A personal view of Australian and International Politics
Contemporary politics,local and international current affairs, science, music and extracts from the Queensland Newspaper "THE WORKER" documenting the proud history of the Labour Movement.
MAHATMA GANDHI ~ Truth never damages a cause that is just.
The pope’s encyclical will address ‘the protection of the human person in the age of AI’, the Vatican says
The Chicago-born pontiff will present the document, known as an encyclical, at the Vatican
next week during an event attended by Christopher Olah, the co-founder
of Anthropic – a US-based AI firm that has clashed with Donald Trump’s
administration.
The
encyclical will address “the protection of the human person in the age
of artificial intelligence”, the Vatican said on Monday.
In
a break from tradition, Leo, who was elected pontiff in May last year,
will launch the document during a public presentation on 25 May. He will
be joined by lay speaker Olah of Anthropic, which is in the middle of a
high-profile lawsuit with the Trump administration over the ethics of AI, as well as theologians Anna Rowlands and Léocadie Lushombo.
Encyclicals
are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pope to the Catholic
church’s 1.4 billion members, and typically outline his priorities while
highlighting the major issues in society.
Leo is expected to consider how AI is affecting workers’ rights while lamenting its use in warfare.
“His
encyclical is going to be a response to the dazzlingly rapid
technological revolution that is happening right now,” said Andrea
Vreede, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch public radio and TV
network NOS. “So he will say things like AI shouldn’t be used in
warfare, that is obvious. But he will also try to be positive and offer
workable answers to modern challenges.”
The
Vatican said Leo signed the document, which is entitled Magnifica
Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, on 15 May – 135 years after his
namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed his most significant encyclical, which
focused on the Industrial Revolution that was under way at the time
while addressing workers’ rights and capitalism.
“The
fact that Leo signed the document on the same date as Leo XIII signed
his encyclical is significant,” said Vreede. “The 1891 document was a
response to the Industrial Revolution, when there were immediate and
practical consequences to society, and this one addresses the
technological revolution.”
Christopher
White, the author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a
New Papacy and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Initiative on
Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, said the Vatican had been
seriously engaged on questions surrounding AI for several years now,
pointing to regular dialogues with Microsoft, Google and other major
technology firms.
“Leo’s
new encyclical is likely to build on that tradition – not from a
perspective of doomerism but one of caution that as technology advances,
the human person should be kept at the centre of the discussion,” said
White. “Like Pope Francis, Leo will likely raise concern about the
dignity of work and the need to ensure that technological advancements
don’t override the dignity of workers and their rights. And he’ll likely
insist on the need for stringent regulation and a ban on lethal
autonomous weapons.”
Traditionally, a pope’s
encyclical is presented by cardinals. While the main presenters will be
the Vatican’s top cardinals, doctrine chief Cardinal Víctor Manuel
Fernández and development chief Cardinal Michael Czerny, the fact that
lay speakers have been invited – along with Leo’s attendance – is also
significant.
Vreede said: “That’s a very
clever strategic communication move, because if the cardinals do it,
nobody really listens, but if the pope is there, all the cameras will be
there, and we will all listen.”
Hussam
Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, was repeatedly
warned to evacuate during the war between Israel and Hamas, but chose to
remain with his patients. In December 2024, he was arrested by the
Israel Defence Forces. Seventeen months later, Amnesty International
alleges that Dr. Abu Safiya has been tortured in detention, while the
United Nations has called for his release. The IDF, meanwhile, says the
doctor has ties to Hamas.
Organisers of a Gaza-bound flotilla say they have been intercepted by the Israeli navy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pictured watching the interception operation.
One international law expert says the blockade of Gaza should concern countries like Australia.
The
organisers of a flotilla of ships trying to break Israel's maritime
blockade of Gaza say Israel's navy has intercepted the vessels off the
coast of Cyprus.
There are more than 50 ships in the flotilla and 11 Australians are said to be among the crews.
The
Global Sumud Flotilla's organisers say their names are Anny Mokotow, Dr
Bianca Pullman-Webb, Neve O'Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O'Toole, Sam
Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O'Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla
Lamont and Surya McEwan.
Live tracking data provided by the flotilla showed at least 27 ships had been intercepted by late on Monday afternoon.
Australians Sam Woripa Watson (left) and Anny Mokotow (middle) who are crew members of the flotilla. (Supplied: Global Sumud Flotilla)
One of the Australians on board, Juliet Lamont, was a member of the group who tried to breach the blockade in October last year.
She said it had been a quiet night of sailing before the Israeli navy approach on Monday morning, local time.
"It's all on now," Ms Lamont said in a video distributed by flotilla supporters in Australia.
"You
never know the minute when the Israelis decide that 'yeah, let's f***
over some ordinary people,' 500 of them, who have got a whole load of
baby food in boats trying to break their illegal siege in international
waters.
"Here we are in international waters, and our governments are completely failing us. Do everything that you can to keep us safe.
"If
we get put in that f***ing hellhole in Ketziot [prison] again, make
sure our governments advocate on our behalf and get us out of there and
end this genocide and free Palestine."
Israeli
public broadcaster KAN reported lawyers for Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu asked to cancel a scheduled appearance in court for his
long-running corruption trial on Monday for security reasons, which the
network said was to watch the flotilla interceptions from the Israeli
Defense Forces's (IDF's) headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Mr
Netanyahu's office later released a video of him watching the
operation, and speaking to the commander of the Israeli forces leading
the interceptions.
He said they
were "essentially thwarting a malicious plan designed to break through
the isolation we are imposing on the Hamas terrorists in Gaza".
"You
are doing it with great success, and I must say also quietly, and
certainly less conspicuously than our enemies expected, and therefore
congratulations from the bottom of my heart," he said.
"Keep going until the end. The water looks simply wonderful."
An Israeli vessel approaches the flotilla. (Supplied: Global Sumud Flotilla)
Last month the Israeli military intercepted another flotilla of ships in international waters off
the Greek island of Crete, detained the crews and damaged some of the
ships, which the flotilla organisers described as an act of piracy on
the high seas.
Most were later dropped off in Greece, including three of the Australians who have since joined this latest flotilla.
But
two of the most prominent crew members were taken to Israel on
allegations of being involved in a terrorist organisation and illegal
activity.
Brazilian Thiago
Avila and Spaniard Saif Abu Keshek were later released from prison, and
their lawyers accused Israel of abuse while in custody — claims Israeli
authorities denied.
Israel 'will not allow breach of blockade'
In
a post on social media earlier in the day, Israel's foreign ministry
said the country would "not allow any breach of the lawful naval
blockade on Gaza" and described the actions of the flotilla as "a
provocation for the sake of provocation".
The
flotilla movement has insisted the measures are vital to highlight the
humanitarian crisis facing the population in Gaza and Israel's cruel
policies against Palestinians.
Israel
has repeatedly criticised efforts to break the blockade as being more
about garnering global attention for the activists on board than
delivering meaningful aid to the people of Gaza.
An Israeli warship photographed by a crew member of the flotilla. (Supplied: Global Sumud Flotilla)
This is the fourth group in recent months to try to sail to Gaza.
Those
activists were forced to watch videos of Hamas's horrific attacks on
Israel on October 7, 2023, when they arrived in Israel, and they were
later taken to a prison near the Israel–Egypt border.
The maritime blockade of Gaza has been in place for almost two decades, well before the current conflict in the strip began.
One United Nations inquiry found the measures were unlawful, while another found it was legal to protect Israel's security.
A
screenshot of a video shared by the Global Sumud Flotilla, which
organisers say shows Israeli military preparing to intercept the fleet. (X: Global Sumud Flotilla)
Don
Rothwell, professor of international law at the Australian National
University, said a blockade was a "legitimate act of naval warfare", and
cited the current US operation in the Strait of Hormuz against Iran as
an example of that.
But he said the decision by many countries, including Australia, to recognise Palestinian statehood changed the equation.
"Absent
an armed conflict, Israel's previous position was that the blockade was
a legitimate security measure against Gaza due to the threat posed by
Hamas," Professor Rothwell said.
"An
exception to the imposition of a blockade exists for the provision of
humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the blockaded state.
"There
is no international armed conflict between Israel and the independent
State of Palestine — though of course Israel refuses to recognise such
an independent state.
"As such, any attempt to enforce the blockade off the coast of Cyprus has no legal basis under international law."
He
said the incident should be of concern for a country like Australia,
given its public positions demanding freedom of navigation in places
like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
"The
IDF conduct is an example of extraterritorial law enforcement of
Israel's blockade within the maritime zone of Cyprus or on the high
seas, which is a violation of the freedom of navigation which the
vessels that make up the Global Sumud Flotilla enjoy," Professor
Rothwell said.
Flotilla participant calls on prime minister
Ethan
Floyd, a Global Sumud Flotilla participant who has returned to
Australia after last month's interception, called on the Albanese
government to condemn these acts.
"This
is now the second time Israel has illegally abducted Australian
citizens in international waters, and our government has said nothing,"
he said.
"It
is not a radical act to attempt to deliver food, water and medicine to a
starving population. In fact, it is a desperately reasonable act.
"The Albanese government must condemn the kidnapping of its citizens by a foreign country.
"And it must follow that condemnation with real sanctions, political and economic, on the rogue state of Israel."
The
ABC has asked Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade for comment about the developing situation.
The IDF is refusing to comment about the interception mission, directing all enquiries to the country's foreign ministry.
Bo
Christensen, a fleet electrification specialist, who followed behind the
Windrose prime mover in last year’s trial:“It’s a very tough run, but
we were overtaking pretty much all the trucks going up the hill”.
“We did it pretty comfortably.”
The ongoing US-Israel war on Iran and the conflict over the critical strait of Hormuz oil shipping route sent diesel prices soaring and brought Australia’s reliance on the mostly imported fuel into sharp relief.
In
response, conservative politicians have been calling for more oil
drilling and more refineries. The Australian government this week
announced a $10bn fuel security package including $3.2bn to store a billion more litres of diesel and jet fuel.
There
has been little talk from political leaders of the other way to lower
the country’s risk from future fuel shocks – powering trucks with
electricity.
“Unfortunately what’s happening
in Iran is reminding people that hoping for cheaper diesel is not a
strategy,” the founder of Chinese electric-truck maker Windrose, Wen
Han, says.
Windrose company founder and chief executive, Han Wen. Photograph: Windrose
Han says his company expects to sell “hundreds” of its trucks in Australia this year. He’s already sold 10 – at $450,000 each.
By
2030, Han aims to have sold 100,000 trucks globally “and I expect
20,000 of those to be in Australia,” he says . “We will be the dominant
truck.”
The Mount Ousley test, loaded with
metal from the BlueScope steelworks in Port Kembla, was one of several
conducted by Windrose while the vehicle awaits final certification for
Australian roads.
Han says there has been scepticism from potential customers who “don’t believe in the performance”.
“We
just have to go and prove it,” he says. “Then we see this whiplash from
‘I don’t believe you’ to, ‘can I get this truck yesterday?’”
The
Windrose truck claims a range of almost 700 kilometres (it did the
102km Port Kembla to Sydney run twice on one charge) and Han says it can
be recharged from zero to 60% in about 35 minutes. Planned upgrades in
the next two years will see the range increased and the charging times
fall, he says.
But Windrose is just one of an increasing lineup of heavy duty all-electric trucks competing in the Australian market.
Research
from Mov3ment – an Australian advisory group on fleet electrification –
finds Volvo, Sany, Daimler, Foton and Deepway are all selling in
Australia.
Among vans and lighter trucks, the
choice is even greater. A Mov3ment report said 332 electric trucks and
vans were sold in Australia last year, including 79 heavy duty models –
triple the previous year.
Companies including
Ikea, Woolworths, Australia Post, Coles, Coca-Cola and Temple &
Webster have all introduced electric trucks, partnering with companies
like Linfox, Toll and ANC.
‘The
potential for the Australian truck fleet is somewhere close to 80% that
could be electrified with models that are available in the world
today,’ according to the Energy Futures Foundation. Photograph: New Energy Transport
Next
week, electric transport company Zenobē will see the first in a new
fleet of 30 trucks on the road in Melbourne and Sydney delivering
appliances for Winnings.
The executive
director of the Energy Futures Foundation, Bruce Hardy, says despite
this flurry of new projects, Australia has “radically fallen behind”.
Greenhouse gas emissions from transport remain stubbornly high and are projected to be the biggest source of emissions in Australia by 2030. Heavy vehicles currently make up about a quarter of all transport emissions.
Research commissioned by EFF
says only 0.7% of new truck sales in Australia last year were electric,
compared with 20% in China, 7% in Germany and 2% in the UK.
“We
haven’t learned the lessons of the energy security and fuel crises that
we’ve been through before – we had Covid, the Ukraine war, and now
[Iran],” says Hardy.
“The potential for the
Australian truck fleet is somewhere close to 80% that could be
electrified with models that are available in the world today.”
Hardy
says more than half of Australia’s diesel trucks will hit their usual
replacement age in the next five years. “If we don’t offer a meaningful
pathway [to electric] then we lock-in diesel trucks for another 15
years,” he says.
According
to data from the Electric Vehicle Council, there are 1,000 electric
trucks and vans on Australian roads – a tiny percentage of the more than
600,000 rigid and articulated trucks.
Senior
policy officer for heavy vehicles at the council, Cameron Rimington,
says: “More and more truckies are considering going electric, as their
diesel bills soar – but we are still starting from a very low base.
The
EV transition for freight vehicles is still in its infancy and it’s
been remarkable how little government support has been directed towards
this critical sector.”
“This has been a missing piece in the fuel crisis response so far: freight vehicles that run on Australian energy.”
Charging ahead?
Most current electric truck models are significantly more expensive than their diesel counterparts.
Making
an electric switch looks too risky for the 98% of trucking companies
that are run by small operators already working with tight profit
margins says Todd Hacking, chief executive at trucking association Heavy
Vehicle Industry Australia.
“These companies have 130 years of history with internal combustion engines,” he says.
“Battery
electric trucks are more expensive and they change how you have to
think about your operations, but we are saying don’t bury your head in
the sand. We need to tell people this [move to electric] is coming. But
without government assistance, it is a hard sell.”
Hacking
says prices of battery electric trucks are likely to fall quickly and
operators love driving them. With charging times also falling, he says
in practical terms electric trucks could have a strong future.
Hacking
says about 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions from road freight come
from the 20% of vehicles doing long-haul trips. So he says if
decarbonisation is a goal, then a focus should be on those heavier
trucks
As
well as battery electric trucks, Hacking says existing diesel trucks
could also replace fossil fuels with biodiesel that can work with
existing internal combustion engines.
For an industry so rooted in easy access to a liquid fuel, one major challenge for electric trucking will be access to chargers.
For
so-called “last mile” and metro deliveries, trucks often return to
depots where vehicles can be charged overnight. But for long-haul
freight, more trucks will need access to chargers.
Daniel Bleakley, co-founder of New Energy Transport,
says when it comes to rolling out charging infrastructure and getting
chargers connected to the grid “we should be on a war footing for this,
right now.”
“This is exclusively a fossil fuel crisis – there’s no crisis in wind or solar production,” he says.
“If
we don’t move, we are going to be shackled to this insanely volatile
system until it collapses. Do we keep going, or do we pivot?”
Christensen,
the head of fleet electrification at NewVolt – a company building three
open-access charging hubs for electric trucks around Melbourne, helped
by a $25.3m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
NewVolt
is developing plans for a network of up to 60 renewables-powered
charging hubs that would allow electric trucks to make long-haul trips
between Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
He says while the technology may seem new to Australians, Chinese companies have been developing them for more than a decade.
Protesters gather in Adelaide's city centre on Sunday to mark Nakba Day. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
Protesters
have marched in cities across Australia to mark the Nakba, a day that
recognises the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948
Arab-Israeli war.
The anniversary of the Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic, falls on May 15 each year.
About
500 people attended a rally to commemorate the Nakba in Melbourne on
Sunday, marching from the State Library to Flinders Street Station.
Hundreds of people march in Melbourne's CBD on Sunday. (ABC News: Sacha Payne)
Palestinian-Australian surgeon Dr Bushra Othman addressed the crowd assembled on the steps of the library.
"Seventy-eight
years ago, Palestinian people were driven from their homes carrying
keys they believed they would soon use again,"
Dr Otham said.
"Those keys became heirlooms, those homes became memories."
Senator Lidia Thorpe told the rally Aboriginal Australians stood with the Palestinian people.
"I wish these anniversaries could be events of healing. But the Nakba is not over and continues to this very day," she said.
Greens
Senator David Shoebridge accused the Australian government of "silence
and complicity" in the current Middle East conflict.
David Shoebridge addresses the Melbourne rally. (ABC News: Sacha Payne)
"There was no one day when the Nakba started, there is no one day when the Nakba ended. It continues," he said.
Several
people held Israeli flags up across the road from the pro-Palestinian
rally, but the two groups were separated by police.
Police said there were "no issues" during the event.
Organisers 'encouraged' by crowds
In Brisbane, about 350 protesters gathered in the CBD to commemorate Nakba Day.
A speaker addresses the crowd in Brisbane. (ABC News: Hannah Moon)
During
the rally, the crowd heard from multiple Palestinian speakers who spoke
of resistance and recounted stories of Nakba survivors and the
generations that have come after them.
There
was a recurring theme of hope amongst the speakers, and chants of
"free, free Palestine" could be heard ringing out across the CBD as the
crowds marched with megaphones, signs and Palestinian flags.
Protesters at the Nakba Day rally in Brisbane. (ABC News: Hannah Moon)
Among
those in attendance was Nick Hanna, the lawyer representing a number of
Queenslanders who are facing hate speech charges in relation to banned phrases.
In Perth, about 300 people attended the city's Nakba Day rally, which included a march through the city.
People gather in the Perth CBD on Sunday. (ABC News: Pip Waller)
Friends of Palestine WA secretary Nick Everett said the rally was an opportunity to stand in solidarity.
The Perth rally was attended by community groups including the Palestinian Community of WA.
"This is one rally in an ongoing campaign … we're really encouraged by the numbers here today," Mr Everett said.
Nick Everett spoke at the Nakba Day rally in Perth. (ABC News: Pip Waller)
"For
Palestinians the term Nakba means catastrophe, and each year
Palestinians protest the ongoing Israeli cleansing of their lands.
"We urge people to take notice, write to their politicians and join us in our call for justice."
Significance of day 'immense'
More than 200 people gathered outside parliament in Adelaide to show their support for the Palestinian community on Nakba Day.
Two protesters sit in reflection during the rally in Adelaide. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
There was a strong police presence of about a dozen officers, and the crowd chanted "free Palestine" throughout the protest.
Husam
Elassaad, a member of South Australia's Palestinian community,
addressed the crowd and spoke about the impact of the dispossession on
his community and family.
Husam Elassaad spoke at the Nakba Day rally in Adelaide. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)
In Hobart, more than 100 people marched through the city before gathering on the lawns outside of Parliament House.
There
were multiple speeches by members of Friends of Palestine Tasmania and
the Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network (TPAN), along with poetry
readings and musical performances.
People gather in Hobart to mark Nakba Day. (ABC News: Jasmine Snow)
TPAN member Zainab Fadhil said the significance of the day was "immense".
"It shows the fight and the struggle that's been continuing on for hundreds of years for the Palestinian people,"
she said.
"Nakba
demonstrates the impact that it had on the people so many years ago and
people continue to show up today regardless of how long ago it was,
because it's still important and significant.
"Regardless
of the person, the race, the religion, the gender, we are all here to
support the Palestinian people and their right of living."
Protesters gathered outside parliament in Hobart. (ABC News: Jasmine Snow)
In
November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution partitioning
Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with Jerusalem
under a UN administration.
The
Arab world rejected the plan, resulting in a war in 1948 after the
departure of British forces and the declaration of independence of the
State of Israel.
An estimated
750,000 refugees from historic Palestine either fled or were expelled
from their homes, many going to refugee camps or neighbouring countries.
In
1948, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution resolving that
"refugees wishing to return to their homes … should be permitted to do
so".
The "right of return" of
those refugees to what is now Israel is a core demand of most
Palestinian groups, and has been one of the most intractable issues in
negotiations between Israel and Palestinian representatives.
