☕️ NT curfew announced

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The prison sentence handed down to climate protester Laura Davy. The 21-year-old was convicted over her involvement in blocking trains to Newcastle’s coal port. Davy pleaded guilty but has appealed her sentence.

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The first Wimbledon Tennis Championships were held.

Northern Territory Police have announced a curfew for Alice Springs, after a recent spike in crime and assaults against local police.

Beginning last night, no one will be allowed to enter the Alice Spring CBD without a lawful reason between 10pm to 6am. The curfew will last at least three days.

It’s the second curfew in the region in the past three months, following a youth curfew earlier in the year that restricted the movement of under 18s.

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy announced the curfew on Monday, using new police powers that were legislated in May. Murphy says the curfew is in response to increased “significant harm” in Alice Springs over recent days.

If the Police Commissioner wants to extend the three-day curfew, he must seek approval from the NT Police Minister.

The curfew coincides with celebrations across the NT and the rest of Australia for NAIDOC week. NT Police said it was “very mindful” of the timing. It estimates an additional 5,000 people will be in Alice Springs this week.

“The intent of this declaration is to disrupt the behaviours associated with the harm we are seeing in Alice Springs, and [to adopt] a whole of Government approach to make sure we can look after people and NAIDOC Week safely,” Commissioner Murphy said.

Federal Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says the curfews should be considered a temporary measure. She also noted that many children in the NT “fall completely through the cracks”.

“Indigenous children, certainly around in my community and throughout the Northern Territory, experience the highest rates of domestic and family violence, child sexual abuse... The lives of these children need to be looked at much closer,” Nampijinpa Price told the ABC.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

A Parliamentary Committee has recommended a tax on sugary beverages. The measure is one of several recommendations aimed at improving Australians’ health outcomes.

It comes more than a year after the Federal Government announced an inquiry into the causes of diabetes, “interrelated health issues between diabetes and obesity”, and its impact on the health system.

More than half the global population lives in a country where sugar-sweetened beverages are taxed, according to international financial institution the World Bank.

About 1.5 million Australians have diabetes, a disease characterised by chronically elevated blood sugar levels.

Type 2 diabetes makes up 87% of all diabetes cases in Australia. It’s particularly high in disadvantaged areas and First Nations communities.

Two-thirds of Australian adults were overweight or obese in 2022, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It measures obesity using the Body Mass Index (BMI), which was developed in the 1830s by a mathematician as a way to find the ‘average’ male body.

The committee made 23 recommendations aimed at lowering national diabetes and obesity rates. It proposed a tax on sugary beverages, including soft drinks, energy drinks, and sports drinks, to discourage consumers from buying them. Alcoholic drinks wouldn’t be included.

The tax would be priced according to the sugar content of individual drinks, meaning beverages with the most sugar would become the most expensive. The tax would raise an estimated $1.4 billion over a four year period.

The committee also called for new food labelling standards to help consumers identify how much added sugar is in a product. It found that labels like the health-star rating and nutrition information panel lacked clarity and detail.

Under current regulations, added sugar can appear under at least 40 different names on food labels, according to the Public Health Association of Australia. It said this makes it hard for consumers to follow national dietary guidelines.

The committee urged the Government to overhaul food advertising and marketing guidelines, particularly across media consumed by children. A recent study by Deakin University found that children are exposed to dozens of junk food ads daily.

Concern was also raised about the promotion of ‘unhealthy’ food and drinks, including at the end of aisles and supermarket checkouts.

The committee also made proposals to improve diabetes diagnosis and management strategies. This included boosting access to longer, subsidised medical appointments for Australians with all forms of diabetes, and increased telehealth consultations.

The recommendations included improved access to type 2 diabetes medication in remote communities. A recent global shortage has impacted supplies of some of these medications, which include Ozempic and Mounjaro.

More than 100 countries have taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, according to 2023 data from the World Bank. Sugar taxes are most common in Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The World Health Organisation called on all countries to introduce taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages in December 2022.

The proposed sugar tax was rejected by Committee members from the Coalition Opposition, who cast doubt over its effectiveness and were concerned it could increase financial strain for low-income earners.

The Opposition supported all the Committee’s recommendations, except for the proposed tax on sugary beverages. Coalition members cast doubt over its effectiveness, claiming the levy wouldn’t do enough to change consumer habits. The Opposition also argued the tax would create more financial stress for low-income earners in disadvantaged communities.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) welcomed the Committee’s report and said it was “100 per cent behind” the proposed sugar tax. The AMA also supported changes to food advertising and sugar-labelling regulations.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Mark Butler said the report “shines a light on a serious public health issue”.

The Government said it will “carefully consider” the report, and is expected to table its response before the end of the year.

Reporting by Daniel Lo Surdo.

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According to interim results, 263 women won seats in the general election on 4 July.

That’s up from the previous record of 220 women, set at the 2019 election. Estimates indicate women now make up around 40% of the UK Parliament.

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

Ever since Justin Bieber cancelled his most recent tour over health concerns, live performances from the singer have been rare. But the 30-year-old made a recent exception for an Indian billionaire.

Bieber was reportedly paid $US10 million ($AU15m) to perform at a pre-wedding celebration for Anant Ambani and his fiancée Radhika. Ambani is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, currently the world’s 9th richest man.

However, Bieber isn’t the first global star to perform for the couple. Rihanna performed for the pair in March, while Katy Perry and Pitbull have also received the call up for pre-wedding celebration performances. 

Anant and Radhika are set to actually wed next week. Any guesses on who we might see perform at the big event?!

Reporting by Nandini Dhir.

France’s far-right party was expected to dominate in the country's election over the weekend, but a surprise swing to the left has resulted in a hung parliament. A left-wing coalition that didn’t exist a few weeks ago won the most seats in the final round of voting, but a divided result means there’s no clear majority winner.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll discuss the results and what they mean for the future of France’s Government.