The Briefing

A new report on Australia’s Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws was handed down in federal parliament on Monday - and it's found euthanasia is more widely accepted than ever before.

Almost 2500 terminally ill patients have used VAD in Australia since 2019, with the average age of applicants between 70 and 79. As our parents and grandparents age, understanding what options are available and how to have the difficult discussion about when to choose to take your own life through VAD becomes more important than ever.

In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Dr Linda Swan from Go Gentle Australia, who delivered the report, to talk us through what euthanasia looks like in Australia in 2024. 

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Headlines:

Pressure to ban gambling ads

Ukraine claims to control 1000sqm of Russian territory 

Trump told to stop questioning Harris’ crowd sizes 

Miley Cyrus becomes youngest Disney legend 

 

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Selling your sperm or eggs is illegal in Australia, and has been for a long time.

Unlike other parts of the world, where you can make a considerable profit – in some cases up to $10,000 per egg cycle, and hundreds of dollars per sperm donation – in Australia we’re only able to participate in ‘altruistic donation’ of eggs and sperm, meaning donating with no personal profit and in a highly regulated system.

But amidst a cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of donors, should we be rethinking these laws?

In this two-part Briefing feature, Sacha Barbour Gatt explores the value that can be gained in selling a part of yourself for a profit.

In this episode, she’s joined by Clinic Director Lotus Health and Psychology and Fertility Reproductive Counsellor Narelle Dickinson to explore the risks of making it legal in Australia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Selling your sperm or eggs is illegal in Australia, and has been for a long time.

Unlike other parts of the world, where you can make a considerable profit – in some cases up to $10,000 per egg cycle, and hundreds of dollars per sperm donation – in Australia we’re only able to participate in ‘altruistic donation’ of eggs and sperm, meaning donating with no personal profit and in a highly regulated system.

But amidst a cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of donors, should we be rethinking these laws?

In this two-part Briefing feature, Sacha Barbour Gatt explores the value that can be gained in selling a part of yourself for a profit.

In this episode, she’s joined by Senior Research Fellow in Global and Women's Health at Monash University Karin Hammarberg, who has worked in IVF programs for 20 years, to explore what it might look like if we changed the laws in Australia.

Headlines:

2024 Paris Olympics wraps up

Ukrainian troops advance inside Russia 

Close to 100 people killed in Israeli air strike in southern Gaza

Joe Biden gives first interview since dropping out

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Amy Shark is one of Australia’s biggest names in pop music.

When she changed her name to Amy Shark in 2013 her career took off, winning multiple ARIA Awards and working with Ed Sheeran to Keith Urban.

Shark's new album, Sunday Sadness, features a dream line up of producers and artists including Kid Harpoon, who has produced and co-written with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus.

For this episode of The Weekend Briefing, Shark joins Helen Smith to break down how she thinks the live music scene has changed over the last decade, and who she ran into backstage at while preforming on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Weekend List

• TO WATCH - Taskmaster New Zealand on Binge
• TO DO - DIY Nail dip set
• TO EAT - One pot Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo (Italian Lasagna Roll Ups) from Recipe Tin Eats
• TO EAT - Latin American restaurant near you

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There was a bit of a media frenzy at the Paris games recently when North Korean athletes posed for selfies with South Korean competitors at the gymnastics. Those same athletes were also spotted cheering for American rivals, hugging competitors and waving and smiling for tv cameras.

There has been cautious optimism that the usually hermit-like North is finally starting to open up to the world after a period of extreme isolation.

But how much of this display at the Olympics is diplomatic gymnastics, carefully planned and carried out as positive PR for the totalitarian state?

In this episode of The Briefing Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with Roald Maliangkay, associate professor in Korean studies and director of the Korea Institute at the Australian National University to find out.

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Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been in the International Space Station (ISS) since early June – and they can’t get down.

The pair have been stranded in space for over 60 days due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – and NASA now says they'll remain there for some time yet. The American space agency says the astronauts will remain orbiting the planet till September 24th at earliest, and potentially until February next year.

What went so wildly wrong as to extend an eight-day mission out to what could be eight months? And what’s it going be like to be stuck there with no solid return date.

Dr Rebecca Allen is co-director of the Swinburne Space Technology and Industry Institute and joins Bension Siebert on The Briefing to explain what happens next.

Headlines:

Australia has added to its medal haul overnight in Paris

Man arrested over alleged terror attack plot at Taylor Swift concert 

AUKUS deal officially signed 

Donald Trump confirms he will debate Kamala Harris

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McDonald’s is an economic juggernaut.

Since its inception in the 1940s, the golden arches have dominated the fast food market globally, becoming a beacon of success. But is the seemingly never-ending fast food honeymoon with them, and other outlets around the globe, over? 

McDonalds has reported experiencing its first downturn in years, and it’s not the only one – recently US burger chain Carl’s Junior, which had ambitions to open hundreds of outlets across Australia, collapsed into voluntary administration.

So, what the hell is going on? What does this say about the immediate future of the global economy, and what does it say about us as consumers? 

Mitchell Taylor is a partner at Simon-Kucher, a global strategy consulting firm focusing on growth strategy, marketing, pricing, and sales. He joins Bension Siebert on The Briefing to shed a light on what this might mean for our global economy.  

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Artificial intelligence is colliding with elite sport and mega-events like the Olympics in ways that could soon affect our daily lives, in surprising ways.

AI is being used to identify talented future Olympians around the world, to help coaches identify minute flaws in athletic performance, and to improve training.

But it’s also seriously ramping up state surveillance of crowds, and for all its amazing uses AI also has some big fundamental problems, like reliability issues and bias.

So what should be the role of this kind of technology at a global mega-event like the Olympics? And what does its use there tell us about the future of AI in our own daily lives.

On this episode of The Briefing Bension Siebert speaks with Ari Waldman, an expert in the ethics of artificial intelligence and big data, to find out.

Headlines:

Another golden night in Paris

Childcare pay rise 

Harris and Walz tour as Trump reacts to running mate pick 

Dog perfume for $165 a bottle 

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Previously, dairy milk was viewed as an irreplaceable part of a balanced diet. But things are more complicated now, and Australians are drinking less of it.

So why the shift? Is it due to greater awareness of lactose intolerance, concerns over animal welfare, or environmental considerations? And how do dairy milk alternatives, such as soy, almond or oat milk compare for health and sustainability? 

In this episode, The Briefing’s Simon Beaton is joined by farmer and author of Milk, Matthew Evans, to find out more. 

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ASIO and the federal government announced on Monday that Australia’s terror threat level had increased from 'possible' to 'probable'. Part of the reasoning - an increase in young men being radicalised.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said “governments around the world are concerned about youth radicalisation, online radicalisation and the rise of new mixed ideologies”.

In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Levi West from the ANU’s Centre for Social Policy Research to find out how and why young men in particular get radicalised, and what’s being done to stop it.

Headlines:

The youngest Aussie medal winner ever

Kamala Harris picks running mate

Global markets show signs of recovery

Judge rules Google has a monopoly on internet searches

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