☕️ Former politician caught working with foreign spies

Good morning! Happy Autumn!

It’s March, which I’m happy about because it means we all don’t need to say ‘February’ anymore.

Is it ‘Feb-er-ree’? ‘Feb-roo-ry’? ‘Feb-you-airy’?

Well, according to Google it’s ‘feh-byoo-uh-ree’. It’s the ‘uh’ that get’s me.

Anyway, doesn’t matter now.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang. This includes poisoners and assassins but they're just puppets. The most important thing is the people close to Putin — his friends, associates and keepers of mafia money.”
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, addressing EU leaders in France.

Stat of the day

61
How many consecutive Brisbane nights have been over 20°C. There hasn’t been a night below that temperature since 2023.

Today in history

1975
Colour TV was officially introduced to Australia. In 1972, the Prime Minister at the time, William McMahon announced that colour transmission would begin in Australia on 1 March.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Australia and the Philippines have reached a new deal aimed at protecting joint security interests in the Asia-Pacific. Speaking in Canberra, Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said protecting the South China Sea was important for the “preservation of regional peace.” The countries have agreed to a new maritime defence and cyber-safety partnership. However, Greens Senator Janet Rice pushed back on the President’s address, accusing the Philippines’ leader of corruption and human rights abuses. 

• Donald Trump’s name may not appear on the U.S. state of Illinois’ Presidential ballot at its upcoming Republican primaries on March 19. A judge ruled to disqualify Trump as a Presidential nominee in the state, over his involvement in the January 6 2021 attack on Washington D.C. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, however, said the former President will appeal the ruling immediately.

I’ve got 1 minute

The Government has hired influencers to warn young people about vaping

The Government is working with popular social media personalities including athletes, comedians and gamers, to warn teenagers about the dangers of vaping.

A group of influencers have signed on to a social media campaign aimed at speaking to “the next generation of Australians about the harms of vaping and nicotine addiction”.

It comes amid a rise in pro-vaping content online. A 2023 study by the Cancer Council identified 18,000 Instagram ‘influencer’ profiles “solely dedicated” to promoting vaping.

Influencers

The anti-vaping social media campaign is part of a broader vape crackdown specifically targeting young people.

It will be rolled out to millions of users on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Spotify, YouTube and Twitch.

Australian cricketer Ellyse Perry, actor and content creator Ella Watkins, and online comedy duo Lachlan and Jaxon Fairbairn (‘Fairbairn Films’) are among those involved.

Opposition

Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston told TDA: “No one wants to see Australian children having access to vaping products or becoming addicted to vaping.”

She added that the Coalition recognised the importance of using “appropriate” platforms to engage with young people, like social media.

Ruston also stressed the importance of enforcing bans on the import and sale of vaping products. She said many children were still accessing vapes through a “growing black market”.

I’ve got 2 minutes

The national security boss says a former politician was caught working with foreign spies

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has revealed a former Australian politician worked with a foreign spy group.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the unnamed person “sold out their country, party and former colleagues” by agreeing to share knowledge from inside Parliament in exchange for payment.

During his annual threat assessment address on Wednesday night, Burgess said the anonymous politician was recruited by an overseas agency.

There are now calls for their identity to be revealed.

The A-Team

Burgess said “several years ago” a former politician unsuccessfully attempted to bring a prime minister’s family member into a spy network — referred to by ASIO as the ‘A-Team’.

In a separate incident, the A-Team recruited an Australian academic and an aspiring politician at an overseas conference. The pair did not know they were meeting with members of a spy group.

Some Australians involved with the A-Team were unaware that they were working with foreign spies when confronted by ASIO. Burgess said others knew the group’s intentions.

ASIO’s response

ASIO sent an undercover officer to pose as someone the A-Team thought they were grooming to join their group.

ASIO eventually confronted the group directly last year. It was warned of further consequences if they continued their attempts at foreign interference.

Burgess hoped his mention of the A-Team in his speech would strip them of their secrecy. He hoped it would “shine a disinfecting light on the tactics our adversaries use”, to prevent similar actions in future.

Response

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson told Sky News he had a “fair idea” about the identity of the former politician referenced by Burgess.

Former Treasurer Joe Hockey called on Burgess to name the politician, saying he could otherwise “potentially smear everyone who has served their country”.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the government was taking a “proactive approach” to countering foreign interference, and maintaining a focus against threats of terrorism and violence triggered by global conflict.

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Tanning represents your skin cells in trauma. That's the message this year’s joint Australian of the Year, Professor Georgina Long, wants you to know. She’s a cancer doctor and was part of a medical breakthrough that transformed the way we treat melanoma.

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Give me some good news

The Queensland State Government is investing $18 million in funding for endometriosis and pelvic pain programs.

Research shows around one in six women in QLD will be diagnosed with endometriosis by the time they are 40, above the national rate of about one in 10.

Minister for Health and Women Shannon Fentiman hopes the funding will improve the state’s health system, which she said has seen women and girls “dismissed and misdiagnosed.”

TDA tidbit

A “Willy Wonka” experience in Glasgow, Scotland, has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

It was meant to be a “visual spectacle” and an “immersive adventure” with “captivating live performances” for families, according to its website.

However, parents and kids were shocked to find that their tickets (worth around $AU68) gave them a couple jelly beans (literally just two), a cup of lemonade, and a walk through a warehouse.

I think this photo provided to BBC of the event really says it all:

One of the Oompa Loompa actors told Vulture that the script seemed AI-generated and said: “When the first round of kids came in … Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an incredibly, shockingly bad set, but we did our lines and everything well… I don’t know how else you can put sprinkles on s**t, but we were trying to be the sprinkles on s**t.”

TDA asks