☕️ YouTube ban for under 16s

Here is today’s riddle: What building has the most stories?

The answer is in the titbit!

“Men tend to be more drawn to vocations that involve maths, physical exertion like construction and trades, whereas women in the main tend to be drawn to careers that involve women and care.”
Federal Liberal-National MP Terry Young speaking in Parliament on Tuesday about the possibility of gender quotas for Coalition candidates. Senior Labor Minister Catherine King quoted his comments in Question Time that day, calling them “a crock”.

$8,000
The bonus a majority of Queensland Police will receive after signing a new deal with the State Government. The police union called it the “the largest ever pay deal for Queensland police". Meanwhile, Queensland nurses and midwives launched a new round of industrial action this week as negotiations with the State Government continue over a new pay deal.

Gewgaws [g-YOU-gauze]
Definition: Flashy but useless trinkets or decorations.
Used in a sentence: "The market stalls were overflowing with cheap gewgaws and souvenirs."

Most cancer survivors can now donate blood and plasma in Australia sooner, under a new Australian Red Cross guideline.

Previously, survivors had to wait five years to donate.

Now, they can donate one year after the end of their treatment as long as they have “written confirmation from their doctor” that they are in remission.

The change excludes those who had blood cancers.

A survey by University of NSW researchers showed 54% of Australians believed having cancer made people permanently ineligible to donate blood.

More than a third of blood donations go to people with cancers and blood diseases.

Lifeblood Executive Director Cath Stone said: “Many cancer survivors have relied on blood transfusions and plasma medicines… and we know many are eager to give back.”

According to Lifeblood, people diagnosed with some skin cancers may be eligible to donate directly after recovering from treatment.

Survivors of cancers involving the blood system, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, are still unable to donate.

All donors must complete standard health checks and a questionnaire. They can only donate if they’re healthy and meet eligibility criteria.

Lifeblood said research had shown the current waiting period “can be safely reduced” to one year.

Studies have confirmed cancer cannot be transmitted through blood transfusions.

The change has also been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Stone said: “Cancer diagnoses usually increase with age and our older donors often have more time to donate. [The] five-year wait-time disproportionately affects them being able to give back when it’s safe to do so.”

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

The Government has confirmed it will include YouTube in its social media ban for children under 16.

It follows a report from The Daily Telegraph that YouTube’s owner Google would sue the Government if it went ahead with the ban.

The ban is expected to come into effect later this year, pending technological developments.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said: “There’s a place for social media, but there’s not a place for predatory algorithms targeting children.”

The Government’s ban on children under 16 using social media passed Parliament late last year, following a public campaign to protect young people’s mental health.

Social media companies, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Snap Inc (Snapchat) could face fines of up to $50 million if under-16s create an account on their platforms.

Australia was the first country to legislate an age-specific social media ban.

YouTube was initially exempt from the ban because the Government said it is predominantly used for learning.

A YouTube spokesperson said banning the platform would ignore “evidence from teachers and parents that [it] is suitable for younger users”.

In a speech last year, then-Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said YouTube and messaging platforms like WhatsApp “enable young people to get the education and health support they need.”

YouTube requires children under 13 to provide a parent or guardian’s contact details when they make an account.

Social media companies criticised YouTube’s exemption.

TikTok’s public policy director in Australia and New Zealand Ella Woods-Joyce likened it to “banning the sale of soft drinks to minors but exempting Coca-Cola.”

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said earlier this year she had advised the Government to include YouTube in the ban, noting it can still be accessed without an account.

The Government has commissioned a trial of “age assurance” technology ahead of the ban.

In its latest update, the Government said its trial had shown age verification could be achieved “privately, robustly, and effectively”. It concluded there were no major boundaries to rolling out the technology.

However, an ABC investigation last month found a company conducting a face-scanning technology trial had misidentified some 15-year-olds as being in their 20s and 30s.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich and Lucy Tassell.

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🍊 A record-breaking teenage sprinter from Japan made headlines.
🍊 Australia has added to its medal tally at the World Swimming Championships.
🍊 The Australian T20 team swept the West Indies.
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: rugby, soccer, and more…

Beyoncé toured her Grammy award winning album across nine U.S. cities this year, before finishing up in Vegas last week. According to Billboard, the 32-show tour sold over 1.6 million tickets and made $US400 million ($AU613m).

It’s Beyoncé’s second tour to gross over $400 million (after her 2023 Renaissance tour).

The success of Cowboy Carter has seen the 43-year-old break or tie with 47 records, including her own as both the highest-grossing Black artist and highest-grossing R&B artist in history.

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

Voting can be pretty hard as it is - making choices, waiting in long lines and potentially missing out on a democracy sausage.

But in one Canadian by-election, it’s about to get much harder.

More than 200 people have registered to run as a candidate in the electorate of Battle River-Crowfoot, in Alberta. That’s more than half the number of MPs in Canada’s lower house.

In response, Canada’s election agency has announced voters will be given a special ballot, where they’ll have to write in the name of the candidate they want to vote for.

The number of candidates is due to a group called the Longest Ballot Committee, who are protesting Canada’s voting system. Unlike Australia’s preferential voting system, Canadians only need to nominate one candidate they want to see win. The person who wins the most votes is elected.

Another fun fact: The reason this by-election has been called is because of the result of the federal election held in April. At that poll, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre (of the Conservative Party) lost his seat. He asked the successful Conservative MP in Battle River-Crowfoot to step down, allowing him to run for the seat and hopefully return as leader.

Reporting by Anju Dhanushkodi.

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Titbit answer: A library.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has this week introduced a bill to scrap Australia's legal commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. And that move has exposed deep divisions within the Coalition over their climate policy.

Joyce's push comes as Liberal branches in Western Australia and South Australia have voted to abandon net zero commitments.

This all comes against the backdrop of a visit from the UN’s top climate diplomat, who’s in the country urging Australian officials to set ambitious climate targets.

Today we're unpacking the debate over net zero and what this means for the Coalition's climate stance.