Normal view

Three major banks predict interest rates to fall next year – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Teens who use social media two hours daily at higher risk of depressive symptoms, study finds

Teenagers who spend hours glued to social media are likely to experience poorer mental health and a decline in wellbeing, a decade-long study shows, with young girls most at risk.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

© Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

© Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Aukus is among Australia’s worst foreign policy decisions and requires ‘heroic’ optimism, Gareth Evans says

Former Labor foreign affairs minister says belief US would defend Australia in event of an existential attack is a ‘ludicrous delusion’

Aukus will prove to be one of the worst defence and foreign policy decisions ever made by an Australian government and is only being permitted by Donald Trump in order to destroy Chinese nuclear threats to the US mainland, former foreign affairs minister Gareth Evans has said.

In evidence to an independent public inquiry into the $368bn nuclear agreement with the US and UK on Thursday, Evans, a cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, warned the transfer and construction of submarines to Australia from the early 2030s was effectively only an extension of the American military fleet.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Australian Defence Force/Getty Images

© Photograph: Australian Defence Force/Getty Images

© Photograph: Australian Defence Force/Getty Images

Burke brushes off One Nation threat to his seat – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Wong not ‘interested’ in One Nation’s fundraising

Wong says she isn’t concerned about One Nation’s fundraising efforts, but more about their policies. Pauline Hanson’s party says it has raised more than $1.5m in the last day, although those claims are unverified.

I’m less interested in what Pauline Hanson fundraises and am more concerned about One Nation’s policies. Just as I am concerned about the fact that the Liberal party and One Nation seem to be working together and that it appears to be very clearly that a vote for One Nation is actually a vote for the Liberal party, and a vote for the Liberal party is actually a vote for One Nation.

We’ve said for some time it’s obviously a fragile ceasefire, but we’ve also said that what Australia wants is a negotiated end to the war. That’s what we’re calling for, and that’s what we will continue to press for …

We’re not a central player in the Middle East, as we have said. What we can do is add our voice to others who are calling for a negotiated end to the conflict. It’s obviously one of the things we discuss today with the United Kingdom.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Pocock says Australia is ‘sleepwalking’ into AI impacts – as it happened

This blog is closed

Albanese says Australia still impacted by Middle East conflict ‘each and every day’

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now on the ABC News Breakfast couch. He said Australia remains concerned about the economic impact of the turmoil in the Middle East.

Our job now is to demonstrate that we are a genuine and credible alternative to this terrible Labor government.

He’s a great supporter of the party, he’s a great supporter of Angus Taylor, I think this is a great opportunity. The Liberal party has always been what John Howard called the broad church: we like having different opinions.

We listen to everybody’s views, and we represent them.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

NSW Labor officials investigated over allegedly disguising donations to Minns – as it happened

This blog is closed

‘If Australian datacentres are going to power the AI revolution, we deserve a fair return’ – David Pocock

Independent senator David Pocock has published an opinion piece about the growth of AI datacentres in Australia and how the gold rush should benefit Australians. He writes:

Huge investment in this space is pouring into Australia. In the past year, Microsoft has announced $25bn will go into Australian datacentres and Amazon Web Services has committed another $20bn.

The prime minister has posed for photos with the CEOs of both companies, welcoming the investment with open arms despite a growing backlash by communities against AI and datacentre construction. At a time when economic growth is sluggish, the government sees billions of dollars in investment as making for a good headline.

I think if you look at the programme itself, it’s a great podcast that she’s done a great job on a topic that I’m sure will be of real interest and real importance to many Australians who suffer from those conditions, and particularly young Australians and young Australian women.

So there’s a balance in all these things … for the ABC to be ensuring that we bring great content to air and also acknowledging that, you know, with some of the people that we work with, sometimes there will be controversy.

Obviously we’ve looked at Charlie’s comments. I think he did express that they were his own view. They weren’t represented at the ABC. It was a little bit on the hop and a little bit not. So I think we felt comfortable that we were able to accept that his comments weren’t a breach of the ABC code of conduct.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

❌