☕️ RBA's plan for card surcharges

Apparently last week’s riddle was too easy… so I’ve made things a little more challenging this time.

Today’s riddle: How can the number four be half of five?

Answer is in the titbit!

“Given that one in four of Australia’s jobs depends upon trade, and given that China is overwhelmingly, by far, the largest trading partner that Australia has, it is very much in the interest of Australian jobs and the Australian economy to have a positive and constructive relationship with China.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking in Beijing, China, after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday.

7
The number of koalas which died within days of being relocated to a NSW forest in April, of an original 13. The Guardian was the first to report the deaths. Three koalas died within two days of being relocated from Nepean to Bega on the NSW far south coast. The other 10 were immediately hospitalised, with four more dying. Some of the marsupials showed signs of septicaemia, a bloodstream infection. All remaining koalas have been returned to their original habitat.

Redolent [RED-uh-lent]
Definition: Strongly suggestive of something; fragrant
Used in a sentence: "The bakery was redolent of cinnamon and butter."

Australia’s central bank has recommended businesses get rid of extra charges on payments made by debit and credit cards.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) estimates customers lose $1.2 billion each year to these surcharges.

It has opened up a consultation over the next six weeks to consider whether there needs to be an overhaul to the payment system as cash usage continues to decline.

Here’s what you need to know.

Surcharges are additional fees applied to a transaction. In Australia, businesses will charge 1-2% in extra fees depending on the card used.

For example, if a product is $20, a card surcharge may increase the final price to $20.25. This is the cost that payment service providers charge businesses to use their service.

Larger companies apply lower card surcharges, according to RBA analysis, because they are charged less by banks.

RBA figures show consumers pay $1.2 billion a year in Australia on card surcharges — around $60 per “card-using adult”.

There are federal laws limiting how much a business can charge a customer for using credit cards. Under the law, businesses shouldn’t charge more than what it costs to process and accept a card.

Australia’s consumer watchdog can enforce penalties on businesses that apply “excessive” or “misleading” surcharges.

The RBA has suggested businesses should get rid of card surcharges, following a review that has been underway since October 2024.

“Surcharging is no longer achieving its intended purpose of steering consumers to make more efficient payment choices,” the RBA said in a statement.

The central bank attributes this to an overall decline in cash transactions.

It added there have been “challenges” in enforcing fair surcharge rules.

The RBA said federal legislation would be needed to introduce an enforceable ban on card surcharges.

The RBA-led review will accept consultations until 26 August.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

The Federal Court has ruled the Government does not owe two Torres Strait Islander Traditional Owners and their communities a duty of care to protect them from climate change.

In his judgment, Justice Michael Wigney said there are no legal remedies for climate harms caused as a result of high-level policies.

However, he noted the evidence shows the Torres Strait faces a “bleak future if urgent action is not taken to address climate change and its impacts.”

The Government has noted the ruling, saying it has set “ambitious” climate targets.

The Torres Strait lies between Cape York, the northernmost tip of mainland Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

Its 270 islands are home to more than 4,500 First Nations people, and have and rich marine biodiversity.

There are various cultural and language groups across the Torres Strait, including Gudang, Kaiwalagal, and Kemerkemer Meriam Nations.

Most nations comprise native title holders, which is a legal recognition of ownership, possession, and use of land and waterways.

Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai are native title holders of the Boigu and Saibai Islands.

The pair first launched a case against the Federal Government in 2021, arguing it owed a duty of care to protect the islands from the impacts of climate change.

The legal submission extensively cited international peer-reviewed research, including from the UN official body of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), showing how warmer temperatures threaten biodiversity and life in the Torres Strait.

Uncle Pabai Pabi and Uncle Paul Kabai noted recent floods in the Torres Strait as evidence of the impact of global warming on their communities.

The IPCC-cited research shows burning fossil fuels, like coal, gas, and oil, release carbon emissions into the atmosphere, which in turn increases earth’s temperatures.

The men argued the government hasn’t taken adequate steps to tackle climate change.

The Government didn’t dispute the science on climate. Instead, it argued that there is no specific legal duty to which it is bound.

Justice Michael Wigney handed down his decision on Tuesday.

He accepted evidence showing the Torres Strait Islands have been “ravaged by the impacts of human-induced climate change.”

He said Traditional Owners “are finding it increasingly difficult to practise and observe the body of customs, traditions, and beliefs,” including sourcing traditional foods, holding culturally-appropriate burials, and performing ceremonies.

Wigney ruled the Government could not be held legally liable for the climate harms experienced on the Torres Strait Islands.

In 2022, the Federal Court overturned a landmark ruling that found the Government owed a duty of care to young Australians when considering the long-term climate impacts of approving fossil fuel projects.

Wigney said he was bound by this previous decision.

His judgment says: “The Torres Strait Islands and their traditional inhabitants face a bleak future if urgent action is not taken to address climate change”.

Outside the court, Uncle Pabai Pabai told reporters: “My heart is broken for my family and my community.”

Uncle Paul Kabai said he was “in shock,” saying he had believed the ruling would be in the community’s favour.

In a joint statement, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Indigenous Australians Minister Malandirri McCarthy said the Government had set an “ambitious” target of 43% emissions reduction by 2030. They noted “there is always more to do” on climate.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Heading to work right now? Your commute just got a plot twist.

Introducing Mastercard Transit Tales - a new way to turn public transport time into story time.

It’s an AI-powered storytelling feature that reimagines classic tales to match your trip. You can choose your genre and story, and the app does the rest, automatically adjusting the story length based on where you tap on and off. 

Want Alice in Wonderland as a 26-minute mystery thriller? Or The Wizard of Oz reimagined as a six-minute superhero saga? You’ve got it.

Tap on with your Mastercard using Express Transit Mode - no tickets, no top-ups and no unlocking your phone! Just tap and go, and let the story travel with you.

At the moment, Parkinson’s treatments are often administered several times a day, while the injectable gel can provide up to seven days of impact. More than 150,000 Australians currently live with Parkinson’s disease, making it the second most prevalent neurological disease after dementia. The team from South Australia will now move onto further clinical trials.

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

Reporting by Sam Koslowski.

If you saw a box labelled as containing a chocolate sponge cake, you could safely assume it contained chocolate sponge cake, right?

In this case, wrong.

Officials at Cologne airport in Germany recently found baby tarantulas in sponge cake boxes being shipped into the country.

The package arrived from Vietnam, with officials “tipped off by a noticeable smell,” which was unlike chocolate sponge cake.

This isn’t the first time German customs officials have been confronted with tarantulas.

In 2021, two Germans tried to smuggle hundreds of tarantulas out of Colombia. In 2010, another German citizen had 1,000 tarantulas confiscated when attempting to ship them.

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

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Riddle answer: IV, the Roman numeral for four, which is “half” (two letters) of the word five.

You’ve likely heard about the journey of Carolina Wilga, the German backpacker who got lost in the unforgiving outback of Western Australia.

Last Friday, after 11 nights, Wilga was found by a member of the public while walking on the edge of a nature reserve.

Police said she has endured the harshest of conditions, including freezing temperatures and relentless mosquito bites.

We’ll tell you what we know about the 26-year-old’s journey in today’s podcast.