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Independent MP responds to teal criticism from Dutton

The independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, has been speaking with ABC RN about what teal MPs have achieved in parliament.

During a press conference yesterday, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, accused Climate 200 of being a “front for Green candidates” and said:

They’re not disaffected Liberal candidates, they’re Green candidates … Can anyone name anything that the teals have achieved since they’re been in parliament? I mean, there’s nothing …

Climate 200 is the fundraising giant that bankrolled the teal independent wave at the last election:

Spender responded to those comments from Dutton and said that “the Greens are very different on so many different things,” and “in a completely different world” to her on certain issues – such as the economy.

I work with the Greens on a bunch of issues, particularly on the environmental issues where there is common ground. But I’m not afraid to disagree with them in other areas … I’ve come from the real world and in the real world, you have to work with lots of different people.

Fellow independent Zoe Daniel had previously said the teal wave was a ‘media construct’, and Spender was asked to weigh in on this:

It is a media construct … There’s a huge amount of common ground but this is about a different type of politics [and] looking at each issue on its merits.

‘Tumultuous’ coverage must not worsen post-3G, farmers say

Telcos face the ire of rural Australians if the 3G network shutdown goes awry and are being warned they will be held publicly accountable for any fallout, AAP reports.

Telstra is due to switch off on 31 August, Optus will close from September, while TPG/Vodafone ceased operation of the ageing network in January.

The closures and potential risks are the subject of a Senate inquiry, which is holding public hearings in Cooma, in southern NSW, and Canberra today and tomorrow.

Connectivity barriers in rural areas are long-standing and the 3G shutdown must not exacerbate an already “tumultuous” system, the National Farmers’ Federation said in its submission to the inquiry.

Many rural Australians are worried about being cut off from health and emergency services, or having their personal medical alarms fail after the shutdown.

Last week, the federal government said 102,000 active mobile phones aren’t compatible with 4G, although that’s a sharp decrease from more than 740,000 in March.

While the Senate committee isn’t due to report until November it has been urged to hand down its initial recommendations before the 3G shutdown.

Alice Springs mayor on merits of curfew, nearly two weeks on

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, has spoken with the Today show after a second curfew on the red centre was lifted earlier this month.

Asked how the town is going nearly two weeks on, Paterson said:

The initial curfew we had regarding [just] the youth about 12 weeks ago made a drastic difference. This one was a little bit different because it was for everyone after some incidents we had.

I would say it is a success, but it just comes down to being a little bit more proactive where we get to a point where we don’t need a curfew. [When] we’re bringing thousands of people into Alice Springs for an event we need to be ready and unfortunately on this occasion we were not…

Here’s our story when the curfew was lifted:

Queensland premier denounces AI-deepfake video posted by state opposition of him

It seems deepfake content has reached the Queensland election.

Last week, the Liberal National Party posted an AI video of Steven Miles on their TikTok account, showing the premier dancing to ‘Closer’ by Ne-Yo.

A caption over the video reads, “POV: my rent is up $60 a week, my power bill is up 20%, but the Premier made a sandwich on TikTok,” and the video has a disclaimer: “Creator has labelled as AI-generated.”

National dictionary looking for contributions on sport-related words

A message for any sporting tragics out there: the Australian National University wants to hear from you!

The Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) is looking for new contributions for the national dictionary, with a focus on sport-related words and phrases.

A statement says that “from skyscraper marks featuring the Sherrin in Aussie Rules, to a cockroach getting sent to the sin bin for a dog shot on a cane toad in rugby league, the language of Australian sport has made a significant contribution to Australian English.”

ANDC senior researcher Mark Gwynn added:

Many Australian rhyming slang terms come from the world of sport like ‘Dorothy Dix’ for a six in cricket, ‘Wally Grout’ for a shout at the bar, ‘Mal Meninga’ for finger, ‘meat pie’ for try, and ‘sausage roll’ for goal.

Some people might not realise that common Australian words and expressions such as drongo, home and hosed, sledge, fang it, and no-hoper originate in the sporting world.

You can share your sport-related words via the ANDC Word Box feature or through the ANDC contact page.

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AFP union cites challenges in prosecuting alleged deepfake offenders

More on that parliamentary committee hearing: there was significant concern globally about the rise of sexually explicit deepfakes, the Australian Federal Police Association said.

There were challenges in prosecuting offenders, it said, writing in a submission to the inquiry:

With the creation of deepfake child exploitation material increasing, the role of law enforcement and identifying a victim is becoming exponentially more difficult.

Police must first determine who the victim is (and whether they are actually a real person).

How long do investigators spend trying to find a child who potentially doesn’t even exist or who had their likeness stolen but has ultimately not been abused themselves?

Relationships Australia wants the bill to include a definition of consent that aligns with an affirmative consent model, where it had to be expressly given rather than a person simply not saying “no”.

The parliamentary committee will report by 8 August. More on this story:

Up to seven years’ prison for distributing sexually explicit deepfakes under proposed laws

Proposed laws would attach a six-year prison sentence to adults found to have shared “deepfake” sexually explicit images without consent and a seven-year term would apply if they created and distributed the image, AAP reports.

The proposed changes to criminal laws are being considered today by a Senate committee chaired by Labor senator Nita Green.

Green said laws were not explicit enough to criminalise deepfakes. The Labor senator said:

AI technology can be of enormous benefit, but it has also seen an explosion in the sharing of fake non-consensual images, which can have long-lasting impacts on victims.

We know that most deepfakes depict women and girls and that’s why this is an important measure to take to reduce gender-based violence.

Rape and sexual assault prevention organisations, legal and criminal experts, the eSafety Commissioner, law enforcement and federal government agencies will give evidence at the hearing into the legislation.

Women for Election Australia chief executive hails Kamala Harris bid

Julian Assange pictured with wife and family on beach trip

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