Here’s today’s riddle: “Forward, I am heavy; backward, I am not. What am I?”

Answer is in the tidbit below!

Quote of the day
“I absolutely love Australia, I think it’s the best country in the world by a mile, and I think we should have an Australia Day, but I think we can probably find a more appropriate day to celebrate it.” - Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins on the sport’s governing body’s decision not to celebrate the national public holiday during the upcoming Test match on 26 January.

Stat of the day
700
The number of days since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

Today in history
1997
Madeleine Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State in the U.S. under Bill Clinton. She was the first female to hold that role.

Some headlines from this morning:

The Victorian Opposition has withdrawn its support for a First Nations Treaty in the state, less than two years after backing the Labor Government’s laws to set up an Indigenous Treaty Authority.

Earlier this week Nationals MP and Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Peter Walsh told Sky News: “We don’t believe we should proceed with Treaty”.

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has accused the Opposition of a “u-turn”, and said the Coalition failed to properly inform the Government of its decision.

Treaty
A Treaty would be a legally binding agreement between First Nations people and the Victorian Government to ensure “freedom and power” for Aboriginal communities.

Formal Treaty negotiations are expected to kick off this year. They are set to focus on representation, transforming the justice system, and self-determination.

Response
Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly, an elected body representing First Nations people in Victoria, said the Coalition’s backflip was “disappointing, but not surprising”. It said the Nationals and Liberals had not “told the Assembly they were walking away from Treaty”.

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto said there had been ongoing discussions between the Coalition and Indigenous leaders across the state, although he did not specify who those leaders were.

The First Peoples’ Assembly insisted the Coalition’s announcement won’t change the ongoing Treaty process.

Scott Morrison confirmed yesterday he will retire from politics next month.

The former Prime Minister said he wants to take on new challenges and spend more time with his family and “church community”.

Morrison was Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. He’s been in Federal Parliament since 2007 as the member for Cook in Sydney’s south.

Here are the events that shaped his political career.

Career
Morrison was Shadow Immigration Minister from 2009 until 2013, and became Immigration Minister after the 2013 election.

He was a key figure in establishing Operation Sovereign Borders, which was accompanied by the ‘Stop the Boats’ slogan. The program still operates today.

Morrison then served as Minister for Social Services and Treasurer before he ran for the Liberal Party leadership in 2018 (when Peter Dutton challenged Malcolm Turnbull). Morrison won and became Prime Minister. He led the Coalition to victory in the 2019 election.

Prime Minister
Morrison’s time as PM was shaped by disasters including the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He established the National Cabinet to coordinate the COVID-19 response with state and territory leaders.

Morrison also made significant investments in mental health reform amid rising concerns during the pandemic.

COVID portfolios
After losing the 2022 Federal Election, it emerged that when Morrison was PM at the start of the pandemic, he secretly swore himself into five ministerial positions. This included the portfolios of health, treasury and home affairs.

In most cases, the ministers did not know Morrison had been sworn into their portfolios.

The House of Representatives voted to formally censure Morrison over the matter.

Robodebt
As Social Services Minister, Morrison played a key role in the rollout of Robodebt, an illegal debt collection scheme used for welfare recipients from 2015 to 2019.

Under the scheme, hundreds of thousands of people were wrongly told they owed the Government money. Robodebt raised around $1.73 billion in unlawful debts.

Morrison testified at the Royal Commission into Robodebt. He said he wouldn’t have proceeded with the scheme if he knew it was unlawful.

What now?
Morrison’s resignation will trigger a by-election in his seat of Cook — that’s an election held outside of the normal election cycle to replace an individual MP.

Cook, which includes the Sydney suburb of Cronulla and the area surrounding it, has been held by the Liberal Party since 1975.

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Women’s pain is real and regularly overlooked. That’s the verdict from the Victorian Government after a survey they conducted revealed what’s known as a “gender pain gap”. The Victorian Government will now launch a review to find out what’s going wrong. In today’s deep dive, we’ll look at what this inquiry will set out to do and what it could mean for the rest of the country.

If you want your friends to wake up with us too, refer them!

We’ll even sweeten the deal for you…

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Or send them your unique link: {{rp_refer_url}}

Cameroon has become the first country in the world to launch a national malaria vaccine program.

Malaria is a disease caused by certain species of parasite-infected mosquitos. The African country is one of the world’s worst affected regions for malaria. Cameroon received more than 300,000 doses of the life-saving vaccine late last year, with stock expected to increase in the coming weeks.

A woman in the U.S. has been arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $US2500 ($AU3,800) worth of Stanley cups.

Stanley is the brand behind the popular stainless steel cup with a lid, a straw and a handle, known for its pastel colours, and popularity on social media. If Frank Green bottles were the favoured water bottle of 2023, the Stanley Cup is the viral drinking vessel of 2024.

California police in the state’s capital of Sacramento pulled a woman over after reports of theft. They arrested the 23-year-old after officers found 65 Stanley products in her car.

Now that I think of it, I’m thirsty.

*

Riddle answer: Ton