Australia news LIVE: Labor forced to renegotiate with crossbench over housing reform; Voice advice not watered down – Sydney Morning Herald

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Former US president Barack Obama warned of the truth-warping dangers of artificial intelligence and polarised media, and took a swipe at News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, in a wide-ranging discussion.

He also praised Sydney as “one of the world’s great cities” but said he didn’t swim in the ocean at Manly this week as the water looked a little cold, especially compared to his native Hawaii.

The 61-year-old, who served two terms in the Oval Office from 2009 to 2017, said he was the first president to serve entirely in the digital age, making him at that point the most recorded person in human history and the guinea pig for deepfakes and other AI mischief.

Read more on what the former president said here. 

Property giant Meriton is the latest company to disclose a significant data breach, warning staff and guests that personal information may have been accessed by cybercriminals.

The developer and construction company, known for its serviced apartments and founded by Harry Triguboff, told the ABC it was attacked in January this year.

It believes its staff may have had financial, health and employment information breached, while guest contact information may have been exposed.

Meriton said it contacted approximately 1900 people to advise them of the breach.

Updates on the breach are available here. 

China’s ambassador to New Zealand penned an angry 36-page letter to local MPs railing against US democracy on the eve of President Joe Biden’s address to the United States’ democracy summit.

Despite Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly reining in his diplomats, Wang Xiaolong has sent an 11,300-word document to numerous New Zealand MPs, saying it was a report on how the United States was a failed model of democracy.

The document accuses the US of trying to split the world into two camps of democracies and non-democracies.

The exclusive is available here.

In overseas news, Jeremy Corbyn, the left-wing British Labour MP who led the party to two election losses, has been banned by his colleagues from standing as a candidate at the next election.

The move, put forward by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and approved by the party’s national executive, 22 to 12, on Tuesday, now risks plunging the opposition back into the vicious factional disputes that became a hallmark of his five years in charge.

Corbyn, who served as leader from 2015 to 2020, has sat as an independent MP for Islington North since October 2020 after he was suspended from Labour following his reaction to a UK equalities watchdog probe into anti-semitism within the party.

Read more about this issue, written by our Europe correspondent.

One-third of Australians think women use sexual assault claims as retribution and nearly one in four believe women make allegations because they regret consensual sex, as government-funded research shows a backlash in attitudes to women.

The National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey, which is held every four years, found 35 per cent of 19,100 respondents agreed “it is common for sexual assault accusations to be used as a way of getting back at men”.

Meanwhile, 24 per cent agreed “a lot of times, women who say they were raped had led the man on and then had regrets”.

Australian research found false allegations of sexual assault are extremely rare and 87 per cent of victim-survivors do not tell police.

More on this issue here. 

Farmers descended on Canberra to demand better digital connections for rural and regional communities.

A coalition of 21 peak agricultural groups are meeting with federal politicians to turn up the dial.

Andrew Williams is part of the delegation.

“The drive and determination of the group to improve the connectivity outcomes and opportunities for non-metropolitan Australians remains as strong as ever,” he said.

The group has five demands including a national investment plan for regional communications and access to voice and data services that meet minimum service standards.

Peter Thompson from the National Farmers’ Federation said while progress had been made, much more was needed.

“We live in an increasingly digital world,” Mr Thompson said.

“People’s connectivity and digital access play a significant role in their ability to not only access vital services such as government support, banking, medical, education and social services, but to take advantage of the economic opportunities of that digital access and inclusion offers.”

The group said getting connected, staying connected and troubleshooting were very real issues for the 38 per cent of Australians who lived outside metropolitan areas.

AAP