☕️ The push to breath test politicians

Good morning!

If you’re reading this in WA, I hope you’re reading it in an ice bath.

Yesterday was the seventh day in a row of temperatures above 40°C for Perth.

And over the weekend, Carnarvon Airport in WA recorded the hottest temperature in the world (!!!) so far this year.

So… yea… an ice bath sounds nice.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“I am grateful for this wonderful congregation… Let me encourage you to keep on going. The way is sometimes hard, but God is good.”
Pastor Ian Wilkinson, whose wife and in-laws died after allegedly eating poisoned mushrooms in regional Victoria, speaking to his congregation in a video published by the Herald Sun.

Stat of the day

$1.3 million
The amount of a fine handed to a stonemasonry company by the Victorian Supreme Court. The company was charged with negligent conduct causing death after a 25-year-old died in a forklift accident. The owner was also sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.

Today in history

1985
The Irish Government voted in favour of laws to allow the sale of over-the-counter contraceptives. It meant people over 18 could purchase non-medical contraception, like condoms, without needing a prescription. The legislation passed 83 votes to 80.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• Sydney casino The Star will face the Independent Casino Commission for a second time. A 2022 inquiry ruled The Star was ineligible for a casino licence after it found evidence of money laundering, organised crime and fraud. The Chief Commissioner said a follow-up inquiry would determine if The Star has properly addressed structural change to reduce misconduct. The Star will need to prove a “substantial shift” in its operations to ensure its original management is fit to “regain [the] casino licence”. The inquiry is expected to last almost four months, with the final report due at the end of May.

• Researchers at the Australian National University have found evidence to debunk myths about the stereotypical smoker. The world-first study found that of the 2.5 million Aussies who smoke daily, most are employed, educated and have ‘good mental health’. Using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the report found 60% of Australian smokers are men, 65% live in major cities, and 92% of smokers are non-Indigenous.

I’ve got 1 minute

Here’s what we know about a boat that arrived in WA on Friday.

Around 40 asylum seekers who arrived by boat in Western Australia’s Kimberley region have been taken to an offshore immigration detention centre.

Some of the group arrived in Beagle Bay, a remote town with predominantly First Nations residents, on Friday.

Several others were found in a nearby WA community a short time later.

It’s believed the group are seeking asylum in Australia from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

They have since been taken to an offshore processing facility in Nauru, a small island country in the Pacific.

Border operation

Since 2013, the Australian Border Force (ABF), the Australian Federal Police and the military have run ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’.

It involves daily patrols of Australian borders to prevent asylum seekers from arriving by boat and settling in Australia.

According to the Department of Home Affairs: “Anyone who attempts an unauthorised boat voyage to Australia will be turned back to their point of departure, returned to their home country, or transferred to a third country for processing.”

WA boat

The ABF confirmed that an operation took place in northwest WA on Friday, but it hasn’t provided any further details on the matter.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had been briefed on the asylum seeker arrivals, and that the ABF had “resolved” the issue.

“If you arrive here by boat, you will not be settled here... We have appropriate measures in place, and we have an appropriate response in place. And that's been demonstrated by the events this weekend,“ he said.

Opposition

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the boat’s arrival showed a “catastrophic failure” of Australia’s border policy.

Dutton said people smugglers “react to a weak Prime Minister... If they see vulnerabilities, they will exploit them, and that’s exactly what has happened here.”

Albanese dismissed Dutton’s comments, accusing him of an “overreach” on the issue.

ABF report

Operation Sovereign Borders Commander Brett Sonter said the ABF’s mission was to protect Australia’s borders, combat people smuggling and prevent dangerous border crossings by sea.

He said that “any alternate narrative will be exploited by criminal people smugglers to deceive potential irregular immigrants and convince them to risk their lives and travel to Australia by boat”.

I’ve got 2 minutes

There's a push to breath test politicians in Parliament. Here’s why.

There is a push to curb alcohol consumption in Parliament House after two recent incidents involving parliamentarians and alcohol.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has suggested random alcohol and drug testing should be used in Parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not expressed support for the proposition, saying “common sense should apply”.

Here’s the context.

What happened?

There have been two incidents in the past fortnight involving videos of National Party politicians being intoxicated.

First, the Daily Mail published a video of Barnaby Joyce drunk on a pavement in Canberra. Joyce said he had mixed alcohol and medication.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud urged Joyce to take time off work.

This morning, Joyce told Sunrise he has given up alcohol for Lent, a period where some Christians abstain from something they enjoy in the lead-up to Easter.

In a separate incident, Deputy Nationals Leader Perin Davey appeared to slur her words (video is in the sixth slide of this post) during a Senate hearing last week.

Davey admitted to drinking two glasses of wine at a social meeting before the hearing, but denies she was drunk.

She said she is “mortified by how this is being reported”.

“Unfortunately the focus is on my enunciation rather than what I was actually asking about,” she added.

Response

On Melbourne radio station 3AW, Independent MP Zali Steggall suggested random alcohol and drug testing should be adopted, saying: “I’m a little surprised people aren’t self-regulating better... If you are tested, and you have consumed too much, there would be consequences.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked if there should be an alcohol ban in Parliament. He said: “Well, there is no alcohol in my office... A bit of common sense should apply. People are adults and they should behave responsibly like any adult should.”

‘Work hard, play hard’

In 2021, then-Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins led a review of Federal Parliament’s workplace culture. It found frequent alcohol consumption was part of Parliament’s ‘work hard, play hard’ culture. Jenkins recommended restricting the availability of alcohol in Parliament.

In response to a question about Joyce and Davey’s behaviour, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told Sky News “a lot has been done” to improve alcohol consumption at Parliament, and that the changes were “producing positive results”.

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Over the weekend, Alexei Navalny – the most vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin – died in prison.

Since the news of his death broke, many Western leaders have been quick to blame the Russian Government for his death.

On today's podcast, we deep dive into exactly who Alexei Navalny was, why his death is seen as suspicious by so many, and how world leaders are reacting to the news.

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In a sweeping measure to solve plastic waste, a small business in Cambodia has found a way to upcycle plastic bottles into brooms.

Plastic bottles can be recycled in bulk by being cut into thin strips to create the broom’s bristles, which are then tied to a bamboo stick.

In almost a year, the business has up-cycled around 50 tonnes of plastic bottles to create almost 500 brooms a day.

TDA tidbit

Imagine not knowing you’d won the lottery and losing out on millions of dollars because you didn’t claim your prize in time.

Well, one (un)lucky person in the U.S. won $US36 million ($AU55 million), but they’ll never touch the cash because they didn’t come forward to claim it.

Florida Lottery winners have 180 days to come forward with a winning ticket before they forfeit their winnings.

Last year, lottery organisers confirmed an anonymous punter had chosen the winning numbers to its August jackpot. Despite multiple attempts and a last-minute callout to find that person, they never came forward and the expiration date on the prize has now passed.

The only thing we know about the could’ve-been millionaire is that they purchased a lottery ticket from a Florida supermarket chain called Publix.

It isn’t all bad news though. State law in Florida requires that 80% of unclaimed prize money be donated to the Department of Education to fund local schools.

TDA asks