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Good morning!
We’ve got a ruling.
South Korea’s Supreme Court has rejected an allegation levelled by a U.S. composer that the producer of ‘Baby Shark’ plagiarised his work.
Turns out the composer’s case didn’t have much bite.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
"Immediately retract the false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements made about Mrs. Trump... Failure to comply will leave Mrs. Trump with no choice but to pursue any and all legal rights and remedies available to her to recover the overwhelming financial and reputational harm that you have caused her to suffer."
A letter, first reported by Fox News, from First Lady Melania Trump’s lawyers to Hunter Biden (son of former U.S. President Joe Biden) demanding he withdraw comments linking her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Hunter made the claim in an interview on YouTube account Channel 5, saying Epstein introduced Melania to Donald Trump in the 1990s. The letter includes a threat to seek more than $US1 billion in damages if he doesn’t comply with the request.
Stat of the day
47%
The drop in traffic to PornHub in the United Kingdom between 24 July and 8 August, according to data seen by the Financial Times. This time period included the enforcement of the country’s ‘Online Safety Act’, which requires for adult sites to check the age of all UK users.
Viral moment of the week
Women re-enacting one of the last scenes from the musical ‘Hamilton’ has been across all of our social media feeds this week. The trend reimagines the moment Alexander Hamilton heads to the duel that will kill him as he climbs out a window to leave his wife, Eliza. Watch TDA’s favourite here.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
Female participation in the workforce hit a record high in July, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The proportion of women employed or looking for employment rose to 63.5% in July, up from 63.2% in June. The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 4.2% in July. This figure measures the percentage of people who were looking for work but could not find any. The ABS said the growth was driven by full-time employment, with 40,000 more women starting full-time work in July compared to 20,000 men. The overall participation rate held steady at 67%. This figure measures the percentage of Australians who are either employed, or actively seeking employment.
The number of young people in detention across NSW has increased by 34% since 2023. Official State Government figures show there were 234 under 18-year-olds in custody as of June 2025, up from 175 in June 2023. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) said break and enters have surged amongst young offenders, up 229% over the past two years. BOCSAR highlighted what it called “the ongoing overrepresentation” of young First Nations people in custody, who make up 8% of all young people in NSW but account for 60% of the youth detention cohort. BOCSAR Executive Director Jackie Fitzgerald called the figures “particularly concerning," noting an increased number of young people are currently being held on remand. “Nearly 3 in 4 young people in custody have not been convicted and are awaiting their day in court,” Fitzgerald said.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
A UK environment agency has asked people to delete their old emails to save water
People in the UK have been told to delete their old emails and photos to conserve water.
January to July were England’s driest six months since 1976.
The National Drought Group (NDG) has told UK citizens to make “simple everyday choices” to save water, including deleting online files to lessen the strain on data centres, which are cooled with water.
Drought
The NDG includes government representatives, farmers, environmental experts, and water companies.
This week, it said England is experiencing a “nationally significant” water shortage, with river and reservoir levels having declined over summer.
Five regions in England are in drought.
The Bureau of Meteorology defines drought as a “prolonged, abnormally dry period when the amount of available water is insufficient to meet our normal use.”
Advice
The NDG told people in England to use less water by “turning off a tap or deleting old emails.”
The body recommended deleting old emails and pictures because data centres’ cooling systems use significant amounts of water to keep the technology from overheating.
Data centres can use millions of litres of water each year.
The NDG also asked people to take shorter showers and turn off the tap when shaving or brushing their teeth.
Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Here’s what to expect at the Government’s ‘Economic Roundtable’ next week
Business groups, unions, federal ministers, and non-government organisations will gather at Parliament next week for the Economic Reform Roundtable.
Four-day workweeks, taxes on electric vehicle drivers, and overhauling construction rules are all on the agenda.
The roundtable will also included discussions about how to address the challenges presented by AI.
Roundtables
Roundtables are conferences of top-level experts and leaders in Government and NGOs.
The Government hosted a similar event exploring “jobs and skills” in 2022.
It was followed by changes to industrial relations law, including the legalisation of the “right to disconnect”.
Business groups and the Coalition have since called the previous summit a “stitch-up”.
The economic roundtable will take place on 19-21 August in Parliament.
Heads of the Government’s economic bodies will attend, including the Reserve Bank and the Treasury.
The guest list also includes union bosses, business leaders, economists, experts, interest groups, and other politicians, like independent MP Allegra Spender and Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien.
The Government wants to discuss changes to taxes and ideas to improve productivity (increasing output from the same number of hours worked).
4-day work week?
The top union body, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), has suggested some workplaces should phase in a four-day workweek.
The ACTU cited a recent study of 141 companies’ trial of a four-day week, saying it showed the policy “boosts performance, reduces burnout and improves employee health and retention”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday it is unlikely the Government would adopt the proposal.
EV drivers
An electric vehicle (EV) road user tax is likely to be discussed at the roundtable.
Currently, petrol car drivers pay a ‘fuel excise’ (tax) of 51.6 cents per litre.
A similar style of tax has been floated for EV drivers, with Chalmers saying he’s been “really clear” about addressing the proposal as more people buy these cars.
Recent data from the Australian Automobile Association showed a jump in EV purchases over the past three months, accounting for nearly 10% of all car sales.
Construction
Treasury documents leaked to the ABC reportedly show the Government anticipates a “freeze” on changes to the national construction code could be an outcome of the roundtable, in a bid to build more houses.
The code sets out energy efficiency and environmental standards for builders. It is updated every three years.
Ahead of the last election, the Coalition proposed freezing changes to the code for 10 years, saying it has “added red tape and increased the compliance burden for new housing projects”.
AI
The roundtable will include a session on “AI and innovation”.
Labour productivity, meaning the output from hours worked, has increased by an average of 0.66% over the last five years, according to the Productivity Commission.
Ahead of the roundtable, the Commission handed down a report advising against strict AI regulations.
Instead, it advised that harnessing AI could improve output in the workplace.
Business groups welcomed it as a way to “work smarter, not harder”.
However, unions and the Coalition said there needed to be clear guardrails to avoid issues like AI models being trained on the work of Australian creative workers without permission.
Other ideas
Other major tax and productivity measures will also be discussed.
There is a push from climate experts and industry to reform national environmental laws.
The ACTU has also proposed there should be a minimum 25% tax on people who earn more than $1 million.
The Productivity Commission has suggested an additional 5% net cashflow tax, which would target a company’s profits.
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
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🍊 The Boomers have made the semi-finals of the Asia Cup. Read more.
🍊 Shaun Lane calls time on his career. More details here.
🍊 Venus Williams will be the oldest player at the U.S. Open since when?
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: AFLW, soccer, and more…
Give me some good news
Aussie surfers have dominated this week’s World Surf League (WSL) Tahiti Pro event with victory in both the men’s and women’s competition.
World number one Molly Picklum and Jack Robinson each won their events to round out the WSL regular season. Both surfers will compete for a world title in Fiji later this month, as part of a group of just five women and men. Picklum said she feels like she “earned [her] stripes,” in Tahiti, as “the dream comes alive,” ahead of Fiji.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA titbit
A team of Australian scientists have found birds’ reproductive makeup is “more flexible than once believed.”
The researchers observed five different birds in Queensland and identified “sex reversed individuals in all five species.”
This means that some birds’ genitals did not align with how their biological sex appeared on a DNA test.
While scientists know that sex reversal occurs in some fish and reptile species, this is the first study to show how this process can happen to birds.
Researchers suggested this process could occur when birds are exposed to chemicals.
Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Earlier this week, the Tasmanian Government announced it will ban greyhound racing in the next five years. The state cited concerns about animal welfare and declining viewership as key factors in the decision.
And just yesterday, new costing analysis suggested that Victoria could actually save hundreds of millions of dollars if they were to also follow suit. But will that happen?
Today we're breaking it down.
TDA asks
