Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are the latest headlines affecting Australia?
A listener production.
Hi, Helen Smith here with you. Welcome to The Briefing. Is Australian sport headed for a mental health reckoning? The fallout of the Elijah Hollands incident in the AFL last week has a lot of people questioning how the mental wellbeing of players should be handled.
Elijah wasn't moving like he was at his peak in terms of physical presentation. The situation seems to be that his mental health impacted on his ability to physically get himself into the game as a professional footballer.
So who is to blame and should the AFL or the club be held accountable? That's coming up in the second half of this episode. First, though, let's get into the headlines with Sasha Barbagat. It's Wednesday, the 22nd of April.
Chapter 2: What happened during the Elijah Hollands incident in the AFL?
Hey, Helen, hopes of ceasefire talks happening between the US and Iran are fading as Vice President J.D. Vance's trip to Pakistan is called off, according to a US official. Both countries have warned they are prepared to resume fighting if a new truce is not reached. The current ceasefire is set to end tomorrow morning, our time.
However, US President Donald Trump has cautioned that he could change his mind at any minute, saying in a phone interview with CNBC that a deal could be reached, but also that the US military is ready to go if one isn't.
What I think is that we're going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice. We've taken out their Navy, we've taken out their Air Force. Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with.
It comes as a senior Iranian commander threatens to destroy the region's oil industry if the war with the US continues. They've told Iranian media it would be a mistake to carry out aggression against Iran and that if southern neighbours allow the enemy to use their facilities to attack Iran, they should say goodbye to oil production in the Middle East region.
Iranian officials have also doubled down on their stance that the US blockade of Iranian ports was an act of war and therefore a violation of the ceasefire. Now, Trump's war on Iran has upset a lot of his supporters and voters, including a very vocal one, Tucker Carlson. He says that he regrets backing Donald Trump and is tormented by it.
He's also admitted to misleading his supporters and has called for a moment to wrestle with our own consequences.
You and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now. We'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I'm sorry for Misleading people was not intentional. That's all I'll say.
That was Carlson there speaking on the Tucker Carlson show with his brother, Buckley Carlson, who was actually a former Trump speechwriter.
Yeah, this is exactly what we saw the other week. I don't know if you saw this, Helen. Joe Rogan, the podcaster, and Theo Vaughn, also a podcaster, they were both instrumental in helping get Donald Trump elected because of the huge platforms they have and the people they talk to. Both of them saying in response to the Iran stuff that they're not sure that they still do support him.
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Chapter 3: How does mental health impact athletes in high-pressure sports?
And that growth just continues to accelerate into the 2030s up to almost $100 billion. Now, as part of these reforms, the government is hoping to stifle that growth. and they want to keep it to between 5% and 6% annually.
So a move to tighten eligibility rules for children under 18 and move them towards the Thriving Kids program, which is designed to support children with autism and developmental delays, is hoped to curb the growing costs of the scheme.
While new rules to force providers to undertake character tests are designed to weed out dodgy operators carrying out mass fraud in the sector. And this comes amid revelations that organised crime groups have infiltrated the NDIS and are using coercion and cash kickbacks to participants to launder money.
Undoubtedly, there's big changes that need to be made with the scheme, Helen. But There is, of course, criticism as well, and that is coming from disabled Australians who have expressed their fear at having their services cut. So many rely on the NDIS for support, for critical support in living day to day.
There are calls for the government to focus on making the scheme more efficient by reducing bureaucracy rather than cutting eligibility to save money. They say that they're a better way we can make savings on this scheme. Now, the government says, you know, they understand that there is that fear, but they have to reduce spending on the scheme or risk it collapsing.
The federal government has been urged to protect Chinese international students after one was reportedly sentenced to six years in jail for joining pro-democracy protests whilst in Australia. According to The Guardian, the student whose identity is being protected hadn't been in contact with friends in Sydney after returning to China in December 2024.
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Chapter 4: Who is responsible for player mental health in professional sports?
His family in Australia later confirming the student was arrested and charged with secession for participating in protests in Sydney, including two solidarity protests for China's ethnic minorities.
He reportedly went on trial ahead of China's introduction of the ethnic unity law. Now, Human Rights Watch says his arrest could be part of a broader political repression targeting Chinese international students who arrived in Australia and other Western countries after the 2022 white paper protests.
So these protests saw hundreds of young people in several cities in China rallying against harsh COVID lockdown measures holding up white paper. This is A really interesting one we heard recently, workers of Hungry Panda, one of the delivery apps here in Australia, being targeted by the Chinese government here, threatening phone calls for joining protests in Australia.
So this is definitely a space that we're seeing China move in more and more. So a really interesting story this morning of this student ending up serving jail time back home.
The defamation case against rebel Wilson is continuing in Sydney's federal court with messages from her crisis PR team shown describing the actress as effing nuts. To recap, Wilson is being sued by the lead of her film The Deb, Charlotte McInnes, over comments she allegedly made about an incident between McInnes and film producer Amanda Ghost.
McInnes claims Wilson fabricated a story about Ghost mistreating her in September 2023 and posted it publicly on her Instagram.
So in day two of proceedings yesterday, the private messages between colleagues of the agency group, which was a crisis PR agency hired by Wilson, were submitted as evidence. Now the court also heard the Aussie actress asked the team to publish a website that accused Ghost of being, quote, the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell.
And as part of the case, McInnes is also accusing Wilson of organising this website with false and malicious claims about her and Ghost.
The comedian wasn't in court yesterday and will deny her posts were defamatory. Hearings are set to continue for the next eight days.
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Chapter 5: What reforms are being proposed for the NDIS in Australia?
How do I make this known to club officials? Was it, oh, he'll be right. We'll just keep playing. You know, do you think this exposes that that culture is still well and truly alive within Australian sport?
It appears to be that that culture still exists. There are many players, you've just got to look at head knocks and how some players will say, no, I'm okay, leave me to stay on. But the AFL has implemented that they must be taken off and tested, which I think is a good thing. I do believe that that kind of attitude amongst male professional sports people is dissipating somewhat.
I believe that the awareness has been raised, particularly around mental health, that, you know, it is something that's real and a lot of people suffer from it and that it is something that you as an individual should be aware of could happen to yourself and that it is not a weak thing or it's not a bad thing that you need to seek support should you not be feeling 100% mentally.
Is that something in the broader society? Yes. Has the AFL or the professional, particularly football leagues, caught up with the broader society? No, I think it still lags a little bit behind. I think there is still a little bit of that culture of, I'll keep driving on, I'll keep going through. I'm sure I'll be right in the end kind of approach.
And that may exist also amongst the kind of team ethic. You know, we need you now. I know you're not feeling 100%, but we really need you now to help us get over the line. So I think from those perspectives, there's still a lot of work that can be done within professional sports and particularly within the AFL.
But I definitely think the awareness has grown significantly over the last 10, 15 years.
So to your professor, Robert Gill, thanks so much for joining us on the briefing today.
It's a pleasure.
That was expert in sport media and branding, Associate Professor Robert Gill speaking with me there. And if this chat has brought up any issues for you, remember you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Men's Line Australia can be contacted on 1300 789 978. And for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there's the crisis support line 13 Yarn. That is all for this episode of The Briefing.
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