NSW introduces legislation to seize and crush illegal ebikes
Penry Buckley
The NSW government will introduce legislation to give authorities powers to crush “throttle-only, high-powered e-motorbikes” to parliament today.
The laws, which were flagged last month, will give police and Transport for NSW officers the power to seize bikes operating at speeds more than 25km/h, before sending them to be crushed, even if bought in error. Officers will be able to use new roadside “dyno units” to test a bike’s speed.
The government says the changes are part of a safety crackdown amid a surge in injuries and an incident in which 40 or so e-bikes swarmed the Sydney Harbour Bridge last month. It will also introduce a minimum age to ride an ebike of between 12 and 16, which it has yet to decide. A two-day safety blitz last week saw 170 fines issued for illegal ebikes.
The transport minister, John Graham, says:
double quotation mark We don’t want to discourage safe and healthy ebike use but we do want to discourage dangerous and illegal e-motorbike use – and these powers will do exactly that.If it behaves like a motorbike, it’s probably illegal and could end up in the crusher. So the message is simple: don’t buy an illegal ebike.
Key events
Striking teachers take pay fight to state parliament
Tens of thousands of Victorian teachers will down tools after a last-ditch call to avoid school strike chaos fell on deaf ears, AAP reports.
Victorian public school teachers, principals and other education staff will not show up for work on Tuesday over a pay dispute, while teachers in Tasmania will also strike.
About a third of the 30,000-strong unionised workforce are expected to march from Victorian Trades Hall to state parliament for a rally on the front steps.
Schools will remain open across the state, but many parents have been told classes won’t run and to keep their children home if possible.
The Department of Education did not provide details on how many schools would operate at reduced capacity on Tuesday, but confirmed it was working to limit disruption. It said:
double quotation mark Whilst all schools are expected to be open … many schools will only be able to provide supervision for a limited number of students.Schools will communicate any changes to school programs directly to parents and carers.
The 24-hour teachers strike is Victoria’s first in more than 13 years and comes eight months out from the state election.
Government announces support for truckies facing fuel price spikes
The government has announced measures this morning to protect truck drivers from fuel price spikes by removing the six month wait time for contract chain orders.
Labor says shortening the contract negotiation times between trucking companies and major retailers will help ensure retailers, mining companies and manufacturers offer fair contract terms.
It’ll also help ensure truck drivers are paid enough to cover the cost of fuel.
Speaking to the Today show this morning, the minister in charge, Amanda Rishworth, said:
double quotation mark I will be announcing some measures to support truckies, in particular, to make sure that they get a fair go and that some of the costs we’re seeing are fairly shared across the supply chain.
The legislation is still on its way so there’s a question mark over when it will be introduced.
Stephanie Convery
Continuing from our last post …
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said in a statement this morning that Australia was “riding a new wave of AI companion chatbots that are entrapping and entrancing impressionable young minds”:
double quotation mark We’re also starting to see the lines begin to blur between AI chatbots and companions in terms of their features and functionality.While AI companions can feel personal and supportive, they really are not designed for children and they are not mental health experts either, which is why I’m concerned that most of the chatbots services we asked questions of did not automatically refer users to appropriate support when self-harm or suicide were detected in chats.
It’s also extremely troubling to discover that a number of these chatbot services were not checking all the AI models they used to provide their service for inputs (or prompts) relating to child sexual exploitation and abuse material.
Stephanie Convery
AI companion chatbots failing to provide safeguards for children, says online safety regulator
AI companion services are failing to provide basic safeguards for children, such as robust age assurance processes or directing users to support services when self-harm was detected in prompts, Australia’s online safety regulator has warned.
In October, according to its latest transparency report, eSafety sent notices requesting information on child safety guardrails to four companies providing AI companion services, or chatbots specifically designed for emotional intimacy: Chai, Character.AI, Chub AI and Nomi.
The regulator found that none of these services had age assurances in place that prevented children from being able to access adult features, such as pornography or sexually explicit chat exchanges. Chai, Chub AI and Nomi also had no structured support for possible self-harm, such as diverting users to crisis support services.
Nomi and Chub AI had no dedicated moderation or safety staff. Chai and Nomi did not report child sexual exploitation and abuse material to an enforcement authority.
A recent survey of 1,950 Australian children aged 10 to 17 conducted by eSafety found that 79% of respondents (1,540) said they had used AI assistants, 8% of them (123) had used an AI companion. If this figure were extrapolated nationally, it would indicate around 200,000 children in Australia may be using AI companions. The survey results have not yet been published in full.
After engaging with eSafety, Character.AI introduced age assurance measures for Australian users and removed the chat function for under-18s. Chub AI geoblocked its service from Australia. Chai restricted access to companion chats to paid subscribers. Nomi has committed to “implementing further age assurance functionality”.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
It’s going to be another busy sitting day today with fuel supplies and war in the Middle East topping the agenda. The government is under pressure to do more to secure fuel supplies – which have a question mark over them after mid-April – and get that fuel to areas facing shortages, particularly in regional areas.
And the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be meeting with the prime minister and speaking to the Parliament today as Australia and the EU have been slowly inching towards inking a free trade deal (could today be that day?!)
I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours – let’s get cracking.
Ed Husic calls for national AI act to manage risks
Labor backbencher Ed Husic has called for national laws to manage the risks of artificial intelligence, after thousands of tech workers lost their jobs to the technology.
The move placed him at odds with the Albanese government’s approach, which recently scrapped plans for stand-alone AI laws.
Husic, who was Labor’s science minister from 2022 to 2025, said:
double quotation mark Governments can’t just be cheerleaders for novel uses of AI, they must prepare and dilute the associated risks.We need a comprehensive, economy-wide national AI act that identifies risks and sets out our expectations for how to manage them and build sorely needed confidence in AI.
We can’t have a hands off, laissez-faire approach to AI, or just respond in a knee-jerk, spasmodic way to the AI risks that only threaten the loudest, or most powerful, voices in society.
Husic’s comments followed the release of a set of “national data centre expectations”, a set of voluntary measures for industry players seeking priority assessment by the federal government.
AMA says online gambling causing ‘immeasurable harm’
Josh Butler
The Australian Medical Association says it is concerned about harm suffered by Australians from gambling and is urging the federal government to immediately respond to the report from late Labor MP Peta Murphy calling for a wagering ad ban.
As detailed above, today marks 1,000 days since Murphy’s report was handed down in June 2023. But while Anika Wells remains in consultations with affected industries and stakeholders about further action on gambling, the government has still not responded to the report formally.
The AMA president, Dr Danielle McMullen, said online gambling was causing “immeasurable harm to Australian families”. She said a partial ban on wagering ads wouldn’t work and called for strong government action, citing Australians being among the highest amounts of gambling losses in the world, and expressing concern about vulnerable audiences – including children – being exposed to gambling ads.
The AMA demanded an immediate response to all 31 recommendations, including total advertising bans, an independent regulator and child protection.
McMullen said:
double quotation mark One thousand days of inaction while online gambling companies flood sports broadcasts with predatory advertising is unacceptable.Every day of delay means more Australians fall victim to an industry that profits from harm and despair.
1,000 days since Murphy report on gambling ad bans
Josh Butler
Today marks 1,000 days since Peta Murphy’s landmark report calling for a banning of gambling advertisements. Independent MP Kate Chaney will soon seek to introduce her own private member’s bill to legislate a gambling ad ban, frustrated with the government’s drawn-out process to respond to the report.
Chaney said:
double quotation mark This is a deeply disappointing milestone to be marking – 1,000 days of delay and inaction on reforms widely supported by Australians.I’m doing the work, even if the government is not. My private member’s bill to end online gambling ads is needed to stop children and young people being groomed to gamble as they watch their favourite sports.
The government has still not responded to the report from Murphy, the late Labor MP who died in 2023 after a battle with cancer. The communications minister, Anika Wells, is consulting with sporting organisations, harm reduction advocates, media organisations and the wagering industry about further restrictions on gambling ads.
Chaney’s bill, which will be introduced next week in parliament, would seek to phase in a complete ban on advertising for online gambling ads over three years, including on TV, streaming services, social media and at sporting grounds.
double quotation mark I’ve been fighting for gambling reform for 1,000 days and I’ll continue to keep the pressure on for as long as it takes the Albanese government to enact meaningful gambling reform.
NSW introduces legislation to seize and crush illegal ebikes
Penry Buckley
The NSW government will introduce legislation to give authorities powers to crush “throttle-only, high-powered e-motorbikes” to parliament today.
The laws, which were flagged last month, will give police and Transport for NSW officers the power to seize bikes operating at speeds more than 25km/h, before sending them to be crushed, even if bought in error. Officers will be able to use new roadside “dyno units” to test a bike’s speed.
The government says the changes are part of a safety crackdown amid a surge in injuries and an incident in which 40 or so e-bikes swarmed the Sydney Harbour Bridge last month. It will also introduce a minimum age to ride an ebike of between 12 and 16, which it has yet to decide. A two-day safety blitz last week saw 170 fines issued for illegal ebikes.
The transport minister, John Graham, says:
double quotation mark We don’t want to discourage safe and healthy ebike use but we do want to discourage dangerous and illegal e-motorbike use – and these powers will do exactly that.If it behaves like a motorbike, it’s probably illegal and could end up in the crusher. So the message is simple: don’t buy an illegal ebike.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told 7.30 last night that the “world is facing the greatest global energy security threat in its history” and Australians are feeling the pain at the petrol pump. We’ll have more coming up.
It has been 1,000 days since the late Peta Murphy’s landmark report calling for a ban on gambling advertisements but ministers are yet to act. Independent MP Kate Chaney is planning her own bill to put that right. More coming up.
And New South Wales is following up on its promise to take illegal ebikes off the road. We’ll get a look at the legislation today as it’s due to be introduced in parliament.
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