☕️ The Coalition's back!

If you find yourself caught in a water-cooler chat today about last night’s State of Origin match, here’s what you need to know:

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“Let’s get some wine into you and see you dance on the table.”
A comment Senator Fatima Payman alleged was made toward her by a senior colleague who she claimed "had had too many drinks" on Triple J's Hack program. A complaint was made to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service.

45 years
The number of years that Woodside’s 'North West Shelf’ gas project will run, after the Federal Government published a proposed approval yesterday.

“Her poor cousins are never gonna hear the end of it… ‘well I was talking to your aunt and she was telling me Charlotte’s a senator now and she’s BARELY 21. When are you going to win a senate race? When are you going to finish that Arts degree you deferred?’”
A comment left on our post about Charlotte Walker becoming the youngest senator in Australia’s history at just 21. She celebrated her 21st birthday on election night.

The NSW Supreme Court has ruled girls will be able to attend Newington College from next year.

It follows a push from a group of alumni opposing the change, which ultimately ended up in court.

The case’s lead plaintiff was an unnamed current student. The plaintiff argued the school was breaching its founding document by allowing co-education.

Supreme Court Justice Guy Parker ruled against the student, finding the school’s founding document was gender-neutral.

Newington College is a private school in Sydney that has historically been a single-sex boys school.

In November 2023, Newington announced plans to transition from single-sex to co-education.

Girls were to be accepted into Kindergarten and Year 5 from 2026, and Year 7 and Year 11 from 2028.

Last year, a lawsuit was launched against the school.

The claim centred on the school’s founding trust deed, written in 1873, which says it has been established to provide “an efficient course of education for youth”.

A Newington student was the lead plaintiff. Lawyers for this student, who has been kept anonymous in court proceedings, claimed the word “youth” was intended to mean boys. Under this argument, the school is breaching the terms of the trust by becoming co-ed.

On Wednesday, Justice Parker concluded that the word “youth” in the trust deed was used in a “gender-neutral sense”.

Therefore, he ruled the document does “not mandate male-only enrolment at [Newington] College.”

As such, Newington will now transition to co-education as planned.

A statement from Newington Headmaster Michael Parker said the college welcomed the Court's decision. "We remain excited to build on our rich history and traditions by taking Newington into our next era," Parker wrote.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich, Lucy Tassell and Zara Seidler.

The National and Liberal parties have agreed to re-enter a Coalition agreement.

The separation lasted eight days and was sparked by disagreements over four key policy areas and Shadow Cabinet arrangements.

The Coalition has now agreed to reunify as the official opposition bloc to the re-elected Labor Government, and has announced its Shadow Cabinet.

Here’s what you need to know.

Initially, the Coalition split over disagreements between the Liberal and National parties on four policy positions. They were...

Nuclear energy: The Nationals believe Australia needs to introduce nuclear energy to Australia through overturning a national ban. The Coalition promised to do this if it was elected earlier this month. The Nationals do not believe that the Coalition’s loss was because of its nuclear policy. Littleproud said the Australian economy cannot run efficiently on renewables.

Regional Australia Future Fund: In the run up to the last election, ex-Liberal leader Peter Dutton promised to set up a $20 billion fund to provide better infrastructure for regional and remote Australia.

Divestiture powers: This was a Coalition policy that could force large companies to sell parts of their business if they demonstrated anti-competitive behaviour. It was specifically aimed at breaking up the powers of supermarkets.

Universal Service Obligation: Guaranteed mobile and internet access in remote and regional Australia.

The other disagreement that led to the Coalition split was whether the Nationals wanted to waive obligations of cabinet solidarity.

This is where senior ministers are gagged from publicly criticising cabinet decisions in both government and opposition.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the Nationals pushed to scrap solidarity in order to speak freely, while the Nationals rejected her claims.

Both parties have since agreed to be bound by cabinet solidarity.

On Friday, the Liberal Party held a meeting where MPs and Senators agreed “in principle” to all four policies put forward by the Nationals.

An “in principle” agreement is not binding, but is generally perceived as an expression of support.

The Nationals reconvened, where they determined that they would sign a Coalition agreement, which was struck on Wednesday.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud have unveiled the shadow cabinet.

The reshuffle has seen some senior Liberals’ roles change, including Angus Taylor, who has been moved from Shadow Treasurer to Shadow Defence Minister.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who moved from the Nationals to the Liberal party room earlier this month, has been replaced as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs by SA Senator Kerrynne Liddle.

The Coalition parties will now form the official Opposition to the Labor Government.

Coalition agreements are traditionally not revealed in public, so it’s not clear whether policy commitments formed the basis of the new deal.

“I know that we will be a great partnership going forward,” Ley told reporters this afternoon.

Littleproud added: “The focus now is on Anthony Albanese and the Labor Government and holding them to account.”

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

Let’s talk about sex (and all the stuff we should’ve learned in school)

Ever feel like you skipped the class on how to actually do dating, relationships, and consent? Yep, same. That’s why the team at Teach Us Consent made a podcast that finally has the convos we all needed earlier.

It covers everything from how to flirt without the ick, to dealing with mixed signals, handling rejection, and navigating the messy stuff like porn, power and party culture - all in a way that’s honest, respectful, and actually helpful.

No shame. No judgement. Just real chats with athletes, comedians, creators and more about what it means to lead with empathy, confidence and care - in bed, on dates, and everywhere else.

🍊 The Tassie Govt’s last-ditch push to get their AFL stadium built.
🍊 Your wrap up of the first round of the French Open.
🍊 The 12-year-old swimmer from China putting her competitors on notice.
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: basketball, soccer, and more…

The floss pick system created by a team at Tufts University in Massachusetts contains built-in censors that can “easily and accurately measure cortisol, a stress hormone, in real time.” Cortisol can be detected in saliva, and it’s hoped the technology can be used to identify the hormone to prevent long-term health implications of chronic stress like high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Sameer Sonkusale, professor of electrical and computer engineering said the team behind the floss didn’t want the measurement “to create an additional source of stress, so we thought, can we make a sensing device that becomes part of your day-to-day routine? Flossing seemed like a natural fit”. It’s hoped the floss biosensor technology will be versatile enough to test for other markers such as “estrogen for fertility tracking, glucose for diabetes monitoring, or markers for cancer.”

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Just months after its release, production on a film adaptation of the latest Hunger Games prequel, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’, is underway. 

It won’t just feature Hollywood stars: fans are able to compete for a cameo role in the flick, slated for 2026. 

Fans were asked to post to social media showing off their best acting, singing, or “something completely new”. 

Now, people have taken to TikTok to showcase their abilities, many mocking elements of previous films. 

Here are just a few of our faves.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

After days of negotiations and just over a week after announcing their break-up, the Coalition is back together. Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud confirmed the parties have reached an agreement, as they announced the new-look shadow cabinet side-by-side on Wednesday.

In today's deep dive, we'll bring you up to speed on the developments that led to the Coalition split, and explore what's behind the reunion.