☕️ Fatima Payman suspended from Labor caucus

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“That documentation that was made is very concerning, including threats not just to Labor MPs, but to others, to my family. That’s another reason why families should be off limits from the media, frankly.”
PM Anthony Albanese on a manifesto allegedly made by a teenager who has been charged with planning a terrorist attack. The PM was visibly emotional when speaking about alleged threats to his family.

14
The number of Australians set to contest this year’s Wimbledon championships. The tennis grand slam starts today and will last until 14 July.

1932
ABC Radio went live for the first time at 8pm.

Senator Fatima Payman has been suspended indefinitely from the federal Labor Party caucus, which includes all Labor MPs and Senators.

It means she won’t be allowed to attend any internal party meetings.

The decision comes after Payman crossed the floor of the Senate last week during a motion brought by the Greens to recognise the state of Palestine (which ultimately was voted down by the Senate).

Yesterday, in an interview with ABC’s Insiders, Payman said she would cross the floor again should a similar motion be tabled.

Payman was told that she would be suspended during a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday.

The decision was made by the Government’s leadership team, which includes Albanese, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

Yesterday, Senator Payman told ABC’s Insiders program she was prepared to cross the floor again if there was another vote on Palestinian statehood.

She said she did not intend to leave the Labor Party but would accept any decisions made by Labor MPs.

“The party, to me, are rank-and-file members, are unionists, are phone bankers, door-knockers... I firmly believe that I've upheld all the values of what, as the Labor Party, we should stand for,” Payman said.

A Government spokesperson told TDA:

“By her own actions and statements, Senator Payman has placed herself outside the privilege that comes with participating in the federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus.

“If Senator Payman decides she will respect the caucus and her Labor colleagues she can return, but until then Senator Payman is suspended from the right to participate in federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus meetings and processes.”

When MPs and Senators vote against the party they belong to, it's called ‘crossing the floor’.

Liberal and National members are generally able to vote against their party’s bills if they don’t agree with them. For example, Tasmanian Liberal Bridget Archer often crosses the floor.

However, the Labor Party, to which Payman belongs, binds members to vote with the party. Some Labor MPs have been expelled from the party for crossing the floor.

Speculation has been mounting over Joe Biden’s future as the Democrat’s official candidate for the U.S. Presidential Election following his performance at the first debate on Friday (Australia time).

Biden, 81, went head-to-head against Donald Trump, 78, in the CNN-hosted debate. After the debate, U.S. media outlets categorised his performance as a "struggle" and a "poor showing".

So, can he actually be replaced?

Joe Biden is the oldest U.S. President in history. He previously served as Vice President under Barack Obama between 2009 and 2017.

He’s been a politician for most of his life, having been first elected to the U.S. Senate just weeks before his 30th birthday. He has openly spoken about living with and overcoming his stutter.

If Biden were to carry through with a second four-year presidential term, he would leave the White House at the age of 86.

After the first debate, criticism of Biden has largely been centred on moments where he stopped mid-sentence and fumbled multiple times. Others have commented on his raspy voice and repeated coughing.

Some Democrats and major party donors have since told U.S. media there are widespread concerns about his ability to carry on, urging an alternative candidate to step forward.

Former Democrat candidate Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 to try to gain the party’s nomination, urged Biden to step down.

Posting on X, Yang said: “What’s Joe Biden’s superpower? That he’s a good guy who will do the right thing for the country.

“In this case, that’s stepping aside and letting the DNC [Democratic National Convention] choose another nominee.”

Major U.S. political parties must go through a formal process of electing their nominee for President, known as the ‘primaries and caucuses’.

Joe Biden won the Democrat primaries, which is expected of a sitting President running for re-election. In doing so, he has become what’s called the party’s “presumptive nominee”.

The Democrats will officially confirm Biden as their candidate at the National Convention from August 19-22. In modern U.S. political history, a nominee has never been replaced after winning the primaries.

If Joe Biden concedes to pressure, he would stand aside as the presidential candidate, giving way to someone else.

The Vice President would be the most obvious choice to replace Biden, meaning Kamala Harris would be put forward as the candidate for the Democrat party. However, Harris has suffered her own low approval ratings.

Some commentators have also suggested that this could create a legal challenge to the validity of the Democrats’ primary election race.

Sam Garrett from the U.S. Studies Centre said the Democrats still have two months to change the rules for nominating their candidate before the Democratic National Convention.

This means the party could “theoretrically change” the way it picks candidates so that someone else is nominated to run against Donald Trump.

Speaking to TDA, Garrett said it would be unlikely, as it amounts to “an extraordinary action if done without Biden’s consent as the presumptive nominee”.

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Furphy, who comes to the NBA after one year of college basketball at the University of Kansas, was drafted with the 35th pick, which originally belonged to the San Antonio Spurs but was then traded to the Indiana Pacers.

Furphy is the 24th Australian to be selected in the NBA Draft.

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Global TV icon Bluey could be in line for a major role in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.

An online petition calling for Bluey to be installed as the official mascot for the Brisbane Games has attracted more than 5,000 signatures.

Petition organisers say installing Australia’s world-famous blue heeler puppy as the mascot would “not only honour Brisbane’s contribution to global culture but also embody the values and excitement that the Olympic represent”.

They say Bluey offers a family-friendly, inclusive character with strong merchandising potential and an educational upside. What do you think?

Over the past two weeks, Australia’s Parliament has been investigating the role of social media in the country.

The committee covers a wide range of issues – from the influence social media has on people under 18 to the importance (or lack thereof) of news on social media.

In today’s podcast, we’ll explain what the committee hopes to achieve, what we’ve learned so far, and what happens next.