☕️ Russell Brand found guilty

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The quote: "I know tit-for-tat isn't right... but I did pour water in his petrol tank."
Former cop Beau Lamarre-Condon giving evidence about his relationship to Jesse Baird, who he stands accused of murdering in February 2024. Lamarre-Condon is also alleged to have murdered Baird’s partner, Luke Davies.

The stat: 46%. The percentage of Australians who feel pessimistic about the country’s future, according to the annual Scanlon Social Cohesion Index.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 50% of you shop in person in department stores a couple of times a year, 22% less often than this or never, 21% monthly and 7% weekly. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,734 votes].

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Department store chain David Jones has entered voluntary administration after rescue talks with its biggest landlord, Westfield owner Scentre Group, broke down.

Voluntary administration is a process where an independent insolvency expert, known as an administrator, takes control of a company’s operations to assess its financial position and work out the best way forward.

The retailer had not paid rent to Scentre Group since September, putting it in breach of its lease agreements.

David Jones was founded in 1838 and is the world’s oldest continuously operating department store still trading under its original name. Anchorage Capital has owned the retailer since 2023. It has 39 stores across Australia and New Zealand and employs about 5,600 people.

David Jones recorded a $95.5 million loss in the 2024-25 financial year. Its sales also fell 8.7% to about $2 billion.

It spent $125 million on rent and leases, and $153 million on financing costs, including interest.

Last month, Hilco reportedly provided an extra $10 million on top of its existing loan so the retailer could buy stock for Christmas.

Last week, Anchorage confirmed it was in talks with landlords to secure the retailer’s future before Christmas. The key negotiation was with Scentre Group, which owns the Westfield shopping centres. David Jones has 17 stores located in Westfields.

Talks between the two have now ended, with each side reportedly rejecting the other’s offer.

On Wednesday, Scentre Group told the ASX that David Jones had paid rent for its Westfield stores up to 30 September.

Scentre Group CEO Elliott Rusanow said the retailer had not made its lease payments since then and was in breach of its agreements.

He said David Jones owner Anchorage had rejected a “generous offer” to keep the department store chain trading.

David Jones stores are expected to continue trading while the administrators assess the business and its future.

Administrators have not yet confirmed whether gift cards, returns or David Jones Rewards points will be honoured.

FTI Consulting, which has been appointed as receiver, will oversee the business during the restructuring and sale process.

In a statement, David Jones CEO Erica Berchtold said: “We have a well-developed plan on how to reset the business for the future”.

Reporting by Adam Wan.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, copyeditor Lucy explains what’s been going on with David Jones. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

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🏠 Moving out is one big cost made up of a lot of small ones. Rent might be the big one, but it’s everything else that adds up. Episode 2 of Money Moments with CommBank gets into the real cost of moving out. Watch it on IG.

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The UK has introduced a ban on pornography depicting incest, strangulation and people pretending to be under 16.

The new laws, which have come into effect, make it a criminal offence to possess or publish pornography depicting these acts.

Australia’s Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told TDA the Government is “deeply concerned about harmful online content including violent pornography”.

In February 2025, UK peer Baroness Gabby Bertin published an independent review examining the regulation of online pornography.

The review made recommendations for tougher regulation, including criminalising certain types of pornographic content.

The Government later passed laws introducing the new offences, which became law in April.

The new laws make it illegal to publish or possess pornography depicting:

The maximum penalties depend on the type of content involved and whether someone possesses or publishes it.

Possessing pornography depicting strangulation or incest carries a maximum two-year prison sentence. That increases to three years for content depicting sexual activity involving someone pretending to be under 16. Publishing pornography depicting any of the banned content carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Australia already has laws restricting access to pornography and prohibiting child sexual abuse material.

However, it does not have equivalent specific offences criminalising the possession or publication of adult pornography depicting strangulation or incest.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told TDA that “violent pornography” is a “driver of harmful sexual behaviours and gender-based violence”.

She said the Government is working to “help protect Australian children from a range of age-inappropriate content”, including pornography.

However, the Attorney-General stopped short of committing to similar laws in Australia, saying the Government would “continue to monitor the United Kingdom’s reforms”.

She added that the Government would work with the justice system and law enforcement “to ensure [laws] keep pace with technological change, emerging crime trends, operational needs, and community expectations.”

University of Sydney Professor Susan Heward-Belle, whose research focuses on gender-based violence, said the impact of the UK’s new laws will be important to monitor, particularly given the prevalence of strangulation during sex.

Professor Heward-Belle said strangulation can cause brain injuries, disability and even death, making it an issue that requires a public health response.

However, she cautioned that criminalising certain content could have “unintended consequences”, including making someone less likely to speak up or seek advice if they have concerns.

She said a broader approach, including sex education that “needs to start early”, is important to help young people understand “what is respectful, what is consensual”.

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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Consider it attention well spent.

The renowned whale researcher has been honoured for communicating complex scientific research to the wider public to engage them in ocean conservation through her massive social media footprint. In a post to Instagram, Pirotta said the honour was “completely unexpected,” and that she was “so very grateful to be able to share with all Australians just how fabulous our blue backyard is from a science perspective.”

How many roads must a man walk down before he wears a hoodie to meet the Pope?

The answer, my friend, is not blowin’ in the wind. It’s only in Bob Dylan’s head.

Reporting (?) by Lucy Tassell.