☕️ Vic Premier faces pressure to resign

All eyes are on Victoria this week, where Premier Jacinta Allan is facing mounting pressure to resign.

Despite Allan insisting she will remain Labor leader, her deputy, Ben Carroll, said yesterday that Allan has “lost the majority of our caucus”. He has since told her he will nominate for the leadership of the Victorian Labor Party.

We explain what’s happening in the one-minute section below.

The quote: “I’ve had experiences before when people say, like, ‘Why should you see this movie?’ And in the back of your mind, you’re like, ‘You shouldn’t, because it’s shit.’” Spider-Man and The Odyssey star Tom Holland in an interview with the podcast Dish.

The stat: 32%. The increase in older Australians’ confidence in verifying information online after completing a one-hour media literacy course run by the University of Canberra.

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Yesterday’s results: 66% of you have been on an organised travel tour, while 34% haven’t. Thanks for voting - your responses inform TDA's journalism and research. [2,100 votes]

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Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan is facing a leadership challenge from Deputy Premier Ben Carroll.

Allan has said she won’t resign and will instead face a contest for the position, four months out from an election.

Labor won state elections in 2014, 2018, and 2022, led by Daniel Andrews. In 2023, Andrews resigned, and then-Transport and Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan became Premier.

Allan has represented the regional electorate of Bendigo East since 1999, when she became the youngest woman elected to the Victorian Parliament at 25.

A key project Allan has led through her ministries and premiership is Victoria’s Big Build program, which includes 180 infrastructure projects such as the Suburban Rail Loop and Metro Tunnel.

There are multiple allegations of corruption against the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees’ Union (CFMEU) related to the Big Build. As Infrastructure Minister and then Premier, Allan has faced criticism over the alleged corruption.

In February, a Queensland Government inquiry into the CFMEU heard evidence Big Build sites had been “converted by Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs into drug distribution centres”.

This week, The Australian’s Newspoll showed around 71% of respondents were “dissatisfied with the way Jacinta Allan is doing her job as Premier”.

Education Minister and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll posted a statement to X after a meeting of Labor members on Monday morning.

“It is clear that the Premier has lost the majority of our Caucus,” he said. “I have since visited the Premier to inform her that I will be nominating for the leadership of the Labor Party.”

Allan has said she will not resign, and will instead face a leadership challenge, according to reporting by The Guardian and The Age.

A spokesperson for Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said: “Victorians don’t need Jacinta Allan’s second-in-charge or another unelected Labor Premier, they want a new government and a fresh start.” Allan has not faced an election as Premier.

Victorian Greens spokesperson Ellen Sandell called the talks “leadership musical chairs”.

Victorians will head to the polls on 28 November.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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Senator Pauline Hanson has lost her appeal of the Federal Court’s finding that she racially vilified Senator Mehreen Faruqi.

The case dates back to 2022, when Faruqi criticised the monarchy in a social media post following Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Hanson replied with what a Federal Court judge found in 2024 was an “angry personal attack” that carried racist meaning.

In a post to X in September 2022, Faruqi wrote: “Condolences to those who mourn the Queen. I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.”

She called for a “Treaty with First Nations, justice & reparations for British colonies”.

In response, Hanson told Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan.”

Faruqi initially lodged a complaint through the Australian Human Rights Commission. However, when Hanson refused to participate, Faruqi pursued legal action in the Federal Court instead.

Faruqi accused Hanson of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act. Under section 18C of the act, it’s unlawful to take any public action likely to “offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate” someone on the basis of “race, colour, or national or ethnic origin”.

If a court finds a person has breached the Act, a court can order them to financially compensate the victim.

Hanson argued she was making “fair comment” on a matter of public interest: the monarchy, a First Nations Treaty, and the possibility of Australia becoming a republic.

She also argued her post was protected by an implied (not expressly stated) Constitutional right to political communication. Hanson’s lawyers also argued she didn’t know Faruqi was Muslim when she made the post.

In 2024, Justice Angus Stewart rejected Hanson’s arguments and found the post was racist.

If a person appeals a Federal Court decision, the original judge’s reasoning is reviewed by a panel of at least three other judges, called the “Full Federal Court”.

The Full Court dismissed Hanson’s appeal in full, upholding the original finding that her post breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

The panel also upheld the original judge’s finding that Hanson’s post carried three messages: that Faruqi, as an immigrant, “took advantage” of Australia, and “should be grateful for what she has and keep quiet”; that she should “piss off back to Pakistan,” a version of the racist trope “go back to where you came from”; and an anti-Muslim message.

The Court ruled that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is constitutionally valid. On free speech, it found that the law had a “significant” impact on the implied right to political communication, but that this was justified by the goal of protecting people from racism.

Hanson’s “fair comment” defence failed too. The Court found her tweet had no genuine connection to the issues Faruqi’s post had raised.

Faruqi said the judgment is “a win for every person who has been told to go back to where you came from.”

She added: “Justice has prevailed today and I want to make sure it will prevail tomorrow and the day after.”

Following the ruling, Hanson maintained that when she made the post, she was “incensed” by what she called “incredible disrespect” shown to the Queen on the day of her death, and “simply wanted to call that out.”

She says she is now reviewing the decision with a view to launching an appeal in the High Court of Australia. The High Court does not automatically hear appeals. It first decides whether a person has grounds to make that appeal.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

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Researchers analysed survey data from over 1,600 pet owners, finding that higher addiction-like behaviour scores were associated with dogs being easier to motivate. The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, noted some high-scoring dogs exhibited an intense fixation with a toy that overrides food, sleep and even their owner's attention. Shepherd-type breeds recorded the highest addictive-like behaviour scores, with scientists suggesting a link to their breeding for tasks like police work and livestock protection. The study describes toy play as “widely recognised as both emotionally rewarding and highly motivating in pet and working dog training.”

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Most footballers have swapped the boots for a microphone by the time they turn 40. Kazuyoshi Miura is still getting paid to score goals at the age of 59.

The striker, who plays in Japan’s third-tier professional soccer league and is known at home as 'King Kazu', scored Fukushima United's fifth goal in a 7-0 victory over the weekend.

It was the first goal in almost four years for the world's oldest professional footballer, whose career began in 1986.

You really are never too old.

Reporting by George Finlayson.