ​including data that showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell ‌last week.

The euro languished near a 1-1/2-month low and bought $US1.1606 ($A1.7370), while sterling slipped 0.06 per cent to $US1.3376 ($A2.0019).

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar stood at 99.36, not far from Thursday’s top of 99.493, its highest ​since December 2.

“Mounting evidence of stable labour conditions is lowering the odds of an April cut, as fixed income watchers grow increasingly confident that the next benchmark drop ‍will come from Chair Powell’s successor in June,” said Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

Markets are now pricing in a 67 per cent chance that the Federal Reserve will stand pat on rates in April, up from 37 per cent a month ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Odds for a steady outcome in June ​have ​also risen to 37.5 per cent, compared to 17 per cent in December.

The yen was 0.1 per cent ​stronger at 158.48 per dollar, though it was not too far from an 18-month ​trough of 159.45 hit earlier in the week.

The currency has been sold off on the prospect of a snap election in Japan as early as next month, which investors bet could pave the way for expanded fiscal stimulus from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

“For Takaichi, the snap poll offers the chance of a stronger mandate at home and abroad – but failure would likely spell a swift end to her premiership,” said Daniel Hurley, portfolio specialist at T. Rowe Price.

In the oil market, prices were recovering from their steep fall in the previous session after Trump’s watered-down comments on Iran allayed concerns over potential military action against Tehran and oil supply disruptions.

Brent futures were up 0.11 per cent at $US63.83 ($A95.53) a barrel, having tumbled more than 4.0 per cent in the ‍previous session. US crude was similarly up 0.2 per cent at $US59.31 ($A88.77) per barrel, after a 4.6 per cent fall on Thursday.

Spot gold was down ​0.16 per cent at $US4,607.50 ($A6,895.86) an ounce. 

A Palestinian-Australian academic, whose removal from a prestigious writers’ festival sparked a national furore, has said her words continue to be mischaracterised and used against her despite being invited back to the event.

The board overseeing the Adelaide Writers’ Week unreservedly apologised to Randa Abdel-Fattah on Thursday after her dumping on January 8 sparked a mass boycott by speakers and authors and the event’s cancellation.

She was subsequently the first name announced for the 2027 line-up.

But South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has refused to back the apology, sticking to his position that Dr Abdel-Fattah had advocated against the cultural safety of Zionists, including Jewish people.

“I have never, ever called for Jewish people to not have cultural safety,” she said in reply on ABC radio on Friday.

“But political ideologies cannot use cultural safety as a shield from criticism.

“I’m really fed up with the way that my words are being deliberately and maliciously and mendaciously mischaracterised to paint me as an anti-Semite when I have never, ever expressed any anti-Semitism.”

Dr Abdel-Fattah, who has flagged a defamation lawsuit against Mr Malinauskas over comments comparing her to a terrorist sympathiser, said she stood in solidarity with anti-Zionist Jews “as a Palestinian who was feeling the real-life impacts of a genocide in the name of Zionist ideology”.

Mr Malinauskas has alleged Dr Abdel-Fattah “advocated against the cultural safety of those people who believe in Zionism,” including Jewish people, and had a responsibility to call her out.

That included her role in a successful campaign to have columnist Thomas Friedman dumped from the 2024 event for a New York Times blog post comparing Middle East nations to various insects and spiders.

The column dubbed the United States an old lion and Israel’s leader a lemur.

“You can’t protest about it (your removal) and then seek to deny others the ability to be able to express their views which is the problem with Ms (sic) Abdel-Fattah’s position,” Mr Malinauskas told the ABC on Wednesday.

But the Palestinian-Australian author said no comparison should be drawn.

“I really reject the equivalence between Thomas Friedman and our principled response to his outrageously racist article in which he used racial tropes of animals to describe people in the Middle East,” she said.

“It’s also the question of not equating racist, harmful inciting speech with the speech of me, a Palestinian, simply calling out against a genocide.”

The industry is meanwhile mourning the loss of the 2026 Writers Week – one arm of the Adelaide Festival and what is seen as the nation’s largest and most respected literary festival.

“The flow-on effect of having all of those people in town and Adelaide being the centre of the book universe for a week, all of that is gone – I think it’s devastating for the book industry,” bookshop owner Angus Dillon told AAP.

English indie rock band Pulp announced overnight they had planned to join the boycott of the Adelaide Festival over Dr Abdel-Fattah’s sacking.

But the replacement of the festival board and Thursday’s apology and invitation to Dr Abdel-Fattah triggered the “Common People” group to honour their original plans to play on February 27.

“We want to make it absolutely clear that Pulp refuse to condone the silencing of voices,” the band wrote on Instagram.

“We hope that our free concert will be an opportunity for different communities to come together in peace and harmony.”

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, British novelist Zadie Smith and popular Australian author Trent Dalton were among those who pulled out of Writers’ Week in solidarity with the academic.⁠

The spectacular implosion of Adelaide Writers’ Week has sent shockwaves through the literary community as it grapples with the far-reaching consequences of losing one of its flagship events. 

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah has accepted an apology from the Adelaide Festival board for removing her from the writers’ week program, saying she would consider its invitation to attend the 2026 event.

But there are no happy endings for the thousands of other people and businesses impacted by their very public feud, which triggered a boycott of the event by 180 speakers and the resignation of its renowned director and several board members.

The writers’ week had been due to start in February but was cancelled after its program collapsed, with a new board and chair installed.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas had publicly proclaimed his approval of the board’s decision to dump the Palestinian-Australian writer because of “cultural sensitivity” over the Bondi massacre.

Asked if he was worried about the event cancellation’s impact on the state’s economy, he replied: “Well, no, because the Adelaide Writers’ Week is a free event, a no-ticket event, it generates zero revenue.”

But literary community members have told AAP the impact of losing this year’s event is seismic for a sector that is already struggling.  

Writer and critic Beejay Silcox, who was scheduled to appear at six writers’ week events, said she was angered by the premier’s assertion.

“There’s a huge economy, and the blast radius is massive, and that is absolute bullshit,” she said.

“I’m so angry about (his comment), and it shows such a lack of understanding about how basic economies work.

“Economies of opportunity are massive, and it’s never been harder to carve out a sustainable life on the page as a writer now.”

She had read 19 books and lost up to $6000 in work in preparation for the event.

Adelaide Festival’s 2025 Impact Report said the event – the third under director Louise Adler, who quit this week – had attracted a record-breaking 160,000 attendances across 166 sessions, spanning live and virtual formats, and with programming for schools, families and young adults.

The event was live-streamed into 70 libraries, schools, retirement villages and community centres, and its podcasts attracted more than 160,000 streams and downloads. 

Angus Dillon – co-owner of Dillons Bookshop, which hosts the highly successful book tent on behalf of writers’ week – said it was Australia’s largest, most respected, longest-running literary festival and “hugely important” to authors, publishers and the event industry.

“The government, when they do their economic impacts on other events, they would surely know that it’s not measured only by ticket sales,” he said.

“It’s measured by room nights and tourism and visitation, and often it’s those things that are used as justification for investment in events.”

He noted the controversy had generated international headlines.

“We normally celebrate stories about South Australia in the New York Times,” he said. 

“But this means global attention on the festival state not holding one of its most important events.

“The flow-on effect of having all of those people in town and Adelaide being the centre of the book universe for a week, all of that is gone – I think it’s devastating for the book industry.”

Wakefield Press publisher Michael Bollen said for those labouring on the front line of literature – publishers, authors, booksellers and subcontractors – the premier’s comments “seem a bit dismissive”.

“To say there’s zero impact because it generates zero revenue is certainly not the case for authors, publishers and associated people and of course, there are actually ticketed events,” he said.

“There’s deals made behind the tents, there’s publishing arrangements, there’s interstate publishers meeting SA authors – all of that is important.

“Who knows how many souls from outside SA will cancel their visits, which means hotels, restaurants, pubs take a hit, and perhaps even other festival events.”

Pink Shorts Press co-director Emily Hart said the loss of the festival was “heartbreaking, devastating”.

“I think there’s been quite a lot of rage in the community, as well as sadness,” she said.

“The number of books sold at Adelaide Writers’ Week is huge.

“We had books already ordered from our supplier that are now going to be returned, and for a small publisher like us, actually does represent quite a significant bit of income.”

Australian Society of Authors chair Jennifer Mills said she had heard the writers’ week book tent “takes easily half a million dollars a year”.

“Book sales at Adelaide Writers’ Week are hugely significant for writers,” she said.

“And then there’s also the more indirect economic loss from lost publicity, marketing, networking, all of the things that happen at festivals that you can’t really measure the economic impact of.

“I would say that the recent attacks on freedom of expression threaten our literary culture and more broadly, authors already are struggling.”

The average annual income of authors in Australia was $18,200 and “the opportunities for publication for debut authors are narrowing”, she said.

“It’s impoverishing literature in Australia and Australian culture as a whole.”

With a state election just over two months away, both sides of politics expressed frustration with the intense publicity surrounding the event’s cancellation.

“It’s not my focus, right?” Mr Malinauskas said at a Port Augusta campaign event.

“I know plenty of people are obsessing about this at the moment … but what I’m obsessing about is the sort of things that we’re doing here.”

Ms Silcox said festivals were where “work and opportunity and collaboration is made, when talent is spotted”.

“The debut authors that were going to see a big free crowd, they’ve lost that chance,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to a couple of publishers this week who were devastated that people they championed and really care about, really, their career is toast.”

One book, at least, has enjoyed a sales surge.

Dr Abdel-Fattah’s publisher, University of Queensland Press, has warned of extended wait times for copies of her book Discipline “due to an influx of orders”.

US President Donald Trump has unveiled ​a healthcare ⁠plan that promises to lower drug prices and insurance ‌premiums, ​make prices more ‍transparent and hold insurance companies accountable.

In its release of details ​of “The ‌Great Healthcare Plan,” the administration ​also called on ‍Congress to pass a ​law codifying ​his ​most-favoured-nation drug ​price policy.

The White House said Trump’s plan would codify his efforts to lower drug prices by tying prices to the lowest price paid by other countries.

The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to individuals for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own. 

Some Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for covering the high costs of health care.

“The government is going to pay the money directly to you,” Trump said in a taped video the White House released to announce the plan.

“It goes to you and then you take the money and buy your own health care.”

It was not immediately clear if any lawmakers in Congress were working to introduce the Republican president’s plan.

The idea mirrors one floated among Republican senators last year.

Democrats have largely rejected this idea, saying the accounts would not be enough to cover costs for most consumers.

Enhanced tax credits that helped reduce the cost of insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired at the end of 2025 even though Democrats had forced a 43-day government shutdown over the issue.

Republican senator Bernie Moreno has been leading a bipartisan group of 12 senators trying to devise a compromise that would extend those subsidies for two years while adding new limits on who can receive them. 

That proposal would create the option, in the second year, of a health savings account that Trump and Republicans prefer.

Trump said on Thursday his plan will seek to bring down premiums by fully funding cost-sharing reductions, or CSRs, a type of financial help that insurers give to low-income “Obamacare” enrollees on silver-level, or mid-tier plans.

with AP