Australia’s online safety regulator eSafety says it does not have the powers to “proactively prevent” the live stream of a firing squad execution in the United States from being shown in Australia, but argues platforms have a responsibility to protect users from harmful content.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at a military base in Texas in 2009, would be available for the public to watch. Across the political divide in Canberra there has been widespread concern about Australians seeing the December 3 live stream.

The federal government said Australians “rightly expect” the content would not appear on their screens, and platforms have a responsibility to meet those expectations. Media Lecturer at Swinburne University Dr Belinda Barnet believed the most the eSafety commissioner could do was issue take down notices, like was done in the case of a Sydney church stabbing in 2024.

“While eSafety does not have powers to proactively prevent a live stream from occurring online, online services have responsibilities under Australia’s online safety regulatory framework to protect users from harmful material,” a spokesperson said. Experts agreed eSafety’s power was more geared towards being able to take down content rather than pre-emptively blocking it.

Electric vehicle sales are surging in Australia, powering a transition that goes beyond fuel savings to become an unexpected tool to combat high inflation.

The abrupt shift away from petrol and diesel vehicles, accelerated by elevated fuel costs caused by the Iran conflict, is being supported by an influx of cheaper EVs that is reducing associated costs such as insurance.

Chris Dickman, senior portfolio manager at fund manager Australian Ethical, describes the trend as the “BYD effect”, referring to the low-priced Chinese vehicles which he says are an unexpected disinflationary force. He says that by helping drivers use less petrol, and bringing down the cost of new and used cars, EV uptake is blunting the impact of high oil prices across the economy.

While EVs and hybrids have been gaining traction for years, the US-Israel war on Iran and subsequent oil price spike accelerated demand in March, and it has continued largely unabated. Battery EV sales now account for almost 25% of new vehicle sales, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data. About half of all new sales are either EVs or hybrids, and more EVs were sold last month than petrol-only cars.

Adam Triggs, co-founder at economics consulting group Mandala Partners, said the next step towards protecting Australia from oil shocks was to electrify diesel-dependent freight networks, and this trend is supporting that direction.

Jordan Yap, 30, last made contact with friends and family on 14 September ahead of a planned 10-day solo trek along Peru’s Huayhuash mountain range, 400km north-east of Lima.

In a social media post on Saturday, his friends and family said “with a heavy heart we are sorry to tell you Jordan has been found, and he did not survive”.

The Melbourne man was last seen near the beginning of his trek across the Cordillera Huayhuash circuit, which is regarded as a challenging, high-altitude trek through the remote Andes mountains. His friends and family became concerned after he failed to make contact on his estimated return date, failed to check back into the Krusty hostel in Huaraz and missed a scheduled flight from Lima to Cusco. He also misplaced a satellite beacon he was travelling with days before he set off on the 120km hike, raising further concerns.

A spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who had died in Peru.