Your noon Briefing
Welcome to your noon roundup of what’s making news and how the day has played out so far.
Hello readers. Here is your noon digest of what’s making news today plus a long read for lunchtime.
Campus consent
New students at Sydney University will be taught to obtain an “enthusiastic yes” before they engage in sexual activity such as kissing or touching on campus or it’s “sexual assault’’. A mandatory online module has been introduced at the university, requiring students to achieve a 100 per cent score in order to pass the course, The Daily Telegraph reports today. Complete with gendered stick figures arranged in a variety of positions, the Consent Matters: Boundaries, Respect and Positive Intervention module outlines the basics of sexual consent as well as factors that can impact on a student’s ability to gain consent, such as drug or alcohol use. But the course, which is also offered at Charles Darwin University and ANU, has not impressed students and experts, who claim the exercise is “stupid” and would not adequately address problems with sexual harassment.
“If someone is not able to offer an enthusiastic ‘yes’ to questions about sexual activity you do not have consent.”
Sydney University
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Going for broke
The number of Australians who filed for bankruptcy surged last year amid record mortgages and lacklustre wage growth. More than 32,000 Australians went bankrupt in 2017, a 6.1 per cent rise from the prior year, according to new data released by credit information bureau illion. It comes after the number of bankrupted Australians rose 4.7 per cent in 2016, compared to 2015. “Consumer debt levels are rising steadily in Australia as a result of record mortgages and a surge in everyday essentials such as utilities, petrol and healthcare,” said illion chief executive Simon Bligh. “These factors, combined with weak wage growth, are putting pressure on the wallets of Australians.”
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‘I still believe’
As stars continue to distance themselves from Woody Allen, the director has found a staunch ally in long-time colleague Diane Keaton. “Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him. It might be of interest to take a look at the 60 Minutes interview from 1992 and see what you think,” she tweeted today, linking to the interview with Steve Kroft in which Allen discussed the allegations waged against him by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.
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Ticking bombs
State and federal governments will fail to meet almost 90 per cent of promised road safety improvements, sparking fresh demands to axe the $5 billion car tariff that has slowed the replacement of older, unsafe vehicles. A report by peak motoring body AAA shows only four of 33 safety targets agreed by state and federal transport ministers in the 2011-20 national road safety strategy are on track to be met. The safety strategy promised a 30 per cent reduction in road deaths and serious injuries in car accidents, but the road toll is down by just 14 per cent, and authorities failed to collect data to track improvements in the number of serious injuries.
“This analysis is a damning indictment of those who have been responsible for the strategy’s implementation since 2011, and reflects a disjointed, disorganised approach to road safety in this country.”
AAA chief executive Michael Bradley
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Sally forth
Sally McManus, the new ACTU secretary and a creature of the left, has come out with all guns blazing, writes Judith Sloan. Debate about what’s happening in the labour market and what it means for workers and the unemployed is worth having, but let it be based on facts rather than politically driven, baseless conjectures.
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The long read: Trump’s trade war
If sanctions follow tariffs, Australia could get caught in US-China crossfire, writes Cameron Stewart. The President last week fired the first salvos in what could eventually spiral into a full-blown trade war when he slapped steep tariffs on imports of washing machines (up to 50 per cent) and solar panels (30 per cent), a move that was directed mostly at China. But the real punch is yet to come. Very shortly, possibly within weeks, Trump is expected to unveil a long-threatened list of trade sanctions against China.
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Comment of the day
“In most countries it would be called sedition. Citizens whether they be black, white or yellow can’t publicly advocate social rebellion and violence.”
Ian, in response to ‘WAR activists ramp up calls to ‘burn this colony’’.
China’s great wall of silence
China deliberately concealed information about the coronavirus, and now it is fighting an inquiry. So what is Beijing hiding?
Your noon Briefing
Your 2-minute digest of the day’s top stories.