☕️ A note from TDA's founders

After 530,000 words and 327 editions, today marks our final newsletter of 2025. Today, it’s all about saying thank you.

We built TDA because we believed Australians - particularly our emerging generation - deserve news that doesn't talk down to them, doesn't chase clicks, and acknowledges that good news is as important as the dark stuff.

The fact that you've trusted us with that hypothesis and opted in to this newsletter means the world.

But it’s been a challenging year to work in a newsroom, culminating in the attack on Bondi Beach last Sunday. There were days when finding the balance between keeping you informed and not completely overwhelming you (or us) felt impossible.

But some moments reminded us why this matters – like covering a federal election and putting hard questions to the nation’s political leaders, to our interview with the AFL’s first openly gay or bisexual male player in 129 years, Mitch Brown.

Zambrero has just turned 20 and they’re celebrating with impact

What started as great-tasting food has grown into a global movement, with over 100 million meals donated through its Plate 4 Plate initiative. It’s proof that doing good can taste great – and that every burrito can make a difference!

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What a crew. Behind the scenes, our unbelievable partnerships team has worked every day to help our incredible sponsors bring their messages to life effectively. It’s no easy feat - there’s not a whole newsletter ‘industry’, like broadcast television, and the partners that back us do so because they know how meaningful this platform is.

We can’t thank them enough for keeping the lights on for us and keeping this newsletter free for you.

TDA’s editorial team, led by Billi ‘intro queen’ FitzSimons, puts so much passion and care into the stories that are ready for you every weekday at 7am. Every news story or titbit is pitched, discussed, refined and challenged, all to do the news right. We couldn’t be prouder of them.

We’ve also had a lot of fun expanding our TDA world. This newsletter has allowed us to tell you about our real-life events, like Good News Brews, new newsletters, like TDA Culture, TDA Sport, TDA Finance, and The Good Newsletter, and fun experiments, like our first-ever cocktail, Agree to Disagree.

With that, the only thing we need from you over the next few weeks is to take a breath and rest your news brain. Then, please come back, recharged and excited to explore all the stories we’re already cooking up for 2026.

Have a good break, and we’ll chat to you on Monday January 5, bright and early.

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^{Transparency: This is a sponsored section of the newsletter. It's the best way we can keep this newsletter free for you}

Good sleep is one of those things you don’t realise you’re missing until you fix it.

Koala’s Boxing Day Sale is live with up to 30% off sitewide, including 30% off the Luxe Mattress for proper, hotel-level support, plus 25% off the Koala Sofa Bed (3rd Gen) that goes from couch to bed in seconds.

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