Written by Kotori Tayama-Gannon

Australian Coalition splits as Greens elect new leader

The Australian Liberal-National coalition has split after an 80-year partnership, following the 2025 federal election loss.

Queensland Senator Larissa Waters has been elected leader of the Australian Greens, unopposed, following Adam Bandt’s loss of the seat of Melbourne to Labor in the recent federal election. A former environmental lawyer, Waters has vowed to prioritise policy action on climate change, housing, cost of living, women’s health and nature conservation.

 Meta announces updates for advertisers and creators

Meta has rolled out a number of features aimed at boosting brand visibility and improving creator collaborations across its platforms.

 Key updates include Trending Reel Ads on Instagram that allows companies to align their ads with top-performing content, and enhanced Creator Marketplace tools that highlight trending topics and display creator performance metrics like hook-rate and interaction rate.

 AI-driven content recommendations have expanded to Facebook, making it easier for brands to identify high-performing organic posts to amplify through Partnership Ads. Additionally, video ads are being tested on Threads, offering autoplay placements between organic content, while Facebook Live Partnership Ads allow brands to boost creator livestreams.

 Meta is also introducing AI-powered video resizing on Facebook Reels, simplifying cross-platform content scaling without reshooting.

 Monthly news readership is 22.4 million in Australia

New research from Roy Morgan reveals that 22.4 million Australians consume news content each month, amounting to almost 86 per cent of the nation’s population.

 The findings show that 55 per cent of Australians engage with four or more content categories beyond breaking news. General news reached 96 per cent of the audience, followed by other popular categories including property, sport, entertainment and culture.

 Reading remains the most common form of engagement, with the Sydney Morning Herald leading as the most-read title, attracting 9.1 million monthly viewers. The data highlights a significant opportunity for advertisers to connect with engaged audiences through trusted news publications.

 AI reshaping marketing and advertising industries

The AI and Creativity report by DA&D shows that 75 per cent of digital marketers now use AI daily, with tech-driven curiosity continuing to shape the industry’s future.

 However, human creativity remains irreplaceable – emotional nuance, aesthetic judgements and compelling storytelling are aspects AI cannot fully replicate. Similarly, while AI enables faster, more efficient experimentation, human oversight remains essential to ensure quality and relevance in the final output. As always, transparency is key.

 As AI adoption accelerates, ethical concerns around authorship, attribution and consent have come to the forefront. Companies must prioritise authenticity and clearly communicate their policies around AI use to maintain trust and integrity amongst their clients.