AM XX
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[1] Podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
[2] Good morning.
[3] Welcome to AM.
[4] It's Wednesday the 5th of February.
[5] I'm Sabra Lane coming to you from Nippaluna, Hobart.
[6] At least 10 people have been killed in a shooting at an adult education centre in the Swedish city of Örebro, two hours west of Stockholm.
[7] Police say the gunman is among the dead and his motive at this stage is unknown.
[8] Angus Randall reports.
[9] Swedish students in shock as a man opens fire on their campus.
[10] Marwa studies at Campus Risbergsga in Örebro, now the centre of Sweden's deadliest attack.
[11] A guy next to me was shot in the shoulder.
[12] He was bleeding a lot.
[13] When I looked behind me, I saw three people on the floor bleeding.
[14] Everyone was shocked.
[15] They said, go out, get out.
[16] I and my friend tried to save the life of this person.
[17] People were very shocked.
[18] The police were not on site and neither was the ambulance, so we had to help.
[19] I took my friend's shawl and tied it tightly around his shoulders so he wouldn't bleed so much.
[20] Police say at least 10 people have been killed in the shooting and the gunman is dead.
[21] Roberto Ede Forrest is the head of local police.
[22] We still believe we have the primary perpetrator in custody, although we are not ruling out the involvement of others.
[23] He's not known to the police from before and has no connections to any gang.
[24] Based on what we know, we believe he acted alone.
[25] Campus Rysburgske hosts classes for adults, including Swedish language classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with educational disabilities.
[26] School attacks are rare in Sweden, but there have been a few high -profile incidents in recent years.
[27] Three years ago, an 18 -year -old high school student stabbed two teachers to death in the southern city of Malmö.
[28] Police local head Roberto Eid Forrest says the threat in Örebro is gone.
[29] Right now we feel more confident that no further attacks will take place and the schools that were affected have been evacuated.
[30] As I see it, there is no ongoing danger, even though we have a significant amount of work ahead to discuss what has happened and how to ensure safety.
[31] At a nearby church, priest Anna -Lina Evehall has been offering support to relatives, waiting for news of their loved ones.
[32] Of course people are very upset.
[33] What has happened here and people who live here and go to school at Risbergs.
[34] So we try to help them to communicate with their relatives and give them support when they are waiting for news about their relatives.
[35] We have talked to them and offered them some coffee and try to give them hope.
[36] Sweden's Prime Minister, Alf Christensen, has called it a very painful day for the country.
[37] The Gaza ceasefire is giving Middle East countries an opportunity to transport desperately needed aid into the war -ravaged territory.
[38] Israel's eastern neighbour, Jordan, is coordinating the efforts, flying in goods such as medical equipment and medicines on behalf of donors from around the world.
[39] Our Middle East correspondent, Matthew Doran, joined one of the flights into Gaza.
[40] With a sudden jolt, we're lifted into the sky.
[41] I'm on board a Royal Jordanian Air Force Black Hawk helicopter, sitting cross -legged on the floor, in fact, in front of boxes and boxes stacked to the roof around me. Stuck to the packaging, along with the labels showing what's inside, are flags from around the world.
[42] This mission might be run by the Jordanians, but it has backing from countries such as Egypt, Greece, Italy and beyond.
[43] We resumed this operation since one week ago.
[44] Dr Hussein El -Shebli is the Secretary General of the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization, which is coordinating the operation.
[45] From Jordan to Gaza, carrying high value of items which was in need for Gazian people, like medicine, some medical equipment, some food items for the baby.
[46] The Qataris are one of the largest donors.
[47] Aisha Abdul Razak Al -Kawari from the country's aid agency is on hand to see two helicopters loaded.
[48] We are providing around 181 boxes of those antibiotics.
[49] The antibiotics are very much needed in the Gaza because there are shortages in medicine.
[50] The choppers begin their journey from a military base outside Amman.
[51] From there, it's over the Dead Sea and into Israeli airspace before the final approach into Gaza.
[52] Through the dust and the haze, the destruction in Gaza becomes clear.
[53] We can see the shells of what were once multi -storey buildings, surprisingly still standing, considering the Israeli bombardment claiming to target Hamas militants.
[54] Piles of twisted wreckage dot the landscape, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
[55] From our vantage point, we're only seeing a small corner of Gaza.
[56] We've landed here on the edge of Gaza in the Israeli controlled buffer zone.
[57] These guys are working as quickly as possible to unload all of the equipment and supplies on these choppers so they can get back up in the air as there is another pair of choppers not that far behind us and for us this is as far as we can go into Gaza.
[58] Israel still controlling all access in and out of the territory even though this ceasefire is now in place.
[59] After around five minutes, we're off again, and Israel keeping the territory locked down will be an ongoing challenge for these mercy missions.
[60] The Jordanians only have clearance for 16 daily flights over an 18 -day period, and that window closes tomorrow.
[61] They're hoping to continue flying for as long as the Israelis allow them to.
[62] The flights will also rely on the ceasefire continuing, something far from certain, with less than one month to go before the current deal runs out.
[63] This is Matthew Doran in Amman, Jordan, reporting for AM.
[64] Australian governments banned the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from government devices and systems, citing national security concerns.
[65] Cyber security experts say the software collects huge amounts of personal data and is required to hand that information to the Chinese government.
[66] Political reporter Nicole Hegarty has the story.
[67] It took the world, and particularly the stock market, by storm.
[68] DeepSeek is a Chinese AI app its developers say is on par or better than ChatGPT and cheaper, but it's also posed serious cybersecurity concerns.
[69] Dr Dana McKay is from RMIT's School of Computing Technologies.
[70] It collects things like keystroke patterns and the way we type is actually as unique as a fingerprint.
[71] It can basically identify you individually.
[72] Those concerns are driven by the Chinese government's requirement for domestic tech companies to share the data they collect.
[73] DeepSec's own privacy policy is pretty explicit.
[74] It does collect everything you do.
[75] With even more serious repercussions when it comes to the desktop version and government computers.
[76] It can ask for what's known as route or administrator access, which would mean it could access pretty much everything on your computer.
[77] The federal government has now joined Italy, Texas and parts of the US military in banning the software from all government devices, as it did for TikTok in 2023.
[78] Special Envoy for Cybersecurity Andrew Charlton says intelligence agencies found it poses an unacceptable risk to national security.
[79] The risk with this technology is that it could be exploited.
[80] DeepSeq poses serious concerns around data security and potential vulnerabilities in government systems.
[81] The mandatory direction is effective immediately and, while it only applies to government devices, the public is also being asked to pay attention.
[82] Andrew Charlton says users of the platform should be vigilant.
[83] We're advising people not to click on links in Generative AI, which could lead to malware, not to upload any information that they don't want to be public, and we're advising people not to rely on the accuracy of any information provided by Generative AI.
[84] DeepSeek has been contacted for comment.
[85] Nicole Hegarty reporting there.
[86] The conservative activist group Advance wants to make a big impact on this year's federal election and it has the Greens and progressive independents in its sights.
[87] The group has revived material it used during the 2022 election campaign, which the Australian Electoral Commission declared was misleading.
[88] This time, Advance says it's been careful not to break the rules.
[89] Pat McGrath reports from ABC Investigations.
[90] It's an image that seems familiar, and that's because it is.
[91] They've taken a headshot of mine and photoshopped it onto someone else's body.
[92] I'm ripping open a shirt that reveals underneath that I'm aligned with another party.
[93] Independent Alex Dyson's running against former Coalition Minister Dan Tehan in the rural Victorian electorate of Wannan.
[94] He's talking about an advance flyer that's labelled him green, expensive, wrong.
[95] And the t -shirt he's exposing in the digitally altered image features the official Greens logo.
[96] It mirrors placards and billboards advance ran in the last election targeting independents David Pocock and Zali Stegall.
[97] During the 2022 campaign, the Australian Electoral Commission said the Advance signs breached parts of the Electoral Act that make it an offence to mislead voters.
[98] Advance agreed to stop displaying them, so the AC never went to court to get a formal determination that the signs were misleading.
[99] The AC says it can't comment on the legality of the latest flyers because they've been sent to voters before the official start of the election campaign.
[100] And the rules only apply.
[101] in the campaign proper.
[102] Would you like to see rules changed?
[103] Being above the law or being immune from these kind of things, really, yeah, it really gets under everyday obvious.
[104] skin who are beholden to one set of rules and then the politicians think that there's a different set that applies to them.
[105] When asked if it had intentionally distributed the flyer before the official start of the election to avoid breaching the rules, Advance said in a statement, yes, this flyer was distributed before the issue of writs so there could be no question it is in conformity with the law.
[106] Advance says the flyers make a satirical point and aren't misleading.
[107] Monash University electoral law specialist Yu Fui Ng says Australian laws should be expanded to make sure misleading and deceptive political advertising is an offence even outside of official election campaigns.
[108] This sort of blatant getting around the rules through loopholes does need to be rectified.
[109] Yeah, because what we're seeing is that organisations are...
[110] exploiting whatever loopholes they find.
[111] Monash University Electoral Law Specialist Yu Fui Ong ending that report by Pat McGrath.
[112] US -China trade war is escalating with Beijing imposing retaliatory tariffs and restrictions on critical mineral exports.
[113] Where does Australia stand?
[114] Senator Don Farrell is Australia's Trade and Tourism Minister and Special Minister of State.
[115] Minister, thanks for joining the program.
[116] Nice to be with you, Sabra.
[117] China has announced retaliatory action to Mr Trump's tariffs.
[118] They're both Australia's friends, but only one is an ally.
[119] Does the government back Mr Trump?
[120] We want to have a cool, calm and collected approach to this issue.
[121] believe that we have a very strong argument to defend free and fair trade.
[122] And that's the argument that we put to the Chinese government.
[123] And at the end of last year, the last of the products that had been subject to those impediments, namely crayfish.
[124] were sent back into China.
[125] When the opportunity arises, I'll be putting exactly the same argument to my American counterpart that we support free and fair trade and it's in the best interest of both our countries to continue to do that.
[126] Some say it's shakedown diplomacy.
[127] You argue and the government says Australia is prepared, but a slowdown in China could affect Australia.
[128] How hard could this be?
[129] Well, it's always possible that higher tariffs on Chinese products going into the United States will have an impact on the Australian economy.
[130] As I say, what Australia needs to do is to push issues that are in our national interest.
[131] We're an island.
[132] We rely on trade to produce our prosperity.
[133] It's been very successful in recent years.
[134] We've had record trade.
[135] One thing that this government has managed to do is to diversify our trading relationship.
[136] So we now have new free trade agreements with the United Kingdom, with India.
[137] In fact, in the last few days, India made us a fresh offer to extend our free trade agreement.
[138] We've negotiated a new free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
[139] So all around the world, we're looking to diversify our trading relationship so that we're not simply reliant on one or two countries to provide for our prosperity.
[140] We're looking for a much broader relationship and we've been successful in that.
[141] Mr Trump's choice of Commerce Minister, Howard Lutnick, has not been confirmed just yet.
[142] Have you spoken with him yet?
[143] Or when do you expect to meet with him to discuss trade?
[144] No, I haven't spoken with him yet, Sabra, but I have approached the person who will be his chief of staff.
[145] We've indicated that we are very keen to talk under their system.
[146] Until you get approved by the Senate, you're not in a position to discuss with other countries.
[147] But we've made it very clear and the message that's come back from Mr. Lutnick is that he is very happy to talk with us as soon as he's legally able to do that.
[148] And I hope to be, if not the first person or first overseas minister to speak with him, to be one of the first.
[149] When we get that opportunity, we will push our argument in our national interest that we believe in free and fair trade, that there is no reason for the American government to impose tariffs on Australia.
[150] We avoided them last time round on steel and aluminium.
[151] Are you confident that we can do that again?
[152] What I'm confident about, Sabra, is that we will push the issues that are in our national interest.
[153] One of the points I'll be making to Mr. Lutnick is that since President Trump was last in the White House, sales to Australia have virtually doubled.
[154] So free trade has been very good for the American businesses in Australia.
[155] Of course, it's been good for us because we have increased our trade with the United States.
[156] But right at the moment, the balance is very much in the United States' favour.
[157] We buy almost twice as much from the United States as we sell to them.
[158] So I pose this question, why would you impose a tariff on a country where you've got a surplus?
[159] And of course, that was the argument that former Prime Minister Returnball used with Mr Trump last time.
[160] So I think we've got a very strong argument in Singapore.
[161] Mid last year, we signed another trade agreement with the United States, the Indo -Pacific Economic Framework.
[162] So we've been building strong relations with the United States over the last few years.
[163] And I think we have a very, very good and strong argument.
[164] And I want to do, I want to present that argument to the United States and ask for their serious consideration about what further action they might take.
[165] We have heard this morning with your Special Minister of State hat on, the Group Advance is sending out material right now to voters that the Electoral Commission ruled at the last election was misleading.
[166] The group says it's legal right now because it's being sent before the writs have been issued.
[167] Do our laws need tightening to stop this kind of misleading material being sent all the time?
[168] Well, we've got laws to deal with the issue of truth in advertising in the electoral context.
[169] Well, this is getting through right now.
[170] Well, those laws haven't yet passed.
[171] We've got legislation before the parliament that's coming on this Thursday that's trying to put downward pressure on the cost of Australian elections.
[172] We want every ordinary Australian to be able to participate in the electoral process.
[173] And as you saw earlier in the week, Sabra, there's massive amounts of money going into the Australian electoral system.
[174] We want to stop that.
[175] Have you got to deal with the coalition to get this passed?
[176] Well, I'm talking to everybody, Sabra, as I have been for the last couple of years.
[177] And I'm hopeful that this Senate this week...
[178] We'll see the merit in putting downward pressure on the amount of money that's being spent in Australian elections.
[179] It's interesting, over the break, President Biden himself warned that we can't have a situation where the billionaire oligarchs simply determine who gets into the Australian parliament.
[180] Ordinary Australians, people like you and me, Sabra, have to be able to participate in the electoral process.
[181] without having billionaire sponsors determining who will and won't get into the parliament.
[182] So I'm hopeful that all the discussions I've had, and I've met with all of the serious players in this space, and I'm hopeful that the arguments that we're presenting for putting downward pressure on the cost of Australian elections will be successful.
[183] Minister, thanks for joining us this morning.
[184] Nice talking with you, Sabra.
[185] It's Don Farrell, the Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State.
[186] That's AM for today.
[187] Thanks for your company.
[188] I'm Sabra Lane.
[189] Hi, I'm Sam Hawley, host of the ABC News Daily podcast.
[190] Donald Trump says he loves tariffs, but just hours after he slapped massive ones on Mexico and Canada, he's taken them away.
[191] So what on earth is the US president up to?
[192] Today, ABC TV's finance expert, Alan Kohler, on what Trump's tariff moves mean for us.
[193] Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on the ABC Listen app.