The Brief · Aug 18

- Hospital admissions for methamphetamine in the ACT jumped 85 percent in one year as drug deaths mount. - An ICAC investigation alleges a Liberal powerbroker diverted hundreds of thousands from Catholic Schools NSW to support a political faction. - Demand from data centres is accelerating wind farm construction in the Hunter region to meet rising energy needs. - Australian farm production reached $101.4 billion by 2025-26, driven largely by surging livestock prices. - A Labor MP and an Animal Justice Party MP welcomed a baby together, bridging sharp partisan divides. - A new triathlon training hub opened on the Gold Coast to develop elite athletes for the 2032 Olympics. - H5 bird flu has spread through Australia, with the first confirmed death recorded in a little penguin. - A 33-centimetre maintenance light was discovered left inside a Qantas A380's wing after multiple passenger flights.