Australia news live: Telstra CEO to face parliamentary inquiry over mobile outage | Australia news
Telstra CEO to face parliamentary inquiry over national outage
Telstra bosses will be grilled over triple zero calls and a nationwide outage that has affected businesses, disrupted payment systems and halted trains in two states.
Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady will be among a group of executives who will lead a parliamentary inquiry into the incident in Canberra on Friday.
Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the investigating committee had called for an urgent hearing over the outage.
“The reality is that Telstra, like Optus, have put profits ahead of public safety and public service for too long, and the law allows them to do so,” he told reporters at Parliament House on Thursday.
“We need better laws, stronger laws that protect the public’s rights, consumer rights, and really push these companies to provide a reliable service.”
Telstra is accepting claims from affected customers and small businesses who can provide evidence to support their case.
Hanson-Young said the telecommunications company “has made minimal efforts on compensation for consumers.”
“The company must take responsibility and offer automatic compensation to anyone they put in a difficult and dangerous situation.”
Representatives from the Australian Communications and Media Authority and its communications department will also give evidence to the inquiry.
important events
Father of traveler poisoned by methanol ‘devastated’ over accusations
The father of an Australian man who died of methanol poisoning while traveling in Laos said his family was devastated by the charges against those allegedly responsible.
Melbourne travelers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, were fatally poisoned with methanol while drinking at the Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng while backpacking in the Southeast Asian country in late 2024.
Those allegedly responsible will face criminal charges, but Morton-Bowles’ father Shaun BowlesHe told 2GB radio these were not the results his family was looking for.
This is devastating news for us.
His understanding was that charges would be brought against the owner of the distillery that produced the allegedly tainted vodka.
We’re still not convinced they’re the right people.
So many conflicting stories have emerged that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly who is at fault.
But obviously this is not the case.
ABC reported that the two charges he is expected to be charged collectively carry penalties of up to one year in prison and a maximum fine of $1,600.
Nino Bucci
Australian military can help protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz
Arsenio DominguezThe secretary-general of the UN’s maritime agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said the Australian military could play a role in protecting ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz once “variability” in the region ends.
But he said the focus should be on getting the United States and Iran to step back from conflict again. Dominguez told ABC:
There is no 100% guarantee that a commercial ship will not be affected if it is supported by military assets.
It may be considered a short-term help, but not in the long or permanent term.
Once the situation calms down, such assistance can actually provide additional guarantees that will help build confidence and rebuild operations.
Dominguez said that although it is not safe for ships to pass through the strait right now, the focus should be on ending the war rather than other countries providing military assets that would allow ships to move more freely.
The message is loud and clear for everyone. Reduce tension.
Good morning, Kat Wong I’m here to get the blog. Let’s dive in.
Pauline Hanson to speak at right-wing CPAC event in London
Pauline Hanson will speak at a meeting in London this week, attended by far-right figures from around the world.
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss is hosting the event, the first UK spin-off of America’s influential CPAC meeting that powered the rise of Donald Trump.
Ben Quinn has the full story:
Meta to warn parents when teens discuss self-harm with Instagram’s AI
Akol Arok
Social media giant Meta has introduced new security features that will warn parents using Instagram’s moderation tools if young people talk about suicide or self-harm, thanks to the platform’s artificial intelligence feature.
The change comes after the platform received feedback from more than 75 youth mental health clinicians on how Meta AI’s responses to teens’ disruptive prompts could be improved.
Currently, the platform’s AI chatbot directs young users to crisis hotlines and encourages them to reach out to a parent or other trusted adult. Meta says it will now “proactively alert controlling parents” based on signals developed with experts.
The company said:
We worked with parents and experts to understand which AI conversations warrant a warning; for example, where a young person makes an explicit reference to self-harm, even if the reference is subtle. We then created a custom artificial intelligence system to identify these conversations.
The feature, which is currently available in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, is expected to be available to users worldwide by the end of the year.
Telstra CEO to face parliamentary inquiry over national outage
Telstra bosses will be grilled over triple zero calls and a nationwide outage that has affected businesses, disrupted payment systems and halted trains in two states.
Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady will be among a group of executives who will lead a parliamentary inquiry into the incident in Canberra on Friday.
Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the investigating committee had called for an urgent hearing over the outage.
“The reality is that Telstra, like Optus, has put profits ahead of public safety and public service for too long, and the law allows that to happen,” he told reporters at Parliament House on Thursday.
“We need better laws, stronger laws that protect the public’s rights, consumer rights, and really push these companies to provide a reliable service.”
Telstra is accepting claims from affected customers and small businesses who can provide evidence to support their case.
Hanson-Young said the telecommunications company “has made minimal efforts on compensation for consumers.”
“The company must take responsibility and offer automatic compensation to anyone they put in a difficult and dangerous situation.”
Representatives from the Australian Communications and Media Authority and its communications department will also give evidence to the inquiry.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Kat Wong with the main action.
Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady could face some tough questions when she appears before a parliamentary inquiry today. The two-day fast-track investigation was called to examine last week’s Telstra mobile outage, which shut down trains and payment systems across the country, meaning some were unable to make triple zero calls.
We also have news from Instagram, which announced a new AI safety feature that will alert parents when their children’s conversations turn into self-harm.
