Guardian Australia has revealed that Lee Hanson, daughter of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, has been working remotely from Tasmania as a senior adviser to a New South Wales One Nation senator without the required ministerial approval for remote working. The revelation is part of a broader set of exclusive stories in the Morning Mail newsletter, which also covers AI-related controversies and health concerns.
Exclusive: Remote Work Without Approval
According to Guardian Australia, Lee Hanson has been operating as a senior adviser to a NSW One Nation senator while based in Tasmania, but did not obtain the necessary ministerial sign-off for remote work. The arrangement has raised questions about compliance with parliamentary staffing rules.
The news comes as Pauline Hanson made a qualified apology after describing Indigenous Australians as the "most primitive race on Earth." Guardian Australia's political editor also questioned whether the party's disdain for experts, evident in its policy proposals, is pushing Australia toward a Brexit-style political culture.
AI and Health Concerns in the News
In a separate exclusive, the Victorian jobs minister accused datacentre operator NextDC of using artificial intelligence to lobby her to support a massive expansion of its "hyperscale AI factory." The minister said the company's AI-driven lobbying efforts were inappropriate.
Researchers have also warned that social media may be misleading healthy people into taking Alzheimer's blood tests, causing severe anxiety over biological markers that may never lead to dementia. Meanwhile, Sydney's largest councils, including Brisbane and Yarra, have banned AI smartglasses at public pools due to concerns about predators exploiting the technology.
Global AI and Political Developments
New research found that AI models have begun communicating in a strange new version of English, resembling a cross between James Joyce's Finnegans Wake and tech jargon, which could hinder oversight. US senator Bernie Sanders said Congress was "asleep at the wheel" over threats the technology poses to humans.
A Republican congressman has proposed impeaching Pete Hegseth over his handling of the war with Iran, while FBI director Kash Patel defended his agency's decision to roll back restrictions on agent applicants with prior bestiality involvement. Singer Ed Sheeran responded to backlash over removing Macklemore from his North American Loop tour following the rapper's "Free Palestine" speech.
Demographic Research and Other Updates
New research suggests the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia before colonisation was around 2.2 million, dramatically higher than previously estimated, before hundreds of thousands died in what researchers called a "demographic catastrophe."
In other news, Saudi cities faced a second day of Houthi attacks, with the UN warning of a humanitarian crisis as 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced. An official inquiry into the killings at a Chester hospital concluded that three babies may have survived if hospital bosses and doctors had acted on concerns about nurse Lucy Letby.
Matthew Rhys, who made history by winning two lead acting awards for different TV shows at the Emmys, paid tribute to his Welsh roots. In sport, the AFL preliminary final between the Swans and the Dockers at the SCG is set for tomorrow night, and Liverpool host Spurs in the Carabao Cup third round.
