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☆ Australia's Labor Government Defends Shift in Personal Tax Policy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

The government has reached a "different view" about the already-legislated tax cuts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, as the conservative opposition coalition criticised the government for breaking an election pledge of retaining the tax cuts. Chalmers said the tax policy shift would help build trust as it was designed to provide more cost-of-living relief for more people without stoking inflation. Under the new policy, people earning up to A$140,000 ($92,050) will enjoy lower taxes from July 1, Australian media reported. A 37% tax band would be retained for some high earners, with the savings redirected to those on low incomes. That has dented Albanese's ratings since his 2022 election win.

Persons: Renju Jose SYDNEY, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Anthony Albanese, Albanese, reneging, James Paterson, Renju Jose, Richard Chang Organizations: Labor, Channel, National Press, Labor Party, Home Affairs, Sky News Locations: Sydney

☆ Australian lawmakers recommend potential WeChat ban on govt devices
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A senate committee investigating how foreign powers use social media to interfere in Australia has recommended a swathe of rules and restrictions for social media platforms, including potentially banning Chinese messaging service WeChat on government devices. Tuesday's report contains 17 recommendations including new transparency rules enforceable by fines, expanding an existing TikTok ban on government devices to contractors and investigating a ban on WeChat on government devices. "Platforms like TikTok and WeChat that are subject to the control of authoritarian regimes illustrate the broader cyber security risk to sensitive government information," he said in a statement. The committee also recommended that Australia helps developing countries in the Indo-Pacific resist "malicious information operations" by authoritarian states. While many recommendations singled out Chinese social media platforms, a set of 11 transparency rules would require all large social media platforms to label state affiliated media accounts, and disclose when governments direct content moderation and actions against accounts of elected officials.

Persons: WeChat, Paterson, James Paterson, Lewis Jackson, Ed Osmond Organizations: SYDNEY, HK, Liberal, Labor, Home Affairs, Thomson Locations: Australia, China

SYDNEY, July 11 (Reuters) - Social media giant Meta Platforms (META.O), owner of Facebook and Instagram, plans to label government-affiliated accounts on its new Twitter-like platform Threads, an executive told an Australian inquiry on foreign interference on Tuesday. The disclosure comes less than a week after Meta launched Threads, which is widely seen as similar to the microblogging site Twitter. Twitter has removed tags from government-affiliated accounts since billionaire Elon Musk took it private in 2022, bringing complaints about degrading users' media literacy. Asked if Russian state-affiliated broadcaster RT or Chinese government-affiliated publisher Xinhua News Agency would be tagged accordingly on Threads, Machin said, "that's our aspiration". "To the effect that any state-affiliated media are violating our policies, we would remove them," he told the inquiry.

Persons: Josh Machin, Meta's, Elon Musk, Machin, James Paterson, Meta, Meta's Machin, Byron Kaye, Lewis Jackson, Jamie Freed Organizations: SYDNEY, Facebook, Meta, Twitter, RT, Xinhua, Agency, Reuters, Australian Communications, Media Authority, Thomson Locations: Australia, Russia, China, Lincoln

Sydney/Hong Kong CNN —Australia’s defense ministry will remove Chinese-made cameras from its offices over spying concerns, the country’s Minister for Defence Richard Marles has said. The concerns were raised by Senator James Paterson of the opposition Liberal Party, who said Wednesday that he had conducted an “audit” of Chinese-made security devices in use on Australian government premises. The audit found 913 devices, including cameras, access control systems and intercoms, made by Chinese-state owned enterprises Hikvision and Dahua, Paterson noted. “These companies have a very close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, and they are subject to China’s National Intelligence laws, which require all Chinese companies and individuals to secretly cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies if requested,” Paterson said in a radio interview Wednesday. And where those particular cameras are found they’re going to be removed.”Asked about the Australian government’s concerns over Chinese-made cameras, a spokesperson for Beijing’s foreign affairs ministry said China opposes “generalizing national security, abuse of state power and acts that discriminate and suppress Chinese companies.”

☆ Australia orders review into Chinese-made cameras in defence offices
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSYDNEY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Australian government will examine surveillance technology used in offices of the defence department, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday, amid reports the Chinese-made cameras installed there raised security risks. The move comes after Britain in November asked its departments to stop installing Chinese-linked surveillance cameras at sensitive buildings. Some U.S. states have banned vendors and products from several Chinese technology companies. Australian media reported on Wednesday that the national war memorial in Canberra would remove several Chinese-made security cameras installed on the premises over concerns of spying. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was not concerned about how Beijing might react to the removal of cameras.

☆ Australia to remove Chinese-made security cameras from national war memorial -reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lewis Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Australia's national war memorial will remove several Chinese-made security cameras installed on the premises because officials are concerned they could be used for spying, local media reported on Wednesday. Eleven surveillance cameras manufactured by Hikvision (002415.SZ), partly owned by Chinese state investors, will be removed from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra by mid-2023, according to the Canberra Times. The Australian War Memorial said in a statement on Wednesday it did not comment on security matters. Opposition senator James Paterson said on Wednesday he is conducting a full audit of all government departments and agencies for possible exposure to Chinese-made surveillance devices. Paterson first raised the issue of Chinese-made surveillance equipment during public hearings last year.

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