Man, 48, to spend at least 10 months behind bars after AFP’s first seizure of such AI content in state’s history
A Tasmanian man has been jailed for at least 10 months after police found hundreds of files depicting child abuse – including content generated using artificial intelligence – on his computer.
The 48-year-old Gravelly Beach man was jailed for two years, with a non-parole period of 10 months, in the supreme court in Tasmania on Tuesday.
Continue reading...A 12-year industry roadmap has been unveiled to address the rising amount of solar panel waste headed for the tip
The solar industry is quickly approaching its tipping point, with unprecedented levels of waste headed for the tip.
Solar panel waste levels will reach a crisis point in the next two to three years instead of by 2030, as was previously forecast, according to a white paper released this week.
Continue reading...Mohammed Almassri says after months of seeking urgent help, Dfat has told him the family will be evacuated from Rafah on Saturday or Sunday
The Sydney father whose Australian children are living in a tent in Gaza has been told his family will be evacuated from the war-torn Palestinian enclave over the weekend.
Late on Thursday, after four months of requesting urgent help for his family, Mohammed Almassri, 43, was contacted by a Dfat case worker and told his three children and wife would be evacuated from Rafah on Saturday or Sunday, he said. His mother’s request to leave was not approved, he said.
Continue reading...Lee Jong-sup is being investigated over allegations he tried to improperly influence an inquiry into death of marine while he was defence minister
South Korea’s ambassador to Australia resigned on Friday as questions about his appointment while he is under a corruption investigation battered President Yoon Suk Yeol’s ruling party less than two weeks from a closely fought parliamentary election.
Lee Jong-sup, who was appointed ambassador to Australia just four weeks ago, is being investigated over allegations he tried to improperly influence a probe into the death of a marine last year while he was defence minister.
Continue reading...Tyrrell worked as Lambie’s office manager for years before being elected to the upper house in 2022
Firebrand senator Jacqui Lambie has wished Tammy Tyrrell well after she announced her decision to quit the Tasmanian’s network and go it alone on the crossbench.
In a statement released on Thursday evening, the senator revealed she had resigned from the Jacqui Lambie Network and would remain in the upper.
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Continue reading...Victoria police launch investigation after Indigenous star posts CCTV footage on Instagram and states ‘Aboriginal kids deserve to be able to play safely’
Victoria police are investigating after Indigenous AFL great Eddie Betts shared footage of children being racially abused in their own yard while stating “we are not even safe in our own homes”.
Betts shared security camera footage on social media on Thursday night showing a white car driving down a street before slowing down in front of a home. A person then yells out racial slurs.
Continue reading...Victoria police say victim of Glenroy shooting was known to them and had a criminal record
Police are treating the fatal shooting of a man at a strip of shops in Melbourne’s north as a targeted attack.
The man was shot dead in a car park outside shops on Justin Avenue at Glenroy just after 4.30am on Good Friday.
Continue reading...Calm outlook for Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney follows extreme bouts of dry and warm weather across south and west of country
A spectacular Easter long weekend is expected for much of Australia, with warm and sunny conditions forecast for most capitals before rain reaches the eastern states at the start of next week.
Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney can all expect warm and sunny weather during the long weekend.
Continue reading...Former PM, who took on five extra ministries in secret, tells Olympian Sam Fricker that listeners might say ‘Oh, I didn’t think you were that humble’
The former prime minister Scott Morrison has declared himself more into humility than power, detailing in a lengthy post-politics interview how the Aukus submarine deal was sealed and that the Quad regional dialogue was dreamed up over dinner.
Speaking on champion diver Sam Fricker’s Diving Deep podcast – a series of interviews with “high performers” – Morrison reflects on his time in office, the pressures facing prime ministers and how he approached the job.
Continue reading...Company says TGA regulations prevented it from responding to incorrect claims about its vaccine in 2021
AstraZeneca has called for reforms to Australia’s rules around discussion of medicines, saying public confusion over its Covid vaccine was created because the company was restricted in explaining health warnings by the nation’s medicines regulator.
The call is contained in more than 2,000 submissions to the federal government’s inquiry into Australia’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading...Greens immigration spokesperson says bill expands ministerial power to reverse protection findings and deport people previously granted asylum
Labor’s “draconian” deportation bill expands ministerial powers to reverse protection findings, meaning refugees could be stripped of their status and deported, the Greens and lawyers have warned.
The controversial provision in the legislation delayed by the Senate this week could see a grandmother who fled Chile under Gen Augusto Pinochet’s bloody dictatorship forced to cooperate with deportation, Human Rights for All director Alison Battisson said.
Continue reading...The party whip says she plans to stay in the Senate as an independent after Lambie suggested she should ‘go it alone’
The Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell says she is quitting the Jacqui Lambie Network, but plans to stay in the Senate as an independent, saying the party leader had suggested her former party mate “go it alone”.
“Today I have advised the Jacqui Lambie Network that I am resigning from the party. I’ll remain in the Senate as an independent Senator for Tasmania,” the 53-year-old said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Dfat official said there was ‘precious nothing in the public domain’ on claims against aid agency hours before pause announced
Australian officials scrambled to “understand what the allegations are” against Unrwa staff and complained of “precious nothing in the public domain” hours before the government suspended funding to the “vital” aid agency.
New documents obtained by Guardian Australia show how the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade rushed to gather information after Israel alleged 12 Unrwa staffers were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.
Continue reading...Prime minister Anthony Albanese says China’s duties on Australian bottled wine will come to an end from Friday
China has dropped tariffs on Australian wine, a long-awaited decision heralded by the Albanese government as validation of its “calm and consistent approach” with the superpower on a series of controversial trade disputes.
In a statement on Thursday the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, foreign minister, Penny Wong, and trade minister, Don Farrell, said they had been informed that from Friday, China’s duties on Australian bottled wine would come to an end. Australia would, in turn, discontinue its legal proceedings in the World Trade Organization, the government said.
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Local MP says government ‘had to do something’ about ‘weeks of unrest’ in Alice Springs
MP for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, says the government “had to do something” when asked if a youth curfew, imposed for Alice Springs from last night, was necessary.
That’s culminated in some of the riotous behaviours that we’ve seen played out in the streets of Alice Springs, which over a number of weeks, has gotten increasingly worse. The government had to do something.
Continue reading...Admission of girls to the private school will proceed despite almost 800 former students voting out alumni union president Alexander Pagonis
The president of Newington college’s alumni union has been voted out of his position amid the continuing fracas over the school’s decision to admit girls.
The vote does not stop the school’s progress toward becoming co-educational, a decision made by the school council, which is distinct from the Old Newingtonian Union (ONU) council, an alumni network.
Continue reading...Decision announced on eve of Easter long weekend following weeks of controversy over Jackson’s former work as a journalist
The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, has backflipped on her decision to appoint former Network Seven producer Steve Jackson as her media adviser.
Questions about the appointment were raised last week when images of Jackson, who produced Seven’s Spotlight interview with Bruce Lehrmann, began circulating in the media industry in Sydney. Seven paid more than $100,000 in rent for the former Liberal staffer in return for the exclusive interview.
Continue reading...Greens attack the legislation, now the subject of a Senate inquiry, as a ‘Trump-style travel ban’
Entire countries could be blacklisted from obtaining visas to Australia under proposed legislation that has been described by migrant groups as “appalling” and by the Greens as a “Trump-style travel ban”.
The legislation – that will now be subject to a six-week Senate inquiry – could affect applicants from Russia, Iran, Iraq and South Sudan, as well as other countries unnamed by the government, that refuse to accept the forcible return of their nationals.
Continue reading...Publishers and politicians are siding against Meta and urging the government to force the company to pay for news
Meta will either reduce the amount of news people see or block it entirely on Facebook and Instagram, experts and publishers warn, as the government faces pressure to require Meta to show news content and pay for it.
Meta informed publishers nearly a month ago that it would not enter new multimillion-dollar deals for content when the current contracts expire this year. Since then the Albanese government has kicked off a process to potentially designate the tech company under the news media bargaining code (NMBC).
Continue reading...‘If ever there was a perfect case-study of the negative impacts on taxpayers of privatisation of strategic public assets, Eraring is it’, Tim Buckley says
New South Wales may end up paying $150m a year to subsidise the extension of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant, money better spent accelerating the take-up of rooftop solar with storage, Tim Buckley, an energy analyst said.
It comes as the Labor government will on Thursday announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Australia, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, travelling to the Hunter region to spruik the government’s new Net Zero Economy Authority.
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