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Good morning!
It’s a huge day for maths fans. Happy International Mathematics Day and happy birthday to Albert Einstein. We’ll be having a pie to celebrate - oh, because it’s also Pi Day! (In the U.S. date format, today is 3.14.)
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“I’ve asked our officers to work with police and state housing agencies to ensure anyone living in a park who has refused accommodation is moved on within 24 hours. We’ll also remove unused empty tents to prevent the creation of more dangerous encampments.”
Brisbane mayor Adrian Schrinner announcing the council will move on every homeless person in the city living in parks “within 24 hours”. It follows the closing of temporary evacuation centres that housed homeless people as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred passed.
Stat of the day
128
The number of new moons discovered orbiting Saturn. The International Astronomical Union officially recognised the moons this week, after they were sighted by astronomers from Taiwan, Canada, the U.S, and France. It means Saturn now has a total of 274 confirmed moons, significantly higher than any other planet in the solar system.
Viral moment of the week
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
A mission to rescue two NASA astronauts who’ve been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months has been delayed. Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams travelled to the ISS in June on a Boeing mission. They were scheduled to return that month, but technical difficulties made it unsafe for the pair to make the journey on the Boeing craft. SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, then offered to assist in a rescue mission, saying it stood “ready to support NASA however [it] can”. NASA was due to launch a SpaceX rocket from Florida on Thursday, but the mission was cancelled at the last minute. A NASA spokesperson blamed an issue with the launch pad’s “hydraulic system on the ground side”. It’s not yet clear when the next launch attempt will be scheduled.
Trade Minister Don Farrell will speak with a White House representative about U.S. President Donald Trump's import tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium. The 25% tariffs came into effect on Wednesday. Farrell said the Government has “not given up” on trying to negotiate an exemption on the tariff. The minister confirmed he’s secured a phone call with a trade official from the Trump Administration this weekend. “We'll be talking with our American counterparts to try and convince them that they are heading in the wrong direction,” he said. Farrell promised to maintain the Government’s “cool, calm and collected” approach to negotiations.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
An American influencer’s visa is under review over wombat video
An American influencer could be deported after briefly separating a baby wombat from its mother.
Sam Jones posted the since-deleted video to her Instagram account, which shows her picking up the joey on the side of the road at night.
“I caught the baby wombat! … Okay, mama’s right there, and she is pissed,” Jones says in the video.
Response
In a statement to Sky News, Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the Government is “determining” whether Jones broke the law.
If so, it’s possible her visa may be cancelled.
Speaking to Channel Seven on Thursday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong wouldn’t confirm if Jones’ visa will be cancelled.
“I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, look, leave the baby wombat alone,” Wong said.
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Power prices are set to rise by up to 9% for most of eastern Australia. Here’s why.
Energy prices are set to rise by up to 9% in NSW, South Australia, and South East Queensland, under recommendations from the energy market regulator.
The increases are due to affect both households and businesses.
Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) Claire Savage said “cost pressures” have impacted every part of the network.
The Federal Government is now facing questions over whether it will continue energy bill discounts at the upcoming budget on 25 March.
DMO
To protect the public from exorbitant prices, the AER sets a “default market offer” (DMO), also called a ‘safety net’.
This is the maximum amount energy companies can charge you on a standard account. It is updated once a year based on conditions in the energy market.
The DMO applies to NSW, South East Queensland, and South Australia, and is valid for one financial year (1 July – 30 June). Power companies in the rest of the country use the DMO as a reference for what they should charge.
Decision
The AER typically announces a draft DMO two months before it officially comes into effect.
It released the draft DMO for the 2025/26 financial year on Thursday.
The AER has suggested a 2.5 to 8.9% increase for households and a 4.2 to 8.2% increase for small businesses.
The figure varies based on location across South East Queensland, NSW, and SA.
The AER says it needs to set energy prices so that power companies can make a “reasonable profit when supplying electricity”.
It pointed to factors driving up power prices across Australia, including “high demand, coal generator and network outages, and low solar and wind output”.
Savage said the AER was aware it’s a “challenging” time for Australians.
“We know that cost-of-living pressures are front of mind for many households and small businesses.”
Government response
Energy Minister Chris Bowen urged people to check they’re on the cheapest energy plan possible. Bowen pointed to a finding by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that more than 80% of people could pay less.
Last year, the Government brought in a $300 energy bill discount for households, applied across the financial year.
When asked whether the discount would be extended at the upcoming budget, Bowen told media: “We will always consider what more can be done”.
Coalition
Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie told Sky News that even if the Government continued its energy bill discount for another year, it would be “sucked up out of the blue almost immediately” due to rising energy costs identified by the AER.
The Coalition’s central energy policy is to set up seven nuclear reactors across Australia over the next few decades.
McKenzie said meeting energy demand is “going to take more gas and it's going to take nuclear.”
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
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🍊 Former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill found guilty. Read more here.
🍊 De Minaur knocked out of Indian Wells, tennis’ fifth major. Details.
🍊 Aussie skier wins gold at Olympic test event. Here's what she said.
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: AFL, basketball, and more…
Give me some good news
Donating blood regularly could lower the risk of developing cancer, new research has found.
Scientists from the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre in London, compared blood samples from two groups of healthy men in their 60s. One group were regular blood donors and the other had rarely donated. The study found those who gave blood regularly for several years were more likely to have genetic changes linked to a decreased risk of cancer.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA tidbit
Disney has won a lawsuit against an animator who claims the corporation stole his idea for the 2016 film ‘Moana’.
Writer and animator Buck Woodall told the Los Angeles jury the film was copied from his script ‘Bucky the Surfer Boy’, which he gave to a relative who worked on the Disney studio lot.
The jury found Disney could not have accessed his script or ideas.
Woodall is now mounting a new lawsuit over last year’s ‘Moana 2’.
Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Three years after he left office, the former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has been detained in the Netherlands. Duterte was arrested earlier this week on charges of crimes against humanity, based on his deadly “war on drugs”. In today’s podcast, we’ll explain how a 79-year-old retired world leader has ended up facing trial at the International Criminal Court, and the case against him.
TDA asks
