☕️ Last-minute amendment to vape laws

Thanks to everyone who filled out our poll on nuclear energy yesterday.

Out of the 3000 of you who responded, 71% said Australia shouldn't be using nuclear power as an alternate energy source (21% said yes, and 8% weren't sure).

78% of you said you would not be comfortable with a nuclear plant being built within 50km of our home, while one in five wouldn't mind.

When asked whether reducing carbon emissions or household energy bills should be a higher priority for Australia, 64% said it should be of equal priority. 27% said reducing carbon emissions should take charge, with only 9% prioritising energy bills.

“This is not about ideology, this is about outcomes. And the experts tell us, and I agree with them, that if we get this transition right… we can protect our environment and make our economy even stronger”.
Former NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, a Liberal, on his appointment by Labor PM Anthony Albanese as the chair of the independent Climate Change Authority.

$234 million
How much Revenue NSW says it's holding in unclaimed money. The State Government department holds "payments, refunds, unpresented cheques, dividends and other money that organisations can’t track down as unclaimed money." It receives unclaimed money when a person moves addresses, changes their name, through administrative errors or when a relative dies. "A further $343 million in unclaimed money is available to claim for people who live outside NSW or for whom there are no available details," Revenue NSW said.

2009
Michael Jackson died of a cardiac arrest in California. The famous singer was aged 50 at the time, and his death was ruled a homicide. In 2011, Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Australians aged 18 and over will still be allowed to buy medicinal vapes from pharmacies without a prescription, under an amendment to the Federal Government’s proposed vaping legislation.

The Greens proposed the amendment in exchange for supporting the Government’s bill in the Senate.

It will allow adults to purchase plain-packaged, regulated vapes from a pharmacy without a prescription, following a conversation with a pharmacist. Under-18s will only be allowed to access vapes with a prescription.

Earlier this year, the Government introduced a bill to ban the supply of vapes outside of pharmacies and only make vapes available to people with a prescription.

The bill would also impose stricter controls over the domestic manufacturing of vapes.

The Government has a majority in the lower house and passed the legislation in May. However, it required the support of the Greens and at least two crossbenchers to pass the Senate.

Changes to the bill were agreed by the Greens and the Labor Government on Monday.

Under the changes, those found in personal possession of vapes won’t face criminal charges. However, it will still be unlawful for commercial quantities of vapes to be sold by non-pharmacy retailers, including single vapes to individuals (like at convenience stores).

The law will also be subject to a review after three years.

Adults will need to speak with a pharmacist but won’t need a prescription from a GP in order to get a vape.

The pharmacist will need to check the buyer’s ID, outline the health dangers of vaping, and offer other alternatives to smoking.

The vapes will be stored behind the counter, meaning they won’t be freely available to purchase on the shelves, and will all contain a limited amount of nicotine.

Greens health spokesperson Jordon Steele-John said the changes will “ensure that vapes remain out of the hands of kids, but adults can access them via a pharmacy”.

He said he was “pleased” with the amendments, which he said would still promote adults quitting cigarette smoking.

The legislation is expected to pass Parliament this week.

The Federal Government will adopt every recommendation “in full” from a formal review of supermarkets.

Findings handed down in April detailed several measures to ensure fair business practices between supermarkets and suppliers, such as farmers.

This included a proposed mandatory Code of Conduct that could see supermarkets fined billions of dollars for breaches. Here’s the latest.

Coles and Woolworths control roughly two-thirds of Australia’s supermarket sector. Each company reported profits of more than $1 billion last financial year.

The Government ordered an independent review in January amid growing concern about supermarkets setting unfair prices for customers.

The review, led by former Labor MP Craig Emerson, focused largely on changes that could be made to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct — a voluntary set of industry regulations, developed by the supermarkets in 2015.

Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA suppliers Metcash are all signed to the Code.

Emerson’s findings were first shared in an interim report published in April.

In this report, he recommended that the Code be made mandatory, enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Emerson proposed fines for major breaches calculated at 10% of total annual sales. Under this modelling, penalties for Coles and Woolworths could surpass $4 billion.

On Monday, the Government announced it had accepted all of the recommendations in the final report, also released on Monday.

This includes an anonymous reporting tool to field complaints about anti-competitive behaviour by supermarkets from suppliers and whistle-blowers. The Code will also become mandatory for Australia’s major supermarkets.

Legislation will be required to implement some of Emerson’s recommendations, which the Government will now begin to draft.

The reforms mean supermarkets will face one of three fines for major breaches of the revamped mandatory Code.

This will be whichever is the largest amount of either:

Major breaches could include a failure by supermarkets to fairly deal with suppliers, or for systemic record-keeping breaches.

Emerson noted that a lack of competition in the supermarket sector has driven concern about retailers’ business practices. He said tougher fines and enforcement would enhance competition in the supermarket sector.

Emerson didn’t support measures that would force supermarket giants to sell off parts of their business, saying this wouldn’t guarantee greater market competition.

The ACCC is leading a separate year-long inquiry into supermarket prices and their business practices with suppliers. An interim report is due to the Government by the end of August, ahead of a final report in February.

Consumer group CHOICE will also share quarterly research on supermarket prices for the next three years. Its first report, out last week, found Aldi was significantly cheaper than Coles and Woolworths. Groceries were most expensive in jurisdictions where there are no Aldi stores — Tas and the NT.

Woolworths said it supported a mandatory Code and strong relationships with suppliers. The supermarket giant said it would continue to consider the recommendations of the Emerson review.

Coles also said it would consider the review and the Government‘s response “in detail“, adding that it would “remain committed to supporting a healthy and sustainable grocery sector“.

Aldi also supported the Code becoming mandatory. They’re also reviewing the proposals in the final report.

Metcash said they “remain committed” to the Code of Conduct, and would “continue to focus on working constructively with our suppliers”.

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Under a grant system called the Artists’ Salary Fund, visual artists, musicians, writers and others are paid a monthly allowance. That program will al now covers artists over the age of 67, and screenwriters.

The Minister of Culture and Trade said: "Income is one thing… but it is equally important to nurture our identity as a nation.”

A New Zealand woman has gone above and beyond to win an argument, taking her former partner to court because he wouldn’t drive her to the airport.

The woman wanted compensation for missing her flight and her shuttle to the airport. Her partner was also meant to look after her dogs while she was away, but she instead had to pay for a kennel.

The NZ Disputes Tribunal dismissed the case, stating her partner’s verbal agreement to take her to the airport and look after her dogs wasn’t “legally binding”, because it formed part of the “normal give and take in an intimate relationship”.

Safe to say they’re no longer together.

Last week, for a brief moment, tech company Nvidia became the most valuable company in the world, overtaking Microsoft. While Microsoft has now clawed its way back, it’s clear that Nvidia is going to only grow in its influence, value and technological capabilities.

But what exactly is Nvidia? What do they make? And why is it worth so much in 2024? We’ll break it all down in today’s deep dive.