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AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
How Tasmania fits into the space race between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk
Tasmanians will be the first Australians to stream movies using new low-orbit satellites from Amazon after the National Broadband Network chose US billionaire Jeff Bezos' fledgling network over rival Elon Musk's more established one. The contract to provide satellite-powered services to some 300,000 existing NBN Co customers in remote and regional areas starting in mid-2026 marks a win for Bezos as he competes with Musk and his Starlink network.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Kmart sued by Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association over alleged links to forced labour from China's Xinjiang region
Kmart is being sued in Federal Court to determine whether the retailer misled customers about its ethics claims and sourced some of its clothes from suppliers that allegedly used slave labour. Class-action law-firm Maurice Blackburn has filed a suit on behalf of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association (AUTWA) against Kmart. The association wants the retailer to release documents that show what it knows about two suppliers with alleged links to factories in China's Xinjiang region. Kmart has rejected these claims. Human rights abuses in the area were the subject of a landmark report in 2022 where the United Nations recommended Beijing investigated allegations of human rights violations, 'including allegations of torture, sexual violence, ill-treatment, forced medical treatment, as well as forced labour and reports of deaths in custody'. It also called for the Chinese government to take 'prompt steps' to release all individuals arbitrarily imprisoned. The AUTWA is seeking the documents to determine whether Kmart has abided by its ethical sourcing procedures and if it misled consumers. Ramila Chanisheff, president of the AUTWA, said the association was 'demanding answers from Kmart' to determine whether the retailer's actions 'live up to its words'. 'Kmart, and all companies, must ensure they are not profiting from forced labour in China,' Ms Chanisheff said in a statement. 'China's mass imprisonment, repression and forced labour of Uyghur people is well-documented. 'Our community has lost family members, friends and loved ones because of China's brutal treatment of Uyghurs. 'Kmart is a go-to store for so many people in Australia. If the company has profited in any way from this sort of systematic repression, I am sure Australians would be horrified.' A Kmart spokesperson said the retailer was 'disappointed' by the court action and had invited AUTWA to meet and discuss the concerns on several occasions. 'Kmart has been in correspondence with the applicant's lawyers for over 12 months and has provided extensive details of our Ethical Sourcing Program,' the spokesperson said. The spokesperson noted Kmart has had its 'ethical sourcing program' in place for 15 years which helps the company identify and mitigate modern slavery risks across its supply chains. They noted the program takes from Kmart's 'ethical sourcing code' which adopts the standards under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation. 'Compliance with our Ethical Sourcing Code is required under our contracts with our Suppliers,' the spokesperson said. 'Suppliers in the Kmart Ethical Sourcing Program are regularly monitored through activities including our site visits, audit programs and investigations if we receive any reports or complaints of concern.' AUTWA is also represented by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) alongside Maurice Blackburn. HRLC's associate legal director Freya Dinshaw said 'alarm bells' had been 'ringing for a long time' about the risk of forced labour being used in the Chinese garment sector. 'This court case is about Kmart coming clean on whether it is really doing everything it claims to be doing to ensure that its products are slavery-free,' Ms Dinshaw said in a statement. She stressed the case was also an opportunity to highlight 'weaknesses' in Australia's modern slavery laws. 'It shouldn't be left to members of the public to take companies to court and force them to open their books where there are suspicions of links to modern slavery,' Ms Dinshaw said. 'Australian companies should be legally required to investigate and prevent forced labour in their supply chains and face hard consequences if they don't. 'Australia should also follow the example of other countries like Canada and the US and ban imported goods made with forced labour, so they don't end up on our shop shelves.' China rejected the claims in the UN's 2022 report. In August 2024, the UN said it has faced 'difficulties posed by limited access to information' with its investigations into the human rights abuses. It also noted many who spoke about the abuses with the UN had 'fear of reprisals'.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Messy and chilling': Communications Minister Anika Wells' stunning admission about plan to ban kids from social media
Communications Minister Anika Wells has conceded the rollout of her controversial under-16 social media ban will be 'messy', as she pushes for child accounts to be axed on 'day one'. In an exclusive interview with Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell, Minister Wells said the laws, which come into effect on December 10, would have a 'chilling effect' which will change the 'culture of social media account usage in our kids'. 'Under the law, the onus is on the platforms to make sure that they have identified any social media accounts that are held by under 16s and that on day one those social media accounts are deactivated,' Ms Wells said. 'They've also got to take reasonable steps to make sure that no new accounts are activated, that anyone trying to get around the system, they've taken reasonable steps to try and stop that from happening and to clean up areas as we go. 'Anything that's world leading, anything that we're trying to do, we're trying a big swing. It's going to look a bit messy on the way through.' When pressed on how tech companies would verify the age of users, Minister Wells did not specify exactly how the government expected the ban to be enforced. Minister Wells instead said there was a 'very good chance' tech companies knew 'how old you are' given how sophisticated their content algorithms were. 'They can target us with deadly accuracy when it comes to their advertising and when it comes to promoting their advertising for revenue streams,' she said. 'So if they know where you are, what you're doing, whom you do it with, at what time you do, there's a very good chance that they know how old you are.' An 'Age Assurance' technology trial is underway, but its final recommendations have yet to be handed down. The preliminary report found there were 'no significant technological barriers' preventing an age check. But the government has not yet indicated exactly what technology would be used to verify Australians' identities. Minister Wells said she would publish the final report when it's handed down, and said she would work with the eSafety Commissioner on 'how this rolls out'. 'But whilst we wait for the final recommendation, I'll just say that it looks promising,' she said. 'There will be an onus on social media platforms to take reasonable steps and to work with the Youth Safety Commissioner.' Last week, the Albanese government confirmed YouTube would be included in the under-16 social media ban after previously promising the platform would be given an exemption. The opposition accused Labor of misleading Australians before the election. 'The Albanese Labor Government can change a Minister, but they cannot hide the fact they deliberately misled the public at the last election by promising to keep YouTube out of the social media age minimum,' shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh said last week. 'The Prime Minister and the Labor government reaffirmed YouTube's exemption before the election. They gave YouTube an iron-clad guarantee they would remain exempt. It makes you question what has really changed behind the scenes in the government on this issue, and whether it was an election stunt.' Social media companies will be given hefty penalties for non-compliance, with fines up to $49.5 million for companies that are found to be systemically breaching the rules.
