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Happy Tuesday!
This morning, we published my interview with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on the podcast.
We discussed a range of issues, including Julian Assange, Australia’s relationship with China, Ukraine and the Voice.
I also asked her how she would reply if a 12-year-old girl asked her if there would ever be world peace.
It was a fascinating chat. You can listen here.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who sent in question suggestions for the interview!
I've got 10 seconds
The quote
"Boiling water in hot noodle containers can take an hour to cool down to a safe temperature after cooking. This means accidents like spilling the hot water of instant noodles can cause long-lasting injuries and life-long scarring for children." – Dr Torey Lawrence, Head of Burns Unit at the Children's Hospital in Westmead in Sydney, speaking about a sharp spike in the number of toddlers hospitalised for burns because of instant noodles. According to the hospital, 10 children have been treated for burns from instant noodles in the last month.
The stat
$30+
The cost of a whole watermelon at the moment. The high price is because the Northern Territory season is ending early, and the Queensland season is yet to begin, meaning there is a short supply for a few weeks.
Today in history
1995: OJ Simpson was acquitted on charges that he murdered his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.
I've got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Six people, including four children, have been killed in the deadliest car crash in the Northern Territory in 16 years at a major highway near Pine Creek. The car collided with a road train, which was carrying a large amount of fuel, causing both vehicles to catch fire. Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said officials were looking at fatigue, distraction and alcohol as contributing factors.
Victoria’s new Premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced a new Cabinet. Allan’s previous portfolio of Minister for Transport Infrastructure was given to Danny Pearson, and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll - who last week challenged Allan for the leadership - has been appointed Minister for Education and Medical Research. After the ceremony, Allan said: "The team that has been sworn [in] by the Government, is the team that I plan to lead into the 2026 election."
I've got 1 minute
A large number of Australian books have allegedly been used to train artificial intelligence, according to a recent search by the Australian Publishers Association (APA).
About 18,000 titles were found in the now-deleted U.S.-based dataset called 'Books3’, which pirated (copied without permission) books to train generative AI.
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA), the peak body for writers, said authors "appropriately feel outraged" that their work has been used without their permission.
"This issue is one of basic fairness," said ASA CEO Olivia Lanchester.
"The inescapable message to authors and artists is that while your work has been essential in developing our product, we’re not prepared to pay you for it."
Using authors’ titles without permission to develop these technologies means they are "being locked out of the AI boom," according to Lanchester.
The ASA said it is writing to AI companies to demand action, and is advocating for the Federal Government to better protect creators’ work.
U.S. lawsuit:
In the U.S., acclaimed authors such as George R.R. Martin, John Grisham, and Jodi Picoult recently signed on to a lawsuit suing OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, for the same reason.
They allege that generative AI models "endanger fiction writers' ability to make a living, in that [they] allow anyone to generate — automatically and freely (or very cheaply) — texts they would otherwise pay writers to create".
The lawsuit suggests that companies have instead evaded copyright legislation altogether "to power their lucrative commercial endeavour, taking whatever datasets of relatively recent books they could get their hands on without authorisation".
No Silly Questions in the wild!
Obsessed with this photo of TDA reader Amber’s 12-year-old son reading ‘No Silly Questions’.
According to Amber, “he is a real little businessman so didn't need much persuading.”
“It's the first reading he has done during the day in a long time,” she added.
We hope your furry friend kept you company through the economics chapter!
I've got 2 minutes
The Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore is calling on the NSW Government to allow pets on public transport, arguing the current rules don’t support sustainable transport practices.
Moore wrote to the NSW Government after councillors voted unanimously against the state’s public transport pet rules.
So, are train carriages about to get... furrier?
NSW pet rules
Public transport rules are determined by individual states and territories.
In NSW, pets are banned from trains, coaches and the Sydney metro network (unless they are assistance animals).
However, pets can be taken on ferries, buses and light rail, if the pet owner is given permission by on-board staff.
All animals on NSW public transport must be restrained in a basket or other container, and aren’t allowed on seats or in passageways.
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney Council is arguing NSW transport rules disadvantage inner-city residents with pets. For example, it says some pet owners who don’t drive haven’t been able to get to the vet.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has called on the state to “urgently” change the rules to allow pets to travel on all modes of public transport.
The letter
The NSW Government confirmed it has received a letter from Moore.
A spokesperson for NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said “many passengers” would benefit from taking pets on public transport. However, she said this must be “carefully weighed against the needs of passengers with disability and transport workers”.
Haylen has sought advice from NSW transport workers and advocates to “ensure we get the balance right”.
Pet rules elsewhere
Victoria has the most pet-friendly rules in Australia, allowing some animals to travel on its public transport network.
Small animals in transport containers can be taken on trains, trams and buses in Melbourne, while large dogs on leads with muzzles can be taken on trains.
Outside of Victoria, pets are generally banned from most public transport networks.
Give me some good news
A baby beaver has been born in London for the first time since they were hunted to extinction 400 years ago. A reintroduction program was started in 2022 to help with flood management across the city.
The local council said: “This truly is wonderful news… The beavers’ hard work creating a natural wetland ecosystem will contribute to excellent flood defences, protecting the local area and hundreds of homes from flooding downstream to the southeast of the borough, while encouraging local biodiversity to thrive.”
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A TDA tidbit
In case you missed it, the world’s most famous situationship once again took centre stage this week.
Taylor Swift attended an NFL game for the second weekend in a row to support her rumoured boyfriend, Travis Kelce. This time, she was joined by a group of high-profile friends, including Blake Lively, Ryan Reyonlds and Australia’s own, Hugh Jackman.
But the reason it’s today’s tidbit is because I want to discuss the stats behind what Swift’s attendance has done for Kelce and the sport itself:
In the last week, Kelce has put on more than 600,000 Instagram followers.
Kelce’s merchandise sales increased by nearly 400% in the days after Swift’s first attendance at the game. Likely by even more now.
Viewership of NFL increased by 63% among female viewers aged 18-49. This made it the week’s most-watched show on any network.
I guess you could say she really put him on the map?*
*Please don’t come for me. It’s a joke.
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