We farewell two Australian icons, debate the role of ties in parliament, get pranked with pork and chart the rise of BeReal.

The past week has been quite the rollercoaster, filled with plenty of debate, fundraising, as well as some sad news.

We said goodbye to two trailblazing women in the creative industries. Judith Durham, lead singer of The Seekers – the first Australian pop group to chart in the UK and USA – and Dame Olivia Newton-John sadly passed this week.

In addition to her musical triumphs, Newton-John is remembered for championing cancer research. Our thoughts are with the families of these two amazing women.

The internet got pranked by the Director of France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Étienne Klein. Etienne tweeted an image that he claimed was of Proxima Centauri, and later revealed was a close-up of a slice of chorizo.

Klein later urged followers to “learn to be wary of the arguments from positions of authority as much as the spontaneous eloquence of certain images.”

We have also been watching the first sitting of Federal Parliament under a Labor government and have not been disappointed.

New Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, while speaking on social housing schemes, was interrupted by Nationals MP Pat Conaghan who was affronted by his “state of undress”… Chander-Mather was not wearing a tie.

This has sparked conversation across multiple media channels regarding men’s dress code in parliament. We haven’t seen this level of interest in government menswear since Phillip Ruddock’s tan Safari Suit in 2015 or Don Dunstan’s pink short shorts in 1972.

Frankly, the IMPACT team is glad to see the fashion evolution.

John Barilaro graced our screens, and the Trade Commission, to answer questions regarding his role in the appointment of one-time staffer, and now partner, Jennifer Lugsdin as media adviser at Investment NSW.

The media – and our team – had little compassion for Barilaro, who has described himself as a “victim”, and the Commission’s investigation as his “personal hell”.

In Social Media news, BeReal has hit 1.4M downloads in Australia, making it the fastest growing app in the country.

At various times throughout the day, BeReal prompts users to post an image, giving them only two minutes to do so. If Instagram is your personal highlight reel, BeReal is the outtakes, and it’s this lack of curation that is currently captivating Gen Zs.

Twitter is finally bringing in an edit feature – but only for subscribers to Twitter Blue. We’ll be interested to see if the subscription model lands for the platform’s user base.

In team news, our Content Director, Haylee, will be running the City2Surf this weekend to raise money for Beyond Blue. IMPACT is proud to donate to this important charity.