☕️ Islamophobia envoy announced

With the U.S. election in just over a month, we’re officially entering the final countdown. That means it’s time for a whole bunch of newspapers to officially endorse candidates. Overnight, we saw the New York Times’ editorial board come out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she is “the only patriotic choice for candidate”.

I’m really curious - does an outlet endorsing a candidate (if we are to think about it here in Australia) change your mind one way or the other when there’s an election?

"Any indication of support for a terrorist organisation is unequivocally condemned. It draws the immediate attention of our security agencies. There is a higher level of scrutiny if anyone is on a visa. I have made clear from day one that I will consider refusing and cancelling visas for anyone who seeks to incite discord in Australia."
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke after some protesters in Sydney and Melbourne were seen displaying the flags of Hezbollah and images of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed over the weekend. Australia classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

6.09 million
The size of the TV audience who watched the Saturday AFL final, according to Seven Network.

2018
Bluey, the Australian kids’ TV show, aired its first episode.

The Federal Government has appointed Aftab Malik as the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia in Australia.

Malik will begin a three-year term on 14 October, and will report to the Prime Minister and the Multicultural Affairs Minister. He has spent over a decade working in the NSW Premier’s Department.

This week’s appointment comes nearly three months after the Government appointed Jillian Segal as the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

A “special envoy” is someone who advises the government on a particular area and advocates for a specific cause or group of people.

The Government has special envoys for other matters, including the arts and disaster recovery.

The Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia is tasked with engaging with Australia’s Muslim community and anti-discrimination experts on the “most effective ways” to combat Islamophobia.

Malik said he doesn’t intend to “advocate that one form of hatred is more important than another: both antisemitism and Islamophobia are unacceptable.”

He added: “I look forward to working with Muslim leaders and the broader community to promote peace, understanding and inclusivity.”

Multicultural Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “You should be able to live safely and freely in Australia, regardless of who you are or what you believe.”

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Yesterday, the Federal Government announced the first back-to-back surplus in almost 20 years, as it delivered the Final Budget Outcome for 2023–24. The surplus was $15.8 billion.

A budget surplus means that over the last financial year, the Government made more money than it spent.

A budget surplus is when the government makes more money than it spends in a year. A budget deficit is when it spends more money than it makes.

The Government has three main streams of revenue: income taxes, the taxes companies pay, and goods and services taxes. That money goes towards a number of different things including welfare, health care, and education.

The Government is still in almost $1 trillion of debt.

It pays billions of dollars in interest on this debt every year. Surpluses don’t automatically eradicate debt.

On this, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said: “The stronger budget position means gross debt is $149.1 billion lower in 2023–24 than what was forecast at the election, which means we avoid around $80 billion in interest costs over the decade”.

The Government attributed the $15.8 billion surplus to a “combination of banking revenue upgrades and spending restraint”.

In a press conference on Monday, the Treasurer suggested the government’s economic plan is “all about” easing the cost of living crisis while also fighting inflation.

“We’ve delivered two surpluses at the same time as we’ve rolled out responsible cost‑of‑living relief including tax cuts for every taxpayer,” Chalmers said.

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that Australia’s annual inflation rate was 2.7% - the lowest rate since August 2021.

This does not mean prices are falling, but rather increasing at a slower rate than before.

Chalmers claimed yesterday that the Government's “back‑to‑back surpluses are helping in the fight against inflation”.

The Opposition said in a statement that “[yesterday’s] Final Budget Outcome reveals Labor’s is taxing more, and spending more, than any government in history”.

It added that “with the strong economic conditions Labor inherited, a drover’s dog could have delivered a surplus over the last two financial years”.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor called this a “disastrous situation” for the Government.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

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The dig was conducted by the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Canada. The dinosaur uncovered is believed to be a Pachyrhinosaurus, and the uncovered skull is the second adult skull found by researchers. Weighing in at over 270 kilograms, the skull has been nicknamed “Big Sam”.

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

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

The Netflix show Baby Reindeer is back in the headlines. If the name rings a bell, it might be because it recently won six Emmys from its 11 nominations.

If you haven’t watched it, Baby Reindeer is a TV show based on the experiences of performer Richard Gadd, who alleges he was stalked by a woman he met at work.

That woman in real life, Fiona Harvey, has since claimed she was defamed by the show. In June this year, Harvey handed Netflix a $US117 million ($AU169 million) lawsuit, involving allegations of defamation, emotional distress, and negligence.

The latest development in this story is that a judge has now ruled Baby Reindeer could be seen by audiences as a “true story”. This decision allows the defamation case to continue against the streaming platform.

So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens next in this lawsuit.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Over the weekend, Hezbollah’s long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. It marks a significant shift in the region, with Nasrallah having been in power for over thirty years. In today’s podcast, we’ll explain how we got here and what it means for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah moving forward.