Coles drought-relief milk slammed, ANZ fires 200 staff since grilling, and more top news

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Coles is under fire for its drought-relief milk levy after commentators called it an "empty media stunt". The supermarket announced 30c of every Coles-brand 3L milk would be donated to farmers but Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud said there was no guarantee funds would go back to the farmers as that they had to apply for grants under the scheme. Coles said it was "disappointing that the minister has chosen to criticise Coles – which has already committed over $12m for drought relief”.

ANZ has fired 200 staff since the Banking Royal Commission revealed unethical behaviour. Bank chief executive Shayne Elliott told a parliamentary committee that dismissed staff included senior executives, saying: "In the past, ANZ has not focused sufficiently on formally holding executives to account for failures that harm customers." Elliott also apologised to customers and invited them to contact him directly on his email address [email protected], promising a personal reply after the bank charged customers for services that were never delivered.

Staff at celebrity chef Neil Perry’s restaurants have been underpaid a collective $1.6m. A spokesman said Perry was was "keen to resolve" what he called payroll issues at Rockpool Dining Group which owns the high-end Rockpool restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth as well as other restaurants. Earlier this year, the Fair Work Ombudsman launched investigations into several high-profile eateries over claims of underpayment and non-payment of penalty rates.

Demand for emu eggs is skyrocketing with interest from restaurants, bodybuilders and retirees. One dark green emu egg is equivalent to eight chicken eggs and one seller alone sold 500 in the first week while South Australian farmer Bev Tuner told The ABC she couldn’t keep up with demand from high-end restaurants in Melbourne as well as TV shows like Survivor. The eggs would have otherwise been waste produce as the industry’s main purpose was to breed emus and only specific eggs were incubated.

Need to commit something to memory? Switch fonts. Researchers at RMIT University have developed a font that’s intentionally challenging to read, with slants and gaps, helping readers better retain the information they’re consuming. The font, called Sans Forgetica, takes advantage of a concept called “desirable difficulty,” the idea that minor mental obstacles force the brain to pause and better ingest information. The trick only goes so far, though: Once we grow accustomed to the gaps and slants, we’ll breeze right through as if we’re reading normal, everyday fonts.

Idea of the Day: Ever noticed how sometimes your best ideas pop up when you’re relaxed? It’s your subconscious communicating with your conscious mind, says Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio.

“Many people only see the conscious mind and aren’t aware of the benefits of connecting it to the subconscious… While it may seem counterintuitive, clearing your head can be the best way to make progress.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Cayla Dengate