☕️ What happened at the election?

Well… election night was almost over before the TDA team had even ordered dinner. We’ll explain exactly what happened in the 2 minute section below, but before we get there, I thought I’d share with you some quick facts for you to share with your colleagues at the water-cooler:

“In 2018, I was told that Dickson was not winnable and it wouldn't be winnable until Peter Dutton retired…They said he was too popular, he was too well-known … I was told that I didn't stand a chance."
Incoming MP Ali France, who unseated former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in the Queensland seat of Dickson, during her victory speech. France first contested the seat at the 2019 federal election. Following his loss, Dutton said France would do a “good job as a local member”.

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The number of votes that a UK by-election was won by. The safe Labour seat was won by the far-right party, Reform UK, on Friday.

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Ben and Jerry's opened its first ice cream shop.

Before we explain what we know about what happened in the Senate, let’s quickly explain how it works.

There are 76 senators who make up the Senate (or the upper house). Each state has 12 senators, while the territories have two senators each. State senators serve six-year terms, while territory senators serve three-year terms. That means that at this election, only half of the Senate was up for re-election.

Senators are chosen based on proportional representation. It's a system of quotas - essentially, you need to reach a certain percentage of votes (about 14.3%) to guarantee a spot in the Senate.

It’s still early in the Senate counting, but here’s what we know so far:

The Labor Party will form a majority government in the next Parliament.

It means Anthony Albanese is the first Prime Minister to win two elections in a row since John Howard in 2004.

Counting continues today, with several seats still in contention.

At this stage, Labor has won at least 85 seats, according to ABC. It needed 76 to win a majority. At the last election, Labor won 77 seats.

During his victory speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “It is with a deep sense of humility and a profound sense of responsibility that the first thing that I do tonight is to say thank you, the people of Australia.”

At this stage, the Coalition (the Liberals and Nationals) have won at least 39 seats. At the last election, they won 58 seats.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton lost his seat and will leave Parliament.

Some election analysts have suggested this could be the Coalition’s lowest primary vote ever.

In his concession speech, Peter Dutton said: "We didn't do well enough in this campaign, that much is obvious… there are good members and candidates who have lost their seats ... and I am sorry for that."

At the time of writing, the Greens have not secured any seats in the lower house. The party has conceded they have lost Brisbane and Griffith.

The Greens have also seen a swing away in leader Adam Bandt’s seat (Melbourne). Labor is currently ahead in the counting, with about 65% of the counting done.

As Peter Dutton is no longer in Parliament, the Liberal Party will now need to find a new leader.

This means that all Liberal MPs will need to vote on who they want their next leader to be.

While no Liberal MPs have officially confirmed they will contest the leadership, it’s expected current Deputy Leader Sussan Ley and Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor will be in the running.

Wow. What a weekend. We voted, we ate our democracy sausages, and the PM has been decided.

After all that, if you didn’t get around to doing your Sunday grocery shop (like we didn’t), don’t stress - we’ve got the solution to ease you into the week: EatClub.

It’s a free app that gives you up to 50% off at restaurants and bars around the country. Just redeem an offer in the app, enjoy your meal, and when the bill comes - tap to pay with your EatClub card. The discount applies automatically!

With discounts at over 2,500 places across Australia, EatClub is your key to dining out on a budget.

Currently, there is no single vaccine that protects against all types of meningococcal disease. A team from the Kids Research Institute Australia said the immunisation would “simplify the immunisation schedule.”

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

A spacecraft is set to return to Earth nearly half a century after its failed mission.

Unlike most landings, however, no one knows exactly where or when it’s due!

The object is a lander module from a failed Soviet mission in 1972. According to SatTrackCam Leiden, a Dutch satellite tracking organisation, the module could land like a small meteorite, with the same level of risk to us – “not particularly high, but not zero”.

Currently, re-entry is predicted to occur near 10 May, anywhere between the UK and the South Atlantic Ocean.

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

The federal election is officially over, with Labor set to govern with a significant majority.

In today’s podcast, we explain Labor’s win, the Coalition’s loss and what happens next for the party whose leader lost his seat.