Category Archives: Australian politics

Albanese government warned it’s ‘sleepwalking into another robodebt scenario’ over use of algorithms and AI

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Centre for Public Integrity report says mandatory audit and public register of all automated decision-making needed

The federal government is “sleepwalking its way into another robodebt” scandal amid a lack of transparency and legislation around use of algorithms and artificial intelligence in decisions, the chief executive of independent thinktank the Centre for Public Integrity said.

Dr Catherine Williams launched the centre’s “Computer Says No” report on Thursday, which examines the use of automated decision-making (ADM) tools by the government and calls for urgent reform.

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Public service union refuses to back Labor at Victorian election, condemning job cuts and $1.2bn consultant spend

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Exclusive: Community and Public Sector Union denounces ‘privatisation by stealth’, joining growing number of unions turning on Carroll government

Victoria’s public servants union says it will not support Labor at this month’s state election, condemning the government for cutting public service jobs while spending $1.2bn on consultants.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) will announce the decision on Wednesday, joining several other unions that have refused to back Labor or are actively campaigning against the government ahead of the 28 November poll.

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Political leaders condemn ‘vicious’ alleged baseball bat attack on One Nation volunteer at his Victorian home

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Police confirm arrest of 37-year-old and 14-year-old boy over alleged assault in Torquay on Sunday night

Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the alleged assault of a One Nation volunteer with a baseball bat outside his home on Victoria’s Surf Coast.

Police on Tuesday confirmed they arrested a 37-year-old Hampton Park man and a 14-year-old boy over the incident, which occurred at a Torquay home on Sunday night.

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Disquiet grows in Albanese’s back yard as Grayndler artists unite against ‘insane’ AI proposal

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Inner west Sydney seat has long been safely held by the PM – but potential changes to copyright laws are angering its large creative community

The prime minister is facing growing discontent within his own electorate as creatives push back against the federal government’s proposal to allow AI companies to scrape everything Australians create online.

Anthony Albanese’s seat of Grayndler in Sydney’s inner west is home to more than 3,000 cultural and creative businesses, and 10% of its workers are employed in cultural and creative fields – compared with 4.2% nationally.

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Albanese looks for reset on world stage as ‘spot fires burn’ domestically and likely interest rate hike looms

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The prime minister will speak with King Charles and others at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Antigua and Barbuda

As “summit season” begins, reaffirming ties with fellow leaders on the world stage could be a circuit breaker for Anthony Albanese amid domestic and economic woes, analysts have said.

But a likely interest rate hike, triggered by higher-than-expected inflation, while the prime minister is overseas will make his job – and the treasurer’s – even harder.

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A top-secret spy mission, a decades-old scandal – and the Austin Powers-esque saga to lift the lid

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Rex Patrick’s latest transparency fight is over what he calls ‘most open secret in the history of Australian spying’ – maybe even the world

A campaign to uncover any documents relating to whether Australian spies bugged Timor-Leste to gain the upper hand in sensitive oil and gas negotiations will be a little less secret after a critical win by the former senator Rex Patrick.

The politician turned transparency advocate is trying to finally lift the lid on the top-secret mission in 2004 that became a public scandal years later after an ex-spy and a former attorney general attempted to mount a case in The Hague.

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Experts warn AI copyright changes could breach Australian constitution and spark huge compensation rights case

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Scraping copyrighted material from internet could ‘potentially’ amount to acquisition of property by government, Anne Twomey says

Altering copyright law to allow AI companies to scrape music, books and journalism could trigger a constitutional breach, Coalition senators and the recording industry have warned, as they raise new fears it could open Australia to massive legal action and compensation claims from rights holders worldwide.

The attorney general’s department admitted it was “extremely alive” to the issue, and Australia’s leading constitutional expert, Anne Twomey, agreed there was “potentially” a concern – depending how legislation was drafted – that granting AI companies permission to scrape copyrighted material from the internet could amount to an acquisition of property by the government.

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Antisemitism envoy proposes ‘external ombudsman’ to monitor ABC and SBS coverage of Israel and Middle East

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Jillian Segal says perception of link between coverage of conflicts and hostility towards Jewish Australians ‘is itself a matter of public importance’

The federal government’s antisemitism envoy has proposed an “external independent ombudsman” to monitor ABC and SBS coverage of the war in Gaza, and a requirement that all visa applicants be screened for “the risk of holding antisemitic views”.

In an updated plan released on Friday, Jillian Segal said Australia’s two public broadcasters should be subjected to greater oversight.

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Greens push for human override in aged care assessment after ombudsman’s scathing report into algorithm tool

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Investigation recommends government changes legislation so staff assessing people for home support packages can correct the outcome

The Greens leader, David Shoebridge, has used a scathing report from the commonwealth ombudsman to press the government to use the last two sitting weeks of parliament to restore human override to its “unfair” aged care assessment tool.

The 104-page ombudsman report, published on Monday, recommends the government change legislation so that aged care workers assessing older Australians for home support packages can amend the outcome when the algorithm-driven assessment tool makes an incorrect decision on funding.

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Guardian Essential poll: One Nation and Labor’s primary vote on par as discontent with Albanese rises

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Prime minister’s disapproval rating increases to 56%, the equal highest in Essential polls since he took the job in 2022

One Nation’s primary vote is back on par with Labor in the latest Guardian Essential poll, with Anthony Albanese’s public disapproval rising to its equal highest on record and more Australians than ever before believing the country is on the wrong track.

But Australians are still not convinced One Nation or the Coalition would do a better job than the current government, with Labor still the most trusted party on the economy and managing the country.

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AFP boss says politicians’ heated rhetoric is fuelling threats against MPs

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Commissioner Krissy Barrett says women are more often singled out, often with threats of sexual violence

Australia’s top federal law enforcement official has drawn a direct link between politicians’ rhetoric and threats and abuse being directed at leaders.

The safety of elected representatives at all levels has been thrown into the spotlight after independent MP Helen Haines was allegedly deliberate attacked outside her Wangaratta electoral office.

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Embattled Greens senator Jordon Steele-John confirms leave from parliament after allegations against him made public

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WA politician says he considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told it would be ‘unacceptable’

Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week as the embattled Greens senator apologises for publicly releasing the letter outlining the claims against him.

On Saturday afternoon, Steele-John removed a social media post containing a three-page letter marked as “confidential” sent to the Greens leader, David Shoebridge, earlier this month. The letter urged an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.

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Helen Haines’s condition improves days after losing both legs from alleged attack

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Independent MP now serious but stable, according to update from Melbourne’s Alfred hospital

Independent MP Helen Haines’s condition has been downgraded to serious but stable after she lost both legs following an alleged attack near her electorate office in north-east Victoria on Monday afternoon.

The Alfred hospital in Melbourne provided an update on Haines’s condition on Saturday morning.

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Jordon Steele-John’s position remains in limbo as Greens prepare for moment in spotlight

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David Shoebridge’s newly-minted leadership under pressure over handling of misconduct allegations as Senate estimates looms

More than a week after allegations that Greens senator Jordon Steele-John had behaved inappropriately towards women made headlines, his position in the party remains in limbo and its new leader’s handling of the issue in question.

David Shoebridge’s first major challenge at the helm of the federal Greens came earlier this month when the Nine newspapers reported a three-page letter had been sent to him urging an independent investigation into Steele-John.

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Nationals leader Matt Canavan eyes move to lower house as pollster warns of One Nation wipeout

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Michelle Landry announces she will not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia at the next election

Matt Canavan could attempt a switch to the House of Representatives after a colleague announced her looming retirement, as a leading pollster said the Nationals leader had a “zero per cent” chance of holding his Senate seat if the One Nation polling surge remains unchanged.

Veteran National MP Michelle Landry on Friday announced she would not recontest her Queensland seat of Capricornia, around Rockhampton, at the next election.

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‘Nunchucks’ wielded by agitated man in Hannah Beazley’s office may have been drumsticks, court told

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John Lawrence Smart charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear but Perth lawyer expresses concern for mental health

A man accused of making threats while armed with “improvised nunchucks” at a Western Australian MP’s electorate office could have been holding a musical instrument, not a weapon, a court has been told.

John Lawrence Smart appeared on Thursday in the WA magistrates court where his lawyer expressed concern for his mental health. He was not required to enter a plea.

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Soft-spoken David Pocock has big ambitions – but first he wants politicians to ‘double down’ on kindness

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Independent senator’s goals ‘much bigger’ than prime ministership, he reveals in first speech to National Press Club

He’s six foot tall and full of muscle, but David Pocock’s real strength is often sounding like the most sensible, commonsense voice in the room.

At his first speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, he said he wasn’t launching a bid for prime minister – no matter how much some people might like the softly spoken senator to have more say in federal politics.

A 25% tax on gas exports, which he said could fund anything from boosting welfare to health reforms and aged care.

A 5% levy on datacentres to capture more benefits from the AI boom.

Transparency reforms to shine a light on lobbyists, secret meetings with politicians and vested interests.

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Brendan Nugent facing three charges over alleged attack on MP Helen Haines

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Victoria police arrested the 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Monday afternoon after the incident in Wangaratta

Helen Haines’ alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally cause serious injury and the commonwealth offence of causing harm to a commonwealth public official.

He will be held overnight to appear at Wangaratta magistrates court on Wednesday, Victoria police confirmed in a statement, adding that it would be alleged the attack was targeted.

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Jordon Steele-John says ‘I’m not on leave’ and accuses Greens leader of making ‘bad call’ regarding complaints

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Greens senator for WA says complaints regarding his behaviour towards women not about ‘accountability’ but rather ‘factionalism’

Jordon Steele-John has accused an internal faction within the Greens of playing “nasty political games” and the leader, David Shoebridge, of pressuring him to take leave after complaints about his conduct were made public last week.

The 32-year-old Greens senator released a six-page statement on Sunday night after Nine newspapers reported last week that seven party members had demanded an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.

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Indigenous woman shackled to hospital bed while in labour in Queensland

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Birth happens days before Labor and Coalition block bill to ban ‘barbaric practice’ of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth

An incarcerated Indigenous woman was shackled to a hospital bed in Queensland while she was in labour last weekend, an advocacy group has said.

The birth happened just days before Labor and the Coalition blocked a bill to ban the “barbaric practice” of shackling incarcerated women during childbirth.

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