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Happy Monday!
Does anyone else feel like Black Friday sales have been going on for two weeks now?
In case you weren’t sure, the actual one is this Friday. Remember to buy consciously!
I've got 10 seconds
The quote
“I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit.” - OpenAI founder Sam Altman on X after the board voted to fire him on Friday. OpenAI created ChatGPT.
The stat
147
The number of years the Keir family owned iconic hatmaker Akubra, before Twiggy and Nicola Forrest announced they had bought it over the weekend.
Today in history
1959: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ – a document that laid out the rights of children around the world.
I've got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Australia has won against India by six wickets at the Cricket World Cup overnight in front of 125,000 fans in Ahmedabad, India. It is the sixth time Australia has won the World Cup, making them the most successful One Day International (the middle form of the game between Twenty20 and test cricket) team in history. Travis Head steered Australia to victory scoring 137 of the 240 runs Australia needed to win, with captain Pat Cummins calling the victory "the pinnacle of cricket".
The White House has denied a Washington Post exclusive that Israel and Hamas have reached a “tentative U.S. brokered deal to pause conflict”. According to National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson, they have “not reached a deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get to a deal". The Washington Post article claimed the pause could last for five days.
I've got 1 minute
Owners of dangerous dogs that kill or cause serious injuries to other people could face up to three years in jail under draft laws introduced to Queensland’s Parliament last week.
It follows a spike in QLD dog attacks in the last 12 months, including a fatal attack on an electrical meter reader in December.
The legislation also includes a ban on five dangerous dog breeds.
Further details
Draft legislation has been introduced by the Rural Communities Minister, Mark Furner, who said the laws would make communities "as safe as possible from dog attacks".
In addition to jail time, fines of up to $108,000 will apply to irresponsible owners whose dog attacks another person.
Dog breed ban
A group of dangerous dog breeds will also be banned from being purchased in QLD. The five breeds are:
Dogo Argentino
Fila Brasileiro
Japanese Tosa
American Pitbull terrier
Presa Caneiro
These breeds were proposed by the QLD Government during community consultation this year. Currently, an approved council permit is needed to own one of these breeds.
Dog attacks
About 100,000 dog bites occur in Australia every year, leaving around 3% of victims hospitalised.
The legislation would bring QLD in line with other Australian states, where serious owners can be sentenced to prison for serious dog attacks.
Queensland’s Labor Government has a majority of seats in the one house of Parliament, which means it won't need cross-party support to pass the laws.
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I've got 2 minutes
The Federal Government has announced cuts to 50 major projects and warned more may be needed amid spiralling cost blowouts and inflation fears.
Governments fund a variety of major infrastructure projects, including roads, public transport and hospitals.
However, Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has criticised the current pipeline of major projects, calling it "a house built on sand".
Background
Infrastructure projects such as airports, energy generators and stadiums can be built with money from the Federal Government, state and territory money, or a combination.
Some projects also receive private funding.
The funding 'split' for major projects is a frequent source of conflict between governments.
The pipeline
The Government says there are currently 800 projects requiring federal funding in the 'pipeline'. A total of $120 billion in federal funding has been allocated to these projects.
This includes projects already under construction or planned for construction.
By comparison, there were 150 projects in the pipeline a decade ago.
Cost blowouts
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King says the true funding required to build the 800 projects is much higher than $120 billion due to cost blowouts (projects set to be more expensive than expected).
In a speech to the AFR Infrastructure Summit, King said a recent internal review had identified $33 billion of "known" blowouts, with a "high chance" of more to come.
"This is a stunning amount of money," King said.
Calls for cuts
King said the Government planned to deliver $120 billion worth of projects but would need to cut some projects to stay within this budget. She said some planned projects "do not demonstrate merit".
On Thursday, the Department release a list of 50 road and rail projects which would not proceed.
The list did not include large projects that have recently experienced cost blowouts, including the Snowy Hydro expansion and Victoria's Suburban Rail Loop.
In a speech at the same summit, Adam Copp, CEO of Infrastructure Australia (a government advisory body) supported the Government's plan to cut projects, conceding "we can't do it all".
"We just don't have the financing or the funding and the workers to actually deliver on everything that is in there," Copp said.
He said many of the projects in the pipeline had not been subject to cost-benefit analysis to assess their merits.
Inflation
Calls for cuts have been supported by Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who warned that "difficult decisions" were necessary to ease inflation (rising prices).
Inflation happens when the spending demand in an economy outstrips the available supply. Major projects add to demand for construction workers, building materials and machinery.
Chalmers' comments echoed an earlier statement from the International Monetary Fund calling for a more "measured" approach to infrastructure in Australia.
Response
State governments have criticised the Federal Government's calls for cuts. QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was "not happy" and would "fight" to hold onto her state’s planned projects.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was "very concerned" about cuts, and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said federal funding was already insufficient.
Federal Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said cutbacks were "a real problem" at a time when construction was "clearly not keeping up" with population growth.
Give me some good news
The Government of Dominica is establishing the first Sperm Whale Reserve in the world.
Over 50 sperm whale families live in Dominica’s waters, but the species is listed as ‘vulnerable’, with their global population under threat from whaling, pollution, fishing nets, oil spills and contaminants.
It’s hoped the reserve, located in the Caribbean islands bioregion, will help protect the endangered species and support biodiversity of the Caribbean.
A message from our sponsor
When Jannik Sinner ate a carrot during a match in Austria a few years ago, he didn’t expect it to become the symbol of his cult following. Fast-forward to 2023, and this rising star of tennis has a group of diehard fans following him around the world, dressed as… carrots.
And his fans have plenty to celebrate - in just the last six months, Sinner has made his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Canada, beat the world No.2 and No.3 in China and took out the Vienna Open. Now that’s a hot streak.
Sinner’s name is synonymous with the future of men’s tennis - and off the court, the 22-year-old has already used his platform to talk about mental health, and raise money for medical supplies in his homeland of Italy during the pandemic. Oh, and a fashion deal with Gucci.
At the Australian Open 2024, Sinner is not to be underestimated - we have a feeling the Carrots will be in the stands towards the pointy end of the tournament. We took a deep dive into the story of Jannik Sinner - the tennis player and the human - ahead of AO 2024.
A TDA tidbit
Very Important News: Snoop Dogg is (apparently) giving up smoking.
The 52-year-old, famous for being a marijuana enthusiast, made the announcement to his 82 million followers on Instagram.
“After much consideration and conversation with my family, I’ve decided to give up smoke [sic]. Please respect my privacy at this time,” the rapper said.
It doesn’t specify what type of smoking Snoop Dogg is giving up.
As an aside, this reminds me of the time Snoop Dogg announced he was changing his name to Snoop Lion after a spiritual awakening in Jamaica in February 2012. He had to change it back to Snoop Dogg after he was accused of exploiting the Rastafari religion for a publicity stunt and was officially asked to stop using the word Lion.
Anyway, I digress…
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