AI is enabling foreign interference and hackers, home affairs department says
Luca Ittimani
Australia faces growing threat from overseas agencies’ and hackers’ use of AI and does not have the tracking tools that AI companies can use, home affairs department officials say.
Kira Spencer, a deputy secretary, has told a parliamentary committee a key risk for Australia is AI in “information operations”, which are security agencies’ use of deception and psychological warfare. She said:
double quotation markAI’s quicker, easier, nastier. And it enables it to be much more realistic and so the language is better. If you’re looking at targeted foreign interference, they scroll all your parliamentary speeches, your social media profiles, everything about you so they can find a really targeted way to engage with you and make it more likely that you will engage back.
Spencer said some AI companies had been able to track false communications from state actors but the government could not match the companies’ large-scale tools.
Officials also said AI made it “easier, faster, cheaper” for malicious actors to hack Australia’s key systems.
Part of the argument for Australia to bring in AI companies to train AI here is that law enforcement could better address threats or law breaches. Fergus Hanson, head of the Office of AI, told the committee:
double quotation markIf you’ve got an AI training firm physically located here, it enables a different type of collaboration, for example law enforcement cooperation. So if there is a threat to Australians’ lives, through misuse of those platforms … This just invites a different level of collaboration that you can have, that is not possible if you don’t have the companies necessarily located in your jurisdiction.
Updated at 22.44 EDT
Key events
Andrew Messenger
Queensland to allow on-the-spot DV orders to be issued against victims
Queensland police will be able to issue on-the-spot domestic violence protection orders against victims of domestic violence, under new legislation tabled yesterday.
The legislation eliminates all exemptions to the state’s police protection direction system, and makes them the sole alternative to the civil DVO system available to police. Police will be now be able to issue them on behalf of other police, or against children.
It also permits so-called “cross orders” – a direction against both people in a relationship – “in exceptional circumstances”, where the officer cannot identify the victim or offender. According to documents tabled with the bill:
double quotation markCross applications and cross orders are used by perpetrators as a means of continuing to control, intimidate and terrify victims.
Experts have warned of potential police misuse of the new system, because there is less oversight. Police have been repeatedly found to have routinely misidentified perpetrators and victims by a string of inquiries, often due to a culture of disbelieving female victims.
The legislation is designed to make the system more efficient, by reducing the paperwork police are required to complete for a protection order.
Updated at 22.35 EDT
Achol Arok
Major ABF system outage causes delays at Australian airports
An Australian Border Force (ABF) technical outage caused major delays for international passengers at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports on Friday morning.
An ABF spokesperson said the issue affected both outbound and inbound passengers and was resolved by 11am.
The force has launched an investigation into the cause of the outage.
ShareLuca Ittimani
Are migration rules hitting supermarket shelf prices?
Supermarkets won’t say whether labour shortages in Australian farms are going to push up shelf prices and worsen food shortages.
Supermarket in Melbourne. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian
The National Farmers’ Federation’s Mike Guerin told reporters yesterday that farms were already running short of backpackers to help with the harvest and Labor’s reforms would only worsen that. Guerin said:
double quotation markWe will see a lift in the price of food. We will see emptier supermarkets. The food insecurity being built into the system right now by the inability of family farms to go about their business in the normal way is breathtaking. And while it’s yet to play out directly for consumers, for people in the cities, it’s very close. We will not be able to finish the harvest this year, before Christmas …
The economic impact for farmers is immediate and significant, and it will flow through to Australia’s supermarkets very quickly.
Labor has rejected those predictions, claiming farms can bring in any workers they need from Pacific countries through the dedicated visa stream.
The supermarket giants could not guarantee steady prices or supply when specifically asked by Guardian Australia. Coles and Woolworths declined to comment, signalling sensitivity to the political conflict over immigration.
We understand Coles management is not presently observing signs of product shortages.
The big supermarkets have significant control over their own prices, switching sales promotions in sync. Woolworths has reportedly pressured its suppliers for lower prices, though the company earlier this year raised prices on staple products during a price freeze promotion.
Both major supermarkets boosted their profit margins last financial year, with Coles enjoying its highest margin since at least 2019. Woolworths has denied its higher margins came from higher shelf prices.
Updated at 22.45 EDT
Sydney teen boy charged over alleged series of break and enter and arson offences
A teenage boy has been charged following a series of alleged break and enter and arson offences across Sydney, according to NSW police.
Police allege that a 14-year-old boy broke into a home in Leichhardt with another young person and stole a Hyundai sedan at around 5am on Sunday 16 August.
About 7.50am the same day, the boy filled a jerry can with fuel at a service station on Parramatta Road, Camperdown, and allegedly left without paying, police said.
They also allege the boy smashed the glass door of a Strathfield business, poured petrol from a jerry can into the premises and set it alight on 19 August, before later setting alight petrol poured over a parked Mercedes and a driveway in Greenacre.
A short time later, police say, the boy filled a vehicle with fuel before driving away without paying from a service station in Lakemba.
They allege the boy also poured petrol over the driveway and onto a parked MG sedan before setting it alight at a Bankstown home on Monday 24 August.
Police will allege the boy was recruited and paid to carry out these offences. He has been charged with multiple offences, including aggravated break and enter and two counts of destroy or damage property in company and use fire or explosive, value exceeding $5,000.
The boy was refused bail and will appear before a children’s court on Monday 21 September. Police continue to make inquiries into the incidents.
Updated at 21.56 EDT
Ben Doherty
Asio head reiterates warning about China possible attack on power networks
Further to the podcast episode featuring the Asio head, Mike Burgess: he specifically named China as a country trying to hack into Australia’s major power and telecommunications networks, saying while an attack was not imminent, China wants the capacity to “turn [those networks] off should they need to”.
He made a similar warning last year, saying Chinese hackers were consistently “probing critical infrastructure”.
Burgess said a state-sponsored cyber-sabotage attack on Australia was a real possibility.
double quotation markNation states are hacking power and telco networks preparing for the day that they can turn them off should they need to.
Now to be very clear — that’s not going to happen any time soon, but in a time of conflict, nation states are preparing to do that.
They are working actively to understand our systems and I believe in some cases they could do it today should they need to.
Asked which country was responsible, Burgess named China.
double quotation markI’ve spoken about this before publicly — China is preparing for this. But again, they’re not going to do it any time soon.
China’s the principal concern for Australia.
Director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), Mike Burgess. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 22.15 EDT
Police say alleged murder of university student ‘extremely complex’ and still being investigated
Abdy said a police ballistics report showed a firearm that was located at the site of the alleged murder of university student Marco Tapia was the same firearm that was used in the shooting at Hurstville and Turrell.
He said the Tapia matter was still being investigated by the homicide squad.
double quotation markThat investigation is extremely complex and it’s very important that all the evidence is examined before people are charged obviously with the very serious offence of murder…
We’ll work with [the Homicide Squad] in our evidence-sharing to establish the link. These people obviously are significant persons of interest. Once that evidentiary standard has been met, if it gets met, then Homicide will take carriage of the further prosecutions.
Updated at 21.25 EDT
More on four arrests
Abdy said it was “troubling” that one of the alleged offenders was just 16 years old:
double quotation markIt’s extremely troubling. It’s been well documented, I think, and reported in the last couple of weeks about organised crime networks using young males, particularly to [alleged] commit such violent acts where they prey on their risk-taking behaviour, and placing them, you know, essentially on a life that’s probably not what they thought it was going to be.
Updated at 22.14 EDT
Four arrested and extradited to NSW over alleged connection to shootings
Four people have been arrested and extradited from Victoria after allegedly travelling to Sydney to carry out “criminal acts linked to two shootings” in August, NSW police have said.
Speaking to the media just now, acting Det Supt Brad Abdy said a 22-year-old man was arrested in Epping, while a 23-year-old man and 26-year-old woman were arrested in Donnybrook, along with a 16-year-old boy, in connection with the shootings.
He said:
double quotation markThese four people were later taken to Victoria police centre where they were placed into custody and later appeared in court in Victoria for extradition proceedings.
Those proceedings were later granted and they have since been extradited from Victoria to New South Wales where they will currently be charged with a variety of offences relating to the shooting at Turrella and the shooting at Hurstville.
Updated at 22.14 EDT
Qantas ground staff prepare to strike as dispute escalates
Jonathan Barrett
Hundreds of Qantas ground crew workers are preparing for a 24-hour strike next week amid an escalating industrial dispute, but Qantas said that it has contingency plans to minimise the impact on customers.
The 600-plus workers on the airline’s freight and regional QantasLink service are preparing to strike in Victoria on Wednesday, and across the rest of the country on Thursday, according to the Transport Workers’ Union.
The TWU says the airline’s use of subsidiaries, instituted under former Qantas management, has frustrated attempts to bring pay and job security in line with industry standards.
The union wants to replace multiple enterprise agreements for ground staff and freight handlers with one agreement.
The Australian reported that Qantas is applying to the Fair Work Commission to prevent the industrial action.
Updated at 22.13 EDT
Luca Ittimani
Top AI developers would have to report incidents, standards say
Developers of the most advanced AI, if they came to Australia, would have to report concerning events to the government.
The government’s consultation paper on AI standards says frontier labs will have to meet specific, minimum-security and safety expectations, including disclosing reportable AI incidents to the government.
OpenAI on Wednesday reported six new critical incidents, the latest in a string of cases in which AI agents took unexpected and unauthorised actions.
Top labs could be required to contribute to the Australian economy by reserving some computational power for Australian research, subsidising public-interest research or hiring local staff, under options proposed in the paper.
The paper reads:
double quotation markWithout mechanisms to encourage onshore research activity and investment in the broader research and innovation ecosystem, Australia risks hosting AI infrastructure and training activity while the associated research outputs, model development, intellectual property and commercial returns accrue offshore.
The government is taking submissions from members of the public and top organisations until 9 October as Labor plans to release draft legislation by year’s end.
The paper has a curious endnote:
double quotation markWe may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to summarise and compare submissions to support policy work. This includes using AI tools to analyse sentiment to help us understand patterns and trends in submissions. We only use AI where it is appropriate for the task and the information involved.
ShareAsio chief Mike Burgess says Iran may want to ‘kill prominent Jewish Australians’Ben Doherty
In the podcast with Neil Mitchell, the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, said Australia’s Jewish community also faced threats from state actors, in particular Iran.
He said:
double quotation markI wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Iran would want to kill prominent Jewish Australians.
Asio has previously identified two attacks on Jewish properties – the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney, and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne– as being directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Australia expelled the Iranian ambassador and three other diplomats from the country in August 2025.
Updated at 20.28 EDT