The Knockoff - Issue #5

Last issue I told you the 32 cent excise cut was due to expire 30 June with no extension announced. On Monday, the government changed that. The cut isn't disappearing — it's stepping down to 16 cents a litre, and it'll stay there until 2 August.

So instead of fuel jumping by the full 32 cents on 1 July, it jumps by about half that — 16 cents. On a 75-litre tank, that's roughly $12 extra per fill instead of the $24 you were bracing for. Diesel is currently sitting around 195 cents a litre in the five biggest cities, and petrol around 164 — both at or below where they were before the Middle East conflict pushed prices up in February. The softer landing is partly the government's call and partly because international fuel benchmarks have come down hard since the US and Iran signed an interim deal on 18 June.

What happens after 2 August is the next live question — the remaining 16 cents either gets extended again or it doesn't. If you're quoting fixed-price work running past early August, build in some room either way. [ACCC, 19 June 2026 / SBS News, 23 June 2026]

From 1 July, super has to land in your employees' funds within 7 business days of payday — not quarterly. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has confirmed it's taking a "facilitative" approach in year one: if you're genuinely trying and a payment slips through late because of a wrong bank detail or a clearing house hiccup, you're unlikely to face penalties. Deliberately skipping a payment is a different story from day one.

The old Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) shuts to existing users the same day Payday Super starts. If that's how you've been paying super, you need an alternative sorted before 1 July — your payroll software provider or accountant can point you to one. [Clayton Utz, June 2026]

Victoria, the Northern Territory and Tasmania moved to NCC 2025 on 1 May. NSW, Queensland and the ACT pushed it back to 1 May 2027. WA and SA haven't confirmed a date either way. NCC 2025 is mostly a commercial code update — solar PV mandates, tighter energy efficiency for Class 3 and 5–9 buildings — and doesn't touch residential energy rules. But if you're a builder running jobs across the Victoria–NSW border, your certifiers on each side are now working off different rulebooks.

If that's you: confirm in writing with each certifier which code version applies to which job, especially anything near a commercial classification. Don't assume one certifier knows what the other is doing. [The Good Builder, May 2026]

The current $20,000 instant asset write-off is law — it's been locked in since last year and runs out 30 June 2026. To claim it this financial year, the asset has to be first used or installed ready for use before midnight Tuesday. An invoice isn't enough. Sitting in a box isn't enough. It has to be doing the job it was bought for.

What's not yet law is the bit the government announced in the 12 May Budget — making that same $20,000 threshold permanent from 1 July, so there's no more annual guessing game. It's widely expected to pass, given the Coalition's own policy went further (a $30,000 threshold), but "widely expected" and "law" are different things. If it doesn't pass before 1 July, the threshold reverts to $1,000 by default.

The safe move: get anything you genuinely need bought, delivered, and switched on before Tuesday. Don't plan your tax return around a bill that hasn't cleared Parliament. [ATO]

Dave had seen it all in fifteen years of plumbing — except this. Called out to chase a "mystery leak" over the kitchen table, he climbed into the roof space, torch sweeping over the beams, and found a fat grey possum sitting on a joist, staring him dead in the eye like he'd interrupted something important. The yellow stain on the insulation explained the rest. "Mate, you can't just do that up here," Dave muttered, before yelling down for an old pillowcase and nabbing the startled tenant in one smooth lunge.

He climbed down holding the squirming pillowcase at arm's length like a grenade with legs. "So what was it, burst pipe?" the homeowner asked. "Nah," Dave said, scribbling on the invoice. "Your roof's got a tenant. No lease, no rent, terrible bathroom habits. Line item: possum eviction and relocation."