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Nobody Deserves Poverty @nobodyinpoverty.bsky.social · 1h

Hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients lose access to payments every year, and Labor have said they can’t even say if it’s lawful. - @pennyallmanpayne.com

To quote @amyremeikis.bsky.social - SIIIGGGGHHHHHH

live.australiainstitute.org.au/2025/10/aust...

39 minutes ago 11.48 AEDT

SIIIGGGGHHHHHH
Thee has been a lot of reporting on the Deloitte report which was found to have used AI and most of the reporting has focused on that, rather than what the report was actually about.

Which was the Targeted Compliance Framework. You probably know that as mutual obligations. The report was about the issues with the automated system being used to cancel people’s welfare payments. You may remember from episodes such as ROBODEBT and EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS CONTACT WITH THIS SYSTEM TELLING YOU, that this is illegal and this has the potential to cause some pretty major problems for the government. And right now, it is causing major problems for people who are being made to fulfil demands from an illegal and immoral system just to have their below-poverty-line payments reinstated/continue.

That’s a pretty major problem, Australia. And not a new one. The only people benefiting from Australia’s mutual obligation program are the owners of job provider agencies who are paid billions of dollars to set menial and often degrading ‘duties’ for jobseekers to meet so they can maybe continue to pay their rent that week.

So not only is the consulting firm which was paid to do a report into the issues with an automated system which is causing immense harm to jobseekers and returned a report riddled with errors because it used automation to complete that report still getting paid, the government is yet to address the substance of the report.

Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne said

Hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients lose access to payments every year, and Labor have said they can’t even say if it’s lawful.”

These payments can be the difference between food on the table or going hungry. If Labor can’t defend the system they should end the TCF and stop suspending payments immediately.”

Under questioning in senate estimates from Greens senators, Murray Watt has agreed that Deloitte should apologise.

Great.

Let’s see whether the government apologises for keeping mutual obligations and welfare suspensions in place at the later session of estimates which will deal with social services.

Bluesky

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wombatpunch.bsky.social @wombatpunch.bsky.social · 51m

"Absolutely not what I wanted in a John Wick sequel."

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 6h

I write full time largely because of one thread about getting high with the Irish president. As cringe as it is to admit, my entire life has been massively enhanced by Twitter and ketamine over precisely the same time that those two things have proven less beneficial for Elon Musk.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 22h

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Dr Ingrid M @ingridm.bsky.social · 2h

like fucking clockwork.

Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 2h

BREAKING: Israeli war planes continue to launch raids on Gaza City as Palestinians celebrate the ceasefire announcement, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent on the ground.

🔴 LIVE update: aje.io/xqppys

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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 3h

“A study, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29 percent, their risk of hospitalizations by 39 percent and their risk of death by 64 percent.”

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 6h

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 4h

It's good that the govt is rolling out a robotax scheme to get old debts from individuals, that should fix things....

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tables showing from 2013-14 to 2023-24 Santos Ltd had $46.7bn in revenue and paid $0 tax

Year Total income ($m) Taxable income ($m) Tax payable ($m)
2014-15 $3,389.4 $0.0 $0.0
2015-16 $3,476.0 $0.0 $0.0
2016-17 $3,715.3 $0.0 $0.0
2017-18 $3,498.0 $0.0 $0.0
2018-19 $4,360.6 $8.3 $0.0
2019-20 $5,013.9 $29.0 $0.0
2020-21 $4,070.3 $68.8 $0.0
2021-22 $4,746.0 $74.1 $0.0
2022-23 $6,257.4 $19.8 $0.0
2023-24 $8,210.3 $21.2 $0.0
Total $46,737.3 $221.2 $0.0

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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 3h

F*cking hell.

As @amyremeikis.bsky.social notes, this is WHY we need IR regulations.
live.australiainstitute.org.au

‘Baby Priya’ bill to be introduced into parliament
Amanda Rishworth is introducing a bill to the parliament that will stop employers from being able to cancel maternity/paternity leave in the event of a stillbirth or an early infant death.

It has been sparked by the case of Baby Priya, who was born three months early and lived for 42 days before passing. Priya’s mother (she has been asked not to be identified) rang her employer of 11 years to tell her of the loss, and then soon after received a text message telling her her three months maternity leave had been cancelled and she was only allowed four weeks paid personal leave.

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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 3h

Labor of course do not need one single vote of the LNP to pass any laws, so they are choosing to make the laws weaker.

Dr Richard Denniss @richarddenniss.bsky.social · 4h

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit scared of any new ‘environment laws’ that Labor can get Matt Canavan and Andrew Hastie to vote for…I think they will be better described as ‘ how to build more mines faster laws’ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Watt nears deal with Coalition to finally overhaul environment laws

Environment Minister Murray Watt will sit down with his Liberal counterpart Angie Bell today, with quiet optimism in both parties that a deal might soon be struck to finally rewrite Australia's "broke...

www.abc.net.au

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onion person @junlper.beer · 6h

this is an explicitely nazi administration and anyone who still supports them should be viewed as such

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 7h

Incredible.

Jack Posobiec references the earliest version of antifa -- the anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic who were opposed to the Nazi Party -- as the bad guys.

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Dr Ingrid M @ingridm.bsky.social · 5h

I now allocate a tutorial to critical ai literacy, in the weeks before a major essay is due. Most students know the slop is slop, and quickly learn it is planet-boiling slop. If unis can not educate students about ai what the fuck is the point is my view.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

University caught out using AI to wrongly accuse students of cheating with AI

An Australian university has accused thousands of its students of cheating with artificial intelligence. The problem? Many have done nothing wrong.

www.abc.net.au

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jaythechou.bsky.social @jaythechou.bsky.social · 18h

I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1668

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wombatpunch.bsky.social @wombatpunch.bsky.social · 14h

How ropeable do you think we could make them if everyone started calling it the CPAC Holiday Party?

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Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 17h

You can almost guarantee that the AFP’s new taskforce for investigating things-that-aren’t-terrorism will be looking closely into climate activists

Lucy Hamilton @lucyham.bsky.social · 17h

In the Trump era, this is terrifying. Apparently criticising capitalism 🥴🤣 is terrorism now in the US.
#Auspol

Australian Federal Police ®
56m • S
The AFP has set up new National Security Investigations (NSI) teams to target groups and individuals causing high levels of harm to Australia's social cohesion.
The NSI teams will work closely with state and territory police, law enforcement and national security partners to provide a coordinated, consistent and intelligence-led response to security threats, and also work on a global level through operations, capabilities and relationships with the international law enforcement intelligence community.
There are current and emerging groups dispersed across Australia and in some cases, overseas, who are eroding our country's social fabric by advocating hatred, fear, and humiliation. While many of these crimes may not meet the threshold of terrorism, the AFP has identified concerning behaviours which could escalate to politically-motivated violence or hate crimes, which seriously put the Australian community at risk.
There is no place for hate or violence in our communities and the AFP will defend and protect Australia and Australia's future from these threats.
Anyone with information about possible threats to the community or suspicious activity should make a report to the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400. In an emergency or life-threatening situation, contact Triple

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wombatpunch.bsky.social @wombatpunch.bsky.social · 17h

The internet currently seems to be locked into a war to determine who can say they dislike the new Swift album the most, the sole purpose of which seems to inflict suffering on those of who just. Don't. Care.

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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 20h

*glances over at my son who is currently using social media to chat with biologists on Bluesky and iNaturalist* tortured, eh?

I think News Corp Australia is terrified of what social media has done to its users profit margin and all it can do is pathetically invoke moral panic. The kids don’t care

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 21h

News Corp Australia chair says social media platforms are ‘true monsters’ and ‘torment our children’

Michael Miller also says media must unite against second ‘big steal’ by tech companies seeking changes to copyright law to access content for free * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Social media is to blame for social cohesion issues across the globe, News Corp Australia’s executive chair, Michael Miller, has said, as he calls for media to present a united front against the platforms and AI companies seeking content for free. Miller told the Melbourne Press Club on Wednesday social media was rife with “misinformation, disinformation [and] the rabbit holes [that] they drag you down. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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wombatpunch.bsky.social @wombatpunch.bsky.social · 20h

One of the Bush family, I assume.

axolotl lovely / fka frog k ⚧️🏴‍☠️ @vaporlight.bsky.social · 1d

additional weird overlap: benjamin "bugsy" siegel, kingpin of Murder Inc and effective founder of modern vegas, had to be talked out of killing Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering at a party in Italy in 1939

rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 1d

you ever think about those real weird overlaps. like tennessee williams might have listened to the ramones

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Colin McMillen @mcmillen.dev · 1d

tech companies blatantly ignoring user consent, exhibit #6379:

Email screenshot:

We’re always working to make Gemini more helpful and easier to use, so we’re
simplifying your Gemini app experience to automatically include publicly available
data from YouTube, Google Maps, Google Flights, and Google Hotels.
This means you will no longer have to manage individual app settings for Gemini to get
the most current and relevant public results for your prompts—such as up-to-the-minute flight prices, helpful video summaries, or local hotel details. As such, you will no longer
see individual Apps settings for these particular services. This new experience will
begin rolling out to all users, including those who had previously turned the settings off
for these services, on October 13.

(The last sentence is highlighted)

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Tom Studans @maximumwelfare.bsky.social · 22h

You know what they say: the best time to do this is at the peak of a globally-reported government AI procurement scandal

Crikey @crikey.com.au · 1d

Exclusive | OpenAI's first Australian government contract was handed over with no public tender.

OpenAI signs first ever Australian government contract

www.crikey.com.au

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Rachel Withers @rachelwithers.bsky.social · 22h

The fact Wong thinks she can just snark her way out of this is a sign of how normalised the relationships between politicians and lobbyists have become.

Like, of course the PM shouldn't be president of a registered lobby group that sells corporate members access to politicians? No shit??

Crikey @crikey.com.au · 1d

Independent Senator David Pocock and Labor's Penny Wong clashed in Senate estimates yesterday over whether the Parliamentary Sports Club could be considered a lobby group, as reported in Crikey last week. The club is registered as such, and lists Responsible Wagering Australia as one of its clients.

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stranger @strangerous.bsky.social · 23h

Home Affairs Sec Stephanie Foster exposed as overly determined Not to Answer & take things ‘on notice’

Shoebridge “You’re taking on notice your failure to answer on notice, Q’s I asked u on notice, about Q’s that u responded on notice, to answers u haven’t given on notice”🤯ffs #Estimates

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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 22h

Paul Brereton’s ongoing conflict of interest woes threaten public trust in the National Anti-Corruption Commission. He urgently needs to change tack.

Australia’s anti-corruption commissioner has a trust problem. He needs to change course to fix it

theconversation.com

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Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 23h

Reminder: Australia's only emissions reduction legislation - the safeguard mechanism - allows for unlimited use of offsets instead of requiring genuine cuts from polluters