- The Guardian
- Issue #2169
Did you ever write to an MP or a Senator and get an oily answer back very quickly? If so, you’ll be aware that these answers aren’t written by the individual politician, looking at your email and thinking about what to say. The answer will be sent back from one of their staff, who writes it from ‘talking points,’ responses that have been produced by the politician’s masters further up the chain in their political party.
Thanks to a mistake by an ALP staffer, we don’t have to write in to our local members to find out what they’re supposed to say in response to questions on Palestine. An article in Deepcut news has revealed that all of the government’s talking points on Palestine were accidentally sent to the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. Katie Shammas, APAN’s Executive Officer told Deepcut that the talking points were significant “for what’s not there: a commitment to sanction Israel for their genocide in Gaza.” Shammas added that the talking points show that Labor’s position is “inconsistent with their legal obligations under the UN Genocide Convention.”
The talking points also show that Labor is feeling defensive about the issue of providing parts for F-35 fighter-bombers, while those planes are being used to bomb Gaza. MPs are instructed to say that Australia can’t stop making F-35 parts because its part of a global supply chain and to point out that Australia doesn’t directly supply the parts to Israel.
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: big tech’s AI theft. The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) has welcomed the announcement by the federal government that Australian law will not be watered down to permit free access to Australian creative works.
MEAA Chief Executive Erin Madeley said this was a major win in the campaign to stop AI theft and force big tech to pay up for the theft of creative work happening every day in Australia.
“The decision backs in the value of our music, screen productions, journalism, books, and scripts, and of Australian culture at large, as well as the workers who produce it and serve Australian audiences,” Madeley said.
“While it is an essential first step in dealing with the risks posed by generative AI, which takes us closer to a socially responsible regulatory framework, there is more to do.
“MEAA will continue the campaign to ensure Australian workers receive full compensation for the use of their work, and crucially, to deal with AI job losses and work displacement.”
MEAA also welcomes the federal government’s commitment to greater transparency and licensing arrangements, noting the need for any regime to guarantee protection for workers.
“The right response to generative AI is to lead with the principle of guaranteed payment for creative and media workers, and we will work with government and industry to ensuring this occurs on behalf of our members.”
The impact of AI goes beyond copyright and is being felt by workers right now. A survey of more than 700 media and creative workers showed widespread concern among creative and media professionals and a very high proportion who had already experienced AI theft.
Millions of images, songs, articles, and films have been scraped without consent or compensation to train AI – a practice threatening wages and conditions in already precarious industries.
AI systems also risk misappropriating Indigenous cultural knowledge, art, stories, music, and performance traditions, which is why MEAA has called for legal recognition of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).
Creators must retain control over how their work is used, with legally enforceable rights to consent and compensation when their content is leveraged to train AI models.
