☕️ Results of QLD's first pill testing site

Good morning!

If you’re on the east coast today, I hope you have an umbrella, a jumper, and a packet of milk chocolate bullets.

The umbrella and jumper will serve you well for the torrential rain expected today. The milk chocolate bullets are just always a good idea.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“I don’t want humans to have to hurt monkeys, and I don’t want monkeys to have to hurt humans.”
Thailand National Parks director Athapol Charoenshunsa on plans to reduce dangerous encounters between humans and the local monkey population at one of the country’s biggest tourist spots.

Stat of the day

$16.2 million
How much Australians lost to fake invoice scams in 2023, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Today in history

2017
Pepsi pulled a global ad featuring Kendall Jenner that sparked controversy because it used videos from the Black Lives Matter Movement to sell its product.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The National Anti-Corruption Commission says it's conducting 15 corruption investigations. The regulatory body has received over 2,700 referrals of suspected corruption since it launched in July last year. It confirmed its currently assessing around 450 of those claims, to determine if they warrant further corruption investigation. The Commission hasn’t provided much detail around the focus of the investigations.

• Spending on transport increased by 12.3% in the year to February, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Transport was the biggest contributor to the overall increase in household spending, which grew by 3.6% in the past year. Spending on essentials increased by 6.9% while non-essential spending decreased by 0.8%, which the ABS said is due to cost-of-living pressures.

I’ve got 1 minute

Here’s what we learned from Queensland’s first festival with pill testing

Pill testing was conducted at a Queensland music festival for the first time last weekend. More than 200 drug samples were tested at the four-day ‘Rabbits Eat Lettuce’ festival in South East Queensland.

It comes after the Queensland Government announced plans to roll out pill testing services last year.

Qualified chemists from Pill Testing Australia found the presence of a drug never before detected in Queensland.

Context

The Qld government announced plans for pill testing last year to reduce harm from drug use.

This includes mobile services – set up at music festivals and other large public events – and a fixed site, due to open in Brisbane later this month.

Pill testing findings

Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival goers brought forward 210 drug samples for testing over the long weekend. The average age of pill-testing users was 29.

The most frequently detected drugs were ketamine and MDMA.

A synthetic substance dubbed ‘Canberra Ketamine’ was identified for the first time in Qld. The drug was first detected in the ACT in 2022.

Less than 10% of samples were thrown away by users after testing.

No ‘high-risk’ substances necessitating a wider health warning were detected.

What happens next?

Another fixed pill testing centre is expected to open in Queensland following the launch of the Brisbane site later this month.

The location of the second fixed site has not been confirmed.

Officials are yet to confirm when mobile pill testing (like the one at the music festival) will be offered again.

I’ve got 2 minutes

A Sydney man who fatally punched an 18-year-old in 2012 will be released from prison after being granted parole by the NSW State Parole Authority.

Thomas Kelly was ‘king-hit’ by Kieran Loveridge during a random attack in the once-popular nightlife district of Kings Cross.

The incident was part of a spate of violence in the area and led the NSW Government to introduce the city’s now-defunct lockout laws.

Loveridge was sentenced to over 13 years in prison. After more than ten years, he will leave prison this month.

Thomas Kelly

Kelly was out with two friends in July 2012 when Loveridge – also aged 18 – struck him on a public pathway. The two men didn’t know each other.

Loveridge’s punch caused Kelly to fall backwards onto the footpath, fracturing his skull.

Kelly never regained consciousness and died two days later.

Kelly’s death came in a string of other one-punch attacks in the same part of Sydney.

Lockout laws

‘Lockout laws’ introduced in 2014 banned CBD and Kings Cross venues from accepting new patrons after 1:30am and selling alcohol from 3am. NSW bottle shops were also banned from selling alcohol past 10pm.

Non-domestic assaults decreased by 53% in Kings Cross and 4% in the CBD over the five years after the laws were introduced, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research found. However, assaults in other popular Sydney nightspots increased by 30%.

The legislation was repealed in January 2020.

Kieran Loveridge

Loveridge was originally sentenced to seven years and two months imprisonment for several offences. This included six years for Kelly’s manslaughter.

After public pressure for more severe punishment, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeals increased Loveridge’s sentence to 13 years and eight months in jail.

The upgraded sentence meant Loveridge became eligible for parole last year. Parole means an offender is released from prison to serve a portion of their sentence in the community, under certain conditions.

Loveridge’s parole

The NSW State Parole Authority granted Loveridge’s parole earlier this month.

It said it believed there would be a “substantially greater risk” to community safety if Loveridge was released at a later date, when he had a smaller or no period of parole supervision at all.

Kelly’s family did not indicate their support or opposition to Loveridge’s release. His father said it was important that Loveridge’s transition into the community was “as smooth as possible”.

Loveridge’s parole is subject to several conditions. This includes a ban on alcohol use, and contact with Kelly’s family, or with outlaw bikie gangs, with whom he has ongoing connections.

The now 30-year-old will be released from prison sometime before 25 April. His parole order is due to expire in May 2026.

A message from our sponsor

Have you ever found a sick, injured or displaced animal and not known what to do? Now, you can help Australian wildlife by downloading an app on your phone.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)’s Wildlife Rescue App is designed to connect you with the closest licensed wildlife rescue group at the touch of a button.

Whether you find an animal that needs assistance, or one that has already passed away it’s still important to report it. When a female dies after a collision, her pouch joey may survive and could still need help.

Don’t wait until you’ve already left for your road trip. Download the free IFAW Wildlife Rescue App to help Australia's wildlife today.

New laws aimed at protecting people against hate crimes have been introduced in Scotland this week, but they’ve attracted some criticism both locally and across the world.

Today on the podcast, we break down exactly what the law entails, and why people like Elon Musk and JK Rowling have been vocally opposing it.

Give me some good news

Australian researchers have been chosen by NASA to study how plants could grow on the moon.

A group of researchers from Aussie universities, including the University of Adelaide and La Trobe, will send plants to space with NASA’s Artemis III mission, and monitor how they fare on the lunar surface.

Researchers say they’re hoping to gather data about how plants respond in an “off-Earth environment” to inform the design of future space crops.

TDA tidbit

The world’s oldest living man has died at the age of 114, according to the Guinness World Records.

Venezuelan man Juan Vicente Pérez died this month, just a few weeks shy of his 115th birthday.

He was born in 1909 and became the first Venezuelan man to live past 110 years.

His advice for living a long time? Don’t drink too much alcohol.

Pérez was confirmed by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living man in February 2022, when he was nearly 113.

Local governor Freddy Bernal said Pérez was “humble, hard-working, peaceful [and] enthusiastic about family”. Who could ask for more?

TDA asks