That’s it for today, thanks for reading
Here’s the main stories on Friday 17 October:
Liberal senator Jane Hume joked she would “have to speak a lot slower” if she joined the Nationals, saying she was “too fond of good coffee and free markets” to join the regional party, after David Littleproud said he was open to more conservatives joining his ranks
Hume’s tongue-in-cheek comments have been criticised by Labor’s regional development minister Kristy McBain, who accused the Melbourne-based politician of insulting regional Australia – accusing her opponent of being “smarmy” and “arrogant”
Five people have been taken to hospital in northern Queensland after chemical contamination at two Australia Post offices
The National Gallery of Victoria has quietly returned a 17th-century painting to the descendants of a Jewish family who lost it during the Nazi era, without public announcement or explanation
The Australian newspaper signed on to the Pentagon’s prohibitive new press policy, before backflipping
Changes to the allocations of places for girls and boys in coeducational selective schools in New South Wales will address a growing gender imbalance, the state government says
South Australian police complete latest phase of search for missing four-year-old.
Thanks for being with us today. Enjoy your weekend.
Updated
FoI bill has ‘one eye on the future’
The attorney general’s department says the government’s controversial freedom of information bill is “trying to have one eye on the future” regarding the effect of AI on the system.
Earlier this morning we heard the department of Home Affairs and Services Australia have found no evidence of AI bots making FoI requests.
But the attorney general’s department says there has been evidence of AI involvement in the system. Celeste Moran, First Assistant Secretary, Identity and Information Division, said:
What we are seeing in the system and have been advised of is that some agencies are receiving FoI requests developed with the assistance of AI …
The bill is trying to have one eye on the future, and so of course right now there is some evidence of AI in the system but AI is developing rapidly, and what we have seen in some jurisdictions is clear examples particularly in the US where AI tools have been used to generate thousands of requests at once.
Earlier, the department was also asked to provide evidence of foreign or nefarious actors using the FoI system to obtain government information.
The department said they consulted with the national intelligence community, but much of that advice was classified. When pulled up by Greens senator David Shoebridge, who had accessed an internal email (through FoI no less), the email showed that part of the advice was the changes “may go some way to deterring this type of activity”.
Updated
