Shoebridge accuses US of overreach in Australia’s online safety laws
The Greens senator David Shoebridge has accused the United States of interfering in Australia’s domestic politics after the Trump administration criticised the government’s proposed opt-in algorithm reforms.
In a submission overnight, the Trump administration warned the measures risked becoming a mechanism for “viewpoint-based censorship” and called for American platforms to be exempted.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Shoebridge said:
It’s an extraordinary intervention in our domestic politics, that’s what we have seen.
The US embassy issuing, basically, a slap down to the Australian government on a piece of domestic legislation that the Australian parliament should be deciding on, not Washington.
It is almost unprecedented in my experience to see a foreign government in this country through their embassy … so overtly try and dissuade the Australian parliament from taking actions to protect the Australian public.
Shoebridge said the US “needs to be brought to heel by the rest of the world” as global discussions continue over artificial intelligence safeguards and the power of major technology companies.
Key events
What we learned, Wednesday 23 September
Achol Arok
That’s a wrap on our live coverage for today!
Before we go, let’s recap the day’s top headlines:
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has denied Australia’s proposed digital duty of care laws are about government control after the Trump administration accused the legislation of being “viewpoint-based censorship”. Despite the row, Albanese posed for a selfie with Trump at the UN assembly in New York.
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Anthony Albanese has met Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, at the United Nations – the first time the pair have been together since Albanese’s comments about melons in a controversial podcast.
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Parenthood chief executive, Georgie Dent, addressed the National Press Club in Canberra today on new research that shows the cost for Australian families of raising two or more children has risen to at least $36,500 a year.
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The royal commission into allegations of corruption on Victorian government construction sites has begun, with commissioner Chris Kourakis kicking off proceedings by asking his associate, Peter Tantalos, to read out the letters patent, which formally established the inquiry in August.
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Randwick council announced it intends to ban smartglasses across Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches. Sydney’s inner west council has also moved to ban smartglasses and other wearable recording devices in its facilities, including pools, change rooms, childcare centres and public toilets.
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Sydney airport saw some flights delayed or cancelled this morning amid a blanket of fog that settled over the harbour city.
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Continuing on aviation, Qantas announced its 18-hour direct Sydney-New York flights will start in mid-2028, predicting it will cut travel time between the two cities by three hours.
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A $1m reward has been offered for information about four-year-old Gus Lamont, who went missing almost a year ago.
Thanks for sticking around, we’ll see you tomorrow morning.
Shoebridge accuses US of overreach in Australia’s online safety laws
The Greens senator David Shoebridge has accused the United States of interfering in Australia’s domestic politics after the Trump administration criticised the government’s proposed opt-in algorithm reforms.
In a submission overnight, the Trump administration warned the measures risked becoming a mechanism for “viewpoint-based censorship” and called for American platforms to be exempted.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Shoebridge said:
It’s an extraordinary intervention in our domestic politics, that’s what we have seen.
The US embassy issuing, basically, a slap down to the Australian government on a piece of domestic legislation that the Australian parliament should be deciding on, not Washington.
It is almost unprecedented in my experience to see a foreign government in this country through their embassy … so overtly try and dissuade the Australian parliament from taking actions to protect the Australian public.
Shoebridge said the US “needs to be brought to heel by the rest of the world” as global discussions continue over artificial intelligence safeguards and the power of major technology companies.
NAB says it is working to fix online bank outages affecting customers
Continuing our coverage of the NAB outage, the bank said it is aware of the reported issues and has launched an investigation.
NAB said the issues have affected “a number of our digital channels” including internet banking, its mobile app and broker digital services.
In a statement to social media, the bank said the issues “are not limited to” its online services:
The issue is also affecting our phone services, and customers may be unable to contact us by phone at this time.
Our teams are investigating and working to fix this as quickly as possible. NAB ATMs remain available.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. We’ll share updates as they become available.
A NAB spokesperson said:
Most services have now been restored. Some business customers are continuing to experience login issues via NAB Connect, and we’re working as quickly as possible to resolve the remaining impacts.
NAB customers report online banking outage
National Australia Bank (NAB) customers are reporting an outage affecting access to the bank’s online services.
According to DownDetector, reports began at about 1pm, peaking at more than 2,000 reports at about 3.30pm.
Users have taken to social media to say they are unable to access their accounts.
NAB has been contacted for comment.
‘Chaos, confusion’: cop recalls jumping castle tragedy
A veteran police officer has described the chaos and mistakes that followed a deadly school jumping castle tragedy, saying unclear chains of command created confusion, AAP reports.
An inquest which began on Monday is examining the circumstances of the tragedy, safety processes and whether there were any departmental deficiencies.
Tasmania Police constable Dean Wotherspoon was one of the first officers to attend the Hillcrest primary school accident on 16 December 2021.
Students Addison Stewart, Chace Harrison, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Zane Mellor died after a freak “dust devil” wind gust lifted the jumping castle into the air above the Devonport school grounds.
The leading forensic officer told an inquest on Wednesday:
I think the phrase perhaps is organised chaos.
There were a lot of people doing their utmost to save children.
Police officers, school staff, paramedics all doing what they could. It was nothing like I had seen.
Rosemary Gamble, the operator of Taz-Zorb, which set up the inflatable equipment, was in 2025 cleared of criminal workplace safety breaches.
Achol Arok
Good afternoon!
I hope today has been nice to you. I’ll be here to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
Ima Caldwell
That’s all from me today folks.
The blog is now in the capable hands of Achol Arok.
See you next time!
Inner west council to ban AI smartglasses in public facilities
Sydney’s inner west council has moved to ban smartglasses and other wearable recording devices in its facilities, including pools, change rooms, childcare centres and public toilets.
Inner west councillor Kerrie Fergusson said that the technology is likely “just the beginning of many new challenges for local councils”.
For people with vision or hearing impairments, they offer a new level of independence. But they can also discreetly record high-definition video and live-stream, creating genuine privacy concerns …
This isn’t tearing down new technology like a bunch of 19th-century luddites, but ensuring AI technology properly serves our community without compromising its privacy or civil liberties.
Council staff have been asked to report back on how the ban will be implemented, including conditions of entry and signage requirements.
Exemptions will be provided to people who rely on the technology as accessibility devices.
As reported earlier this morning, smartglasses could soon be banned across Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra under a motion put forward to Randwick council. It has already banned the technology at the Des Renford leisure centre, citing “growing community concerns” about their potential misuse.
It also follows City of Sydney councillors voting to ban smartglasses at council gyms, childcare centres and pools on Monday.
Police appeal for information after Wagyu cow ‘unlawfully’ shot and butchered in Queensland
Detectives from Queensland’s Rural and Stock Crime Squad are appealing for public information, after a Wagyu cow was “unlawfully shot and butchered for meat” on a property in Queensland.
Police believe trespassers entered the property in Farnborough on 13 or 14 June.
Investigators urge anyone who noticed suspicious activity or captured dashcam footage along Fishing Creek Road, off Farnborough Road, between 13 and 16 June to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
Parenting advocate Georgie Dent tells National Press Club that Australians should get 52 weeks paid parental leave
More on the national press club address today by Georgie Dent, Parenthood chief executive …
Dent cited Treasury data showing that having children reduces the earnings of Australian women by an average of 55% over the first five years of parenthood.
Dent said families need two incomes to stay afloat in the current economy and even with both parents working, they have less breathing room in their household budget.
For many families it feels like a cruel game of whack-a-mole …
For parents of young children seeking to raise and provide for their family one obstacle towers over the others: early childhood education and care.
Too many face an impossible bind. They cannot access it, they cannot afford it, or they cannot trust what is available. This isn’t perceived: the options families have are largely determined by what the market has delivered.
Dent will call for a policy pathway from government for the provision of 52 weeks of paid parental leave, up from 26 weeks currently paid for by taxpayers, and meaningful parental leave for fathers and partners.
The speech comes after Monday’s intergenerational report showed that, for the first time, more Australians will be dying than being born in 40 years’ time.
Read more here:
Press Club says it will never ban journalists from ‘doing their job’
The host of today’s national press club momentarily interrupted question time to say it will never ban journalists from “doing their job”.
Just another message, we’re going to depart for our theme for a second.
[There is] a lot of news at the moment, and in recent months, about journalists not being able to, you know, attend press conferences, et cetera.
Just a note on behalf of the national press club that no journalists will ever be banned from doing their job here.
The message was greeted by applause, before returning to the topic of childcare costs.
This press club comment comes after US president Donald Trump banned journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House.
In Australia, the ABC and the Guardian have called on One Nation to reverse its ban on select media outlets from press conferences amid warnings the party is practising censorship and actively avoiding public scrutiny. Journalist Peter Greste has written for Guardian Australia about how these circumstances show “why Australia urgently needs a media freedom bill”:
Anthony Albanese meets Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi in New York
Tom McIlroy
Anthony Albanese has met Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, at the United Nations – the first time the pair have been together since Albanese’s comments about melons in a controversial podcast.
The PM has repeatedly rejected suggestions he made offensive comments about a gift of two melons from Takaichi on the Bush Deep podcast in early July. Japan’s ambassador to Australia downplayed any possible offence and said Tokyo had been reassured by the Australian government that Albanese’s comments had been misunderstood.
Albanese wrote on social media, in a post that included a photo with world leaders including Takaichi:
Working with our international partners. Standing up for Australian interests. Finding global solutions to global challenges.
Australia’s voice matters at the United Nations. And it’s here that we’re delivering for Australians back home.
While in New York, Albanese has met Britain’s Andy Burnham, the French president Emmanuel Macron, Pedro Sanchez of Spain and the US president Donald Trump.
Plan to shift $4bn of NDIS spending snagging on lone holdout state
Health minister Mark Butler says he is frustrated that Queensland is the only state or territory not to sign up to the government’s Thriving Kids program, a week before the first phase is due to begin.
The health minister told ABC Radio on Wednesday:
I’m a little frustrated they haven’t signed because all other states and territories, Liberal and Labor alike, CLP government in the NT has signed on.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, was shirking a responsibility he had previously promised to accept, according to Butler. He said:
I can’t imagine a Queensland government that, for the next 15 months, would sit on its hands and pretend it does not have a very serious obligation to follow the rest of the country.
Frankly [it should] implement commitments that the premier made at the national cabinet meeting earlier this year.
Gus Lamont’s parents make teary plea for information about missing boy
Tory Shepherd
Gus’s parents, Josh Lamont and Jess Murray, have spoken in a video shown by police.
Williams said Gus was “learning so much and had such a bright future ahead of him”:
He should have celebrated his fifth birthday and his little brother’s first birthday with us.
Lamont thanked family, friends, the community and those who were part of the search for Gus, and said:
We believe someone knows something. Someone knows what happened to Gus. Someone knows where he is.
Fielke emphasised that neither of them are suspects and vowed to keep searching for answers.
Police offer $1m reward for information about missing boy Gus Lamont
Tory Shepherd
A $1m reward for information about missing four-year-old Gus Lamont is on offer, as police say they have found no evidence to suggest he is still alive.
It has been almost a year since four-year-old Gus went missing from his family’s enormous sheep farm in the South Australian outback.
He was last seen playing outside at 5pm on Saturday 27 September. Half an hour later, he was gone.
His disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches the state has ever undertaken, with new searches launched as new information or theories came to light.
Volunteers, police, emergency service and defence personnel, along with dogs and divers and drones scoured the 60,000 hectare Oak Park Station, about 300km inland from Adelaide.
One of the biggest moments in the saga came in February this year, when the South Australian police declared his disappearance a major crime, and said they had identified a suspect.
Det Supt Darren Fielke said at the time they had effectively ruled out Gus wandering off or being abducted, and that they were now investigating someone in his household.
The suspect was not one of his parents, Fielke said.
The SA premier, Peter Malinauskas, said they stand ready to do “everything they can” to help police. He said it would go to anyone who had information leading to a body or a conviction. He said it was a “crystal clear” message:
If you know something you’ve gotta speak.
The disappearance of Gus Lamont has deeply shocked and saddened all South Australians. I cannot imagine the anguish that Gus’s parents Jess and Josh are going through, and my thoughts remain with them.
Fielke said the police would do everything they could “to locate Gus and reunite him with his family”.
Police arrest Melbourne man who allegedly pledged allegiance to Isis
Counter-terrorism police have arrested a Melbourne man, who they allege acted as an Isis propagandist.
The 65-year-old was arrested during a raid of a home in Carlton this morning.
Police allege he pledged allegiance to Isis and has played a significant role in spreading propaganda for the terrorist group, sending about 10,000 files of violent extremist material.
The man is alleged to have shared information about avoiding detection from authorities and instructions on how to plan and conduct mass casualty attacks.
AFP acting assistant commissioner counter-terrorism, Paula Hudson, spoke to reporters just after midday.
We will allege the videos, photographs, audio files and documents contain messages relating to current content, being executions, mass murder, torture and propaganda ….
Let me be clear, terrorist propaganda is not harmless online content. Terrorist organisations like Isis rely on online platforms to distribute propaganda and recruit supporters.
Hudson added that police launched an investigation after Australian Border Force officers found suspicious material on electronic devices seized as the man flew out of Melbourne.
She said the man was a “principal distributor of Isis propaganda within the group”.
The man lives with his wife and is an Australian citizen, according to police.
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