OpenAI must explain how they will stop their models from inappropriately accessing Australian data, the Labor chair of the parliament’s committee on artificial intelligence has warned, ahead of federal inquiry hearings which will grill the tech company alongside Anthropic, Microsoft and Google.

Independent senator David Pocock is also demanding answers, saying OpenAI “still have a lot they need to answer” about their AI agent accessing Services Australia data on Medicare and the company’s “appalling” tardiness in notifying the federal government about the incident.

OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, will front the hearing alongside Adam Cohen, the company’s head of economic policy, and the company’s Asia-Pacific national security lead, Peter Anstee. Labor MP chairing the committee Briskey said her starting point would be to interrogate how to balance the potential risks and rewards of AI, such as economic benefits as well as cyber security and defence applications. She said she would also raise concerns about online safety, scams, and how any benefits would be spread among all Australians.

The Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence will hold four days of hearings this week, hearing from tech companies as well as unions, employer groups, banks and industry experts. Tuesday’s hearing will include representatives from copyright and artists’ groups, to probe issues around access to data to train AI models, as well as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which warned in its submission of a “cannibalisation” of journalism and demanded AI companies be subject to the same copyright, defamation and privacy rules as news outlets.

Australian Prime Minister Albanese arrived in Fiji for a pre-COP31 climate meeting in Nadi, emphasizing the vital necessity of amplifying Pacific voices on the global stage. Organized to draw international attention to low-lying island nations directly threatened by rising sea levels, the summit faced challenges when only 14 national leaders agreed to visit Tuvalu as part of the event.

Among these attendees, only two came from outside the Pacific region: Timor-Leste Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta and Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam. Attendance was impacted by geographic remoteness, diplomatic tensions, and expectations that global representatives would prioritize the upcoming COP31 main summit in Turkey.

The event sparked domestic political controversy in Australia, with opposition figures criticizing the gathering as a high-cost vanity project. Meanwhile, Australian leaders faced ongoing scrutiny over domestic fossil fuel policies, including recent coal project approvals. In response, Australian officials highlighted renewable energy initiatives, while Fijian leaders urged the international community to view the Pacific not merely with sympathy, but as a crucial indicator of looming global climate threats.

One Nation has launched its Victorian election campaign, vowing to legalise the personal use of pepper spray, abolish the state’s treaty with Indigenous people, and scrap payroll tax in regional Victoria.

A social media post announcing its policy to “make it cheaper and easier to set up new businesses in Victoria” featured an AI-generated image of a “traditional [sic] fish n’chips” shop. Their latest candidates include a former Liberal who has won support from alleged underworld figures, a naturopath who has endorsed Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that paracetamol is linked to autism and a former shire councillor who lost his licence for drink-driving.

The party is understood to have again prevented reporters from certain media outlets from attending the launch. But it is reported by some news outlets that Northern Metropolitan candidate and creator of the party’s Please Explain Cartoon, Mark Nicholson, vowed at the launch that if One Nation won the election, former premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan would be “in prison by Christmas”.

One Nation has come under fire for practices that could see it collect as much as $633,000 from people who have nominated for the Victorian election, with some potential candidates questioning whether the party is staging a “cash grab”.