☕️ Telstra's outage, explained

I hope everyone enjoyed State of Origin last night. At TDA, we don’t do opinion, so I can’t tell you what side I was on. But let’s just say if I did have a side, I’m glad it was that side that won.

(I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this wasn’t a great intro, but sometimes you need mediocre ones to let the great ones sing.)

The quote: “As far as I'm concerned, it's over.” U.S. President Donald Trump on the ceasefire deal with Iran. The U.S. has carried out strikes on Iran, while Iran has struck U.S. military infrastructure in the Middle East, in recent days.

The stat: 274,000. The number of homes Australia needs to build every year until June 2029 in order to meet the Government’s national housing target, according to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data from AAP.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 57% of you told us you live in a home you own, while 31% of you are renting, and the rest live with family. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,320 votes].

Together with AAP.

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Telstra is investigating the cause of a nationwide outage that is estimated to have impacted over 100,000 customers.

On Wednesday, thousands of Australians were affected by a widespread Telstra outage, with mobile calls and data disrupted and public transport services also impacted.

The outage forced the suspension of Victorian regional trains and some NSW regional train services, and shut down payment systems for some businesses. At the time of publishing this newsletter, Telstra says the initial issue has been resolved, but there is now a secondary issue still impacting some Triple Zero calls.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the Triple Zero Custodian had confirmed some callers could not be connected to the service, and that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will investigate the outage.

The outage also disrupted regional rail services. Victoria's regional rail operator, V/Line, suspended all train services due to a radio network outage. It said only "very limited" replacement coach services are operating and urged customers to "defer travel" where possible.

Transport for NSW said the Southern Highlands and Hunter lines had been suspended, with replacement buses running instead.

Telstra is the designated Emergency Call Person (ECP), meaning it is responsible for answering and connecting calls made to Triple Zero.

In a statement on Wednesday, Communications Minister Anika Wells said the Triple Zero Custodian had advised that some calls did not connect to the ECP.

When callers are unable to get through, telecommunications providers must carry out welfare checks. Wells said the Triple Zero Custodian was in regular communication with Telstra to receive updates on the progress and outcomes of those checks.

Telstra apologised for the outage, with Telstra’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Ackland saying: “Our investigation into the root cause is still underway, but we're confident we've identified a software defect”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no evidence to suggest malicious activity was behind the technical failure.

Wells said the ACMA would conduct "a full investigation," with Telstra required to "account for how and why this outage occurred."

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, multimedia journo Elliot explains what’s going on with Nigel Farage. Listen or watch on Apple here, Spotify here, or YouTube here.

🍿 The celebrities who took the Daily Mail to court and lost. Read TDA Culture at 5pm today to find out more.

💡 Aussies are transforming safety for construction workers using AI. Presien, a physical AI company for heavy industry, used Claude to develop an agentic platform that analyses worksites around the clock – cutting critical safety events by over 70% in three months.

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Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage has resigned his seat in the UK Parliament.

It comes amid ongoing parliamentary investigations into allegations he did not properly disclose political donations.

Farage says he wants voters to judge him directly, so will run in a by-election for the seat he’s held since 2024. Several major UK parties say they won’t run candidates against him.

Farage is an English politician who served as a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2020. He was one of the leaders of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU (Brexit) in 2016.

In 2024, Farage won a seat in the UK Parliament representing the coastal electorate of Clacton-on-Sea for the party Reform UK, which he leads.

Reform UK has grown in popularity in recent years, picking up hundreds of seats in local council elections earlier this year.

The UK Parliament’s Standards Commissioner is currently investigating Farage over a gift from cryptocurrency entrepreneur Christopher Harborne, reportedly worth around £5 million ($AU9.6 million), which it’s alleged he didn’t declare properly.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times also alleged he had failed to declare financial support from long-time ally George Cottrell.

Cottrell was previously convicted of fraud in the U.S. in connection with a money-laundering scheme.

On Tuesday, Farage announced he would resign as an MP. He also said The Times’ reporting had resulted in “yet another Standards investigation”.

Farage alleged the Standards process was being used as “a political tool” against him and denied any wrongdoing.

“I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions,” he said.

His resignation pauses the investigations while the by-election plays out.

Outgoing UK PM Keir Starmer called it a “desperate stunt” from someone “up to his neck in sleaze”.

Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch said Farage is calling a “fake by-election to run away from a Standards investigation”.

Labour, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats have all said they won’t contest the Clacton by-election.

Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick told the BBC that if other parties are “too chicken to stand, that says more about them than us”.

The by-election is expected within three to four weeks, likely landing in August.

If Farage wins back the seat, he stays in Parliament and the investigation restarts.

In the event that he loses, the Standards Commissioner will decide whether to resume the probe.

For more on this, listen to this morning’s podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

Claude, the AI for scientific discovery

Researchers at Australia's Garvan Institute are partnering with Claude to do what wasn't possible before: analyse genomic data at massive scale to understand how our genes cause rare diseases, and accelerate treatments to cure them. When science and AI come together, the future of human health gets a little brighter.

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Modern entomologists (specialised insect experts) have long estimated there to be around six million species around the world. However, a study led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, suggests the figure is much higher, with “at least 14 to 20 million” species. Researchers said “a doubling or tripling of estimated insect diversity has profound implications for our understanding of the scale, richness, and future of biodiversity on Earth.”

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.