Apparently the US government is getting pretty worked up about Australia giving people more control over what they see online.
You know, being able to turn off the algorithm that decides what gets shoved in front of you.
Somehow that’s being described as “censorship”. Make it make sense.
So, “free choice” is fine until people actually get a choice that might reduce big tech’s control over what billions of us see every day.
Crazy idea, I know, but maybe the algorithm should work for us rather than us working for it.

#auspol #socialmedia #bigtech #privacy #algorithms

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqj3dgy8x3vro

A bit concerning if you’re thinking about buying a BYD.
Four Corners got a cybersecurity expert to hack a BYD Shark 6. He was able to remotely control the lights, wipers, locks and audio, track the vehicle and activate its microphone.
The really worrying part? The expert says the access didn’t even require a password.
And Australia apparently has stronger cybersecurity requirements for connected washing machines and vacuum cleaners than it does for cars.
Maybe the rush to put computers on wheels has got a little ahead of the security.

#byd #ev #cybersecurity #privacy #cars #australia

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-21/byd-hacked-by-cybersecurity-expert-vehicle-sabotage-surveillance/107139482

So let me get this straight, a 20sqm room in a for-profit aged care facility requires a $1.95m deposit and $10k a month in fees.
And the cheaper $1.25m rooms? When residents die, they get renovated and re-listed for $1.65m.
This is the market delivering for our most vulnerable. Aged care isn't about care anymore, it's about property speculation, cheap labour, and siphoning public money.
Meanwhile, the bed blockers (a cruel term for frail older people) are stuck in hospital because they can't find a bed, even if they can afford a $750k deposit.
This is what happens when you privatise essential services. Profit becomes the goal. People become the product. And the system becomes a nightmare to navigate for those who can least cope.

#AusPol #AgedCare #PrivatisationFails

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2026/aug/30/australia-for-profit-aged-care

The irony here is hard to miss.
The article worries that anti money laundering laws might put downward pressure on house prices, but barely acknowledges the obvious question: how much of Australia’s extraordinary property inflation has been fuelled by dirty money in the first place?
AUSTRAC says real estate is a very high money-laundering risk, and the Australian Institute of Criminology says illicit funds can artificially push property prices higher and outbid legitimate buyers.
Maybe falling prices aren’t the problem. Maybe some of the prices were never legitimate to begin with.
Housing should be a place to live, not a washing machine for criminal wealth.

#auspol #ausproperty #housingcrisis #moneylaundering

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2026/08/anti-money-laundering-laws-pose-another-threat-to-house-prices/

Smart glasses are going mainstream and our privacy laws haven't caught up. The privacy act barely covers individuals wearing them, surveillance rules are a messy state by state patchwork, and Meta is reportedly building "super sensor" glasses that can record even when you're not actively using them. We're sleepwalking into this one.

#privacy #surveillance #ai #smartglasses #auspol

https://theconversation.com/smart-glasses-are-going-mainstream-do-current-privacy-laws-protect-us-from-the-risks-289138

Norway built a global salmon farming empire worth billions, but what's the real cost?
This excellent Foreign Correspondent investigation examines pollution, disease, climate impacts and the threat industrial salmon farming poses to wild salmon and Norway's iconic fjords. A timely reminder that "sustainable" marketing doesn't always match reality.

#foreigncorrespondent #salmon #aquaculture #environment #climate #food

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqfum3s4hag

In 1985, Carl Sagan testified before Congress warning about the greenhouse effect, CO₂ buildup from fossil fuels, and the real risk of dangerous climate change.
He explained the science clearly, urged action, and stressed we were handing grave problems to our children if we delayed.
40 years later... what have we done?

#ClimateChange #CarlSagan #FossilFuels #ActNow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp-WiNXH6hI

We are in a post-fact world and Pauline Hanson is absolutely thriving in it.
Her National Press Club debut was classic Hanson: crank up defence spending by hundreds of billions, make it easier to sack 'lazy' workers, gut the ABC/SBS, and funnel more cash to billionaires while cosplaying as a working-class hero.
Facts? Optional. Dog whistles on immigration, 'nationalism' (not patriotism), and scrapping multiculturalism? Loud and clear.
She doesn't need the press gallery anymore — she speaks directly to her base with clips that travel faster than any fact-check. Trump playbook, Australian edition.
The real question: how do we actually talk to the communities she's winning over, instead of just dunking from the cities?

#PaulineHanson #Auspol #AustralianPolitics

https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2026/06/17/pauline-hanson-post-fact-press-club

Politicians can be fined for misleading advertising when selling a toaster. In NSW, they can still lie to voters during an election campaign.

South Australia has had truth in political advertising laws for 40 years, and the ACT has adopted similar laws. NSW should do the same before the next state election. The petition needs signatures from NSW residents to push Parliament to act.

#nswpol #auspol #democracy #accountability #politics

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/ePetition-details.aspx

So let's get this straight: KPMG — right in the middle of a scandal for stealing confidential client info to rig audit bids — was put in charge of the RBA's whistleblower hotline. Yes, really. Let that land. Now, predictably, the RBA is finally ditching them and retendering the contract. But this isn't just one firm getting caught — it's the whole Big Four grift, baked into the system. As long as corporate power polices itself, nothing changes.

And I'm old enough to remember when the media worked itself into a frenzy over council workers standing around with their hands in their pockets. "Grifters!" they cried. "Waste!" "We need to privatise!" — that was the war cry. Meanwhile, the real grift just puts on a consultant's suit, bills by the hour, and never has to stand in front of a camera and answer for it.

#auspol #kpmg #bigfour #corporategovernance #audit #outsourcing #privitising

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-05/rba-likely-to-cut-ties-with-kpmg/106761504

The Trump administration is tearing up 900 deep-sea instruments that took a decade to install and $370 million to build — scrapping the world's most advanced ocean monitoring network to save $48m/year. Real-time data on AMOC stability, marine heat waves, ocean chemistry, commercial fisheries? Gone. Congress twice voted to save it. They did it anyway by bureaucratic fiat through the NSF. No, not budget management, this is deliberate science vandalism — blinding ourselves to the ocean systems that regulate global climate, because the results were inconvenient.

#climatecrisis #trumpadministration #sciencedenialism #oceanscience #amoc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJczkQZDQhM