Friday, March 22, 2019

NSW Elections: Dirty laundry on display but the voters haven't noticed


All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”
John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty


Democracy lost as lobbyists gain ground

Social researcher Rebecca Huntley nails lobbying as being the festering sore on Australian politics and dominant cause of "MP tin ear syndrome".

Google training journalists to identify fake news - Google blog: “In the last year our News Lab has trained nearly 300,000 journalists in person and online around the world on digital tools for journalism, with a goal to reach 500,000 journalists by 2020. We’ve partnered with the International Fact Check Network and dozens of newsrooms worldwide to quell the spread of misinformation, especially during key times like elections. We’ve supported initiatives like Verificado in Mexico, Comprova in Brazil, CekFakta in Indonesia, FactCheckEU and the journalist training network in India, which included over 100 newsrooms and reached thousands of journalists ahead of key elections—there’s more to come in Australia and Argentina. We’re working with First Draft on their CrossCheck tool, which helps journalists debunk and share information across the world—they’ve already trained hundreds of journalists ahead of the EU elections…”

NSW voters are out of their old boxes, so picking this one is harder


Reading the NSW election result has been difficult - because the old assumptions no longer apply.



'There's no dead horse': Daley plays it safe, focusing on campaign centrepieces

On his final day of campaigning, NSW Labor leader Michael Daley played it safe and returned to his old stomping grounds.

NSW Labor Opposition Leader Michael Daley gets a warm reception from HSU members at Nepean Hospital in Sydney's outer Western suburbs prior to tomorrow's State Election.

The Daley bombshell that Liberals sat on for months

Haven't been paying attention? Here are the Coalition and Labor's key policies in the NSW election

Ahead of Saturday's poll, we outline just what both sides have promised in the areas of health, transport, education and the environment.

Haven't been paying attention? Here are the Coalition and Labor's key policies in the NSW election

Ahead of Saturday's poll, we outline just what both sides have promised in the areas of health, transport, education and the environment.

The NSW Coalition’s record should be enough to deliver it a third term. But the polls suggest it isn't. If they win it will be their last-ditch tactics.



A news.com.au reader poll, which has collected more than 19,000 votes, had Mr Daley ahead of Ms Berejiklian 53 per cent to 46 per cent, as of Friday morning
'Most volatile final campaign week I have ever seen'
For many voters who been fatigued by politics, today is likely to be the first time they turn their minds to the NSW election. 

  

Georgina Downer novelty cheque prompts auditor to review entire grants program

The Liberal candidate was criticised for presenting a taxpayer-funded grant using a cheque bearing her name and face. 

'Political propaganda': Premier's 'achievements' handbook prepared by public servants - totalitarianism of tactics

The government has been accused misusing the public service for “political propaganda”
Chinese state TV lauds Liberal candidate Scott Yung
State-run CCTV praised the 26-year-old, who also received good wishes from several Chinese celebrities.

  

Last pitch to voters before NSW election - SBS News


Dirty laundry on display but the voters haven't noticed


A bitter feud has ripped the NSW Greens apart but they may still get a historic crack at power in the state


David Clune - The NSW experience with minority government? It's an improvement


As the Greiner years demonstrated, a minority government can deliver better results when held to account by responsible independents committed to stability.

 
 'This is ridiculous': NSW voters struggle to lodge early vote after iVote goes down

The NSW Electoral Commission says its iVote registration system is down and is pleading for patience.



Harvard and MIT Fund Deepfake Detection, Government Transparency AI Tools

“Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology joined forces to award $750,000 to seven organizations, including ones that help detect deepfakes and promote open access of government data. Last week, Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the MIT Media Lab announced seven winners of their first “AI and the News: An Open Challenge” competition. Each winner received a grant to help with the development of technology platforms that address the problem of misinformation in society. Read more at LegalTech News” [Alternate source, no paywall]
 

The Sad State of Happiness and the Role of Digital Media


“This is the 7th World Happiness Report. The first was released in April 2012 in support of a UN High level meeting on “Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm”.






Counterfeiters cause pain as they lift their game


Fake notes cause financial pain for businesses, the Reserve Bank finds in a new report