☕️ Dutton's new government efficiency portfolio

It’s back to school today for Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

To all the teachers reading, we’ve had a lot of feedback that this newsletter is a great way for high school students to engage with the news - feel free to pass it on to the class and be the cool teacher!

P.S. In case you missed it, TDA is interviewing the Prime Minister this week, and we would love to know any question suggestions you have. Just hit reply to this email!

“It was clearly designed to get attention. I don’t intend to add to that attention because I do think that it takes away from what the day should be about – which is the amazing people who were nominated as Australians of the Year.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on former Australian of the Year Grace Tame wearing a shirt that read “F*** Murdoch” to an afternoon tea he hosted to celebrate past Australians of the Year and this year’s finalists.

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Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was published anonymously and is an instant success.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has unveiled his new shadow ministry, including the creation of a new portfolio dedicated to “government efficiency”.

The new portfolio follows the establishment of a new U.S. Government advisory body called the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

The Coalition’s reshuffle was triggered by the retirements of two senior Liberal MPs ahead of this year’s federal election.

When a party forms government, some of its MPs and Senators become Cabinet Ministers — a team of senior advisers to the Prime Minister, responsible for policy areas called portfolios.

Ministers lead the introduction of legislation related to their portfolios, and sit on the front bench of the houses of Parliament.

The party in Opposition forms a shadow Cabinet, who comment on Government proposals and suggest alternatives.

In November, Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham announced he would leave politics at the next election. Birmingham has held frontbench positions in the Coalition for a decade.

Paul Fletcher, another senior Liberal MP, announced in December he would not recontest the next election.

Fletcher was the Manager of Opposition Business, a key role in the House of Representatives, and held the shadow ministries of arts and science.

Over the weekend, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced the frontbench team he plans to take to the next election, due to be held by 17 May.

Sydney-based MP David Coleman will now take on the foreign affairs portfolio, and Tasmanian Senator Claire Chandler will take on Fletcher’s shadow ministries.

The reshuffle included the creation of a new shadow portfolio for Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price — ‘Government Efficiency’. Price is already the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians.

In a statement, Dutton said the government efficiency portfolio would be dedicated to achieving “a more efficient use of taxpayers’ money”.

He described the Labor Government’s spending as “wasteful” and “out of control”.

Price said the current government’s spending had contributed to high inflation (rising prices) and the broader cost of living crisis.

Price’s new portfolio echoes the newly created U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

President Donald Trump appointed X owner Elon Musk to lead DOGE, which is tasked with reducing federal spending. Its name is believed to be a reference to a cryptocurrency called ‘dogecoin’, itself a reference to an old meme.

Dutton denied the new shadow portfolio was inspired by DOGE, however.

“People don’t want to work their guts out and find that the tax they’re paying is being wasted,” he said.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy plans are officially underway.

A week after entering the White House for the second time, Trump has announced a crackdown on migration and foreign aid.

Multiple U.S. military aircraft have been used to deport migrants overseas, including to Colombia, which has rejected their arrival. Trump has responded by ordering sanctions against Colombia.

He has also floated a plan to relocate more than 1.5 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring Arab countries.

Trump issued dozens of executive orders within hours of becoming President. These are presidential directives compelling federal agencies, such as defence and education, to act.

One order demanded officials reverse what Trump described as an “unprecedented flood of illegal immigration” over the past four years.

Following this, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a statement saying it had begun cracking down on “potentially dangerous criminal aliens”. Under U.S. law, an ‘alien’ is anyone in the country who isn’t a citizen.

This weekend, Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo showing a line of handcuffed men filing into a military aircraft. Leavitt captioned the image: “Deportation flights have begun.”

U.S. army aircraft are not normally used for migrant deportations, based on a legal principle called ‘posse comitatus’, which bars the military from enforcing domestic law in most circumstances.

According to Leavitt, four aircraft have arrived in Mexico, carrying dozens of people who had been deported from the U.S.

Colombia has denied entry to two military aircraft carrying people deported from the U.S.

President Gustavo Petro posted on social media, saying: “The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals”.

Petro ordered a flight to allow for the “dignified return of his fellow citizens”.

Trump responded by announcing a travel ban on Colombian government officials and 25% tariffs (taxes) on Colombian imports to the U.S. The President said the tariffs “will be raised to 50%... in one week.”

Separately, news outlets including CNN and the BBC have reported a leaked memo shows the U.S. will pause new funding to all other countries except Egypt and Israel.

The memo was reportedly circulated to the State Department, which handles foreign affairs, by newly-appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Last week, Trump signed an executive order calling for a 90-day pause on foreign aid.

State Department data shows American aid totalled $US41 billion ($AU65 billion) in the 12 months to October 2024.

The bulk is spent on overseas health and humanitarian assistance.

Rubio’s directive, sent to U.S. officials stationed at embassies and consulates around the world, said all foreign aid would now come under scrutiny.

The only exceptions were for emergency food aid and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

On Sunday (local time), U.S. journalists asked Trump about his plans for Gaza, as the ceasefire-hostage deal between Hamas and Israel progresses.

The deal specifies displaced Palestinians can return to northern Gaza.

Research cited by the UN earlier this month estimates 92% of housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump described the state of Gaza as a “mess” and a “demolition site,” and said he wanted to “clean out that whole thing and say... ‘it’s over.’”

Trump told reporters that he wanted to see Jordan and Egypt help relocate more than 1.5 million people from the Gaza Strip.

He didn’t specify whether it would be a temporary or long-term relocation.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister has already rejected the proposal.

Trump said he plans to discuss the plan with Egypt’s President soon.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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The 2340 is a trick that consists of rotating six and a half times in the air. The 19-year-old landed the trick at the X Games over the weekend. Reflecting on his history-making move, Ogiwara said: “It was really the greatest moment. It felt as if I used every ounce of energy I had.”

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

Reporting by Zara Seidler.

Ever accidentally sent an email with the wrong attachment?

That’s what happened at online payment processing company Stripe, where an employee accidentally added an image of a cartoon duck to an email announcing mass layoffs.

According to Business Insider, an email which said 300 employees would be laid off had a PDF attached — an image of a yellow duck with brown feathers. The email also had more wrong info about when the layoffs would come into effect.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

On Saturday, Neale Daniher AO became the 2025 Australian of the Year. Daniher, who was an AFL player and captain, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2013. Since then, he's gone on to co-found FightMND, an organisation which has raised over $115 million for research into finding a cure for MND.

In today's podcast, we explain more about who Daniher who, and what he's achieved over the last decade.