Category Archives: Labor party

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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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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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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Anne Aly reveals she has received 19 death threats in the last week alone

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After an opposition MP says she should be ‘shamed and stoned’, the federal minister hits back at ‘racist and misogynistic’ language

Anne Aly has condemned as “racist” and “misogynistic” comments in parliament calling for her to be “stoned in the square” – while revealing she has received 19 death threats in the last week alone.

The Gold Coast Liberal National MP Angie Bell, the member for Moncrieff, told the House of Representatives that Aly, the small business minister, and the prime minister should be “shamed and stoned in the square” over a decision made by the tax office.

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Guardian Essential poll: Coalition’s primary vote sinks to lowest ever as majority support hardline immigration ideas

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More than half of Australians want to see the country’s migrant intake lowered while One Nation’s primary vote climbs to 25%

The Coalition has failed to capitalise on growing criticism of Labor, with the opposition stuck at its lowest-ever primary vote in the Guardian Essential poll.

The poll also shows more than half of all Australians want immigration cut and have voiced support for hardline enforcement, such as forced deportation.

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Australia news live: Anthony Albanese says OpenAI agent hacked Medicare

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Anthony Albanese has revealed an artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI hacked Medicare in June.

The prime minister made the comments at the UN summit in New York.

This incident occurred in June this year and involved an Open AI agent gaining unauthorised access into the public-facing Medicare statistics reporting service portal, which is administered by Services Australia.

The AI agent accessed both public and non-public files.

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Australia news live: Chalmers says ‘monetised misogyny’ online fuelling DV; Greens say triple-zero run for ‘profits of corporations’

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Jim Chalmers was also asked earlier if the government would support a national royal commission into violence against women and children. He said the government had chosen to increase resourcing for child and family violence and domestic violence, adding to the ABC:

We’re trying to deal with the sources of all of this violence, whether it be more security in the housing system, whether it be the monetised misogyny that we see online – there are a whole range of factors feeding in here.

We do acknowledge that all of this violence is obviously entirely unacceptable. It’s horrific in every way. That’s why we’ve increased the resources and that’s why we all need to do better to do everything we can to make a difference here.

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Victorian Labor promises new offences to close domestic and family violence ‘loopholes’

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Premier Ben Carroll vows to legislate new form of manslaughter and increase maximum penalty for rape to life imprisonment

A re-elected Victorian Labor government will create two new Australian-first offences aimed at closing “loopholes” it says have allowed perpetrators of family violence to escape punishment.

On Sunday, the premier, Ben Carroll, will announce an election commitment to legislate a new form of manslaughter covering cases in which a person takes their own life as a result of family violence, as well as a new offence covering perpetrators abandoning a victim in need of medical care.

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Health officials in turmoil over 11th-hour backflip on aged care algorithm override powers, emails reveal

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Ministers given emergency briefing about changes to algorithm decisions just three days before tool rollout

Senior health department officials were in turmoil before the rollout of an algorithm to determine funding packages for older Australians, after discovering legislation had been drafted so rigidly that the tool could not legally be overridden by aged care assessors.

Emails published under freedom of information (FoI) by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing show that, despite assessors long receiving reassurance from the department that they would have powers to change incorrect algorithm decisions, officials realised at the 11th hour this would violate proposed regulations.

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‘Small price to pay’: The young homeowners welcoming falling house prices even as it hurts them

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Some buyers say they are ready to absorb the fallout of housing weakness if it means boosting home ownership across the board

Falling property prices have come at the worst possible time for Alex Hogan and his partner. They are now weighing up whether they can afford to have another child.

Locked out of the established housing market, the Queensland couple resorted to buying a block of land to build a family home.

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Dementia patients warned off seeking home care in case Australia’s aged care algorithm cuts funding

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Exclusive: FoI documents show senior health officials were warned of concerns about assessment tool weeks after it launched

People with dementia were warned not to apply for home support because of fears their care would be downgraded by the government’s aged care algorithm.

Documents released to Guardian Australia under freedom of information (FoI) laws reveal the warnings came within weeks of the November rollout of the algorithm, which is used to determine funding packages and priority of need for older Australians requiring home support.

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Albanese says ABC ‘should do better’ after it revealed his membership of golf club given $6m grant

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Funding from $560m invitation-only scheme prompts calls to make grant rules more transparent

Anthony Albanese has claimed he did not know he was a member of his local golf club when his government gave it $6m for renovations, accusing the ABC of inappropriate reporting.

The money came from an opaque $560m invitation-only grants scheme to fund projects Labor promised at the 2025 election, largely for Labor-held seats, prompting calls to make grant rules more transparent.

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News live: parents of Australian surfers killed in Mexico fly in for trial; Labor pressured to toughen lobbying rules

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Anniversary of death of last known Tasmanian tiger

It’s National Threatened Species Day today. Many papers have run full-page ads from a range of conservation organisations noting that it is the anniversary of the death of the last Tasmanian tiger – the last known one, that is.

We remain committed to long-term environmental recovery, in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups, wildlife experts and local communities.

We are making good progress towards our target of protecting 30% of Australia’s land, to preserve vital habitat for our precious species.

It’s not clear if there’s a human who can actually apply a common-sense overlay to these decisions. And it’s not clear how you can review these if they’re made by a computer.

So the bill that I’m introducing today would actually create a mandatory framework that applies whenever government is using an automated system to make a decision that affects people’s significant rights and would require those three things to be addressed: transparency, human oversight, and review.

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Up to 6,000 tradies to get free qualifications under Labor scheme – as it happened

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Duniam targets ‘frivolous’ asylum seeker claims

The opposition is “very close” to “having a full migration package”, Duniam says. He says they’re willing to work with the government and that illegal overstayers must be deported.

We spend more per student per year than we ever have before and we’ve got declining standards across the board, and the problem with the curriculum is we have left foundations behind.

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News live: dozens of Australians believed to be among hundreds of foreign tourists missing in Nepal flash floods

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Powerful floods in Himalayan border area sweep away houses, roads and bridges. Follow today’s news live

Dfat aware of a ‘number’ of Australians in flood zone

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said it is aware of a “number” of Australians in the area affected by the flooding, saying officials stand ready to provide consular assistance.

We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by the significant flooding in Nepal and Tibet, China.

Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.

We are deeply saddened by the devastating flooding in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and surrounding areas.

Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster. We express our solidarity with the people of Nepal during this difficult time.

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Swans fans turn up to support women’s team – as it happened

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Victorian Labor expands on free dental care election promise

The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, and health minister, Ingrid Stitt, have held a press conference this morning off the back of their announcement yesterday that the Labor government would open 10 free public dental clinics if re-elected in November.

You can’t use a Medicare card for dental unless you’ve got a healthcare card or you are a category of a particular citizen, it is very difficult … I’ve been visiting a lot of dentists over the past few weeks. There [are] waiting lists. People are in enormous, unbearable pain.

This will be a cost of living measure but it will also make sure that we deal with the healthcare of some of the most vulnerable Victorians. This is really going to fill the gap that’s been there for decades.

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Victorian Labor promises free dental care if re-elected in Australia-first move

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Premier Ben Carroll says $230m would be earmarked for 10 public dental clinics to operate on a walk-in basis

Victorians would be able to walk into a dental clinic and receive free checkups and treatment under an Australian-first proposal the Labor government will take to the November state election.

The premier, Ben Carroll, will announce the plan – Labor’s first major election commitment – at a rally on Saturday to mark fewer than 100 days until Victorians go to the polls.

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Former Liberal MP condemns Coalition for backing gambling reforms that ‘let down’ vulnerable Australians

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Jenny Ware, member of inquiry that recommended wagering advertising ban, says ‘public health crisis’ demands stronger response from major parties

The former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has condemned her one-time Coalition colleagues for backing Labor’s gambling legislation, claiming “vulnerable Australians have been let down”, as the parliament failed to back a full ban on wagering ads.

Ware, a member of the Peta Murphy-led inquiry in 2023 that recommended entirely ending wagering advertising and inducements, called gambling a public health crisis that demanded a much stronger response from both sides of politics.

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Peta Murphy called for gambling reform three years ago. Her husband says Labor’s changes fall ‘well short’

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The government’s gambling ad changes are expected to pass the Senate on Wednesday night or Thursday morning with the Coalition’s support

The husband of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy has said the government’s gambling reform “falls well short” of what she called for in 2023, lamenting that its shortcomings were due to the “considerable lobbying power” of the wagering, sporting and media industries.

Rod Glover said he had “mixed emotions” about Labor’s reforms, which are expected to pass parliament by Thursday, praising Anthony Albanese and minister Anika Wells for changes he said would reduce harms. But he said reform had taken too long and could have gone even further in meeting Murphy’s recommendations, which called for a full ban on gambling ads and inducements.

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Controversial NDIS bill passes Senate with ‘substantial’ amendments as Labor and Coalition strike deal

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David Pocock says legislation still includes ‘indiscriminate cut’ impacting thousands of participants but will pass lower house on Wednesday

The government’s controversial NDIS bill will pass after “substantial” amendments were agreed to in a deal between Labor and the Coalition, with some of the changes attracting heavy criticism from the Greens, the ACT senator David Pocock and the disability community.

Sixty-three government amendments across both houses were introduced as part of backroom deals to pass the bill in the upper house on Tuesday night, the NDIS ministers, Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister, revealed.

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