☕️ Thailand on track to legalise same-sex marriage

Good morning!

It seems you all are very passionate about the order in which you put socks or shoes on.

A lot of you asked for the results after yesterday’s newsletter: About 70% of people who replied said they do ‘sock, sock, shoe, shoe’ and 99% of those replies said if anyone does it differently ‘they’re a psychopath’. It was very entertaining reading.

Anyway. On a more important note, I hope you all have a lovely long weekend!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

"The sheer scale and ferocity of the fires burning simultaneously meant resources were stretched across the state...It is remarkable the loss of life was not even higher."
The NSW Coroner has handed down the findings from the inquiry into the state’s 2019/20 bushfires. 25 people died in the fires. Magistrate Teresa O'Sullivan made 28 recommendations to the RFS, NSW Police and Essential Energy.

Stat of the day

364,000
The number of national job vacancies in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Available jobs fell 6.1% from November 2023 — the seventh quarterly drop in a row. However, the ABS said job vacancies in 2024 remain nearly 60% above pre-pandemic levels.

Today in history

1989
The iconic Louvre Pyramid was officially unveiled by the French President.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The Australian Government will launch an inquiry into the live music industry. The announcement comes after Splendour in the Grass announced it will not go ahead this year. It follows a series of recently cancelled music festivals. Chair of the Communications and Arts Committee Brian Mitchell said the industry is “facing considerable operational challenges”, particularly after COVID. The inquiry will look into what’s preventing the industry from growing and the potential for more government funding.

• Jetstar will begin flying from Singapore directly to Broome, Western Australia, as part of plans to boost tourism in regional Australia. It will make Jetstar the only airline to run a direct flight between the two destinations. The initiative is supported by the WA Government. The state’s tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the new route offers “an entirely new gateway into our State.”

I’ve got 1 minute

Thailand is on track to legalise same-sex marriage

Thailand’s lower house has voted in favour of marriage equality laws.

The legislation will now be considered in the Senate (upper house) before final approval from the King of Thailand.

If it passes, Thailand will become the first South East Asian country where partners of any gender have equal marriage rights.

The Thai Government said a recent national survey found nearly 97% of the country supports the idea of same-sex marriage.

Thailand

Thailand is considered relatively progressive when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. It has outlawed discrimination and censorship based on sexuality.

Since coming to office last year, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has expressed support for legalising same-sex marriage.

Thavisin’s Pheu Thai Party introduced marriage equality laws to parliament in December.

Equality reforms

Under the proposal, Thailand’s legal definition of marriage would be updated to recognise partnerships between two people, rather than a man and a woman.

LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand cannot currently adopt a child together. However, the reforms would give same-sex parents equal adoption rights.

The laws also include other reforms, such as as granting the partner of a seriously ill person the right to make decisions about medical treatments on their behalf.

400 MPs voted in favour of the draft bill on Wednesday. Ten voted against it, while five MPs abstained (didn’t vote).

Prime Minister Thavisin said the result reflected the pride of Thai people “to walk together towards a society of equality, respect, and diversity”.

Next steps

The draft legislation has now moved to the Senate, where it’s expected to be approved.

The King of Thailand will need to give the proposal his final approval before the legislation can become law.

I’ve got 2 minutes

The NT Govt has announced a curfew for under 18s in Alice Springs

The Northern Territory Government has announced young people in Alice Springs will live under a curfew for the next two weeks.

Anyone aged under 18 who is found out in public in Alice Springs between 6pm and 6am will be returned home or taken to “a safe place”.

An extra 58 police officers will be sent to the city as concerns mount about growing rates of violence.

The curfew follows recent incidents of violent public disorder in Alice Springs.

Violence

There have been a string of violent incidents recently in Alice Springs.

Most recently, on Tuesday a large group of people attacked a local pub causing reckless damage, with online videos showing some people outside the venue hurling rocks and breaking glass.

Later that day, there was a public fight involving 150 people, some of whom were allegedly armed with weapons. Police allege a car and a mattress were set ablaze.

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said some of the unrest is linked to the death of an 18-year-old man who was killed in a car rollover in Alice Springs earlier this month.

“That’s led to family feuds and that’s what erupted in Alice Springs [on Tuesday],” he said.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler said: “I’m fed up with this level of crime and anti-social behaviour.”

Opposition

The Opposition in the Northern Territory has asked the Labor Government to “strengthen the laws so that police have the powers they need to deal with crime”.

In a statement posted yesterday, the Country Liberal Party said it wants the Government to lower the age of criminal responsibility “so that parents and youths can be held accountable”.

“Labor’s weak laws and removal of all real consequences for youth offending and lack of support for our police has led to these extreme crime events,” it said.

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Beyoncé has a new album out today, but not everyone is as excited as we are.

On the podcast, we’re breaking down the singer's foray into country music, why it's angered some country fans and conservatives, and the complicated history of country music.

Give me some good news

A 64-year-old man has become the first person to swim from Newcastle to Sydney without any assistance.

Dean Summers swam for over 31 hours, enduring stings from “swarms of blue bottle jellyfish”. Newcastle is roughly 170 kilometres north of Sydney.

Summers said the swim aims to showcase Australia’s “largely pristine waters.”

TDA tidbit

What does a nappy company do in a country with a declining birth rate and an ageing population? Sell adult nappies, of course!

Japan’s Oji Holdings is discontinuing production of their baby nappies in response to the growing number of Japanese people entering old age.

As the number of newborns in Japan continues to decline year-on-year, Oji said adult nappies are bringing in plenty of its sales. So many, in fact, that the company is looking to expand into Malaysia and Indonesia.

Its baby line is closing down in September.

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