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Australian News Live: NSW Liberal Party chief executive Richard Shields sacked; Google, Meta, Microsoft face AI probe | Australian News

Vaseline August 15, 2024

NSW Liberal Party state director sacked over administrative disaster

NSW Liberals State Director Richard Shields was dismissed after the party failed to nominate more than 130 candidates for the local elections, AAP reports.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting late last night, the party’s state chairman said Don Harwin said the board had unanimously decided to terminate Shields’ employment because of the fiasco:

The State Director was given the opportunity to explain the circumstances to the State leadership. This failure to meet such a fundamental responsibility has made his position untenable.

As a result, the executive branch has unanimously decided to terminate the State Director’s employment with immediate effect.

Earlier in the evening, Shields called calls for his resignation “premature.” Shields had said:

There must be a thorough evaluation of the nomination process to establish all the facts.

Eight local councils – including several at the heart of the party – will go to the upcoming national elections without a Liberal Party candidate on their list.

You can read more about it below:

Important events

Google, Meta and Microsoft to Speak Out on Australian AI

Four of the world’s largest companies are being questioned about the risks and benefits of introducing AI tools in Australia as part of a national inquiry into the technology. MONKEY defeated.

Representatives of Google, Meta, Microsoft And Amazon will appear in Canberra today for the fifth public hearing of the inquiry into the adoption of artificial intelligence.

The companies behind AI tools like Gemini, Meta AI and Copilot are expected to face questions about how businesses can use the technology, as well as the ways it has been misused.

Microsoft is also the largest investor in OpenAIwho owns ChatGPTalthough the company operates independently.

The inquiry, launched in March, is tasked with examining AI trends, flaws, biases and opportunities, as well as their impact on elections and the environment. Previous hearings have heard calls to impose restrictions on the use of AI tools in sectors such as health care, media and the arts.

The parliamentary committee is expected to announce its findings in September.

Microsoft is also the largest investor in OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, though the company operates independently. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

New Zealand, Australia hold talks to revisit deportation row

Deportations, migration and closer defence cooperation will be on the agenda when Anthony Albanese meet his New Zealand counterpart Chris Luxon in Canberra today.

According to AAP, the two prime ministers are meeting for the annual meeting of Australian and New Zealand leaders.

Cooperation between the two governments is already broad, with more than half of New Zealand’s cabinet visiting Australia since Luxon’s government took office in November last year. But one issue – deportations – continues to cause friction.

New Zealand has long protested Australia’s practice of deporting criminals with NZ passports but stronger ties to Australia. Once in New Zealand, deportees are said to have joined gangs en masse, and New Zealand argues that they have a better chance of rehabilitation in their adopted communities.

Anthony Albanese and Christopher Luxon in Sydney last year. Photo: Mark Baker/AP

New Zealand won a concession from Albanian last year when he agreed to consider these concerns. However, earlier this year it emerged that a number of deportees who had been granted the right to remain in Australia had allegedly committed heinous crimes, leading to a reversal of the policy concession.

Luxon said it was back on the agenda and that he would bring it up “fairly directly” on Friday:

Because we trust each other and have friendship, we can talk about those things and disagree.

NSW Liberal Party state director sacked over administrative disaster

NSW Liberals State Director Richard Shields was dismissed after the party failed to nominate more than 130 candidates for the local elections, AAP reports.

The State Director was given the opportunity to explain the circumstances to the State leadership. This failure to meet such a fundamental responsibility has made his position untenable.

As a result, the executive branch has unanimously decided to terminate the State Director’s employment with immediate effect.

Earlier in the evening, Shields called calls for his resignation “premature.” Shields had said:

There must be a thorough evaluation of the nomination process to establish all the facts.

Eight local councils – including several at the heart of the party – will go to the upcoming national elections without a Liberal Party candidate on their list.

You can read more about it below:

Welcome

Emily Wind

Good morning and happy Friday – welcome back to the Australian news live blog after a busy week of sitting. I am Emily Wind and I’ll take you through our ongoing reporting today.

In the news at night: NSW Liberals state director Richard Shields has been fired, AAP reports, after failing to nominate 140 candidates for local government elections. We bring you the full statement from the party’s state chairman Don Harwin in a moment.

Anthony Albanese is about to meet his New Zealand counterpart Chris Luxon in Canberra today for the annual meeting of Australian and New Zealand leaders. Also in Canberra today, four of the world’s largest companies are being asked about the risks and benefits of adopting AI tools in Australia as part of a national inquiry into the technology.

We’ll tell you more about both stories in a moment.

As always, if you see something that needs attention, please contact me at X, @emilywindwrites, or email me: [email protected].

Let’s get started.