PM asked why he called conference before journalists could read recommendations
The PM has just been asked by Capital Brief’s chief political correspondent Matthew Franklin why he called a press conference before giving journalists the opportunity to read the recommendations he was announcing.
Here’s the exchange between Franklin and Albanese:
Franklin: “You’ve invited us here to talk about the report, the rapid response report. You’ve failed to furnish it to us before we’ve been asked to come here and ask you questions about it – something your government does frequently. What is it, that you’re afraid that if we’re better informed by reading stuff, we’ll ask harder questions?”
Albanese: “Not at all because we’re protecting our national interest of our national security, as I foreshadowed … we are releasing the recommendations for you in full. They’ve been adopted about an hour ago on our, through our processes. I’m doing it at the first possible opportunity. I’m doing it as prime minister, and that’s appropriate.”
What are the recommendations the PM has just announced?
While the press gallery is asking about the details of the rapid review into the breach of an Australian government website by OpenAI, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has just published the recommendations here.
It suggests a new law with criminal penalties for a “failure to prevent” offence “which would criminalise instances where the company is responsible for developing an AI model that engages in harmful conduct, and the company fails to take reasonable steps to prevent that harm”.
Prime Minister Albanese would not confirm if OpenAI could have been prosecuted under such a law.
Marles: Australia needs to engage with frontier AI companies ‘in every respect’
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said it was essential for Australia to continue engaging with frontier AI companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, to ensure the government remained central to determining how emerging technologies would be used here at home.
“This is not a technology that we can run away from. If we want to maximise our agency, if we want to maximise the benefit for Australians, the way in which we can shape AI, but the way in which we can put in place protections in respect of AI, we must engage, and that is at the heart of those recommendations,” Marles told reporters.
“AI is part of our lives today. It will only grow as a part of our lives going forward.”
Marles also said the OpenAI Medicare incident highlighted the need for increased coordination between government agencies.
Albanese said the report on the rapid review, including the recommendations, would be made public.
Government releases recommendations of rapid review into OpenAI breach
Albanese said a rapid review into the incident made 18 recommendations about how to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
Here’s what the prime minister told reporters:
They include mandatory AI company reporting when it comes to misaligned behaviour or cyber incidents, consideration of reforming criminal law in cases of serious misconduct, greater engagement with international counterparts and frontier AI developers regarding AI safety and accountability, and strengthening resilience in response to AI incidents, including improved information sharing and a renewed focus on cyber security.
Albanese announces results of review into AI hack of Medicare
The prime minister is speaking to reporters in Canberra following a review into a hack of a Medicare portal by an AI agent in June.
He opened his address by acknowledging the potential of AI to present a “generational opportunity” for Australia but said its development had to be couched by comprehensive protections to stop AI companies from running rampant.
“We want to make sure that we continue to work so that we can reap the potential benefits from AI: boosting productivity, bolstering economic resilience, revolutionising areas such as healthcare, but we need to ensure that we get it right,” he told journalists just now.
PM unveils plan for new AI regulator
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is holding a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Follow along with our livestream here.
Trial date set for Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer
The man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk will stand trial in the northern hemisphere summer of 2028, a Utah judge has ruled.
Lawyers for defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, proposed a trial starting in 2029. But District Judge Tony Graf faced pressure from Kirk’s family and supporters, including US President Donald Trump, to speed up court proceedings that have already lasted more than a year.
Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in the killing of Kirk, 31, as the activist spoke to several thousand people at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Nvidia tumbles amid ‘Chinese spy’ probe
Nvidia, one of Wall Street’s most influential stocks, sank in overnight trading, even though the US stock market rallied and recovered most of its big loss from last week as oil prices swung lower.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.3 per cent for a second straight gain following a wipeout on worries that Democratic victories in the US midterm elections could lead to a slowdown in the construction of AI data centres. The best day for the index since April has it sitting just 3.4 per cent below its all-time high set last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1104 points, or 2.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rose 2.7 per cent. The Australian sharemarket is set to jump, with futures pointing to a rise of 96 points, or 1.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX edged up 0.9 per cent on Monday. The Australian dollar was stronger at US69.13¢.
Stocks broadly got a lift from a 5.8 per cent drop for the price of a barrel of Brent crude to $US92.57. It’s been coming down from more than $US112 at the start of the month amid uncertainty about what will happen with the war with Iran.
Nvidia fell 4.3 per cent. The chip company said it was investigating its CEO, Jensen Huang, after he acknowledged an intimate relationship with a business executive whom US intelligence determined was gathering information for China.
Nvidia’s board said it had “no reason to believe” that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised but that its inquiry would examine all available information.
Salvation Army pulls out of residential aged care after more than a century
More than 1500 aged care residents at 19 facilities around Australia could be left without a provider after the Salvation Army announced it was pulling out of residential aged care after more than 100 years.
The Salvos made the announcement over the weekend, with territorial commander commissioner Miriam Gluyas saying in a statement that the decision has not been an easy one.
Nearly 2000 people receiving care at home from the Salvation Army would also be affected, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
ABC Radio this morning reported the decision was based on the high cost of care.
Consumer confidence among home owners plummets
Consumer confidence among people paying off a mortgage has fallen to the lowest level on record after the Reserve Bank’s most recent interest rate hike.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly measure of consumer sentiment, released this morning, showed overall confidence among the nation’s army of shoppers fell by almost five per cent. It is now at its third-lowest level since the measure began in 1973.
But among people with a mortgage, confidence dropped to the lowest level since it started being tracked on a weekly basis in 2008.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the RBA’s move to take the cash rate to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent last week was a key factor in the drop in consumer sentiment, noting it was likely to weigh on the nation’s households.
“Together, elevated rates and historically weak confidence are likely to weigh on household spending,” she said.
Other measures of current and future financial conditions both fell, but there was some positive news, with expectations about inflation easing slightly.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
