{"id":56608,"date":"2026-08-24T20:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/56608\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T20:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:16:16","slug":"from-canberra-billboards-to-the-lodge-joseph-daouds-16500-tax-and-tennis-showdown-with-anthony-albanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/56608\/","title":{"rendered":"From Canberra billboards to The Lodge: Joseph Daoud\u2019s $16,500 tax and tennis showdown with Anthony Albanese"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney entrepreneur Joseph Daoud says he never expected to be playing tennis with the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

But frustration with Labor\u2019s \u201cAmbition Tax\u201d became too difficult to ignore \u2014 prompting the founder of It\u2019s Simple Finance<\/a> to put $16,500 of his own money on the line to win a charity auction for a tennis match against Anthony Albanese at The Lodge this spring.<\/p>\n

Mr Daoud has been training three times a week with a local coach, and while he intends to give the PM a run for his money between the white lines, his real target is the tax changes he believes will punish Australians trying to get ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been told the PM is a very, very good tennis player, and my prior tennis experience was mostly on Wii Sports,\u201d Mr Daoud told News24.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not every day you get to play tennis at The Lodge, so I want to put my best foot forward. But let’s be honest, I’m the underdog.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s got the home court advantage. I’ve got thousands of Australians in my corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Daoud bought the charity tennis match at the Parliament House Midwinter Ball charity auction in order to raise his concerns about tax changes with the PM.<\/p>\n

He argues the Albanese government\u2019s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes will discourage investment and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Mr Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers had promised not to touch the tax settings<\/a> before the federal election but broke their commitment in the 2026 federal budget.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, the government will scrap the 50 per cent CGT discount and introduce a cost base indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax rate.<\/p>\n

It will also limit negative gearing to new builds, while grandfathering the system for landlords who already benefit from the scheme as of 7.30pm May 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

The legislation passed Parliament in June, with the government arguing it would create a fairer tax system and \u201clevel the playing field\u201d for workers and first home buyers.<\/p>\n

For Mr Daoud, however, the issue is less about political philosophy on taxation and more about what he sees happening to people trying to build something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have a grand philosophy about taxation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve got a pretty simple view that if you get up early, take a risk and build something, the reward shouldn’t be a bigger bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat view was shaped by the people I talk to every day, not by a textbook or a party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Daoud said after the budget he received hundreds of phone calls from people who were angry, confused and deflated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government hit small business with the CGT (capital gains tax) discount changes and called it levelling the playing field. Levelling it for who?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only people who ever built anything on that field were the ones about to get taxed for it. People built something on the rules they had, and all of a sudden the rules were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That frustration led to Mr Daoud\u2019s Canberra Airport campaign, where he spent $17,500 on 18 billboards carrying the message \u201cStop the Ambition Tax<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

The billboards were deliberately timed to put the campaign in front of MPs, staffers and journalists arriving in the capital.<\/p>\n

But when that didn\u2019t stop the government, he dropped another $16,500 on the Parliament House Midwinter Ball charity auction tennis match with Mr Albanese.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-Labor<\/p>\n

The unlikely tennis contest will be one-on-one, with no guests courtside \u2013 but Mr Daoud has the chance to invite three people after the game ends.<\/p>\n

He is searching for three Australians to join him and the PM for refreshments, with each guest given the opportunity to put a question directly to the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis match was never about me. It’s about the thousands of everyday Australians who’ve backed (the Stop the Ambition Tax) campaign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m running a national search for three everyday Australians to join me for a chat with the PM after the match, and each of them gets to put a question directly to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local kebab shop owner, the barista, the tradie who’s just gone out on his own, the single mum working two jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are the engine room of this country and almost never get a seat at the table. We cover their travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo everyday Australian should have to pay to ask the PM a question he should be answering anyway. All they need to bring is their question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nominations are open now at stoptheambitiontax.com\/tennis<\/a> and close 30 August, with the three announced the following day.<\/p>\n

While Mr Daoud has been an increasingly vocal critic of the government, he rejects the suggestion that he is simply a partisan commentator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve voted Labor in the past, and I’ve voted the other way too. I’m a swing voter. I vote for policy, not party, and I always have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign isn’t about politics. It doesn’t matter whether you vote Labor, Liberal or Greens, ambition is worth standing up for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact the government has already had to carve out exemptions shows they know it too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Labor went back to backing the people who back themselves, they’d have my vote again. Right now, they don’t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his motivations, Mr Daoud also insists he has no intention of turning his campaign into a bid for Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI unashamedly hate Canberra and can’t see myself ever running for Parliament,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a year ago I couldn’t see myself playing tennis with the Prime Minister either, so who knows what’s around the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, the next step is The Lodge, where Mr Daoud expects to lose the tennis \u2014 but hopes to win something more important.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I take a game off him I’ll be happy. If I win, I’ll be asking for a rematch on the tax changes too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want from the afternoon is answers. How does taxing a young person’s share portfolio help a first home buyer?<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does taxing someone’s Pokemon card collection help a first home buyer? Nobody’s answered that without a staffer in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney entrepreneur Joseph Daoud says he never expected to be playing tennis with the Prime Minister. 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