☕️ What the latest inflation numbers mean

Lots of angry riddle-doers in my inbox this morning. Allow me to explain the working out from yesterday’s riddle. As a reminder, it was: “A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”

The key was that the bat costs $1 more than the ball, not that the bat costs $1 period.

Therefore, the ball = 5c and the bat = $1.05. Together, $1.05 + 5c = $1.10.

I don’t make the rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“Older people aren’t even going for the jobs. Not because they don’t want them, but they believe they won’t get there. We need to change the attitudes of older people, whatever that actually means, as well as the employers.”
Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald speaking at the National Press Club yesterday.

$12.9 million
The penalty Vanguard Investments Australia has been ordered to pay by the Federal Court, after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sued it for “making misleading claims” about investment funds’ eco-friendliness.

1960
A U.S. presidential debate, between two candidates, John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon, was televised for the first time.

Prices rose by 2.7% in the year to August 2024, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The figure, down from 3.5% in July, is the lowest monthly inflation rate since August 2021.

This does not mean prices are falling — it means they are increasing at a slower rate than before.

The ABS attributed the figure to a drop in electricity prices.

Inflation measures price growth.

The ABS summarises prices in around 90 categories (e.g. fruit, rent, furniture) to calculate the figure.

When inflation is high, your money buys less.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has set a target of 2-3% annual inflation. It adjusts the ‘cash rate’ – what it charges banks for short-term loans, which flows through the rest of the economy – based on the rate of inflation.

Electricity saw the biggest drop in cost last month, falling by 17.9% in the year to August.

In July this year, the Federal Government announced it would give households up to $300 in energy bill rebates. The Qld, WA, and Tasmania Governments have also announced similar rebates.

ABS head of price statistics Michelle Marquardt said that without the Government rebates, “electricity prices would have risen 0.1%” in the 12 months to August.

The housing rate covers rent, new home purchases, electricity, gas, and household fuels.

Housing costs rose by 2.6% in the 12 months to August, compared to a 4% rise in the 12 months to July.

Rents dropped by 0.1% from July, while new home prices rose by 0.1%.

Inflation for the year to August excluding items with volatile prices – including fruits, vegetables, fuel, and holidays – was slightly higher at 3%.

Marquardt said inflation was the lowest it’s been since August 2021.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has approved the extension of three coal mines in NSW.

The mines – two in the Hunter region and one in northern NSW – have either been approved to dig deeper, or to stay open longer than initially scheduled.

Environmental advocates have criticised the Government’s decision. Plibersek says emissions from the sites will be monitored through safeguarding processes.

Coal is burned as a fossil fuel to produce energy.

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere.

Adding more CO₂ and greenhouse gases to the atmosphere causes hotter temperatures on Earth.

Australia has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Environment Minister’s latest round of approvals relates to three coal mine projects.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek claimed the extensions were approved “in accordance with the facts and the national environmental law.”

She said emissions from the coal sites would be monitored under a ‘safeguard mechanism’.

The mechanism places a cap on emissions, which gets lower every year. Businesses have to pay extra if their emissions exceed the cap.

This covers emissions of coal extracted from the mine sites, but doesn’t include emissions from burning coal.

Shadow Environment Minister Jonathon Duniam told TDA the approvals are inconsistent with a decision to block a gold mine extension.

Last month, Plibersek rejected the construction of a dam connected to a northern NSW gold mine. It followed concerns raised by Traditional Owners.

The decision was criticised by the NSW Labor Government as well as the Federal Opposition.

“If the Environment Minister can approve a coal mine, she can approve a gold mine,” Duniam said.

Research Director at the Australia Institute think tank, Rod Campbell, said the decision to approve the mine projects was “inconsistent with Australia’s climate goals”.

“Fossil fuel projects like these are driving climate change,” Campbell said.

Greens leader Adam Bandt condemned the approvals, saying they were a “betrayal of everyone who voted for climate action” at the 2022 election.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Have you heard the big news?! MERIT Beauty (TDA’s fave make-up brand) has just landed on Aussie shores, and we couldn’t be more excited about it, genuinely. 

If figuring out which beauty products to buy feels overwhelming, MERIT is here to cut through the noise. Their minimalist, dermatologist-tested products have stripped beauty back to the essentials - so you can do more with less.

To celebrate their Australian debut, MERIT has released The Australian Set - a limited edition collection perfect for your beach-to-bar glow this summer. The Minimalist complexion stick and the Flush Balm are our absolute favourites.

And here's the best part: The set is currently 10% off, and if you spend over $150, you'll get a free compact mirror. Not only that, first-time purchasers also get a free Signature Makeup Bag with their order! 

UNSW researchers and conversation experts released a group of quolls, bettongs and bilbies to a fenced off section of the Sturt National Park. The animals disappeared from the wild in NSW mostly due to changes in the ecosystem and the prevalence of predators like feral cats and foxes. Now, a group of over 100 individual marsupials have been released in a 10,000 hectare semi-bounded area, where they’ll be protected from predators. It follows successful repopulation efforts from a similar trial in South Australia.

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

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

You’ve heard of movie actor strikes and TV actor strikes, but have you heard of video game actor strikes? Well, it’s happened. Video game actors for the popular game ‘League of Legends’ are now striking.

In the U.S, video game voice actors are represented by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), which also represents Hollywood actors. SAG-AFTRA has been leading negotiations with several video game companies to ensure better protection from the use of AI. When negotiations failed, actors were ordered to strike (stop working) on several games in July.

Initially, League of Legends wasn’t covered by the strike, meaning actors could keep working on it. The game is online, so it’s regularly updated with new characters and new dialogue options for voice actors to perform.

However, the company that coordinates voice work for League of Legends, Formosa Interactive, allegedly hired non-union actors to work on another game. SAG-AFTRA says this violates labour laws, and in response has ordered union actors to stop working on League of Legends.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Earlier this month, Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was denied bail after he was charged with sex trafficking and a slew of other crimes. Investigators accused Combs of using his “business empire” to cover up decades of abuse against women “to fulfil his sexual desires” and “protect his reputation”.

In today’s podcast, we explain the timeline leading up to these charges and what it could mean for the rapper.