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Good morning!
If you missed the AFL Grand Final on Saturday but want to sound ‘in the know’ at work today, just say this to your colleagues:
'How good was Wharfie Time!'
I’ve got 10 seconds
The quote: “Be quiet.”
U.S. President Donald Trump addressing a journalist from MS Now during a press conference over the weekend. His statement came in response to the journalist asking if Trump “[does] not want tough questions”. MS Now is one of three outlets Trump banned from the White House earlier this month, before a judge overturned the ban.
The stat: 16%. The average hourly pay gap between First Nations workers and other Australian workers, according to a report by the Centre for Indigenous People and Work (CIPW).
The big question:
Do you think data centres should be built in Australia?
Friday’s results: On Friday, 53% of you said you weren’t going to watch the AFL Grand Final. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2288 votes].
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
South African police have launched a manhunt after 17 people were killed and 15 wounded in a shooting at a tavern in Wedela township southwest of Johannesburg.
Emergency medical services declared the 13 males and four females dead at the scene, and the motive for the shooting was not known, the South African Police Service said in a statement posted on X. Fifteen other victims with gunshot wounds were transported to medical facilities. No arrests have been made at the time of publishing.
A junior police constable who died in a car crash in pursuit of a stolen vehicle is being remembered as a brave young woman who served with distinction. NSW Police said a marked police car had its lights and sirens on as it responded to reports of a stolen car when it crashed in Redfern, Sydney about 1.30am on Friday. The passenger in the patrol car, 20-year-old Constable Mia Lay, died instantly upon impact. Paramedics treated the driver, a male constable, before he was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Together with AAP.
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I’ve got 1 minute
NSW landlords and real estate agents will face fines of up to $22,000 for failing to disclose AI-generated or digitally altered rental listing photos under new laws that passed Parliament last week.
The laws will also limit the personal information landlords and agents can collect from renters.
Individuals who breach the privacy rules face fines of up to $11,000, rising to $49,500 for corporations.
Concerns
When a property is listed as a rental in NSW, real estate agents will typically upload photos on the landlord’s behalf.
Some owners choose to ‘style’ their property by adding furniture and artworks, while AI sites including Spaceio and HomeDesignAI can be used to digitally style a property.
Renters’ rights groups have raised concerns that AI can also be used to cover up issues such as cracks, holes, and peeling paint. The NSW Tenants Union said this can leave prospective tenants “being misled into visiting a property that is not suitable”.
Reforms
The NSW Government’s bill passed Parliament on Thursday, more than a year after it was introduced in June 2025.
Landlords and agents will have to disclose when rental photos have been digitally altered or AI-generated, including images that add furniture to hide damage or misrepresent a room’s size. Businesses that fail to disclose an altered photo will face fines of up to $22,000.
The reforms will also limit the personal information landlords and agents can collect from renters, with the aim of reducing identity theft and data breaches.
All rental applications will use a standard form, and renters cannot be asked for personal photos, social media accounts, details about their children or tattoos.
ID documents can only be collected from the preferred applicant before the lease is signed, with new rules also governing how data is stored and destroyed.
Individuals who breach the privacy rules face fines of up to $11,000, rising to $49,500 for corporations.
Reporting by Adam Wan.
Quick hits
🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, co-founder Zara unpacks the Beau Lamarre-Condon murder trial. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.
🏉 Sign up to TDA Sport here for a full run-down of all the weekend’s sport action in your inbox at 4.30pm.
I’ve got 2 minutes
A NSW court has heard the first week of alleged double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon’s trial.
The former police officer is accused of murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in 2024.
Prosecutors argue Lamarre-Condon was motivated by an “obsessive and jealous infatuation with Baird” after a brief relationship with him.
The 31-year-old is pleading not guilty, with his legal team arguing he acted in self-defence.
Background
At the time of their deaths, Luke Davies was 29, working as a Qantas flight attendant, and Jesse Baird was 26, working as a TV presenter and an AFL goal umpire.
Lamarre-Condon and Baird were romantically linked in 2022 and part of 2023, but Baird broke things off. Baird and Davies began dating in early 2024.
Police began investigating Baird and Davies’ disappearance in mid-February 2024, after neighbours reported hearing gunshots from Baird’s inner-Sydney home.
Following a search, Lamarre-Condon handed himself in to police and was later charged with murder. The bodies of Baird and Davies were later found at a rural property in Bungonia, near the regional city of Goulburn.
Prosecution
On the first day of the trial, Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield began his opening remarks, setting out what he called a pattern of alleged stalking by Lamarre-Condon after Baird broke things off.
Hatfield described the months before the men’s deaths, including an allegation Lamarre-Condon had previously broken into Baird’s house, stealing his wallet and phone. It was alleged he had also deleted messages from Baird’s phone.
A witness testified that Lamarre-Condon pressured her to let him send Baird an Instagram DM from her account, falsely saying he had cancer.
The prosecution also shared evidence from Lamarre-Condon’s iCloud, including CCTV vision of Baird in a Sydney pub with another man.
The jury was shown a receipt for a surfboard bag purchased in cash by the suspect one day before the alleged murders. Hatfield argued Lamarre-Condon was heard asking a friend if he would fit inside a bag, then saying: “I’ll grab this one... it should be big enough”.
He said on the day of the deaths, Lamarre-Condon was dressed as an UberEats rider and carrying his service gun, which Hatfield argued was used to kill the two men.
Three gunshots can be heard on the morning of the men’s deaths in a neighbour’s CCTV footage.
Hatfield said Lamarre-Condon told a friend he was in “a bit of trouble,” before buying cleaning supplies and a second surfboard bag. The prosecution argued the bags were used to hide the men’s bodies.
After the deaths, Hatfield alleged Lamarre-Condon transported the men’s bodies to a farm near Goulburn in NSW’s Southern Tablelands, where he unsuccessfully attempted to sink them.
The bodies were later found at a monastery around 20km from the farm, and the men’s belongings were found in a skip bin in Cronulla in Sydney’s south.
Defence
Defence counsel John Stratton introduced Lamarre-Condon’s case against the murder charges, arguing he acted in self-defence.
Stratton said Lamarre-Condon let himself into Baird’s home to collect his belongings. He argued Lamarre-Condon used a key Baird had given him. (The prosecution alleges he stole the key.)
Lamarre-Condon was “disguised... so he could masquerade as a delivery person if anyone unexpectedly opened the door,” Stratton said.
Lamarre-Condon brought his gun with him as he believed he could not leave it unattended in the car, Stratton said. He argued Baird was surprised to see Lamarre-Condon, and there was a struggle, which caused the gun to fire and land in another room.
Stratton said Lamarre-Condon picked up a phone and dialled Triple Zero. Davies entered the room and another struggle followed, the defence argued, when Lamarre-Condon moved the gun away from himself.
It was then that Davies “pulled the trigger and fatally shot himself”. Stratton said: “It is very much in dispute that the accused, Beau Lamarre-Condon, ever planned to kill or even cause any harm to anyone… It’s his case that what he did was in self-defence,” he said.
Stratton argued Lamarre-Condon “was a police officer, and he knew this looked bad.”
The defence said that the accused’s actions to move the bodies was not that of “a man who believed that he was guilty of murder” but one who “panicked considerably”.
Reporting by Emily Donohoe.
TAL Social Forecast
Monday remains Australia’s biggest social danger zone.
TAL’s Social Connection Survey shows Monday is the day young Aussies (25–34) surveyed are most likely to cancel plans. Staying connected is important for mental wellbeing, even when social batteries are low.
Today’s Social Move: The 30 second Voice Note. Skip the 2-hour catch-up and send a 30-second voice note instead. Same connection, zero calendar obligation.
Translation: Staying connected doesn't have to be overwhelming.
Follow @TAL_Australia on IG for daily forecasts & real-life resilience tips.
For further information about the survey, visit @tal_australia on Instagram.
Give me some good news
Credit: The Australian Transplant Games
The Australian Transplant Games kick off in Tasmania on Saturday.
The competition is a celebration of people living with organ transplants, waiting for donations, or who have donated to others. Every state and territory has sent athletes to the Games, along with Thailand and New Zealand. Transplant Australia says the Games, which occur every two years, “have resulted in a flow on effect of increased organ donation rates” each time they’re held.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
TDA titbit
Photo by Zhang Xiangyi/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
Relations between China and the U.S. may be complicated, but at least the pandas are still on speaking terms.
In a visit to the White House last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will arrive at the Atlanta zoo “in a few days”.
Sending pandas as a sign of friendship is actually one of China’s textbook diplomatic moves, dating back to 1957 when Chairman Mao Zedong sent a panda to the Soviet Union.
Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.
TDA asks
