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Good morning!
I thought I’d take today’s intro to share a little bit of success TDA has had this week.
Every month, something called the Triton Podcast Ranker is published, which is the official industry-recognised charts (think of as the Billboard Hot 100, but with less sequins.)
Yesterday, June’s chart was published and TDA’s podcast hit an all-time high of 18. For context, this time last year we were in the 60th spot. For further context, Billie Eilish is currently in 18th spot on the Billboard charts, but she’s way cooler than us.
Thanks so much to everyone who continues to listen to TDA, and continues to support independent media.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
"Just cutting blokes out altogether is not going to be the solution."
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare speaking on Sunrise on Wednesday morning about the Government's response to allegations of sexual abuse at Victorian childcare centres.
Stat of the day
57%
The increase in rents around the country over the last 10 years, according to national housing campaign Everybody’s Home.
TDA reader’s comment of the week
“Who wrote this law, a dog?” A comment left on our post about the ACT Government proposing a draft law to mandate dog owners spend a minimum of three hours a day with their pet.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Convicted murder Bradley John Murdoch has died in palliative care in Alice Springs of throat cancer, as Northern Territory police renew calls to find the body of his victim Peter Falconio. In 2001, Murdoch fatally shot Falconio on the side of the Stuart Highway in the NT. He also attempted to kidnap Falconio’s partner Joanna Lees, who escaped and hid in the bush for several hours. Lees later positively identified Murdoch as her partner’s killer, and a court found him guilty in 2005. A subsequent appeal failed. Murdoch always maintained his innocence and never revealed the location of Falconio’s body. In a statement yesterday, the NT Police said it was still offering an existing reward of $500,000 for any information leading to the discovery of Falconio’s remains.
Former Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian has announced she will contest the result in the Sydney seat of Bradfield, which she lost to independent Nicolette Boele, in the High Court. The seat was one of the last to be called following the 22 May election, and the result came after extensive counting. In a statement to Instagram, Kapterian said she wanted to “ensure the intentions of the voters of Bradfield are accurately reflected in the final count.” When the margin in a seat is fewer than 100 votes, the Australian Electoral Commission conducts an automatic recount. Candidates can also escalate the result to the High Court, which sits as the Court of Disputed Returns to analyse the results and make a final judgment call. Boele said she will defend the court challenge. Parliament is due to sit for the first time since the election next Tuesday.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
The rate of vaping among teens has declined since 2023
The percentage of children aged 14 to 17 who have vaped has dropped in the last two years, according to the Cancer Council.
The figures are from its Generation Vape Project, which surveys young people every six months.
In 2024, the Government passed a law restricting the sale of vapes to pharmacies.
Report findings
The Cancer Council survey found that 85.4% of those aged 14-17 have never vaped. This is up from 82.5% in April 2023.
Of those who had vaped, around a quarter had purchased their own vape, down from around a third in early 2024.
Fewer participants reported having friends who vape than in previous surveys, while curiosity about vaping also dropped, with less than a third of young people who had never vaped expressing an interest in it.
Exposure to vape advertising on social media has dropped, with the number of participants who had seen vape ads on TikTok halved since early 2024.
Participants also expressed embarrassment about vaping, saying in interviews with researchers that they did not want to be considered a “vaper.”
Only 6% of respondents said they had ever smoked cigarettes.
Govt crackdown
The Cancer Council’s report said new laws passed by the Government “show early signs of success” in reducing vaping rates and access.
Advertising for vapes is now mostly banned, and they are only legally sold at pharmacies.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the data is a positive sign that vaping rates among young Australians have “turned a corner.”
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
I’ve got 2 minutes
What has happened in southern Syria this week?
More than 200 people have been killed in southern Syria this week amid clashes between two minority groups.
In response, Israel launched airstrikes. Syria said Israel’s strikes were illegal and killed civilians. Israel said it needs to protect a religious minority in the area.
Separately, Israel has also launched strikes on Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities said Israel struck a refugee camp and other civilian infrastructure, killing 12, while Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets.
Syria
Syria currently has an interim government, after a coalition of rebels overthrew the Assad family dictatorship last December.
The Assad family had ruled since 1971.
Since the fall of the Assad dictatorship, there have been tensions between ethnic and religious minority groups within Syria over how much control the interim government should have.
Recent conflict
Over the weekend, violence broke out between Druze forces and Bedouin tribes in the city of Suwayda, in southern Syria. The Druze are a religious minority that form a majority of the population in Suwayda.
As the violence escalated, the Syrian Government deployed military forces to Suwayda to control the conflict. This led to more violence.
The independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll was 203, including militants, Government soldiers, and civilians.
Israel then launched airstrikes on Monday and Tuesday.
The Syrian Government condemned Israel’s attacks, calling them “a flagrant breach of the principles of international law”.
It said Israel had killed “several innocent civilians,” as well as soldiers.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said “the presence” of the troops in the area “may pose a threat”.
Israel illegally occupies the Golan Heights in the south of Syria.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said it is “committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria”.
There is a Druze population in the Golan Heights and in Israel.
Lebanon strikes
Also this week, Lebanese state media has reported that IDF strikes killed 12 people in the country’s east. It said one of the IDF strikes targeted a Syrian refugee camp.
Local governor Bachir Khodr said the dead included a family of five Syrians, and that at least eight others had been injured.
The IDF said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure. Australia lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. Hezbollah said Israel’s strikes hit civilian infrastructure.
Lebanon and Israel
These Israeli strikes were the deadliest since Hezbollah and Israel signed a ceasefire deal in November 2024.
The most recent conflict between Hezbollah and Israel started shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October, when Hezbollah started regularly launching missiles and rockets.
In September 2024, Israel invaded Lebanon. A ceasefire was negotiated two months later. Both sides have accused each other of breaking it.
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🍊 The Open begins tomorrow. Who will prevail at Royal Portrush?
🍊 A Carlton player is the first to face tribunal over umpire contact.
🍊 The Opals have made the semis at the women’s basketball Asia Cup.
🗞️ Also in today’s Sport Newsletter: AFL, NRL, and more…
Give me some good news
Three-year-old Caitlyn Mellor has qualified for the Crufts Dog Show, the UK’s top canine competition.
Caitlyn showed her schnauzer named Zeeva, aged eight, at a local competition in Wales last month to qualify for the big event. She told the BBC that Zeeva sleeps in bed with her, and that she loves “winning” and “getting rosettes” with her dog. Caitlyn is believed to be the youngest person exhibiting schnauzers in the UK. She’s set to compete at the national competition in March 2026.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Lucy Tassell.
TDA titbit
The French Prime Minister has proposed cutting two public holidays in an attempt to reduce the country’s debt.
PM François Bayrou said working on Easter Monday and Victory Day, which marks Germany’s surrender in WWII, will help the economy.
In addition, Bayrou wants to freeze pensions and other welfare payments, cut the health budget, and reduce public sector jobs. However, France will increase defence spending, following an agreement with the NATO alliance.
The proposal has sparked fierce opposition. Vive la révolution!
Reporting by Rosa Bowden.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Senior members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump himself, are facing growing criticism from their own supporters after the Justice Department concluded that no document exists that lists every associate or client of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and that the disgraced financier died by suicide in jail. But members of Trump’s party don’t believe Attorney General Pam Bondi’s findings.
Instead, they are calling for Trump to fulfil his campaign promise of releasing as much information as possible about Epstein's alleged high-profile clients.
It’s a story that has stretched over a decade, and today we’re going to break down what happened, why it's causing such a stir within Trump's own party, and what this means for the administration going forward.
TDA asks
