What makes a passport powerful? and has the pandemic had any long-term impacts on where a passport might rank compared to others?

 

The current global health crisis might have crippled global travel, but what makes a passport truly powerful is showing consistency amid volatile times. On today’s episode we find out which passports have gone up and which have gone down during the pandemic.

 

We’re going to find out the power of the Aussie passport, and where that little blue book comes in compared to New Zealand.

 

In today's headlines:

• Melbourne officially open for business
• Recession may already be over, suggests Reserve Bank
• Jobseekers can expect payment to be above pre-pandemic levels next year
• Amy Coney Barratt confirmed to the US Supreme Court as Joe Biden forgets Trumps name

 

 

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It was the weekend we didn’t think would happen: grand final weekend. Earlier in the year, coronavirus threatened to cancel the 2020 seasons of AFL and NRL, but luckily for sports fans, the games went ahead – a remarkable feat for the footy codes. This weekend saw historic grand final matches being played in Brisbane following a season of fake crowd noises, travel bubbles, completely revised fixtures and a lot of challenging COVID-19 protocols. 

 

So let’s find out how the codes got there and whether the games have suffered any lasting damage due to this season? Collingwood President Eddie McGuire joins The Briefing to discuss what the future of the games look like.

 

In today's news headlines:

• After 111 days in lockdown, Melbourne is opening back up
• “Grossly disturbing”: Australia demands answers after women searched in Qatar
• Northern Territory police officer to face murder trial over death of Indigenous teenager
• Thousands of Australia Post offices threaten to shut over watch saga

 

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The appointment of US Supreme Court judges is one of the most intense election issues, and as early as tomorrow US congress will vote to approve a new supreme court judge Amy Coney Barrett. 

 

If she’s sworn in she’ll take the place of the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg who died in September 2020.

 

Michael Macagnone is a US Politics reporter and joins us to explain why supreme court judge appointments are so controversial in the US.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Grand Final glory for Melbourne with Storm and Richmond crowned winners
• Hopes Melbourne’s restrictions could be eased today after cluster testing blitz
• Qatar Airways accused of forcibly examining 13 Australian women
• Emergency surgery for man critically injured in Queensland reef shark attack

 

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The Gladys Berejiklian secret relationship scandal has made national headlines, and on todays episode we explain what happened. There’s been a huge debate about whether or not the NSW Premier should resign. So far she’s toughed it out but as you’re about to hear, it’s not over yet. 

 

Telegraph reporter Linda Silmalis who’s been covering the story joins us to explain.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Drones to monitor Melbourne footy fans as nation gears up for AFL, NRL grand finals
• Australia Post CEO stands aside over luxury watch scandal
• Vulnerable Australians board first Qantas flight to Darwin
• Countdown to the final Presidential debate as Trump accused of running country “like a reality show”

 

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We take you on a road trip through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois, and find out the one thing that locals say when asked why they vote for Trump. When we watch America through our own media we get a perspective on the US through New York, Washington and California, but these others states up in the Mid North East offer a different view all together. Almost all of them voted for Trump in 2016 with some of them being crucial to his victory because they were expected to go the other way. 

 

So understanding the people in these states will be pivotal in helping to understand the result we’ll see unfold in the election which is now only two weeks away. Australian journalist Jacob Greber is the Washington Correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, and joins us on this episode to the share the findings of the 4000km road trip he took through these states.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Covid-19 alert for Bathurst 1000 after virus found in wastewater
• Push for pre-Christmas travel plan as nation loses $319 million a day
• Extremists targeted Magda Szubanski, says eSafety Commissioner
• Pope Francis endorses same-sex civil unions for the first time

 

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Almost 1 in 9 Australians smoke, and the government have set a goal to bring down our smoking rate to 1 in 10 by 2025. In a new plan to wipe out smoking in Australia, smokers could be made to buy cigarettes with a prescription or at a pharmacy. But is this fair?

 

Cigarettes already cost $40 a packet, so if people really want to spend that amount of their own money should they be free to do that?  This idea has come from a University of Queensland lead group Centre for Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame (CREATE) and we’re joined on todays episode by Professor Billie Bonevski to explain the prescription model.

 

In today's news headlines:

• New emails suggest top Victorian health official knew about hotel security guards
•  President Trump not a fan of plan to mute microphones during final debate
• AFP investigates potential corruption in $30 million land deal

 

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Unlike a lot of other western countries, Australia has a forced saving system called superannuation. When the system was introduced back in 1992, 3% of your income went to your super, which is only accessible at the age of 66. Nowadays, that percentage is 9.5%, but there are plans to increase it so that by 2025, 12% of your pay will be put into your super.

 

Should more of our money be put into super? Or would you rather have it now to buy a house? Senator Andrew Bragg and Executive Director of Per Capita Emma Dawson join The Briefing to discuss the opposing sides to the super increase.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Western Australia delays easing restrictions after bulk carrier cluster
• Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry hones in on Brett Sutton
• NRL’s Dally M awards overshadowed by embarrassing leak
• UK accuses Russia of planning cyber-attack on the Tokyo Olympics

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Conspiritualism is a blend of two words: Conspiracy and spiritualism and it describes a strange phenomena that you might have noticed on your social media feeds. It describes the wellness bloggers and influencers who’ve taken up the same causes as conspiracy theorists.

 

This wellness community and QAnon conspiracy theorists have previously seemed worlds apart but according to Sarah Wilson they have quite a lot in common, and she joins us on this episode to explain. Sarah’s latest book ‘This One Wild and Precious Life’ is about coming together in a world determined to keep us apart.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Melbournians regain some freedoms but retail, hospitality to wait
• Federal government told to do more after New Zealanders leave travel bubble states
• Jacinda Ardern’s caucus to meet after landslide election win

 

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What’s in a name when you’re applying for a job? Does your name impact your hire ability?

 

In 2012 researchers conducted an experiment sending out fictional applications for real jobs. On some they used English-sounding names and on others they used names that sounded stereotypically Indigenous, Italian, Chinese and Middle Eastern. They found that these applicants were less likely to score an interview than those with English sounding names.

Other research has found that when employers were presented with otherwise identical resumes, women were at least 30 percent less likely to be interviewed than men.

 

So what can be about it? How do we take race and gender out of recruitment and out of the workplace - to ensure that everyone gets treated fairly and gets to be who they are?

 

In today's news headlines:

• Top WHO scientist warns young, healthy people may not get vaccine until 2021
• Discussions on plan to bring more stranded Aussies home delayed
• Victoria nudges Australian jobless rate up to 6.9 percent 
• Biden, Trump field questions from voters in lieu of second debate

 

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Will COVID-19 be the ‘great accelerator’ in the death of the shopping mall? The mall has gone from the height of the social scene to struggle street in only a couple of decades, and the closing of shops amid the pandemic is leading to fears the “dead mall” phenomenon seen in the US could be in store for Australia.

 

More than a third of all shopping is expected to be online by 2030 and big retail chains here in Australia are struggling.  So in today’s Briefing, we ask: Is the mall dead? And is Covid-19 the final nail in its coffin? We speak to Gemma Acton, an economist for 7News who’s been watching retail trends very closely, and we find out what it’s been like to work at a mall and in retail during Covid.

 

In today's news headlines:

• Queensland, ACT rush to trace Covid-19 case as NSW delays easing restrictions
• Revamped Virgin could become a budget airline
• Inquiry warns acquiring Aboriginal flag copyright sets “dangerous precedent”

 

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