Treasurer says alleged deepfake incident at school ‘absolutely terrifying’
Jim Chalmers said that allegations of deepfakes depicting 50 female students from a school in Victoria that had circulated online was “absolutely terrifying”.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, said:
I think all Australians will see these kinds of developments and see them as worse than confronting – absolutely terrifying.
We’ve all got to work together – the tech companies, governments at every level, parents, and the broader Australian community. We can’t see these kinds of developments doing such damage to the mental health of our kids, the prospects of our kids.
And so, we’re doing a lot of work. My colleagues are doing a lot of work trialling things like age verification technology to make sure that we can tighten up where that’s possible to do so. And we need to work with, and we need the help of, the big tech companies as we go about that really important work.
Key events
Dutton says Albanese pursuing 2030 targets ‘to get all the backslaps from Trudeau and Macron’
Peter Dutton has also defended the opposition’s decision not to announce 2030 emission reduction targets ahead of the next election.
It’s okay for Mr Albanese to want to feel popular and get all the backslaps from Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron at the Paris conferences. The prime minister’s responsibilities [are] actually to the Australian public and as prime minister, I would make decisions which help us meet our international obligations, but which don’t destroy small businesses and impose a huge cost increases in electricity bills on Australian families.
On Tuesday Dutton followed a similar line of argument, stating “the Labor party can try and please people in Paris”. My colleague Daniel Hurst pointed out that this is similar to what Donald Trump said when announcing the US would withdraw from the Paris agreement:
I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.
You can read that full analysis on Tuesday’s blog here, in case you missed it.
Dutton responds to Guardian Australia report he took private jet to News Corp event to speak on cost-of-living crisis
Peter Dutton has responded to a Guardian Australia report that he used a taxpayer-funded private jet to travel to a News Corp event, claiming $23,000 in travel expenses to speak at the summit where he criticised the government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis.
Dutton told reporters:
The prime minister flew in to that event as well. I didn’t go in on a 737, but we went in on a charter when a commercial option wasn’t available.
Look, the reality is that, particularly in these roles, 200+ flights a year. We can do three states in a day because there are functions and requirements for us to be at, media events or at meetings otherwise, and [that was] the only available option in that circumstance.
And 99% of the flights we take would be commercial flights [if that was the one] available.
Shadow minister says proposed age verification laws would include penalties for companies in breach
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, is also at the press conference, and was just asked how the proposed age verification laws would actually work in practice.
Facebook [and] Instagram already, in very limited circumstances, use age verification.
It’s happening now and the technology is improving all the time and [we will release] further details in due course. But plainly, the companies will be required to comply with the new law and that will include penalties.
Peter Dutton takes aim at social media and ‘its influence on young minds’
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to the media from Sydney, where he is touting the opposition’s push for age verification laws. He said:
It’s inconceivable you would allow your 13-year-old to go down to a park and start mingling with any random person who comes by, or you would have a magazine on the table with all sorts of explicit content in it and you would allow your kid to flick through that content. It’s inconceivable.
There’s a lot we can do and the technology is trending in our favour to make sure we can deal with the scale of the problem. Nothing’s ideal, but we want to make sure we can help parents in that conversation and help keep Australian children safer than they otherwise would be.
He is urging bipartisan support on the matter, and said:
We would be happy to work with the prime minister and the government to see the outcome here and send a very clear message that both sides of parliament stand united against the scourge of social media and its influences on young minds.
Melbourne woman charged over alleged Facebook Marketplace scam
A woman has been charged after allegedly scamming people out of thousands of dollars after listing high-end fashion items on Facebook Marketplace.
According to Victoria police, it is alleged the 37-year-old from Donvale offered the high-end items on social media from April until May, with at least 20 people purchasing items and never receiving them.
Investigators have been told the victims are from all over Australia and at this stage, the deceptions are “in the thousands of dollars worth”.
The woman was arrested at her Donvale home yesterday and has been charged with 25 counts of obtaining property by deception.
She has been remanded to appear at Ringwood magistrates court today.
Firefighter suffers minor burns while extinguishing car fire in Sydney
A firefighter has suffered minor burns to his face during a car fire in Sydney’s inner west.
The cabin of a hybrid Volvo SUV caught fire in Camperdown on Ross Street around 4.40am, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.
When a firefighter opened the car door “a flashover occurred, causing minor burns to his face”. He was treated by paramedics for superficial burns and slight smoke inhalation, and transported to hospital as a precaution.
The car’s interior was destroyed, while the lithium-ion battery under the cabin was cool and intact. The battery has not been identified as the cause of the fire at this stage. The cause is still being investigated.
CAMPERDOWN | Firefighter suffers minor burns extinguishing hybrid car fire. A firefighter has been treated for minor burns to his face after a car fire this morning at Camperdown in inner Sydney.
The cabin of the hybrid Volvo SUV caught on fire… https://t.co/TBP7yy5tVz
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) June 12, 2024
Husic concerned about ‘systemic failure to observe international humanitarian law’ by Israel
Circling back to Ed Husic’s interview on ABC RN just earlier: He was asked if he is concerned about the fact more than 270 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli hostage rescue mission.
Husic said he “absolutely was”, and that “innocent Palestinians should not pay the price for holding Hamas to account.” Is that what happened with this hostage mission, he is asked?
Husic responded:
I think the fact that you had so many people killed in that operation speaks to a broader thing as well, of the way in which – as I’ve said previously – the Israeli government is observing international humanitarian law, and being able to distinguish between combatant and civilian. I have said that weeks ago that that was my concern, that there was a systemic failure to observe international humanitarian law…
I’m very happy hostages [have been] released and they’ve been reunited with their families and friends who’ve been absolutely anxious about their welfare, but it is such a brutal price seeing 270+ Palestinians lose their life as a result of that.
We’ve, again, got this opportunity to reinforce our belief that international humanitarian law should be observed by the Israeli government and the IDF.
Peter Hannam
(Continued from previous post)
Senior CBA economist Belinda Allen said at this point the bank doesn’t expect to see a big spending lift resulting from the extra cash from the tax cuts:
We think it will be a fairly tepid response but we’re also open to the idea that there may be a different response to what consumers are saying at this point of time.
One reason for the restraint is that high interest rates are encouraging extra savings for some.
For now the CBA is still expecting an interest rate cut by November (unlike the ANZ, which on Tuesday pushed its forecast for the first interest rate cut back to February 2025).
One set of numbers to look out for land at 11.30am AEST today when the ABS releases labour market data for May. We’ll have more on that release a bit later on this morning.
Peter Hannam
CommBank’s household spending measure posts biggest rise since January
Commonwealth Bank’s monthly household spending insights (HSI) rose 1.1% in May to 150.2, rebounding from April’s 1% drop and marking the strongest month since January.
The index tracks the (anonymous) spending by about 7 million CBA customers and so gives a relatively broad sweep of consumption. Mind you, the average monthly gain is just 0.1% compared with 0.8% for the first four months of 2023.
Perhaps not surprisingly, households have been spending more on items deemed essential. For the year to last month, spending overall is up 4.3%, with insurance outlays up 8.6%, utilities 7.1%, transport up 6.1% and education up 6%. Spending on vehicles was up 1.6%, recreation and communications were both up 2.6% and household goods spending was up 2.8%.
Retailers – and the Reserve Bank – will be watching keenly what households do when they start receiving tax cuts from 1 July, but also the energy rebates. (The latter are $75 a quarter from the federal government, but jump by as much as $1,300 in one hit if you’re a Queensland household and $400 if you’re a WA resident.)
Ed Husic responds to reports that Muslim leaders seeking to oust Labor MPs in Western Sydney
Earlier this morning, science and industry minister Ed Husic was asked about reports that key Muslim community leaders are mobilising voters across Western Sydney to oust Labor MPs in the area.
He told ABC RN:
I think there are a lot of people that recognise [the] government has gone a long way in terms of being able to say not only should we hold Hamas to account, but also calling for a ceasefire, voting in the UN in December, increasing our humanitarian support in the region, calling for absolute concrete steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution.
There’ll be people that want us to move faster or do things differently and [that’s] the great thing about democracy – they will have different views and they’ll argue different things and they’ll support different candidates.
Does this put some of your MPs, or yourself, at risk? Husic said looking at an “electoral crystal ball” is “problematic at the best of times” and responded:
I think the bigger thing from my point of view, is that Australia’s got a voice, we need to speak up on what’s happened – the humanitarian catastrophe that’s occurring in Gaza. We need to take steps with friends in the international community to bring them all to an end. And the other thing is to think about reconstruction, because Gaza has been completely levelled, and we have a big rebuild. And that rebuild itself is a big part of the peace process.
Gas supply shortage in WA is a ‘myth’, critics say
Critics have today dismissed a domestic gas shortage in Western Australia as a “myth” and slammed an expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production as at odds with decarbonisation and climate goals, AAP reports.
This comes after a WA parliamentary inquiry into domestic gas supply’s interim inquiry report in February found the domestic gas reservation policy was “no longer fit for purpose” and there was a case for government intervention.
A report by Climate Safe Solutions and clean energy advocacy body Sustainable Energy found policy settings have encouraged an ongoing “overbuild of LNG export capacity”, which they say poses a significant risk to WA’s strategic and economic interests.
Climate Safe Solutions director Piers Verstegen argued a “far better perspective for policymakers to adopt is that the market is facing unsustainable and economically harmful levels of demand.”
The researchers recommend a new policy approach that includes replacing gas demand with utility-scale renewable energy, a moratorium on expansion and extensions of existing LNG facilities and prioritising some critical gas use that supports rapid decarbonisation. According to the report:
If subsidies and other support for new industrial developments encouraged electrification, then the projected increase in gas demand would not occur.
Granting further open-ended approvals to Woodside and other LNG exporters will only increase and accelerate the emerging threat they present to the WA domestic gas market.
SA premier says lawmakers need to ‘move at warp speed’ on deepfakes
Peter Malinauskas also said allegations of deepfake images depicting 50 female students from a school in Victoria was “very scary”.
The reality is this technology is proliferating around the world and being used for nefarious purposes in a way that puts our most vulnerable at risk, our most precious – that’s, of course, our children.
I think it’s high time that policymakers, legislators move at warp speed to seek to address these challenges.
South Australia is pursuing a ban for under 14s from social media. The premier said deepfakes required “a specific criminal approach” because “this is a crime, it should be treated as such and parliament’s need to catch up – and that includes my own”.
‘A more robust democracy’: SA premier on bid to ban political donations in state elections
Circling back to South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas, who was speaking to ABC RN about the bill to ban political donations for state elections:
He said the “single biggest challenge” in getting the detail right will be ensuring new entrants who run for parliament won’t be excluded from the process.
What we’ve sought to do is maintain the ability for a new entrant – take an independent for instance – to be able to fundraise for themselves in advance of any potential election, and if they are elected, then they will be captured by the scheme and banned from doing fundraising forevermore.
We think that tries to bridge that gap as best as we possibly can.
Because like I said, we do not seek to diminish our democracy here. We’re simply trying to enhance it in a way that doesn’t advantage one party over another, a major party over a minor party or an independent. This is about levelling the playing field to get a more robust democracy, which is something that no one should fear.
Treasurer says alleged deepfake incident at school ‘absolutely terrifying’
Jim Chalmers said that allegations of deepfakes depicting 50 female students from a school in Victoria that had circulated online was “absolutely terrifying”.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, said:
I think all Australians will see these kinds of developments and see them as worse than confronting – absolutely terrifying.
We’ve all got to work together – the tech companies, governments at every level, parents, and the broader Australian community. We can’t see these kinds of developments doing such damage to the mental health of our kids, the prospects of our kids.
And so, we’re doing a lot of work. My colleagues are doing a lot of work trialling things like age verification technology to make sure that we can tighten up where that’s possible to do so. And we need to work with, and we need the help of, the big tech companies as we go about that really important work.
Karen Middleton
Chalmers declines to match Dutton pledge to ban under 16s from social media
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declined to match a pledge from Peter Dutton to ban children aged under 16 from registering social media accounts, but says that’s what the government’s age verification technology trial is “all about”.
“We are interested in an age limit,” Chalmers told Sky News just earlier.
We need to set it an appropriate level – it might be 26. But we need to make sure we’ve got the technology to deliver that.
Dutton told Nova FM radio yesterday that if he won government, he would implement a ban within his first 100 days in office. Last month, prime minister Anthony Albanese suggested in an interview with the same radio station that he was sympathetic to calls for a ban.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has proposed a ban in his state for children aged under 14.
South Australian premier wants federal ban on political donations
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has been speaking to ABC RN about his bill to ban political donations from state elections. You can read more about this move below:
Malinauskas said this is something he wants to see implemented federally, as well, and said:
I am an advocate for the role of public funding in all elections. But more than that, I’m an advocate of banning donations.
We live in a time where confidence in democracies around the world is declining at a pretty scary pace, and I think any reform that … restores people’s faith in the democratic process, so that people value their vote and believe that their vote is exactly the same as a wealthy donor they’re living next door to, is a really important principle.
Some context for independent move to challenge Peter Dutton’s seat
Karen Middleton
Just on the possibility of an independent challenger to Peter Dutton at the next election, which we mentioned earlier in the blog:
Dutton’s margin in the seat of Dickson after the 2022 election is pretty narrow – just 3.4% – making it certainly winnable on paper.
But it’s important to remember that party leaders are generally harder to oust than other MPs, even when their seats are quite marginal, because of their high profiles.
Also, Dutton wasn’t Liberal leader at the last election and his profile has risen considerably since then, so the margin is probably stronger than it looks.
Having said that, John Howard lost his seat of Bennelong at the 2007 election when he was not just leader but a long-serving prime minister.
At the very least, facing a community independent would be a significant irritant to Dutton and would likely force him to spend more time campaigning in the electorate than he otherwise might.
Does Jim Chalmers regret not looking into an increase to jobseeker again in this budget?
He responded:
I think in every budget you work out the best and most responsible way to provide that cost of living relief. In May of last year it was a permanent increase to jobseeker combined with rent assistance, this budget another boost to rent assistance combined with cheaper medicines and energy bill relief …
In every single budget you work out the best, most responsible way to help people. We understand people are under pressure and that’s why there is such substantial cost of living relief in the budget delivered in more than one way.
