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Good morning!
And happy birthday to Barack Obama and Meghan Markle. I’m sure Donald Trump sends his wishes too.
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “We are deeply saddened to confirm that the two crew members aboard one of the helicopters have lost their lives.”
Australian company McDermott Aviation after two of its helicopters collided mid-air while fighting fires in Greece.
The stat: 12,000. The number of extra O and A blood type donors urgently needed as peak winter illness keeps regular donors away.
The big question:
Do you read comments on social media posts?
Yesterday’s results: 63% of you said you have close friends with different political views from yours. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [1,815 votes].
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
The first mass mortality event in Australia’s bird flu outbreak has been confirmed, prompting authorities to warn of “significant losses” and a “long, difficult journey” ahead. The number of confirmed cases of the deadly H5 strain has risen to 74, with sick birds reported in most states. Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said it marks the first “mass mortality event” from H5 for Australian birds, with multiple cases now confirmed in seagulls, signifying broader geographic transmission. There’s no evidence yet of the virus having spread to poultry or agriculture.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been criticised for barring some major media outlets from a press conference in Melbourne. Hanson was in Victoria to reveal the first batch of One Nation candidates running in the 28 November state election. The ABC, the Guardian and The Age were blocked from attending due to what Hanson called unfair reporting. “I want truth and honesty,” she said. “You get it from me. I expect it back from the media.” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticised the move, describing Hanson as “a politician who thinks that she should have the right to say whatever she wants, but no one else should have the right to ask questions”.
Together with AAP.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
CW: sexual assault
Former talkback radio host and Wallabies coach Alan Jones has faced the first day of his trial for 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching.
In 2024, Jones was arrested and charged over the offences, alleged by six men to have occurred between 2003 and 2020.
The 85-year-old has denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Jones
Jones was once one of the most powerful figures in Australian media. After being a teacher, coach of the Wallabies and speechwriter, he was a radio host on Sydney talkback radio stations 2UE and later 2GB.
He regularly wrote opinion columns for News Corp’s newspapers and had a dedicated program on Sky News until 2021.
Jones consistently made headlines for controversial comments on and off-air, particularly when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister, including that her father had “died of shame.”
Macquarie Radio Network told staff they estimated a loss of up to $1.5 million from this incident.
Charges
In 2023, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) published an investigation into Jones.
Journalist Kate McClymont investigated allegations against Jones, including that he “used his position of power to prey on a number of young men,” such as a former 2GB employee.
The ex-employee alleged Jones groped and forcibly kissed him when he was a junior staffer.
Police arrested and charged Jones. He now faces 22 charges.
Trial
On Monday, Jones faced the first day of his judge-only trial (no jury).
The court has heard multiple complainants were teenagers when they met Jones, and some worked for him at 2GB.
Jones has always denied the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On the first day of the trial, one alleged victim, known as Complainant J, told the court he met Jones when he was 14 or 15, and alleged the offending began in 2003 when he was 17.
J alleged Jones gave him $400-$600 per week, a phone, and a car, allegedly kissed him on the mouth without consent on multiple occasions and indecently assaulted him.
1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732
Reporting by Emily Donohoe.
Quick hits
🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, features editor Emma unpacks Alan Jones’ assault trial. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.
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I’ve got 2 minutes
The Government has finalised new legislation that will see big tech companies pay fees if they don’t strike deals with Australian news publishers.
Under its updated plans, the Government will charge tech companies a levy on their Australian digital advertising revenue if they don’t set up their own agreements. Originally, it proposed a levy on tech companies’ overall Australian revenue.
LinkedIn will now also be included in the scheme, alongside TikTok, Meta, and Google.
Background
In 2021, the News Media Bargaining Code came into effect, which required tech companies to pay news companies for the content on their platforms.
Many news publishers (though not TDA) made deals with social media companies including Meta and Google so their content could be shown on the sites.
In Canada, the Online News Act came into effect in 2023, requiring social platforms to pay publishers for news.
Meta responded by banning access to news on its platforms for Canadians. To this day, news companies can’t be seen via Instagram in Canada.
Back in Australia, in 2024, Meta announced it would not renew its deals with publishers such as News Corp, Nine, Seven, and Ten, saying: “People don’t come to Facebook for news and political content”.
Google, on the other hand, renewed many of its agreements.
In April 2026, the Government proposed the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI). It offered platforms the option to strike commercial deals with publishers, or otherwise pay a levy directly to the Government.
Publishers and tech companies had until 18 May to respond to the proposal.
New proposed law
On Monday, the Government announced the final details of the new legislation.
Under the original draft legislation, companies would have been forced to strike deals with publishers OR pay a levy equal to 2.25% of ALL their Australian revenue. Tech companies argued not all their revenue comes from news.
Instead, the new levy will be equal to 2.5% of their Australian digital advertising revenue only.
Platforms can skip paying the levy by striking deals directly with publishers instead.
Here’s how it works: Say a platform owes $25 million under the levy. It can pay that straight to Government, who will pass it onto publishers. Or it can spend $16.7 million on deals with big media companies, since every dollar spent cancels $1.50 owed. Or spend just $12.5 million on deals with small, local publishers, since every dollar there cancels $2 owed.
Platforms will need to make deals with at least six publishers to qualify.
Response
In April, a Meta spokesperson said: “News organisations voluntarily post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so.”
On Monday, News Corp Australasia’s Executive Chairman Michael Miller told The Australian the new changes make it too easy for platforms to avoid the levy, saying “tech giants cannot keep dodging their obligations”.
However, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the changes to the NBI “do not alter the intent of the legislation and remain true to the policy rationale”.
TDA
So... does this affect The Daily Aus? We won’t know until the legislation has passed Parliament and is enforced.
On one hand, social media companies will now receive extra discounts to offset the levy if they sign deals with small- to medium-sized news businesses (like us!), rather than just large ones.
On the other hand, hypothetically, social media companies could either fully withdraw from the Australian market or block all news services on their platforms (as Meta has done in Canada) to avoid paying the levy or to force a change in the law.
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
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Give me some good news
Hundreds of spectators and their pets have descended on a Californian beach to watch the 2026 World Dog Surfing Championships.
From tiny terriers to hefty hounds, contestants were scored across several categories, including how long they could stay on their board, the size of the wave and their confidence. Five-year-old Labrador Rosie (aka “Rippin’ Rosie”) was crowned overall champion, taking out the large dog, stand-up paddleboard, and human/dog tandem categories. Now in its 10th year, the San Francisco-based contest includes a pet adoption event and fundraising for local animal charities.
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA titbit
Yes, this is a photo of red frogs badly edited to look green. The editor was tired and had no other options.
Great news for fans of green food colouring: Allen’s is bringing back the green frog.
Not to be confused with its more popular sibling, the red frog lolly, the green frog is almost exactly the same, except — you guessed it — it’s green.
The lolly will be back in the shops alongside other lost favourites like teeth and bananas until 1 September.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
TDA asks
