The Briefing

Headlines: 

• Paul Keating backs the CGT changes
• The US reveals arrest warrant for Cuban ex-president
• World’s first trillionaire? Two big tech companies are going public
• Aussie unemployment climbs higher than expected
• Avalon airport resumes flights after a hairy scare 

Deep Dive: 

Diphtheria was eradicated in Australia, so why is the government spending $7.2 million to contain an outbreak? The disease kills one in ten people, and can present as slow-healing sores or a respiratory infection – and there are now about 200 cases in Australia. Vaccination prevents the disease, but it's made a resurgence in the NT, WA, SA, and Queensland.

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by epidemiologist A. Prof. Sanjaya Senanayake.

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Thursday Headlines: 

• Israeli minister condemned for taunting handcuffed Gaza flotilla activists
• Anthony Albanese meets with the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby
• NRL player announces immediate retirement after MND diagnosis
• Queensland's new public hospital to refuse VAD or abortions
• Melbourne teen becomes youngest Aussie to reach Everest summit

Deep Dive: AI-generated images of The Prime Minister as a startup co-founder, tradie and “silent business partner” have flooded social media this week - all in protest of one controversial Budget measure. 

The government’s plan to scrap the 50% capital gains tax discount on most assets from 2027 has sparked backlash from startup founders and small business owners, who say it could punish innovation and push investment offshore. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with ABC Business Daily host Daniel Ziffer about what capital gains tax actually is, why business owners are panicking, and whether the fears stack up. 

Further listening from headlines:
Inside Everest’s death zone

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Headlines: 

• Minns enters the tax reform chat, as Chalmers and Taylor spar over CGT
• Putin arrives in China to meet Xi Jinping, days after Trump leaves
• Trump threatens Iran again, a day after calling off another strike
• Hillsong’s Houston has another problem with porn on Twitter
• Kylie Minogue’s second cancer diagnosis revealed in doco 

Deep Dive: 

The war in Iran has taken all attention away from the ongoing, four-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine. Now the tide is turning against Putin, with Ukrainian drone strikes reaching Russian cities and Russia’s army losing territory.

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Dr. Malcolm Davis, defence expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 

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Wednesday Headlines: 

• DFAT seeking confirmation on the welfare of Aussies on board flotilla reportedly taken by Israel
• Questions about BOM efficiency after Gold Coast rainfall
• Australia's 'biggest diphtheria outbreak’ in decades spreads into Qld, SA and WA
• SA politicians walk out of One Nation leader’s maiden speech
• Axing carparks in apartments could make them cheaper

Deep Dive: A recent social media exchange between American airline JetBlue and a customer has sparked not only a broad conversation about how companies are watching us, but also a lawsuit. 

We know that our clicks are being tracked when we browse for things online and that data is being collected and used to set prices ... but this could be the first time it’s been openly admitted to. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by marketing expert Professor Nitika Garg who explains exactly what surveillance pricing is and how it’s being – and could be used - against us. 

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Headlines: 

• 47-year-old man faced court after being charged over alleged murder of wife and two children
• PM Anthony Albanese addresses AI images slamming tax changes
• Five dead after Mosque shooting in US
• Bunnings bomb threat in Brisbane
• Shakria to be paid nearly $90 million AU 

Deep Dive:

A bombshell new report has revealed a concerning amount of alcohol sold at Australian bottle shops is contaminated. 

The top drug and alcohol experts found unsafe levels of methanol and plastics during testing and are now calling for a crackdown on retailers and also better regulation. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Dr Nicholas Taylor from the National Drug Research Institute who explains how dangerous this contamination is and the deadly side effects.  

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In part two of our chat with the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Senator Jane Hume, we get into her party’s migration policy and what the “right mix” of migrants looks like in Australia. 
 
After announcing welfare would be limited to citizens in its budget reply, the Coalition has been asked whether it’s failed in its promise to not become ‘One Nation Lite’ and if its future could include Pauline Hanson’s party. 
 
Hume responds to those questions, as well as Sussan Ley’s claims that the Coalition is worse off now than it was when she was dumped. 

Listen to part one here.

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Tuesday Headlines: 

• Elon Musk loses high profile lawsuit against Open AI
• Australians among those on-board Israeli-seized Gaza flotilla
• Sydney triple murder a suspected domestic violence incident
• Global scramble underway to try to stem Ebola outbreak 
• Social media ban preventing Aussie teens from accessing news
• Two men arrested over stunt at Punch the monkey’s enclosure

Deep Dive: The Coalition has spent the last year in the political wilderness, battling an increasingly influential One Nation and a failure to present genuine and clear policies.  

Last week, opposition leader Angus Taylor issued his budget reply speech, with a focus on taxes and migration as a way to win back disaffected voters.  

In this special two-part interview, Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Senator, Jane Hume, about whether this budget platform will be the one to claw them back votes and re-cement them as a meaningful opposition to Labor. 

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Headlines: 

• Opposition promises to scrap Labor's tax changes 

• US President Donald Trump's new threat for Iran 

• Passenger detained and banned from Qantas after allegedly biting attendant  

• Thousands queue across the globe for SWATCH watch 

Deep Dive:

Over the weekend the World Health Organisation declared an Ebola outbreak in the Republic of Congo and Uganda as a ‘public health emergency of international concern’, following the recent Hantavirus cruise ship crisis, which has left many asking if Australia is prepared for another pandemic?

Have we learnt any lessons from COVID-19 and what is needed to make sure that next time the Government gets the balance right?

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Paul Griffin, a microbiologist and director of infectious diseases at Mater Hospital, who explains why trust in the public health system is vital for prevention.  

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In the second part of this special two-part deep dive, we continue to learn about the investigation that exposed a global online rape academy. 

It wasn’t hiding on the dark web either, but in plain sight on forums and websites accessible by anyone with an internet connection. 

So far, we’ve heard from CNN’s Kara Fox about the early days of her team’s probe, and in this episode, we learn how they tracked one of these abusers to his hometown in Poland – and what happened next. 

You can read Kara and her team’s investigation piece here. 
 
Listen to part one here. 
Pt 1: Exposing a global ‘rape academy’

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Monday Headlines: 

• Angus Taylor overtakes Anthony Albanese as preferred PM
• Tributes flow for Perth dad killed in shark attack
• WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak
• Health experts warn big tobacco is exploiting illicit market fears to unwind health gains
• Cops guarding king under investigation for falling asleep

Deep Dive: The shocking case of Gisèle Pelicot was one that gripped the world and lead a team of investigative journalists to expose what’s come to be known as a ‘global rape academy’.  

Their investigation revealed that just like Gisèle’s former husband, men around the world are taking to forums and websites to openly discuss, plan and carry out and profit from the drug facilitated sexual abuse of their partners without their knowledge as they sleep.  

In this special two-part deep dive, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by CNN Senior Reporter Kara Fox, whose team tracked down perpetrators and spoke with survivors to expose the online world hiding in plain sight.  

You can read Kara and her team’s investigation piece here.

Listen to part two here.
Pt 2: Tracking an abuser inside the global ‘rape academy’

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