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ESSENTIALS

— Digital duty of care bill introduced to parliament

— Independent MP Kate Chaney on the need to beef up AI safety

— Health care savings blocked

DRIVING THE DAY

DIGITAL DUTY OF CARE — SHIELD FOR NEWS JOURNALISM

At 9 a.m. Communications Minister Anika Wells will introduce Labor’s bill for a proposed digital duty of care which would impose new responsibilities on technology companies to protect users from online harms.

In a speech to the National Press Club at 12:30 p.m. Wells will detail two changes that have been made:

— A specific carve-out for professional news material to remove any doubt and to protect public interest journalism — responding to concerns raised by free speech advocates claiming that news reports on terrorism, war or even climate change could harm young audiences

—Removal of the ministerial rulemaking power to define new harms in the final bill, as Wells flagged on Monday in an interview with POLITICO’s Canberra Playbook Podcast.

“Deliberation about a digital duty of care comes down to a simple question,” Wells will say, according to extracts of the speech circulated in advance. “Do you really think that Big Tech is on the side of worried parents and vulnerable kids … or are they on the side of their shareholders?

“Australia’s Digital Duty of Care will set basic safety standards for the online services we use every day, just like we have in every other industry. We must shift the burden from the shoulders of victims to the companies that are creating the environments where harms occur.”

Wells says the bill will help reduce content promoting eating disorders, glorifying crime, pornography or material hostile to women, and content that causes serious distress.

As Paul Karp reports from Amanda Copp’s Canberra Playbook Podcast, Barnaby Joyce wants a separate bill to deal with the proposed U.S. execution livestream instead.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is starting to hear back from social media companies about how they would treat the livestream if it goes ahead. She may lack the powers to prospectively block it but has never ruled out asking ISPs to stop it once it starts.

NSW OFFERS SMALL BUSINESSES STAMP DUTY FIX

The NSW Government has announced that, if discretionary trusts elect to restructure to get an exemption to the federal government’s new 30% minimum tax, they will not have to pay stamp duty as a result. This policy will be enacted if NSW Labor is reelected in March 2027.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the federal tax changes, due to start in 2028, are “some way off” but the Minns government wanted “businesses to have as much certainty as possible, as early as possible, so they can carry on with more confidence.” Mookhey noted NSW is “the first state to give its small businesses certainty with this practical solution.”

How it will play in Canberra: Expect the Coalition to argue that the fact small businesses need an exemption from stamp duty proves that they are exposed to extra tax for restructuring. What about small businesses in other states? A separate but related question about trusts that become companies to avoid the tax hike remains unanswered.

Overkill: A spokesperson for Chalmers said that “Treasury’s advice is clear, the election option is not expected to result in state or territory stamp duties. We welcome New South Wales taking steps to put this beyond doubt.”

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW

Independent MP Kate Chaney is the crossbench’s lower house representative on parliament’s joint select committee on AI. Finn McHugh sat down with her in her parliament office.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you make of the PMO helping to draft the letter sent by the committee to the PM?

I’m happy if the PMO is comfortable with the content of this letter because it’s really broad. It addresses a lot of the safety issues that I’ve been concerned about, and nothing’s going to happen without the PMO on board.

The process itself was not ideal, but I’m more focused on the content and getting an outcome. The upside of AI being novel is there are not entrenched political positions, and we can actually work together to nut out the issues. That involves collaborating with the government.

The U.K.’s AI safety institute gets talked about as the gold standard.

Ours gets a 16th of the funding that the U.K.’s gets. For a relatively small investment, we can have a significant seat at the table globally. A lot of this is going to come down to global standards, not domestic regulation, so it’s really important now that we are a credible voice in that discussion and we have some influence over where it goes.

Our regulators are going to need to upskill, be aware of upcoming risks and be able to respond much faster. You can’t do all that with 25 people.

How can governments legislate flexibly enough to keep pace?

Funding the AI Safety Institute, making sure that we actually get notified when there are critical incidents. If you’re deploying technology here, we have to know that you’ve tested. You can’t sell a bike helmet in Australia without showing that you’ve tested it first. This is much more dangerous.

I’d want that committee to become a standing committee. There’s no way we can cover all of it in the time we’ve been allocated. There could be rolling inquiries on AI for the next decade. We will need to update our institutions — having a standing committee with short, sharp inquiries on different aspects of AI contributes to that.

Can you explain your focus on bioweapons?

It’s evolving really fast. No one really knows what’s possible. With the latest round of models, it’s expected that there’s going to be a big uplift in biological capability. That’s great for scientific research — it’s also really scary for bioweapons. I don’t want to freak people out, but we need to be realistic about what’s coming.

Australia is a leader in biosecurity, and we can build on that. Just as we did on the under-16s ban, we could actually be setting and contributing to a global standard.

How do you balance integrating AI with potential threats to the labor force?

There is huge uncertainty. We can’t just rely on historical data when assessing that. I’ve proposed scenario planning, asking: “What are the triggers when government needs to approach this differently?”

There may be some change in how jobs are described, but no significant impacts. Or it may be that 40% of the work in 30% of our jobs becomes redundant in the next decade. That has big implications for tax take, welfare, societal order and human meaning.

What about the copyright debate?

It’s really tough. Our copyright system was designed for replicating materials. Training an AI model is not replicating the materials — you’re looking at the relationships between the words, and using it for a very different purpose. The existing copyright system isn’t fit for purpose. We are going to have to come up with a new structure, and there probably is a case for government intervention into that, which is based on the assumption that having training data centers in Australia is good.

The economic case is a bit uncertain, but even if compute ends up being a commodity we may still be quite competitive. The geostrategic argument: 95% of AI use will not use frontier models in the long run, but for the other 5%, it’s important to have early access for national defense. Having data centers here means we have a bargaining chip.

Read the full Kate Chaney interview here.

BY THE NUMBERS

30: People wrongfully detained by the Department of Home Affairs in the 2024-25 financial year, per the Commonwealth Ombudsman. These are people falsely suspected to be “unlawful non-citizens.”

100%: Of these cases were due to errors that the department has been made well aware of by the ombudsman, including administrative errors, not notifying people about visa decisions and communication breakdowns between the minister’s office and department.

18: People were wrongfully detained due to a single error where a delay in communicating a ministerial decision to grant them visas led to them remaining in detention for a day.

CANBERRA MEETS WORLD

BRINGING IN THE BIG GUNS: Labor dispatched Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his deputy, Richard Marles, to pressure the Coalition over its FTA with the European Union, after Nationals Leader Matt Canavan doubled down on his threat to sink the deal.

“I would have thought that for a political party that pretends that it is pro-business and supports markets, this would be an absolute no-brainer,” the PM told QT.

ICYMI: Read why the deal is facing headwinds, and why Labor won’t negotiate, in this piece by Finn McHugh.

THE GARRYS GO GLOBAL: Playbook likes to deliver two Garry awards, and one Naughty Garry, to the staffers who are rarely seen but drive the day-to-day goings on in this building. Today, we’re handing out our first Global Garry.

The winner: New White House press Ssecretary Katie Zacharia, whose train-wreck first appearance is already sparking rumors about her future.

Watch the lowlights here, then tell Playbook whether Zacharia gets: the Naughty Garry, the Incompetent Garry, or the Do You Even Realize You’re On Camera Garry.

STATE OF THE NATION

NOT SO FAST ON COPYRIGHT: PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

The case for copyright changes set out in the bipartisan letter to the prime minister from the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (with edits from the prime minister’s office) was dealt a blow last night, particularly the claim that rightsholders are receiving no revenue.

Commissioner Stephen King, from the Productivity Commission, told a hearing on Wednesday why it recommended in a 2025 report there should be a three-year freeze on changes to copyright.

“Any change to copyright law, while it might sound like a silver bullet to enable training of large language models in Australia, anything such as a text and data mining exemption would be challenged in court, straight away,” he said.

“We are already seeing licensing solutions develop. … Seeing those licensing markets start to develop in Australia we felt there was no need to move too rapidly, but better to let those markets develop – that will reward the creatives.”

Anthony Albanese has insisted he wants to protect copyright against scraping, but rightsholders are concerned the major parties will agree to an opt-out model that will in practice allow it. The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age has reported that Albanese and Angus Taylor have been meeting to discuss the issue, fueling speculation the fix is in.

VICTORIA VOTES: Federal One Nation leader Pauline Hanson remains central to the party’s fortunes in the upcoming Victorian state election. A tired Labor government, and a Coalition previously wracked by infighting, should make the Nov. 28 race prime hunting territory for Hanson’s party.

So why is it consistently polling third? Read the full story from Finn McHugh here.

HOTELS’ MIGRATION AD A BBQ-STOPPER

The Australian Hotels Association has released a pro-migration ad, using AI-generated scenes to depict what would happen to our economy and quality of life if a white middle-aged man hit a big button to run Australia without migrants.

When we shared it on social media it got quite a reaction ranging from:

The ad is racist: Very few migrant workers are depicted. With one exception (an Asian aged-care nurse) the migrants are white or white-passing (the Irish barista, the Latina bar maid, Sven an unseen Swede). Viewers also seized on the framing of the importance of migrants centering on how they serve (almost exclusively white) Australians — in aged care, cafes, pubs, grocery stores, hotels, beauticians and home food delivery.

The case it is not: The ad is mainly about migrant workers’ absence so those who remain are a small sample. Yes, those depicted are not representative of the full diversity of migrant workers. Yes, it also appeals to Australians’ self-interest about how migrant workers benefit them. This is a piece of political communication designed to persuade Australians — who may or may not hold anti-migrant or racist views — that they should think twice based on the impact on them. That might be a selfish impulse, but the campaign is fighting fire with fire in that respect.

Verdict: The ad is not trying to improve Australians’ views on race. If the AHA wants to use AI to generate video of mostly white people to convince an audience of mostly white people that they should worry about the impact of fewer migrants on prices and services, go for it.

A CAUTIONARY TALE: Public servants didn’t consult veterans when they developed a (now scrapped) annual cap on veteran health care costs, RSL Australia says. Labor can’t shake the specter of the bungled measure — expected to save $748 million over three years — with a public inquiry today examining the way the Department of Veterans’ Affairs funds health care.

“That the measure itself was Budget-in-Confidence did not prevent DVA from presenting the problem to the veteran community prior to developing a New Policy Proposal, or from codesigning potential responses to include in its early advice and proposals,” RSL’s submission to the inquiry reads.

The group said when it did get a briefing in July, bureaucrats advised the $5000 cap “would be better (preferably) described as a ‘threshold.’”

Another way to put it: The department says it actually left room for more than a year of consultation with the veteran community, because the measure wasn’t due to take effect until July 1, 2027.

CUTTING IS A TRICKY BUSINESS: Labor is reintroducing its private health care legislation in the lower house this morning, after the Greens and Coalition voted to remove it from the Senate notice paper yesterday. Health Minister Mark Butler was dispatched to Mural Hall to announce the government would forge ahead, without giving away whether Labor would cave to demands from the Greens to curb the measure, expected to save the budget $3 billion from April 2027.

LAMBIE ALLEGES ADF SHOWER SPYING INCIDENT

In the Senate on Wednesday independent Sen. Jacqui Lambie raised an alleged incident of a recording device found on a navy ship, after receiving a letter from a person who said it had been found in the shower facilities.

The device was discovered on Oct. 11, on HMAS Leeuwin while it was docked in Cairns. The device was found in a female-only cabin, according to the ABC.

The Australian Defence Force has confirmed an investigation is underway after a recording device was located in the cabin of a navy ship, the ABC reported.

PARTY ROOM

COALITION SEEKS TO BLOCK DEFENCE SELL-OFF

Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson has given notice he intends to introduce a private senator’s bill, the Protecting Australia’s Defence Heritage bill. This would attempt to block the Albanese government’s proposed AU$3 billion defense land sell-off, opposed by the Coalition and One Nation on the right and the Greens on Labor’s left.

Similar efforts to block the sale by the NSW Liberals have been unsuccessful, but the NSW Labor Government has opposed development of Victoria Barracks, Paddington. After a rally at Balmoral over HMAS Penguin on Sunday, there’s a further rally at Vic Barracks on Oct. 25.

Defence Minister Richard Marles angered many by dismissing those campaigning against the sale as “a few former generals who liked hanging out there.” The issue isn’t going away.

QUESTION TIME

SPOTTED: Australia’s most decorated Paralympian, swimmer Ellie Cole — without her 17 medals in tow, and AFL legend Leigh Matthews.

EMBASSY ROW

SPOTTED: Queen Rania of Jordan taking in the movie “Verity,” on Wednesday afternoon at the Palace Electric in New Acton.

SPOTTED AT POLITICO AUSTRALIA’s FIRST EVENT: (A screening of The Diplomat, hosted with Netflix at Palace Electric on Wednesday evening) — eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele, head of comms at the U.S. Embassy Sarah Talalay, Finnish Ambassador Arto Haapea, Slovenia’s Deputy Head of Mission Nina Cinkole, Liberal adviser Will Stoltz, Labor adviser Tom Iggulden, AmCham general manager Sheryle Moon, CBUS senior adviser Matt Rocks, Labor adviser Brock Taylor, Trade Minister Don Farrell’s adviser Grace Finch, Helen Haines adviser Eli Davern, The Guardian’s Tom McIlroy, the ABC’s Jordyn Butler, and SBS’ Rayane Tamer.

AGENDA ASSISTANT

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the latest unemployment numbers. September’s Labour Force data will be revealed at 11:30 a.m.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, independent Sen. David Pocock, ACT Shadow Attorney-General Chiaka Barry and Minister for Multicultural Affairs Anne Aly are all speaking at the FECCA2026 National Conference at Parliament House.

FinTech Australia is hosting a cocktail lunch with fintech leaders and parliamentarians in Parliament House from 11 a.m.

The Australia China Business Council executive dinner is tonight at the National Gallery of Australia.

COMMUNITY CORNER

BIG ISSUE SOCCER COMP AWARDS: Liberal frontbencher Aaron Violi was best on ground for the pollies in the annual parliament round-robin tournament yesterday morning. But the Victorian MP, who’s also a very tidy cricketer, gets marked down for demanding a penalty every 30 seconds. What Labor MP Peter Khalil lacked in Violi’s finesse, he made up for by shouting “are you not entertained?” as he barreled toward goal.

Violi told Playbook: “It was wonderful to participate in such an important event, given the speed and skill of the staffer team, we pollies needed every advantage we could get.”

MOVES AND APPOINTMENTS

The American CEO of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee, Cindy Hook, will step down next week, ahead of the expiry of her contract in December.

Chris Fechner has been reappointed CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency for two more years.

BIRTHDAYS

Former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, Nationals MP Michelle Landry, former Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, ABC reporter Pablo Viñales.

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Wells shields journalists from digital duty, but Joyce wants to put execution stream to the sword