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Australia has a bad inflation problem. So why are we middle-of-the pack on the misery index?

4 days 5 hours ago

Comparing Australia to other countries may not be much comfort but does offer some perspective on the economy

Is Australia’s inflation problem worse than the rest of the world’s?

A day after the Reserve Bank delivered its fifth interest rate hike for the year, increasingly stressed mortgage holders would be justified asking. For Jonathan Kearns, the chief economist at Challenger, the answer is easy.

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Albanese government warned it is ‘sleepwalking into another robodebt scenario’ over use of algorithms and AI

4 days 5 hours ago

Centre for Public Integrity report calls for audit and public register of all automated decision-making

The federal government is “sleepwalking its way into another robodebt” scandal amid a lack of transparency and legislation around the use of algorithms and AI in decisions, the chief executive of the independent thinktank the Centre for Public Integrity said.

Dr Catherine Williams launched the centre’s “Computer Says No” report on Thursday, which examines the use of automated decision-making (ADM) tools by the government and calls for urgent reform.

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Muslim Votes Matter softens anti-Labor stance ahead of Victorian election in bid to defeat One Nation in at-risk seats

4 days 5 hours ago

Exclusive: Advocacy group will put volunteers on the ground in Labor-held outer suburban seats that could swing towards Pauline Hanson’s party

Muslim Votes Matter will relax its anti-Labor position at this month’s Victorian election, putting volunteers on the ground in key outer suburban seats the incumbent government risks losing to One Nation.

The grassroots advocacy group will direct its supporters to vote for Labor ahead of Pauline Hanson’s party in all lower house Victorian electorates and will aim to have volunteers on the ground in the seats of Greenvale, in Melbourne’s north, and Narre Warren South, in the city’s south-east, which the party fears could be seized by One Nation.

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‘Discontent and distrust’: annual social cohesion checkup shows exactly what’s making Australia angry

4 days 5 hours ago

Cost of living and AI outrank climate change and war as top concerns for future, but support for multiculturalism remains strong

The vast majority of Australians support immigration and multiculturalism despite more feeling poorer – and increasingly pessimistic and distrustful of government, the annual Scanlon report on social cohesion has revealed.

People are more worried about artificial intelligence than climate change or going to war, but a global economic downturn and cost-of-living pressures are Australians’ key concerns.

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