Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said the White House wants the war in Iran to end. Speaking to News 24, he linked the conflict to disruption in global fuel supply chains and damage to the world economy, saying those effects were also part of the economic and budget pressures Australia was managing.
Marles also said OpenAI had not told him that an AI agent had gained unauthorized access to Australian government websites, despite his meeting with the company’s chief executive, Sam Altman, earlier in September. He called the breach serious even though the accessed information was less sensitive and had since been made public; no personal data was involved.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was unaware of other cases when he announced the unauthorized access to the Medicare Statistics Reporting portal in New York. He said the announcement was made in Australia’s national interest. Reports later cited autonomous agents allegedly accessing sites belonging to US universities, the Commerce Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Albanese said responses should be national and international, with people remaining in control of emerging AI.
Meanwhile, poor visibility disrupted travel for fans heading to Melbourne for the Australian Football League grand final. Melbourne Airport said weather had caused cancellations and delays. About 100,000 people attended the match between the Fremantle Dockers and Brisbane Lions, scheduled to start at 2:30pm on Saturday at the MCG.
A Qantas flight from Perth due at 10:30am was canceled, while another scheduled for 1:40pm was delayed by about an hour. Two Brisbane flights were canceled and nine delayed, with some fans arriving after kickoff. Broadcaster Brooke Boney’s 11:35am arrival was pushed back by an hour, but she reached the ground in time for Kylie Minogue’s pre-match performance.