☕️ What we asked the Education Minister

Thank you so much to everyone who sent in their question suggestions last week for TDA’s interview with Australia’s Education Minister Jason Clare.

The interview went live this morning. We discuss:

You can listen to the interview here or watch it here.

“We want to showcase the potential of public-led research and ask the community to come on board with shaping our future health and wellbeing science.”
Dr Emily Brindal, Behavioural Scientist at CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency), announcing a public call-out for Australians to “track their farts” to help scientists better understand the frequency and characteristics of gut health symptoms.

52-20
The final score of the Wallabies v Wales game overnight, with the Australian team delivering the decisive win. The Wallabies will next be taking on Scotland next Monday morning.

1963
Push-button, or touch-tone, phones were released for the first time in the U.S. Over time this replaced the telephones with a rotary dial.

The Victorian Government has announced it will make pads and tampons free in public places.

Victoria was the first jurisdiction to make pads and tampons free in public schools. Now, the products will be available free-of-charge from vending machines.

The initiative will begin in several Melbourne locations including local libraries and hospitals, before a statewide rollout next year.

Here’s what you need to know.

The State Government said 50 vending machines will be installed in women’s, gender-neutral, and accessible public bathrooms across 30 Melbourne locations.

The initiative will then be expanded to 700 sites next year, with machines to be installed at Victorian train stations, libraries, hospitals, courts, and TAFEs.

The Victorian Government is working with a company called Affinity Outdoor to supply the products.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said pads and tampons are “a necessity,” and should be accessible “whenever and wherever”.

The state’s Minister for Women Natalie Hutchins said the program “provides cost-of-living relief for women while providing them the basic dignity they deserve.”

CEO of Affinity Outdoor Michelle Davis said the initiative is “an important step towards achieving equity in our community.”

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

A controversial bill has sparked peaceful protests both in and outside New Zealand’s Parliament.

The ‘Treaty Principles Bill’ would change how the country’s founding document, a 19th Century Treaty between Britain and Māori people, is legally interpreted.

It was introduced by one of the three parties that makes up NZ’s Coalition Government, called ACT. The Labour Opposition and smaller parties, including Te Pāti Māori, are against it.

In protest, thousands of people are marching the length of New Zealand’s North Island, from its northern tip to the capital, Wellington, in the south.

In 1840, English officials and over 500 Māori leaders signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or the Treaty of Waitangi.

Māori leaders signed a Māori version of the treaty and English representatives signed the English version.

Māori leaders were not told that the English believed the Treaty meant they had signed away complete control of the country, leading to decades of conflict.

Not every Māori leader signed the Treaty, but English officials decided it still applied to them.

In 1975, the Government set up the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate allegations by Māori that the Treaty wasn’t being upheld.

One of the Tribunal’s responsibilities was to interpret what the Treaty agreements actually meant — the “principles”.

The Tribunal has considered allegations about the Government’s actions dating from 1840 to the present, including confiscating land and polluting waterways.

In a landmark decision in 2014, the Tribunal found that one Māori iwi (community) did not cede sovereignty to Britain when they signed the Treaty.

The English-language Treaty has three central agreements:

The ACT party said the Treaty principles were “gradually built up” over time. It argues this means the NZ public has never been “democratically consulted” on the principles.

“The Treaty principles are often mentioned in legislation, but they have never actually been defined in law,” it said.

A bill introduced by ACT would legally define what the Treaty means. This includes establishing a new legal definition of the “undisturbed possession” land and property agreement.

ACT’s proposal is that this agreement should apply to every NZ citizen, unless there’s been a legal agreement otherwise, e.g. a Tribunal decision protecting a piece of land.

ACT claims the bill would ensure ”all New Zealanders are equal under the law with the same rights and duties”.

If passed, the bill would pave the way for public consultation, and ultimately lead to a referendum.

New Zealanders would be asked if they accept the bill’s interpretation of the Treaty principles, to enshrine them into law.

New Zealand went to an election last October. The National Party, led by former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon, won the most seats.

However, National didn’t win enough seats for a majority, so it formed a coalition with ACT and another party, NZ First.

Part of the coalition agreement was that ACT would be allowed to introduce a ‘Treaty Principles Bill’, and that National would only vote for it to proceed to a committee review — no further.

On Thursday, ACT leader David Seymour, who has Māori heritage, introduced the bill to Parliament for a “first reading”. This is a round of debate where each party presents their position on the bill.

New Zealand’s Parliament has one chamber. After a first reading MPs vote on whether bills will be reviewed by a committee, or set aside.

Seymour said: “This bill does not change the text of the Treaty itself... it democratises the principles... It reinforces the rights of the Treaty as universal human rights.”

In response, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said: “The only people who can make changes in an agreement are the parties who signed it. The King of England [and Māori leaders]... David Seymour, which one of those are you?”

Labour MP Willie Jackson said the bill is a “stunt” that “seeks to give Māori rights... to everyone.”

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression. That is what is behind this bill.”

Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke interrupted voting on the bill with a haka, and was suspended for 24 hours without pay.

Luxon has said he is not in favour of the bill and that National only voted for it to fulfil their coalition agreement.

“You do not go negate, with a single stroke of a pen, 184 years of debate and discussion, with a bill that I think is very simplistic,” he told media.

NZ First, the other party in the coalition, also voted in favour of the bill. Leader Winston Peters, who is of Māori descent, has said he doesn’t believe the Treaty has any principles.

In August, he said “it’s a three clause document between two peoples.”

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

Cleaning products that double as decor?

Skipper specialises in concentrated tablet alternatives for everyday products to help reduce waste. They’ve got you covered for all your daily essentials, including hand wash, body wash, laundry detergent, and even household cleaners!

How does it work? Fill one of their chic reusable dispensers with water, drop in a tablet, and let it dissolve. It’s that easy!

The turtle, whose name is Boeier (after the boat that rescued it) was found near the Netherlands after it became entangled in a commercial fishing boat’s net last year.

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is one of the most endangered species of sea turtle in the world, and little Boeier got caught in a current and ended up more than 8,000 kilometres away from its native waters. The turtle ended up being rescued and was nursed back to health. Following a string of medical tests, a healthy-looking and feeling Boeier was flown to the U.S. last month before his release into the Gulf of Mexico last week.

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

This is not satire. The Onion has bought Infowars.

The Onion (a satirical news site - think the U.S. version of The Betoota Advocate), has purchased Infowars, a site run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has spread conspiracy theories - including that the Sandy Hook school shooting was faked.

Families of the victims sued him for defamation and were awarded $US1.4 billion ($AU2.2 billion) in compensation for the damage caused by Jones, who said the shooting was a hoax designed to progress gun control arguments in the U.S.

But the families never saw the money - Jones declared bankruptcy, saying he could not pay the victims’ families. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the web address ‘infowars.com’ went up for auction.

Enter The Onion - they joined the bidding, making a deal with victims’ families that, if The Onion was the winning bid, the family would forgo part of their settlement. So, even though there was a larger bid at auction from the only other bidder - a business connected to supporters of Jones - the administrator in charge of getting the best deal possible for Jones’ debtors was compelled to pick The Onion.

The deal is yet to be finalised - but it’s looking likely the original kings of internet satire will successfully buy infowars.com.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Education is one of the key portfolios in government that affects young Australians the most – from what we get taught in school, to how we pay for university. 

On today's podcast, we sit down with Education Minister Jason Clare to discuss HECS, international student caps, funding to public schools and more.