What we learned, Sunday 27 September
Thanks for sticking with the blog today, here are some highlights:
Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister, said the CEO of OpenAI didn’t tell him about the hack of Australian government websites when they met earlier this month.
Jane Hume, the deputy Liberal leader, said she’s unsure “who they’re going to put in cuffs” after the AI breach.
The partner of Mia Lay, the NSW police officer who died in a car crash while on duty, said she was the “happiest girl I’ve met”, calling her the love of his life.
NSW said drone patrols picked up an average of 20 sharks a day at patrolled beaches over winter as aerial surveillance was being ramped up for the school holidays.
The AFL grand final smashed viewership records, with millions tuning in to watch Kylie Minogue’s pre game performance.
Have a lovely Sunday afternoon, see you tomorrow.
Updated
Newcastle fans stymied by train delays, but services running again
Transport NSW advised those travelling from Newcastle to Sydney’s Olympic Park for this afternoon’s NRL match to allow plenty of extra time due to a failed freight train at Warnervale.
Trains have resumed their journeys between Newcastle and Wyong at slower speeds, with some buses helping supplement travel.
Sydney Train’s head of rail operations, Jas Tumber, said earlier:
Diversions are currently in place that will allow train services to move around the failed freight train, however, this is adding at least one hour to journeys.
We apologise for this inconvenience and thank passengers for their patience. Pacific National have mobilised their repair crews to temporarily repair the failed freight train as soon as possible.
Updated
AFL grand final smashes TV viewership records
The AFL grand final smashed viewership records for Seven yesterday, with the broadcaster saying it was the most watched one ever.
Seven reported a total national TV audience of more than 4.5 million, with an audience reach of 6.5 million. Those figures make it the #1 program on Australian television this year, Seven said.
The pre-game event featuring Kylie Minogue reached more than 4.3 million people, up 20% on the year prior. Chris Jones, Southern Cross Media’s director of sport, said:
From the opening moments of our coverage outside the MCG, through Kylie Minogue’s show-stopping pre-game performance, an unforgettable match and the premiership celebrations, Australians were with us every step of the way.
Earlier today the triple premiership-winning Brisbane team celebrated with fans at the Lions’ spiritual home at Brunswick St Oval in Fitzroy North.
Updated
Rookie officer stabbed in Queensland, partner slashed
A police officer has been stabbed in the neck and torso, while his partner reportedly was slashed across the forehead, after responding to a disturbance at a property in Brisbane’s south east.
The police union general president, Shane Prior, told the Courier Mail the rookie officer was “a hero” who held on to his neck to stem the bleeding while trying to chase down and taser his assailant, before having to stop for loss of blood.
The two officers were called to Bogong Street in Hemmant about 5:13am this morning. Police said “officers engaged with two men” before one stabbed the officer and fled on a bike, which he later dumped and continued on foot.
He was arrested about 7am while one officer was transported to hospital and in a stable condition.
Updated
OpenAI halts training of latest models as reports mount of AI agents going rogue
OpenAI said it has paused training of its latest artificial intelligence models as reports of AI agents going rogue mount.
The Associated Press reports the decision to halt development came just hours after the company disclosed Friday that it was reviewing several incidents from the summer in which OpenAI agents searching federal government websites acted in unexpected ways beyond what was asked of them while gathering and distributing information.
Separately, the AI evaluator Transluce said agents that appeared to come from OpenAI tried unsuccessfully to hack into a US Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed.
Read more here:
Marles defends planned sale of defence properties: ‘not a heritage organisation’
The defence minister has fired a warning shot at critics of a plan to sell a historic military barracks, painting the site as a glorified wine cellar that wouldn’t help prevent an attack on Australia.
There are 67 military properties slated to be sold off by the Labor government to raise funds, including Sydney’s Victoria Barracks – a complex established in 1840.
During the week, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, called the site the “spiritual home of the Australian Army” in comments to the Daily Telegraph.
On Sunday, Marles was in no mood to appease his critics.
“It is not my priority for defence to be a heritage organisation,” he told News24.
It’s not my priority to see defence manage the oldest wine cellar in Australia. There are a few former generals who liked hanging out there, who are lamenting this.
The mass sale of defence sites, announced in February, is expected to rake in $1.8bn.
Updated
Victoria opposition wants to end prisoner sentence cuts for good behaviour in emergencies
Prisoners shouldn’t have time shaved off their sentences for good behaviour during emergencies, the Victoria opposition argued in its latest election pledge.
AAP reports convicted criminals in Victoria can receive compensatory sentence discounts for good behaviour in unforeseen circumstances, such as industrial disputes and lockdowns, known as emergency management days.
The only laws of their kind in Australia would be abolished if the state’s opposition deposed the Labor government at the November election.
“Labor’s freebie sentence reductions do not meet community expectations and are out of step with other states,” the opposition police and corrections spokesperson, Brad Battin, said on Sunday.
Collectively, nearly 2,300 years were scrubbed from prisoners’ terms over a four years due to the scheme, according to freedom of information documents released to the coalition.
Updated
New South Wales’ ‘eyes in the sky’ spot a dozen sharks every day
Drones patrols have picked up an average of 20 sharks a day at patrolled beaches over winter as aerial surveillance is ramped up for the school holidays, AAP reports.
Drone operators across NSW detected 1,225 sharks from 1 July to 31 August, fresh data has revealed.
The shark sightings prompted 360 safety measures, including water evacuations, alarms to alert swimmers and surfers, and the deployment of inflatable boats and jetskis.
Surf Life Saving NSW’s statewide drone operations recorded 49,000 flights, totalling 16,150 hours and covering 343,000 km.
The NSW government released the figures on Sunday as it rolled out “the world’s largest and most advanced aerial shark surveillance program” in time for the state’s school holidays.
Updated
‘Competing priorities’ on copyright protections: Hume
Jane Hume has left open the possibility of supporting changes to Australia’s copyright laws to attract more investment by AI companies, ahead of significant legislation expected in the next six months.
On ABC TV, Hume was asked about the differing of views Coalition members on the need to maintain strong protections for Australian writers, musicians, film-makers, photographers and journalists – something the federal government is now considering.
Labor’s AI bill is expected to be debated in parliament early in the new year.
“The copyright laws are really important,” Hume said. “Making sure that we protect the work of authors, artists and journalists, that is fundamentally important.”
Asked about the position of the Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash that any move to water down copyright protections would be wrong, Hume was less definitive and cited the role of a new parliamentary committee on AI.
There are competing arguments here. If we want to make sure that any sovereign AI models are culturally relevant and appropriate, we want to make sure that that work is reflected.
There’s a big difference between copying and using illegally other people’s work and learning from it.
We want to work with the government on this to get it right, so that we protect our journalists, protect our authors, protect our artists, but at the same time don’t miss out on the really important access to those frontier AI models that we are going to need, not only to make sure that we are appropriately defended, but also to boost productivity and increase our economic growth into the future.
Updated
Deaths in Queensland child protection system reach five-year high
Queensland has recorded a five-year high of 92 deaths in the child protection system, according to new data.
The Queensland Family and Child Commission reported the deaths of 452 children in its annual report, on Friday.
The figure included 102 Indigenous children. The report found 94 children died from “external causes”, including 28 from suicide and 13 from an accident or neglect. Meanwhile, 92 children had engaged with the state’s child safety system in the year before they died, while seven died in care and a further 43 had open investigations or “intake events”.
It is the highest number of deaths recorded in the state overall and the highest number in the child safety system in five years, up from 427 overall deaths and 57 in protection last year.
The commission, which also administrates the state’s child death review board, was created to independently oversee the child safety system as a result of a inquiry called by the state’s former premier Campbell Newman.
The state government recently tabled legislation to give the minister the power to sack its commissioner for any or no reason, but maintained the role would remain independent.
Updated
‘Not entirely sure who they’re going to put in cuffs’, Hume says
Asked if possible legal action should be off the table, Hume said the liability was unclear:
“I’m not entirely sure who they’re going to put in cuffs,” she said.
The real alarm bell that was set off this week is the fact that the only reason we knew about this breach of the Medicare archive or data system is because OpenAI told us there was a breach.
If they hadn’t told us that there was a breach, would we have known about it at all? That demonstrates that our cyber defences, particularly for Services Australia, were woefully inadequate.
Updated
‘Finger-wagging’ over OpenAI hack not helpful: Jane Hume
The deputy Liberal leader, Jane Hume, has expressed scepticism revelations an OpenAI agent accessed Australian government data without authorisation should have legal consequences for the company.
The hack was revealed last week, despite taking place in June. Government ministers have raised the prospect of possible referrals to the Australian federal police, but gaps in Australian law could make establishing criminal liability difficult.
Hume told ABC TV on Sunday that AI was inevitably going to be a part of Australia’s future and it was important the country was part of the conversation.
But certainly the way to go about that is not to threaten criminal action against US counterparts and those trusted partners that we’re relying on now to make sure that we can bring those frontier models, that we can do frontier model training here in Australia.
I don’t necessarily think that finger-wagging at our trusted partners, or trying to gazump Donald Trump, is the way to go about that.
Updated
Partner of NSW police officer who died says he’s lost the love of his life
Daniel Vasquez, the partner of NSW police officer Mia Lay, who died in a car crash while on duty, issued a statement on behalf of her family yesterday, saying he had lost the “love of my life”.
Vasquez said:
Mia loved what she did in the police. She was happy in the police, she was good at her job, and how loved she was by everyone in the community. She was the happiest girl I’ve met …
I’d ask for everyone to remember how stunning and beautiful she was. She was a kind hearted person, gave so much love to everyone that she cared about …
I’ve just lost the love of my life. She will be missed by everyone. And I ask that she is remembered.
Updated
Marles defends Albanese’s global leadership award
Richard Marles has defended the prime minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to accept an award for global leadership in UN last week, part of a black tie event in Manhattan hosted by the Atlantic Council.
The opposition criticised Albanese for being in New York during difficult economic times for Australian households.
The prime minister accepted an award about the way in which we are managing our place in the world, and specifically our place in the region. In terms of the alliances that we’ve struck with countries around Australia, such as Papua New Guinea and Fiji, the way in which we are pursuing the AUKUS arrangements, which are building Australian capability in what is a very challenging world.
I think the recognition of the prime minister is deserved in respect of him. But it’s also a recognition of what his government has been doing to make sure that we are keeping Australians safe in a very challenging global environment, and that’s what we are seeking to do here.
Trump White House wants Iran war to end: Marles
The defence minister, Richard Marles, is on News 24 this morning and has been asked about the ongoing economic and geopolitical damage being caused by Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
Marles says it clear that the White House wants the war to end.
Clearly, the United States wants to see an end to the conflict. That’s to state the obvious, but they are seeking to to manage that through
What is clear is that the global fuel supply chain is disrupted, and that is having an impact on the global economy ... and that’s what we are seeking to manage in terms of the way we manage the economy and the budget at home.
Marles says OpenAI CEO didn't tell him about hack in September meeting
Richard Marles says revelations last week that an OpenAI agent hacked into Australian government websites is very serious, despite the nature of the information accessed being less sensitive.
Marles met with OpenAI boss Sam Altman earlier this month but the company did not disclose that it knew the agent had breached Australian government systems.
He declined to speculate about whether Altman knew about the breach or not when they met.
“The fact that we’ve got an artificial intelligence agent gaining unauthorised access to an Australian government website, that of itself is very serious,” Marles told News 24. “There’s no hiding that.
This is the first time this has happened in the context of Australia, and so we’re not shying away from that. In fact, the information that it obtained, was minor in its nature, in as much as that information we’ve now made public anyway, it wasn’t anyone’s personal data.
But in a sense, the seriousness doesn’t lie in the information that was obtained. It was the fact that we’ve got an unintended action of an AI agent gaining unauthorised access into an Australian government website.
Updated
Flight cancellations cause heartache for interstate footy fans
Interstate footy fans grappled with flight delays and cancellations on Saturday as they raced to reach Melbourne in time for the AFL Grand Final.
Melbourne airport said some flights had been cancelled due to poor weather causing low visibility, with rain forecast for much of the morning and early afternoon.
About 100,000 fans packed into the MCG on Saturday for an all-interstate final between the Fremantle Dockers and the Brisbane Lions starting at 2.30pm.
A Qantas flight from Perth scheduled to land at 10.30am was cancelled and a further two were delayed, including another Qantas flight scheduled to arrive before the bounce at 1.40pm which was delayed by around an hour.
Two Brisbane flights were cancelled and nine were delayed by up to two hours, meaning some fans landed after the 2.30pm starting time.
Among those racing to make the game was journalist and TV host Brooke Boney, who was scheduled to land at 11.35am, which was pushed back by an hour. She made it to the ground just in time for Kylie Minogue’s pre-match entertainment.
Updated
Albanese says announcement of Medicare breach ‘purely in national interest’
Anthony Albanese says he was not aware of other cases of AI agents wrongfully accessing classified information before he revealed OpenAI’s unauthorised infiltration of the Medicare Statistics Reporting portal in New York on Thursday, Australian Associated Press reports.
“At the time we made our announcement … we weren’t aware of other occurrences,” the prime minister told reporters at Sydney airport on Saturday.
“We were acting purely in our national interest.”
The PM landed back in Australia on Saturday after a week in the US where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly on the international need to rein in AI.
He said news that autonomous agents allegedly infiltrated American university and commerce department sites, as well as the US Securities and Exchange Commission, further proved that need.
“We now know it wasn’t just the issue of the Australian sites that have been subject to AI agents accessing information without authorisation,” Albanese said.
What this does is confirm that approach of making sure that it needs to be an appropriate national response, as well as an international response to make sure that humans are in charge of this new and emerging technology.
Albanese said it was up to OpenAI to state why multiple breaches occurred.
Good morning
Welcome to our Sunday live blog. Flight delays and cancellations caused frustration and heartache for some footy fans racing to make it to Saturday’s AFL grand final before the first bounce. And the PM says the timing of his announcement of OpenAI’s Medicare hack was made “purely in the national interest”. More on both those stories shortly.
Also, the Liberal deputy leader, Jane Hume, will be speaking on the ABC’s Insiders this morning. More on that coming up.
