☕️ Trump meets Mamdani

It’s the start of the end, with Parliament’s last sitting week of the year starting today.

Fun fact: MPs in the lower house sat for fewer days in 2025 than any other Parliament in 20 years. Must be nice!

“I refuse to be a battered wife hoping it all goes away and gets better.”
U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announcing in a video that she will resign from Congress in January. Greene, a Republican, has publicly criticised the Trump administration’s foreign policy and handling of the Epstein files. President Trump called Greene’s announcement “great news for the country”.

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The number of platforms set to stop under-16s from making accounts under the Government’s social media ban. The eSafety Commissioner added streaming platform Twitch to the list of banned sites on Friday.

1963
Nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed the man accused of assassinating U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Victorians updating their gender on a birth certificate will no longer have to pay a fee.

Previously, people born in the state had to pay $140 to receive a new birth certificate.

The fee waiver will also apply to people wanting to legally change their name at the same time as they update their gender.

The Government says the move is part of ensuring “cost is never a barrier to a person having an identity document that reflects who they are.”

Under Victoria law, an individual can apply to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate.

The law also applies to those not born in the state, and under-18s with parental approval.

Applicants are not required to have undergone gender affirming surgery.

According to the Government, two-thirds of trans and gender diverse people in the state don’t “hold identity documents that reflect who they are.”

Reporting by Achol Arok.

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Queensland’s top coroner has handed down his findings from the Wieambilla shooting attack.

In December 2022, a trio in regional Queensland killed two police officers and their neighbour in an hours-long stand-off. Other police officers killed the three shooters at the scene.

Coroner Terry Ryan said the shooters’ behaviour and beliefs meant the officers’ deaths were “inevitable,” and that while Queensland Police considered it a terrorist attack, he could not draw that conclusion.

In December 2022, four police officers attended a property in Wieambilla in relation to a missing person investigation.

They were met by married couple Gareth and Stacey Train, and Gareth’s brother Nathaniel Train.

The Trains shot Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold dead, and their neighbour Alan Dare.

The two other officers, one of whom was shot in the leg, escaped.

Queensland Police has since described the shooting as a “religiously-motivated terrorist attack”.

In 2023, FBI officers arrested a man in the U.S. over online interactions with two of the shooters in the years before the attack.

The interactions included discussions of an “end of days” extreme Christian ideology.

State Coroner Terry Ryan found that the officers who attended the scene were “no match for an ambush”.

He said he was “not satisfied extra protection may have prevented their deaths” due to the “unexpected... nature” of the incident.

Ryan found the Trains “believed war had reached their gates”.

He found Gareth killed McCrow, while Nathan killed Arnold. Ryan could not determine which of the brothers killed Dare.

Ryan heard evidence from psychiatrist Dr Andrew Aboud, who said their actions were “psychotically driven” and that they “were experiencing symptoms of a shared psychotic disorder”.

Ryan concluded their mental states meant “they wrongly believed they needed to die, rather than be apprehended,” leading to them killing two police officers and ultimately being shot themselves.

Ryan said it was not “possible to conclude [the Trains] committed a terrorist act,” because “within their delusional framework,” they believed they were acting in self-defence.

Ryan recommended Queensland Police review its Missing Persons Unit, and look at enlisting a full-time intelligence officer.

Another recommendation was that the State Government consider mandatory mental health assessments for people applying for a weapons licence.

Three recommendations related to Triple Zero call operator policies and training.

Finally, Ryan recommended further aerial support for emergency services.

In August, 10 police officers attended a property in Porepunkah in north-east Victoria to serve an arrest warrant.

At the property, two police officers were shot dead: 59-year-old Neal Thompson and 35-year-old Vadim De Waart.

The alleged murderer Dezi Freeman – who is still at large – is believed to be a ‘sovereign citizen’, holding anti-government and police views.

The Trains also had an interest in anti-government and conspiracy theories.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Alright festival heads listen up:

If you’re not decking out your campsite to feel like home then you’re not doing festival season right. When it comes to camping equipment, Bunnings has got you covered.

From roomy gazebos and comfy camp chairs, to folding carts – because everyone knows you’ll need help lugging all your stuff from the campsite to the festival stage – Bunnings has your staples sorted for the summer festival season.

Brendan Doggett debuted in the baggy green as just the third First Nations man to have represented Australia in almost 150 years of Test cricket, according to Cricket Australia. Doggett said “representing Australian Indigenous people is something I’m very proud of and feel like it’s a great opportunity to be a face and an example”. Australia won the first test of the Ashes series against England in just two days (a test cricket match usually lasts five days) in Perth, with both Doggett and Boland playing pivotal roles in Australia’s bowling attack.

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Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Rio de Janeiro once hosted the Summer Olympics, and now it’s been awarded perhaps an even bigger honour: home to the world’s coolest street.

TimeOut has named its top 31 coolest streets in the world, with Rua do Senado in Rio taking the top spot.

Local editor Lívia Breves said the street hosts a bar that has been open since 1907, cool restaurants, and samba dancing every Saturday.

Australia landed two spots on the list, with Montague Road in Brisbane and Swan Street in Melbourne coming in at number six and 29, respectively.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

A landmark report from the United Nations’s children’s fund (aka UNICEF) has found that young people are experiencing concerningly high rates of discrimination. They’re feeling increasingly disconnected from their communities and concerned about their futures, while developmental outcomes show the youngest Aussies are falling the furthest behind.  So, what are the barriers to better outcomes, and what needs to change? To find out more, we’re speaking to Nicole Breeze, UNICEF Australia’s Chief Advocate for Children.