Happy Friday!

To mark the release of our three-part vaping series, we want to know what you think. Are you a vaper? Do you think they should be legal? Tell us your thoughts here!

If you haven’t listened to the series, here it is. If you’re more of the watching type, you can watch Ep 1 here.

Have a fab weekend.

Quote of the day
“This is an issue that transcends division and party lines… The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms.” - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the U.S. Senate investigation into online child abuse, which saw Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologise directly to families of victims.

Stat of the day
9.5%
The decline in the number of homes approved to build in December compared to November, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The total number of planned homes getting the go ahead has trended down from a high in March 2021.

Today in history
1887
Groundhog Day is officially celebrated for the first time in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, based on a superstition about the arrival of spring. A holiday so fun they did it again, and again, and again, and again… 

Some headlines from this morning:

• The rate of bulk billed GP appointments has risen 2.1% since the Government tripled the Medicare incentive in November. Under the program, GPs who don’t charge eligible patients above the Medicare rebate receive more government funding. Rural and regional areas have benefited the most from the change. The Royal Australian College of GPs welcomed this news but said “there is still a long way to go”.

• Farmers across Europe are blocking off major roads in France, Belgium, and Italy with their tractors, saying they’re struggling to navigate climate regulations and aren’t paid enough for their produce. The European Commission told media this week negotiations around farmers’ demands are ongoing, calling them “the backbone of EU food security”.

The Western Australian Government has announced it will become the first state in the country to fully fund its public schools, under a joint agreement with the Federal Government.

However, the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the WA teachers union are calling for further funding spent “directly” on education.

School funding

How much money a school requires to meet the needs of its students is determined by a measure called the Schools Resourcing Standard (SRS).

A 2023 AEU report found that 1% of public schools were receiving enough funding to meet the SRS, compared to 98% of private schools.

Financial contributions to all schools from governments are set out in a joint agreement between federal, state, and territory governments called the National School Reform Agreement.

WA funding
This week, the WA government announced it would increase public school funding from 95% to 100% in the next two years.

Funding from the Federal Government will increase to 22.5% by 2026, and WA will fund the remaining 77.5% (to meet the 100% funding as per the SRS).

WA’s Education Minister Dr Tony Buti said it would improve outcomes “for all students”.

Union response
The AEU said the WA announcement will benefit the “most disadvantaged public schools”, but it did not believe schools would be fully funded under the arrangement.

AEU President Correna Haythorpe said 4% of school funding is attributed to “transport and regulatory costs”, which she said was “not directly related to the education of students in schools”.

Haythorpe said this funding “still needs to be delivered” before WA schools are “truly funded”.

Other states
The ACT is currently the only jurisdiction where public school funding is high enough to meet the SRS.

The AEU is calling for “100% of funding for 100% of schools” by 2028.

This would mean increasing federal funding commitments for all states and territories.

Education Minister Jason Clare said he will work with every jurisdiction to “properly fund our schools”.

Songs from the world’s most listened-to artists could be pulled from TikTok, amid an ongoing dispute between the platform and Universal Music Group (UMG).

Under a deal between the companies, music from UMG artists like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Billie Eilish and Drake is available on TikTok, in exchange for royalties — fees paid by TikTok to the artists.

However, that agreement will expire this week after both sides failed to reach a new deal. UMG called on TikTok to revise its renewal offer and may restrict its music from the platform.

The dispute
In an open letter this week, UMG accused TikTok of attempting to lure the label into a “bad deal” as part of renegotiations between the companies.

UMG said TikTok offered payment terms at “a fraction” of what artists receive from other big social media platforms.

It also criticised TikTok’s inaction around protecting artists from the threat of AI. It vowed to “stand up for the creative and commercial value of music”.

UMG also raised safety concerns, including a rise in hate speech and harassment on TikTok, and criticised the platform over alleged failures to respond to problematic content.

It said when it confronted TikTok, the company “responded first with indifference, and then with intimidation”.

The music label claimed TikTok “selectively” removed the music of its lesser-known artists as negotiations were stalling to pressure UMG to accept the deal on the table.

Next steps
Unless a new deal is reached, TikTok risks UMG pulling its entire catalogue from the platform.

This could see artists lose out on a revenue stream, while TikTok users would lose access to music from artists like Justin Bieber, SZA, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, and Adele.

UMG said it didn’t “underestimate” the consequences of the situation, including the potential impact on musicians and their fans. However, it said it had an “overriding responsibility” to ensure TikTok agreed to a fair deal.

TikTok’s response
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, rejected UMG’s allegations and accused it of putting “greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters”.

It said: “Despite Universal's false narrative... they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent.”

TikTok called UMG’s actions “self-serving”. UMG has not given a timeline of when it could remove its music from TikTok.

We’re all about celebrating good news, especially when it’s about lollies. That’s why we were pumped to hear about our fave lollies - Allen’s - announcing their new packaging.

Their new packaging will reduce their use of plastic by 21% across their range. To put that into context, Allen’s says this change will avoid 58 tonnes of waste annually - or, in numbers we can truly understand - equivalent to the weight of 4.6 million Snakes Alive lollies*!

You can find out more about what they’re doing here.

*Compared to Allen’s lolly packaging in 2022.

There’s a been lot of talk about the stage 3 tax cuts lately, especially since the Government’s latest changes mean they need to go back through Parliament. TDA journalist Harry Sekulich spoke to Finance Minister Katy Gallagher about how the tax cuts could impact young people, why they could benefit men more than women, and what they might mean for you.

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2023 was a record year for renewable energy in Greece, with 57% of the country’s power supplied by wind, hydroelectric, and solar energy.

That’s up almost 7% from the previous year. The Minister of Environment and Energy said the increase in renewable energy will “lower electricity prices” and support the country’s “energy security”.

Being left alone in a room full of toys is every kid’s dream. This week Ethan, a three-year-old from Queensland made that dream a reality — by climbing inside a claw machine at a shopping centre.

Ethan’s dream was his parents’ nightmare, unfortunately, and police were called to bust him out.

The adventurous toddler followed the cops’ instructions perfectly, crawling on top of the pile of soft toys inside the machine while police broke one of the glass walls.

Anyone who’s ever tried to beat a claw machine would side with Ethan, I reckon. Hope he got to take a toy home after that ordeal!