Good morning, Australia! Today is November 24 and here is your news briefing!
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Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos
Here’s what else you need to know to get going and get on with your day.
1. HANSON’S BURQA STUNT SHUTS DOWN SENATE
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson walked into the Senate chamber Monday wearing a burqa, attempting to introduce legislation banning the face coverings nationwide. Spoiler: it didn’t go well. Foreign Minister Penny Wong called it disrespectful, Greens leader Larissa Waters labeled it “the middle finger to people of faith,” and Independent Senator Fatima Payman—Parliament’s first hijab-wearing member—called it abhorrent. When Hanson refused to leave after being sanctioned, Senate President Sue Lines suspended proceedings for 90 minutes during the final sitting week of the year. Hanson posted on social media calling colleagues “hypocrites” and saying if Parliament won’t ban burqas, she’ll wear one. This is her second burqa stunt since 2017, and the Islamophobia envoy warns it deepens safety risks for Muslim women already facing harassment.
2. BOM WEBSITE OVERHAUL COSTS $96.5 MILLION, NOT $4 MILLION AS STATED
Remember that Bureau of Meteorology website everyone’s been complaining about for a month? Turns out it cost taxpayers $96.5 million—about 20 times the originally stated $4.1 million price tag. New BOM chief Stuart Minchin, two weeks on the job, calls it a “miscommunication” and says the project was actually approved by the Turnbull government in 2017 after a cyberattack threatened the entire system. The rebuild included back-end infrastructure from field equipment to supercomputers, with a 15% cost blowout due to COVID delays. Environment Minister Murray Watt says he wasn’t aware of the full cost and has asked for answers. Why this matters: Australians are furious not just about the money, but because the redesigned site is genuinely hard to navigate—radar’s confusing, place names unreadable—and this all happened during severe weather when people actually needed reliable forecasts.
3. CYCLONE FINA TRACKS TOWARD WESTERN AUSTRALIA AFTER BATTERING NT
Cyclone Fina’s making its way across northern Australia, and Western Australia’s Kimberley region is next in line. After passing between the Tiwi Islands and Darwin over the weekend as a category three system, the cyclone left 14,000 people without power but—thankfully—caused minimal damage because residents actually heeded warnings. Now meteorologists say Fina will strengthen as it crosses the northeast Kimberley coast late Tuesday afternoon or evening, bringing destructive winds and heavy rainfall. Darwin got lucky with schools closed but no serious injuries. For those in the Kimberley: secure your property, stay updated on warnings, and maybe don’t rely too heavily on that new BOM website.
4. SENATOR INTRODUCES BILL BANNING NON-CONSENSUAL AI DEEPFAKES
Independent Senator David Pocock is introducing legislation Tuesday to ban the creation and sharing of AI deepfakes without consent—and honestly, it’s about time. The bill would make it illegal to use digitally altered or AI-generated audio or visual content depicting someone’s face or voice without permission. It proposes a complaints system through the eSafety Commissioner, stronger removal notice powers, and compensation for victims wrongfully depicted or exploited. Pocock told reporters: “It seems like a very sensible thing for Australians to be able to say I own my face. This belongs to me.” Why this matters: Deepfake technology is advancing faster than legislation can keep up, and we’ve already seen it weaponized for harassment, revenge porn, political misinformation, and fraud. Without legal protections, anyone’s identity can be stolen and manipulated without consequences.
5. AFP CHARGES THREE MEN OVER ALLEGED THREATS TO FEDERAL POLITICIANS
The Australian Federal Police arrested three men last week for allegedly threatening federal MPs, and they’re sending a clear message: we’re watching. A 30-year-old Sydney man—believed to be National Socialist Network member Joel Davis—was charged with allegedly harassing Independent MP Allegra Spender after she condemned a neo-Nazi protest. A 29-year-old from Tamworth allegedly sent online threats to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. And a 32-year-old Victorian man faces charges over alleged threats toward Senator Lidia Thorpe, including harassing emails and an abusive phone call with “hateful and menacing rhetoric.” All three face up to five years in prison. AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner Matthew Gale revealed they received 951 referrals about threats against parliamentarians in 2024-25—a 42% increase from the previous year. The AFP’s new National Security Investigations team, launched in September, is specifically targeting groups eroding social cohesion. Whether you agree with a politician or not, threatening them is an attack on democracy itself.
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