Good morning, Krishani Dhanji with you here for the final sitting day of the week, thanks to Martin for getting us started
asserted
us → get → Martin
The communications minister Anika Wells is doing the media rounds this morning, ahead of a press club address to sell the government’s digital duty of care bill.
She’s also facing questions on how the government will try and stop or Australians being able to see a live stream of a firing squad execution in the US in December.
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Australians → do → December
The government will try to reintroduce a bill to lower private health insurance rebates for over 65s after it was thrown out of the Senate yesterday by the Coalition and crossbench – it’s a major cost saver for the government Mark Butler says he’ll plow ahead to try and get the changes through (with more negotiations).
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he → try → negotiations
It’s going to be another big one – let’s get stuck in!
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’s → go → ?
People getting voting info from AI an ‘emerging concern’, AEC says
Josh Taylor
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AEC → get → Taylor
The Australian Electoral Commissioner, Jeff Pope, has said people getting their information about voting in Australia from AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Claude is an “emerging concern”, and has forced the commission to overhaul its website to attract bots looking for the correct information.
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people → say → information
Speaking at a hearing of the joint standing committee on artificial intelligence on Wednesday night, Pope said it was “dangerous” to rely on social media platforms or AI tools as “your only source of research when it comes to forming an opinion around voting” and was something the AEC was working to educate the public on.
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AEC → speak → public
He said it may require a legislative response from parliament in terms of what platforms and and cannot do in terms of the content on their platforms around elections.
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it → say → elections
Pope pointed to a study on the Scottish election reported by The Guardian in May found that AI services gave voters misinformation to 34% of the questions it posed.
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it → point → questions
The AEC had started to prepare for this, he said.
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he → start → this
We’re undertaking significant investment at the moment in modernising our web page so that AI tools actually pull factual information from our web page and reflect that back to the voter, rather than pulling ... from a variety of other resources which may or may not be correct.
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which → undertake → resources
The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, has disputed the trade minister’s claims he walked out of a meeting on the European Union trade deal, suggesting Don Farrell might be “under a lot of pressure”.
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Farrell → dispute → pressure
Farrell told the ABC yesterday afternoon that Canavan and shadow foreign affairs minister, Ted O’Brien, had walked out on him while he was explaining the deal.
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he → tell → deal
In response, Canavan said:
I can understand that Don is under a lot of pressure, because there are barely any friends of his dud European deal.
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Don → say → deal
I am happy to meet with Don anytime, but he ended our discussion, not me.
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he → meet → discussion
I have written to Don with practical suggestions about how the deal can be improved and I remain open to discuss my concerns at any time.
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I → write → time
While the deal has been agreed to between Australian and EU representatives, it still requires support from parliament.
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it → agree → parliament
The Coalition has already ruled out its support while the Greens are considering the details before revealing their final position.
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Greens → rule → position
Anika Wells to introduce digital duty of care bill today
Josh Butler
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Wells → introduce → bill
Anika Wells will introduce the government’s digital duty of care bill into the parliament today, with all eyes on what amendments Labor may have made to the initial draft bill.
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Labor → introduce → bill
The communications minister has confirmed the government will drop its earlier plans for her office to have broad rule-making powers to define what content is classed as “harmful”.
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content → confirm → powers
According to excerpts of her National Press Club speech, to be delivered at 12.30pm today, Wells will say:
In response to concerns we heard during the exposure draft consultation and to make this abundantly clear, we have removed the ministerial rule-making power to define new harms in the final bill.
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we → accord → bill
Instead, new “harms” will be added by parliament through legislative amendment.
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harms → add → amendment
Wells will tell the NPC that the digital duty of care will “set basic safety standards for the online services we use every day, just like we have in every other industry”.
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we → tell → industry
We must shift the burden from the shoulders of victims to the companies that are creating the environments where harms occur.
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harms → shift → environments
The Digital Duty of Care gives Australians choice ...
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Duty → give → choice
If someone wants their feed filled with friends and creators they follow, the social media platforms must give them that choice.
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platforms → want → choice
And if you’re happy to stick with your algorithm – you can do so.
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you → ’re → algorithm
Wells will also confirm new carve-outs for journalists and news media in the Online Safety Act, to assist professional news organisations and public interest journalism.
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Wells → confirm → organisations
We’ll bring you more from her speech later in the day.
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We → bring → day
Victorian Labor pledges to offer free abortion care
Benita Kolovos
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Labor → pledge → care
The Victorian Labor government will today announce that – if re-elected in November – they will make Victoria the first state to offer free abortion care.
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Victoria → announce → care
Under the $30m election commitment, the government would pay private providers to deliver medical and surgical abortions up to 16 weeks, removing out-of-pocket costs.
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government → pay → costs
This means women would no longer need to pay for GP or specialist consultations, imaging and tests or medications at participating providers.
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women → mean → providers
Medical abortions can cost almost $700 out of pocket for patients with a Medicare card, or more than $1,000 for those without one.
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abortions → cost → one
Surgical abortions can cost $895 with Medicare, rising to almost $1,500 for those without a card.
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abortions → cost → card
The government has also committed to extending the window for medical abortion from nine to 10 weeks’ gestation.
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government → commit → gestation
If elected, they would direct Safer Care Victoria to lead a clinical review into extending access to the medication up to 12 weeks, which aligns with World Health Organisation guidelines.
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which → elect → guidelines
The review would also cover who should be able to deliver care and where.
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who → cover → care
Patients who need to travel to access abortion would also be eligible for a subsidy to help with their travel and accommodation costs, community health care providers trained to provide abortion care and 1800 My Options would receive extra funding under the plan.
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Options → need → plan
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
