☕️ $3 billion of HECS debts wiped

Good morning!

Today is a very exciting day at TDA - we are launching our second ever newsletter.

At 5pm every weekday, we will be sending out a sport newsletter. It will have all the sport news you need to know, presented in a quick and accessible way.

It’s inclusive, straightforward and fun. Oh, and it’s free!

You can sign up by clicking here. 

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“Contrary to the FAKE NEWS MEDIA, I don’t fall asleep during the [trial]. I simply close my beautiful blue eyes... and take it ALL in!!!”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s comment on reports he had been sleeping during his trial over an alleged cover-up of hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Stat of the day

$US26 billion ($AU40b)
How much Sony is offering to buy the film studio Paramount for. Investment firm Apollo Global Management joined Sony in the bid. If successful, it would reduce the number of major film studios in the U.S. from five to four.

Today in history

2023
Charles III and Camilla were crowned King and Queen. Over 2,200 people attended their coronation.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Mexican authorities have found three bodies in the area where two Australian brothers and their friend from the U.S. were missing. The bodies have not been formally identified yet but the state’s attorney general said they can “assume with a high degree of probability” to be the missing trio. Jake and Callum Robinson, along with a friend had been on a camping and surfing trip near the city of Ensenada, about 100 kilometres south of the U.S.-Mexico border. They were due to check in to an Airbnb in the resort town of Rosarito just over a week ago, but didn’t show up.

• Falling iPhone sales have caused a drop in Apple’s revenue, according to the latest financial report. The tech giant sold around 10% fewer iPhones in the first three months of 2024 than it did at the start of last year. It still reported around $AU 138 billion in revenue for the quarter. Overall earnings were down 4%, despite the launch of the Apple Vision Pro this year.

Recommendation of the day

I’ve got 1 minute

A 16-year-old boy has been killed by WA Police after stabbing a member of the public

WA Premier Roger Cook and WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch have confirmed a 16-year-old boy was killed by WA Police on Saturday night after he stabbed a member of the public in the carpark of a Bunnings store in Willetton, a suburb in Perth’s south.

At a press conference on Sunday morning, police said they received emergency calls just after 10pm on Saturday night from a teen, who told police he was about to commit acts of violence.

One member of the public is in a “serious but stable condition” after being stabbed in the back.

Police response

Commissioner Blanch said it “certainly had the hallmarks of [a terrorist attack],” but it hasn’t formally been declared one.

Police also confirmed the boy was part of a program for those “radicalised“ online. They said he acted alone, and there is no active threat to the community at this time.

PM response

PM Anthony Albanese released a statement on the incident, saying “there is no place for violent extremism in Australia”.

He said he has been advised “there is no ongoing threat to the community on the information available”.

I’ve got 2 minutes

The Federal Govt is wiping $3 billion in HECS debts

The Federal Government will wipe $3 billion in student debts as part of an overhaul of the national student debt system announced on Sunday.

The wiping of student debts will be backdated to June 2023, erasing the historic 7.1% increase added to student debts caused by ‘indexation’ last year.

Under the changes, the Government estimates that a $25,000 HECS debt will be reduced by over $1,000.

New measures will also ensure that indexation – the annual increase in student debt to reflect inflation (rising prices) – cannot be as high as it was last year.

Further details

On Sunday, the Government announced plans to base student debt indexation on the lower of either the Consumer Price Index (the rate of inflation) or the Wage Price Index (the figure measuring rising wages).

This will be backdated to last year. This means last year’s WPI of 3.2% will be applied to debts, instead of the CPI of 7.1%.

Background

An overhaul of the student debt indexation system was recommended by an independent review of Australia’s higher education system earlier this year.

The review suggested a cap on indexation to avoid significant increases during periods of high inflation.

This came after last year’s indexation rise of 7.1% – the biggest rise recorded since 1990.

Timing

The conference also addressed concerns of racial discrimination within the church.

It came after a group of Asian-American Methodists cited increasing discrimination during the pandemic.

A resolution to condemn “racial-ethnic discrimination and gender-based violence against Asian Americans” was approved at the conference.

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Give me some good news

Archeologists have successfully reconstructed the face of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman.

University of Cambridge researchers first discovered the flattened skull in 2018. Since then, they’ve pieced together over 200 pieces of bone fragments by hand.

Recent analysis found that the person was likely in her mid-forties when she died, and her sex was determined as female by analysis of tooth enamel proteins.

TDA tidbit

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was turned away from voting at his local election last week because he didn’t have his ID.

Ironically, Johnson’s own government introduced the requirement to bring ID to vote in 2022!

Reported by Sky News, Johnson did manage to cast his vote later on, this time with his ID in hand.

Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!

Last week, we learned the federal government will trial age verification measures aimed at blocking children from watching explicit adult content online, as part of a range of measures designed to lower the rate of gender-based violence in Australia.

‘Porn passports’ aren’t a new idea, either here in Australia or around the world, but we’re yet to see any sort of programs introduced domestically.

Today on the podcast, we break down whether this trial could be the first step on the road to age verifications on porn sites, and look at how would these verification processes would even work.

TDA asks