☕️ Why is Woolies in court?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is coming into TDA’s offices today for an interview.

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The quote: “Australians are becoming an endangered species.”
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk in a tweet yesterday, commenting on Australia’s declining birth rate.

The stat: 4,300. The number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests Victoria Police received in the 2024/25 financial year, up from 3,900 the year before.

The big question:

Yesterday’s results: 75% of you said that social media has made you more informed. 16% of you said that it makes you less informed while 9% of you said you “don’t know”. [2,090 votes].

Together with AAP.

The frequent flyer program quietly winning right now

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Reward Seats start from just 5,900 points one way, with seats available on 80% of Virgin Australia departures. And with 454 earn partners including Flybuys, Myer and DoorDash, you're collecting points whether you're flying or not.

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Apple has announced Tim Cook, its CEO of 15 years, will step down.

Cook will officially leave the job on 1 September and become the multi-trillion-dollar company’s executive chairman.

In that role, Apple said Cook will “assist with certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world.”

Apple has appointed senior executive John Ternus as Cook’s successor.

Tim Cook joined Apple in 1998 and has served as CEO since 2011, taking over from company co-founder Steve Jobs.

Before assuming the role, Cook was the company’s chief operating officer (COO), overseeing global sales and the company’s supply chain.

As CEO, Cook has overseen the rollout of the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pay, among other products.

Under his leadership, Apple’s value has grown from around $US350 billion to $US4 trillion ($AU500 billion to $AU5.6 trillion).

Cook described his time in the role as the “greatest privilege” of his life and said he “could not be more confident” in his successor, John Ternus.

Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and has been senior vice president of Hardware Engineering since 2021.

In that role, he has overseen the design, development and testing of Apple’s physical products, such as the iPad, new generations of the iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch.

Apple’s statement announcing Ternus as the new CEO noted he had led the development of the MacBook Neo, a cheaper alternative to the company’s other laptops.

It also credited him with overseeing the latest range of iPhones, which included lower-cost options, and with leading efforts to recycle and lower the company’s carbon footprint.

In the statement, Ternus said he is “profoundly grateful for this opportunity... to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place”.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

🎧 On today’s TDA podcast, tune in to hear about the TikTok singer accused of murder.

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On Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)’s case against Woolworths began in the Federal Court.

The ACCC alleges the supermarket misled customers by temporarily raising product prices, then advertising a new, discounted price, despite this being higher or the same as the original.

Woolworths has denied the claims, saying: “Those discounts were not ‘illusory’.”

Here’s what you need to know.

Coles and Woolworths control around two-thirds of the supermarket sector.

In the 2024/25 financial year, Woolworths reported a $1.4 billion profit.

In 2024, the ACCC launched separate investigations into Australia’s supermarkets for “misleading customers through discount pricing claims”.

The ACCC’s case against Coles went to court in February. A judgment is yet to be handed down.

The ACCC claims Woolworths “temporarily increased the prices” (referred to as the ‘was’ price, or WP) of 276 products, before promoting them as reduced.

They allege these new prices (NP) are higher or equal to the original price (called the reduced price, or RP).

The consumer watchdog claims these misleading prices were promoted with the ‘Prices Dropped’ scheme. Woolworths discontinued this promotion in late 2024.

On day one of the trial, lawyers for the ACCC began by arguing the ‘Prices Dropped’ labels drew consumers in by advertising the new prices as lower and stable, rather than a temporary special.

The legal team for Woolworths said the discounts were “genuine”.

The ACCC is seeking monetary penalties from the supermarket.

Under Australian Consumer Law, the maximum penalty for a breach is $50 million.

The trial will run for two weeks, with the final hearing planned for 1 May.

The court is yet to deliver a verdict in the ACCC’s February case against Coles.

From 1 July, the Government’s new laws banning price gouging will also come into place.

This means large retailers (such as Coles and Woolworths) will be prohibited from charging excessive prices, in comparison to supply costs and a reasonable margin.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

Jobs are holding up but inflation isn’t easing.

The Aussie job market is staying steady, with employment and wages still ticking up. But climbing prices in key areas mean cost-of-living pressures aren’t easing.

So what does this mean for the months ahead - and how could the Middle East conflict affect it? 

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Researchers worked for six years to uncover the 35-metre wide circular basin, after they first came across one of its curved walls in 2019. The temple is located in the ruins of the ancient city of Pelusium near the eastern Nile Delta, meaning it would have once been filled with water, and likely used for sacred religious rituals. Heritage conservation officials with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said the structure’s “unique architectural design” combines ancient Egyptian traditions with Greek and Roman styles, embodying “the cultural interaction between Egypt and the ancient world.”

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

The Onion is one step closer to buying Infowars, the site once run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The satirical news site is organising the sale with the families of the victims of the 2010 Sandy Hook school shooting, who Jones owes more than $1 billion.

Jones used Infowars to spread a theory that the shooting was faked.

After families of victims of the shooting sued Jones for defamation, he declared bankruptcy, and the web address infowars.com went for sale.

The Onion made a deal with the victims’ families to pay less for the web domain and consequently would stop it from going to the competing bidder — a business connected to Jones.

Attorney for the Sandy Hook families Chris Mattei said the new Infowars will be “a force for social good”.

A hearing on The Onion’s licensing deal is scheduled for 30 April in a Texas court.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.