☕️ TDA interviews Opposition Leader

Thank you to everyone who sent in question suggestions the other day for our interview with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

That interview is now live, which you can watch here or listen to it here.

We focus on why the Coalition has decided to drop its net zero by 2050 target, and whether her position as leader is safe.

“Ambassador, I am so grateful to be entrusted with an opportunity of this magnitude. I do not take it for graxnted. It means more than you know. The Barbz [Nicki Minaj fans] & I will never stand down in the face of injustice. We’ve been given our influence by God. There must be a bigger purpose.”
Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj in a post to X about being invited to give a speech at the United Nations, which, according to a TIME journalist, was arranged by an advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. Her speech is expected to be about the alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

17
The number of toys bought by consumer group CHOICE from online marketplaces, including Shein and AliExpress, that failed to meet mandatory button safety standards. In a statement, CHOICE said this puts “kids at risk of serious injury or death.”

Imbroglio
Definition: an unwanted, difficult and confusing situation, full of trouble and problems.
Sentence: The uni group assignment had become an imbroglio.

The Victorian Liberal Party has elected its first female leader.

Kew MP Jess Wilson successfully challenged Brad Battin for the leadership on Tuesday morning, meaning she is now Victoria’s Opposition Leader.

It comes a day after NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders resigned suddenly, and as speculation mounts around NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman’s position.

Here’s what’s going on in the state Coalitions.

The Victorian Liberal Party has voted in its third leader in 12 months.

Battin challenged former leader John Pesutto for the role in December 2024.

The ABC reported Battin’s colleagues told him on Monday that they did not support his leadership.

On Tuesday morning, Shadow Treasurer Jess Wilson successfully challenged Battin for the leadership.

Wilson is the first woman to lead the Liberals and the Coalition in Victoria.

After being elected leader, Wilson described the change as a “new generation Liberal team”.

Battin said the party “now has a very clear path to go towards the next election.”

The next Victorian state election is in November 2026.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders stepped down on Monday, saying: “It is the right time for me to take a step back [and] to allow a new leader to take up the fight”.

Coffs Harbour MP and Nationals deputy leader Gurmesh Singh was chosen to replace him on Tuesday morning.

Singh ran unopposed for the leadership.

The leadership of the Nationals’ Coalition partner, the Liberals, is also under question.

Current leader Mark Speakman is rumoured to be facing a spill in the near future.

On Tuesday, the NSW Liberals voted to keep a policy of net zero by 2050, diverging from the federal Coalition and the NSW Nationals.

Multiple outlets have reported the party could meet again to vote on a leader later this week.

The next NSW election is due in March 2027.

TDA asked federal Opposition and Liberal Leader Sussan Ley about concerns over her leadership future on Monday.

Ley said: “I just don’t comment on commentary”.

“There’s all sorts of things in the media about ‘who said what to whom’. I pay no attention to it,” she added.

The next federal election must be held by May 2028.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death after being found guilty of authorising a lethal police operation on student-led protesters last year.

Prosecutors argued Hasina’s crackdown on anti-government protesters killed up to 1,400 people.

Hasina was tried in absentia, having fled to India last year.

The former PM denies the allegations and called the court “biased and politically motivated”.

Hasina served as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister for two decades. She was first elected in 1996, serving until 2001, and then returned to power in 2009, winning four consecutive terms.

She resigned and fled the country following nationwide protests in July last year.

India has ignored requests for her extradition.

Last year, tens of thousands of students protested across Bangladesh, calling for an end to the public service quota system.

The system reserved more than 30% of government jobs for families of veterans who served in the country’s 1971 war of independence.

The quota system was previously suspended in 2018 following similar protests, but was reinstated in June 2024 by the country’s High Court.

Demonstrators called for the system to be scrapped, arguing that public service roles should be appointed based on merit, not heritage.

The Government deployed riot police to shut down protests. Footage showed police using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

More than 11,700 people were arrested and detained.

Following Hasina resigning and leaving the country, interim authorities asked the UN human rights office to investigate her Government’s response to the protests.

The human rights body published its report in February, finding “reasonable grounds” to believe Hasina’s Government committed serious human rights violations.

The accusations include “hundreds of extrajudicial killings... extensive arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture and other forms of ill-treatment”.

The UN found these acts were “carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction” of Hasina and fellow officials.

At trial, Hasina was found guilty of human rights violations, including orchestrating mass killings of protesters, authorising deadly air and ground attacks, and failing to prevent killings. She was sentenced to death on the charge of authorising air and ground attacks.

Hasina’s former Home Affairs Minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, was also found guilty of orchestrating mass killings and sentenced to death.

Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was found guilty of the first charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Al-Mamun was the only one of the three accused to be present.

His sentence was reduced because he cooperated with the trial, giving important evidence.

In a statement, Hasina called the sentence the outcome of “a rigged tribunal,” which she said “never intended to achieve justice or provide any genuine insight” into the protests.

She said she had been “given no fair chance to defend [herself] in court”.

Accusing the tribunal of having “no other motive than the personal pursuit of revenge,” Hasina said the Government denied her repeated requests to sue her in the International Criminal Court.

It remains unclear whether Hasina will appeal the decision.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

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Researchers at a UK university are using AI to predict early signs of brain cancer recurrence. The University of Nottingham has received £2.6 million ($AU5.27 million) from charity Brain Tumour Research to investigate glioblastoma, the most common and most aggressive type of brain tumour found in adults. The study will use AI and mathematical modelling to predict early signs of tumour recurrence, based on brain imaging performed during surgery, combined with testing of cancer cells found at the edge of a tumour. Brain Tumour Research CEO Dan Knowles said the research “will play a pivotal role… to bring about the cure that is so desperately needed.” Clinical trials are anticipated to begin in the next five years.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

UK broadcaster Sky Sports launched a new TikTok channel for women last week, and it’s safe to say its target audience weren’t thrilled. 

Marketed as “Sky Sports’ lil sis ✨,” SkySportsHalo had videos about football with pink captions referencing matcha and ‘hot girl walks’.

TikTok users were quick to call the channel “disappointing” and said it was “dumbing down” sport for women, with some even making parody videos.

Everything on the TikTok page has been deleted except for a statement, which says Halo was meant to be a space for “new, young, female friends” and “we didn’t get it right.”

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

The Coalition has announced it will abandon Australia’s target of net zero by 2050, to instead focus on affordable energy. On Sunday, they promised they would bring down energy bills for Australians, by removing the renewable energy targets enshrined in law by Labor. It’s the biggest policy announcement from the Coalition since their loss at the last election in May. Today, TDA sits down with Sussan Ley, leader of the Liberal Party, about the reasoning behind the decision.