Key events
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the stories making headlines this morning and then Emily Wind will take charge.
The independent MPs David Pocock and Kate Chaney have urged the government to act immediately on deepfakes and disinformation, writing to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the special minister of state, Don Farrell, to call for “truth in political advertising” reform. The letter, seen by the Guardian, criticises Labor for excluding the crossbench on negotiations to cap political donations. That bill was being negotiated between Labor and the Coalition but was pulled by the government in the final sitting days of 2024.
Could overseas actors really be paying local criminals to carry out antisemitic attacks in Australia? The AFP certainly thinks it’s a possibility and an expert on cybersecurity has said the overseas actors could be lurking on the dark web to make contact with criminals. More coming up.
Alex de Minaur’s crushing defeat at the hands of Jannik Sinner has killed home interest in the Australian Open but it’s the performance of the nation’s lead broadcaster, Channel Nine, that will be the focus of scrutiny now. Following on from Novak Djokovic’s spray at Tony Jones, the American Ben Shelton joined in the criticism of Nine’s tennis coverage in a news conference rant after his quarter-final win that accused the broadcaster of being “disrespectful” and “negative”. More coming up.
Article by:Source: Martin Farrer
