Kategori: News in English

With the ACT Party’s Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill having its first reading in parliament last week, the debate and protests have been – understandably – focused on the local historical and political landscape.

But New Zealand isn’t alone in struggling with ideas about the truth of colonialism and its impacts, and how these should influence policy debates and legislation.

Similar debates are playing out in British Columbia in Canada and Queensland in Australia. In both cases, the question of colonialism’s relevance when thinking about social, political and economic equality has become politically contentious.

ACT leader David Seymour says his Treaty principles bill aims to promote equality by limiting the influence of te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi in public life – because, he argues, it is too often interpreted to give Māori more say in decision-making than others.

The counter arguments have been well canvassed: that te Tiriti does, in fact, protect Māori rights to authority over their own affairs and to participate in public life with a distinctive cultural voice; and that these are essential components of equality.

But in New Zealand, as in Canada and Australia, there is still no general consensus on colonialism’s role in the poor and often violent relationship between the state and Indigenous peoples. And because the truth of these relationships remains contested, so does the possibility of genuine equality.

Indigenous rights in British Columbia

In 2019, British Columbia became the first jurisdiction in the world to enact legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

But this year, the Conservative Party of British Columbia made it a major election issue and campaigned to repeal the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

The New Democratic Party government was narrowly returned, but Conservative leader John Rustad claimed the UN declaration “was established for conditions in other countries, not Canada”.

Like the declaration itself, however, the British Columbian law didn’t create any new rights for Indigenous peoples. The declaration simply said human rights belong to them as much as to anybody else, and apply to their cultures, languages and land.

Australia, Canada and New Zealand were three of just four UN member states to vote against the declaration in the first place (in 2007), but all later changed their positions. In 2021, Canada passed federal legislation to implement the declaration.

In 2010, New Zealand’s then prime minister, John Key, said the UN declaration “both affirms accepted rights and establishes future aspirations”. Under the current National-NZ First coalition agreement, however, the same declaration is no longer being considered for legal ratification in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, British Columbia’s law requires annual reporting to parliament on progress towards things such as “ending Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination” and “social, cultural and economic wellbeing”.

The aim is to require accountability and strengthen evidence-based (“truthful”) policymaking as part of a democratic process that works equally well for everybody.

Truth-telling in Queensland

Queensland’s newly elected Liberal National Party government recently confirmed its promise to close down the state’s Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry and repeal its Path to Treaty Act.

“Truth-telling,” according to the inquiry’s official statements, “is an accurate and inclusive account of Queensland’s history.” In particular, it acknowledges that good public policy, which works equally well for everyone, can’t be based on an assumption that everyone’s experiences, values and expectations are the same.

The then Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, admitted this in 2020 when he said Indigenous policy failed because:

We perpetuated an ingrained way of thinking, passed down over two centuries and more, and it was the belief that we knew better than our Indigenous peoples. We also thought we understood their problems better than they did. We don’t.

In other words, solutions to the problem Morrison identified require an explicit commitment to public institutions that work equally well for everyone. And better outcomes for everyone are a measure of genuine political equality.

Members of Queensland’s Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry in September, before the new government moved to shut it down.
AAP

Open societies thrive on debate and evidence

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill would require a referendum to become law were it to pass.(That’s unlikely, given the coalition partners won’t support it beyond the select committee stage.)

But referendums reduce complex questions to a simple yes-no binary. Ideas that are simply wrong can have as much weight as any other. In fact, the absence of knowledge, or sheer emotion, can decide an issue with profound impacts on people’s lives.

“If you don’t know, vote no” was the successful slogan (borrowed from elsewhere) used in Australia’s referendum last year on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. Ultimately, truth becomes a casualty when “don’t know” prevails.

As the former British minister and last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, has argued:

Open societies thrive on press freedom, vigorous debate, and evidence-based policymaking. While liberal democracies do not always live up to this ideal, the understanding that this is how things should work […] is the source of their strength.

Liberal democracy means we are all entitled to our opinions, but our fellow citizens also deserve our considered judgment on important issues.

This means bringing truth into the arguments for New Zealand’s Treaty Principles Bill, critiquing British Columbia’s Indigenous rights legislation based on an honest account of what the legislation does, and recognising that genuine equality in Queensland requires truth-telling.

Without truth we can’t know what equality looks like. This remains the challenge for all societies responding to colonialism. Läs mer…

News of the Canadian government’s sudden decision to block TikTok from running a business in Canada landed with a thud last week.

Since then, navigating media coverage in search of concrete information feels like a wild goose chase. There is a definite lack of clarity behind the claim of mysterious “national security risks.”

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is well known for his efforts to loosen the North American economy’s ties to China. When pressed by the media for details on how Canadians should interpret the decision, he simply said that Canadians will have to “draw their own conclusions.”

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in October 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

While that answer is opaque, back in 2023, TikTok pre-emptively created a Transparency and Accountability Center to offer authorities a behind-the-scenes view into their algorithms and content moderation practices, even as American lawmakers pressed the company to disclose its information access and processing practices.

Read more:
Attempts to ban TikTok reveal the hypocrisy of politicians already struggling to relate to voters

TikTok transparency efforts

Last year, when Canada announced a ban of TikTok on government devices, I supported the move as an expert in fintech cybersecurity, asking why any work devices had access to distracting social media applications in the first place.

TikTok has further offered transparency through Project Texas, a program to relocate data to American servers and undergo third-party audits. Canada, however, has not engaged in or acknowledged such transparency efforts, possibly bypassing a co-operative solution in favour of more drastic restrictions.

I’ve never been a TikTok user and have no more interest in the platform than I have in the outfit formerly known as Twitter, with its well-documented content moderation challenges. But from where I sit, the Canadian government’s handling of TikTok raises critical concerns beyond content moderation, from reliance on secrecy to potential human rights implications.

Claiming — without offering any discernible evidence — that national security risks are so severe that they can’t even be shared with the public means citizens are essentially being told they can continue using the app but at their own risk.

Such an obvious appeal to fear, uncertainty and doubt seems to be intentionally crafted to create cognitive dissonance. It not only reinforces an authoritarian stance but more importantly erodes everyone’s understanding of security, risk and privacy.

Secrecy: Security by obscurity

By opting for a secretive national security review, Canada has avoided releasing specifics about the alleged risks. Such actions set a dangerous precedent, promoting a “guilty until proven innocent” mindset. This opaque approach could also foster a chilling effect, dissuading foreign investment in Canada, especially in digital sectors.

The secrecy surrounding this decision raises questions about its underlying motivations. It suggests a potential inclination toward controlling information of public interest rather than sharing it with stakeholders.

Whether this was intended to send a message to other Chinese companies in Canada remains to be seen, but such firms currently operate in retail, e-commerce, banking, energy and resources sectors and are no doubt closely watching the proceedings. That’s particularly true given five other China-linked companies in Canada have been unceremoniously shut down in the past two years.

As a result, it seems more likely than not that Canadian companies operating in China — like Magna, Bombardier, Saputo and the Bank of Montreal, among others — may soon face some retaliatory headwinds when it comes to doing business in the Asian country.

China’s ambassador to Canada Di Wang takes part in a ceremony to present his credentials to Gov.-Gen. Mary Simon at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in June 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Setting a risky precedent

If it’s censoring a platform primarily due to foreign ownership, Canada could be setting a precedent that threatens global standards for internet freedom. Such actions risk empowering governments worldwide to impose restrictions on platforms and services in the name of security, potentially stifling freedom of expression and access to information.

When I previously wrote about Zoom and how its obscure development and IP-access practices poses a particular risk to the privacy and confidentiality of children and students during the COVID-19 pandemic, I argued:

“China’s understanding of privacy is vastly different: the data belongs to the organizations that collect it and any such organizations must grant unfettered access for government inspection, in the name of safety and security. Article 77 of its Cybersecurity Law ensures that data is collected and stored in China where full transparency and access must be provided to the Ministry of Public Security. Period.”

Once TikTok’s offices are shut down and hundreds of employees are laid off, it will likely be difficult for Canadians to get access to information about the company’s safety procedures, ask about online moderation and initiate Privacy Commissioner investigations, simply because TikTok will no longer exist in our country.

Impact on government credibility

I certainly don’t expect to have access to privileged information. But the secretive nature of Canada’s expulsion of TikTok (or is it truly aimed at its parent company, ByteDance?) risks undermining public trust in government decisions at a time when it could far better serve as an ideal opportunity for raising awareness among Canadians about genuine security concerns.

If the public perceives this move as an excessive, disrespectful overreach under the guise of security, it may bring into question foreign policy decisions and corporate law enforcement practices.

Ultimately, the manufactured dichotomy between a heavy-handed approach to urgent corporate expulsion and the resulting inability for government agencies to conduct future privacy investigations on behalf of Canadians appears both intentional and calculated.

While it is objectively true of all social media companies that they collect and process user information, it is also factually true that TikTok has, at least by all measures publicly available, demonstrated a degree of transparency on par with their industry peers. Läs mer…

Chances are, you or someone you care about is living with persistent or chronic pain, often defined as pain that lasts for three months or more. Persistent pain is described in many ways, including continuous, consistent or recurrent (or flares).

People living with pain cannot be left in the dark to self-manage. Research has established that pain is as much a social issue as a medical issue and can be addressed with collective action.

Eight million people in Canada live with chronic pain. Often invisible, chronic pain can be associated with other chronic conditions, including arthritis, diabetes and cancer. Other common types of chronic pain include, but are not limited to, migraines, back or spinal pain.

Pain may affect people to the point that they can’t work, eat, take part in physical activity or enjoy their life. According to Health Canada, the total direct and indirect cost of chronic pain in 2019 was $38.2 billion to $40.3 billion.

Eight million Canadians live with chronic pain. Peer support groups offer compassion, understanding and validation by encouraging participants to share their experiences.
(Shutterstock)

While one in five Canadians experience chronic pain, it disproportionately affects people living in poverty, those with mental health or substance use conditions, veterans, Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQ2S communities, people living in rural and remote locations, persons with disabilities, women and those working in the trades.

The reasons why some people or groups are impacted more than others appear to centre on access to care, treatment or support (both perceived and actual), as well as social determinants of health, including sex and gender-based factors.

Intersectionality recognizes that health, wellness and disease are impacted by a combination of these factors. For instance, youth living in poverty and with mental health issues in remote communities are at particular risk, and have specific needs.

While many people living with pain require pharmacological treatment, such as medication, there is growing interest in non-pharmacological approaches.

5 non-pharmacological ways to manage pain

1. Nutrition and food as medicine

Nutrition and food have an established role in preventing and treating pain and chronic disease. For instance, specific dietary patterns (like the Mediterranean diet) and foods (fatty fish, for example) are associated with reduced inflammation, chronic disease and pain.

A registered dietitian can help people living with pain access resources and solve problems while avoiding information overload. Approaches may include food substitutions, food eliminations, home-based accommodations or tools and advice on shopping and meal preparation. Dietitian services are covered by many private insurance plans as well as through additional wellness or extended health plans.

2. Movement as medicine

Well established in both western and complementary medicine, movement of the body — or lack of movement — has significant impacts on pain.

Movement has significant impact on pain.
(Shutterstock)

Physical and movement therapy such as physiotherapy, massage and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation are common pain treatments, but they can also be used to prevent pain.

There is growing evidence that yoga and qigong — a system of meditative movement and breathing exercises — can play a role in pain management and prevention. For instance, regular qigong practice (daily for six to eight weeks) improved quality of life in several ways for people living with fibromyalgia.

Complementary treatments are not always covered by government health insurance plans, though some community programs or workplace, group and private insurance plans offer full or partial coverage.

3. Allyship and addressing stigma and bias

People living with pain can benefit from having knowledgeable allies, especially when confronted with stigma and bias.

People living with chronic pain may be stigmatized by others’ reactions. Examples provided in research include: “You look healthy, you cannot be in pain,” “You just want attention” and “It must be nice to not work.”

Several factors contribute to chronic pain-related stigma. These include intersecting determinants of health (like sex, gender, poverty, body weight and ethnicity), the lack of visible signs and symptoms of pain and the perceived subjectivity of pain assessment. Back-pain stigma and migraine stigma have been well documented.

Social stigma’s potential to negatively affect mental health through increased feelings of stress and shame is well documented, but growing evidence shows it can also have a negative impact on physical health.
(Shutterstock)

Social stigma can negatively affect mental health by increasing feelings of stress and shame, but a growing body of evidence suggests that physical health may also be negatively affected by stigmatization.

Traditionally and currently, people living with pain in larger bodies experience weight bias. People with pain in larger bodies commonly hear the recommendation that they should lose weight, often without adequate evidence, assessment or support. This is something many health-care providers are trying to address in the wake of the joint international consensus statement for ending the obesity stigma.

4. Support peer-to-peer initiatives

Self-management is a critical aspect of chronic pain management. It can be taught within programs with community-based approaches such as peer support, which aims to enhance self-management of chronic pain through interactions with peers who share similar conditions.

Living with chronic pain can be stressful, isolating and has been associated with increased depression and anxiety. Peer support groups offer compassion, understanding and validation by encouraging participants to share their experiences.

They also provide emotional, practical and social benefits, with stronger social connections and some reduced use of health services in addition to improved self-management skills.

5. Advocate for inclusive workplaces

Chronic pain has been shown to have a significant impact on organizational productivity and functioning including absenteeism and presenteeism. Chronic pain is a serious impediment to employee overall well-being. Pain may deplete employee mental and physical reserves, which disrupts performance and job engagement, and increases turnover as well as employee burnout.

Chronic pain also has a socioeconomic impact on employees, who may face issues like career interruptions, income loss, barriers to re-employment and overall income instability. A lack of intentional and compassionate management of employees with chronic pain is detrimental to both workplaces and employees.

Ideally, an employer should give employees both autonomy and support to balance their health and organizational productivity.
(Shutterstock)

Investing in workplace interventions such as structured accommodation policies can help organizations mitigate the impact of chronic pain on employees. More proactive approaches to managing chronic pain at work include work station adjustments, flexible work arrangements and facilitation of support (like physiotherapy, massage, psychology). People living with pain can better manage flare-ups and time off, when trusted with self-pacing in the workplace.

Ideally, an employer should give employees both autonomy and support to balance their health and organizational productivity. Organizational commitment to successful and compassionate management of employee chronic pain — a “culture of caring” — allows employees to feel comfortable discussing issues with their managers and to ask for help when needed.

Online resources

There are many more resources online and in communities, including resources and supports for sexual health while living with pain.

People in Pain Network is a peer support organization that helps people with pain access quality care.
The Power Over Pain Portal provides access to a range of educational tools, self-assessments and self-management strategies for chronic pain, for use by people living with pain, their families and friends, peer support groups and health-care providers.
Pain Canada is made up of people living with pain and pain organizations, including advocates, researchers and clinical experts. Pain Canada provides educational tools, self-assessments and self-management strategies, and runs national Pain Awareness Week every November.
LivePlanBe and LivePlanBe+ are free online educational programs created with the input of people living with pain.
Gentle Movement @ Home offers sessions led by therapeutic movement professionals that are designed to help people with persistent pain learn to feel safe to move again. A free archive of 37 session recordings is available on Pain BC’s YouTube channel.
Solutions for Kids’ Pain includes evidence-based resources for better pain management for children, directed at educators, care providers and the public.

Collective action is needed to more fully address the individual and societal impacts of chronic pain, noting that not everyone experiencing chronic pain has the resources to cover the costs of treatments and supports. Given the complexity and financial impacts of chronic pain in Canada, we need to better understand and address the long-term, biophysical and social aspects of pain. At the very least, pain prevention and treatment requires information and resources that are person-centred and accessible to all. Läs mer…

Most sexual violence and domestic violence crimes in Canada are male-perpetrated. Data from Statistics Canada shows that men commit 99 per cent of sexual assaults against women and are significantly more likely to offend criminally, including violent crime. Recent data indicates that nearly nine in 10 victims (89 per cent) of police-reported sexual assaults were women and girls between 2015 and 2019.

These statistics paint a grim picture. However, the key to ending domestic violence is hiding in plain sight.

According to new research we are spearheading at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work and School of Public Policy, 73 per cent of men charged with domestic violence have already interacted with the police at least once. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the men saw a clear increase in police interactions in the previous two years before a domestic violence-related charge in 2019.

Our work finds clear trajectories of behaviour leading to criminal acts of domestic violence. This suggests that the majority of domestic violence can be predicted and prevented.

This research makes it clear. If we want to prevent domestic violence from happening, we need to work with men. We need to remove the burden from survivors by focusing our attention and resources on the people and systems that cause harm – because the cost of raising perpetrators hurts everyone.

About our study

Emerging evidence from our study tells us that distinct red flags emerge right before a criminal charge for domestic violence happens.

Most research on male perpetration focuses on the after-effects of domestic violence crimes, with an emphasis on how survivors can keep themselves safe or how to prevent repeat offences. Instead, our study asks what could have prevented the violence — and the charge — from happening in the first place.

Our research focused specifically on men who faced a domestic violence-related charge in 2019 and whose incidents involved a female partner. Utilizing a 10-year dataset supplied by the Calgary Police Service with a sample size of 934 men, we identified four key typologies of domestic violence perpetrators.

These typologies include perpetrators who had:

1) no prior police involvement before they were charged with domestic violence,

2) prior police involvement only related to domestic violence encounters,

3) a criminal history and no domestic encounters before they were charged, and;

4) both a criminal history and a history of domestic violence encounters before they were charged.

Most research on male perpetration focuses on the after-effects of domestic violence crimes, with an emphasis on how survivors can keep themselves safe or how to prevent repeat offences.
(Shutterstock)

Flipping the script to prevention

In examining these typologies, we found that only 27 per cent of men charged with domestic violence had no prior police involvement beforehand. That means over seven in 10 men had been involved in an incident with police prior to their domestic violence charge.

This pattern suggests domestic violence is not a random event. Most perpetrators of domestic violence have contact with police well before they are charged with a domestic violence crime.

Further, for 64 per cent of men, there was a clear increase in police charges and interactions in the two years before their domestic violence charge. In other words, encounters with police increased right before most perpetrators committed domestic violence, indicating a trajectory.

When nearly three-quarters of men who perpetrate domestic violence have had contact with police before their eventual charge, it’s an important warning sign and a prevention opportunity.

It means we can do better at intervening early to prevent domestic violence from happening. There is a window to prevent the escalation of violence if we provide these men with the right support at the right time.

Our data also shows that domestic violence perpetrators can be found in every neighbourhood and come from all income levels. This means domestic violence is an issue of power, not poverty. We need a prevention strategy that reaches all communities across socioeconomic lines. We need to offer free education, counselling and support services to help men, and their families build and sustain healthy relationships.

The takeaways

Perpetrators are made, not born. Though most men who were charged with domestic violence had a history with police, nearly three in 10 did not.

This means we can’t rely solely on the law enforcement system to identify men at risk for violence. We need to fundamentally change the conditions that turn people into perpetrators.

In isolation, changing policing practices will not end domestic violence. This needs to be paired with a community-government based approach that addresses risk factors before police involvement.

Federal and provincial governments have created violence prevention plans. However, Canada does not currently have a comprehensive national strategy for engaging men and boys to prevent violence, and no comprehensive government action plan that is focused on men and boys exists at the provincial or territorial level anywhere in the country.

Our research hub, Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, has been working for over 14 years to stop violence before it starts. We already know the importance of engaging men and boys in the settings where they already live, work, play and worship.

We have the solutions needed to change the cultural and structural conditions that make it possible for men to perpetrate 83 per cent of all violence against women.

Now, we just need the political will and resources to implement them. Läs mer…

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries and transform workplaces, it’s imperative that organizations and leaders examine not only its impact on productivity, innovation and economic gains, but also the ethical implications tied to these transformative technologies.

Integrating an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) lens into AI systems is no longer a luxury or optional. It’s essential to ensure AI benefits everyone, including equity-deserving groups such as women, Indigenous Peoples, people living with disabilities, Black and racialized people, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.

Without this commitment, AI risks reinforcing the existing biases and inequalities, including those based on gender, race, sexual orientation, and visible and invisible disabilities. We already know the deep impact of AI on human resources and recruitment, but its impacts go beyond that.

While AI adoption gaps often dominate the conversation, equally critical are the ethical concerns surrounding its development and deployment. These issues have profound implications for leadership, trust and accountability. Leaders and organizations need greater supports, education and guidance to responsibly guide AI’s integration into the workplace.

The need for ethical AI

AI has the potential to shed light on and address systemic discrimination, but only if it’s designed and used ethically and inclusively. Machine learning algorithms learn patterns from large datasets, but these datasets often reflect existing biases and underrepresentation.

AI systems can inadvertently reinforce these biases. As a scholar and practitioner, I know that data is not neutral; it is shaped by the context — and the people — involved in its collection and analysis.

A clear example of this risk is Microsoft’s Tay Twitter chatbot, which began re-posting racist tweets and was shut down only 16 hours after its release. Tay was “learning” from its interactions with Twitter users.

Such incidents are not only damaging from a public relations angle, they can also affect employees, particularly those from marginalized communities, who may feel alienated or unsupported by their own organization’s technology.

AI is here to stay and it’s bound to play an even bigger role in all our lives over the next few years.
(Shutterstock)

Similarly, the AI avatar app Lensa was shown to turn men into astronauts and other fun and empowering options, while sexualizing women. In industries already grappling with sexism, such as gaming, this sends a troubling message to users, reinforces stereotypes and creates a hostile work environment for employees.

AI technology creators and users must incorporate EDI principles from the ground up. Diversity in AI development teams is one of the most effective safeguards, as it minimizes blind spots.

By embedding EDI values into AI from the outset, creators and users can ensure AI tools and their usage are not compounding the barriers faced by equity-deserving groups, and that corrective measures are developed to mitigate existing and emerging issues.

Leaders must lead

Leaders must recognize how AI can drive changes. It can uncover hidden biases and disparities which can force an uncomfortable reckoning and require humility. Recognizing bias can be challenging — no one wants to be biased, yet everyone is.

By integrating EDI and AI, leaders can open new opportunities for equity-deserving groups. For instance, by combining the power of AI and diverse teams, we can foster inclusive product design that will cater to more consumers, and lead to more success for the organization.

AI should be viewed as an additional tool to help decision-makers, not as a substitute for it. Leaders must ensure AI systems are designed and deployed with inclusivity at their core. They need to address potential disparities before they are encoded into algorithmic decision-making, and correct remaining errors down the line.

Accountability remains at the human level; leaders need humility and courage.

AI is here to stay

Transparency, accountability and inclusivity are becoming increasingly essential in a world where consumers and employees alike are demanding more ethical practices from companies and workplaces.

Organizations that embed ethical AI principles into their systems will not only avoid reinforcing inequalities, but also position themselves as leaders in the market. Some of these principles include fairness, transparency, human oversight, diversity in learning/datasets representativeness and non-discrimination.

Addressing this can build trust, bridge gaps in adoption and counter biases that can perpetuate inequality. AI is here to stay and it’s bound to play an even bigger role in all our lives over the next few years. As it becomes increasingly integral to society, implementing these kinds of principles is essential.

AI technology creators and users must incorporate EDI principles from the ground up.
(Shutterstock)

Clear accountability mechanisms and practices can help ensure AI systems operate in a way that aligns with the values of an organization and society at large. These considerations include verifying and validating AI outputs, ensuring explicability (the ability to explain and justify results), and designing and implementing mechanisms to correct and address biases.

Leaders must foster a culture of innovation and responsibility, where developers, data scientists and other stakeholders understand their roles in minimizing biases, ensuring fairness and prioritizing inclusivity. This can include pursuing EDI certification to build awareness and accountability around biases at all levels of an organization.

Without these commitments, public trust in AI may be undermined and erode the potential benefits that these technologies offer — something that has already been an issue over the last few years.

Strategies for dealing with AI

Leaders have a crucial role to play, recognizing that AI, while transformative, is not a replacement for human oversight. AI on its own is not a panacea to remove biases. To move forward, organizations should:

Involve diverse teams in AI development to ensure varied perspectives and lived experiences shape the technology, improve data and frame its usage.
Cultivate inclusive workplaces where members from equity-deserving groups feel safe to be authentic and to use their voice and feel heard and valued, including when they point out shortcomings and biases.
Prioritize upskilling and reskilling of employees and leaders to improve AI literacy and strengthen critical transferable skills like critical thinking, adaptability, creativity and EDI-related skills.
Establish clear accountability frameworks and conduct regular, rigorous audits to detect and mitigate bias in AI systems. Frameworks should evolve as AI evolves.
Work with other external groups, including governments, non-profits or educational institutions — like the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence or Mila AI Institute — to create an ecosystem where supports, resources and information are readily available.

By prioritizing these practices, organizations and leaders alike can lead AI to be both a force for innovation and economic growth, and a model for ethical responsibility furthering the inclusion of equity-deserving groups. AI should benefit everyone in the workplace and in society. Läs mer…

The Albanese government, anxious to prevent a dash from cash by businesses, says it will mandate that they must accept it for essential items.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones outlined the move in a statement, and are also releasing a plan to make the phasing out of cheques as orderly as possible.

Small businesses in general will be exempted from the cash requirement.

Treasury will consult on what businesses will be affected. They are expected to include supermarkets, those supplying basic banking services, those selling pharmaceuticals, petrol stations, utilities and healthcare services.

Through the consultations the government will consider the size of businesses that must accept cash, for example in the supermarket sector whether it would apply only to the largest supermarkets.

The question of distance will be relevant – what would be a reasonable distance for a person to have to travel to find a business that took cash.

The regime would likely be established through regulation, so it could be adjusted over time.

The ministers said although people increasingly use digital methods to pay, about 1.5 million Australians use cash for more than 80% of their in-person payments.

“Cash also provides an easily accessible back-up to digital payments in times of natural disaster or digital outage,” the ministers said.

They said up to 94% of businesses still accept cash “and we want to see cash acceptance continue particularly for essentials”.

The consultations would consider the needs of people relying on cash, including those in regional areas and those unable to use digital payments, as well as the impact on businesses especially small businesses, the ministers said.

The details of the mandate would be announced next year and it is proposed it start from January 1 2026.

Cash mandates are in place in countries including Spain, France, Norway and Denmark and in some American states.

Under the cheque transition plan, cheques will only stop being issued by June 30, 2028 and stop being accepted on September 30, 2029.

Cheque use has fallen by 90% in the last decade. Many banks and other financial institutions are ending providing cheque books for new customers.

The ministers said the government was acting to give customers and businesses the help they needed to switch to other payment methods. Banks also had a responsibility to support users in a smooth transition.

Chalmers has written to the CEOs of the four major banks outlining what is expected of them.

Parliament begins frantic last fortnight for the year

Parliament is commencing its final fortnight sitting for the year with much more legislation on the agenda than it can deal with.

Among its priorities will be the caps on international students for universities which are set to start next year. The caps will cost some universities large amounts of income, and have also come under attack from the retail and hospitality sectors.

The government is also anxious to have passed before the end of the year its aged care reforms, with the opposition agreed in principle but a wealth of detail to be considered.

There is as well legislation for the indexation of HELP student loans and for new school funding.

On Monday the government will introduce its sweeping changes to election donations and spending, with the aim of passing the legislation by the end of next week.

Other legislation includes restricting the age of access to social media to 16 and over, with the bill to be introduced this week. The opposition supports this move, and indeed advocated it before the government, so this has a good prospect of passage this year.

But the bill for controls on misinformation and disinformation appears at this stage to be unlikely to pass, with Fatima Payman, who defected from Labor, among the crossbenchers who has expressed opposition.

The Greens are looking for negotiations to be reopened on the housing legislation they have been holding up.

Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has written to Housing Minister Clare O’Neil with a list of demands on the Build to Rent and Help to Buy bills, saying the Greens would pass the bills if the government “agrees to make progress” on their points.

With the election fast approaching and housing a central issue, it would seem in the interests of both Labor and Greens to strike a deal. Läs mer…

The Nigerian army has spoken of attacks on the Niger-Nigeria border in 2024 as being carried out by a new terrorist group.

This sect is known as Lakurawa … The Lakurawa are affiliated to terrorists in the Sahel, particularly from Mali and Niger Republic.

News reports had the same message: that a new terrorist group was active on this border.

Nigeria’s north-west has a long history of armed banditry. Insecurity, poverty and hunger are at their most severe levels in this region.

The messages being conveyed by the Nigerian army were that the group had emerged as a result of the turmoil following recent coups in the Sahel region.

Niger (July 2023), Mali (August 2020 and May 2021), Guinea (September 2021) and Burkina Faso (January and September 2022) are countries in the Sahel currently ruled by military juntas. Niger shares a border with Nigeria.

Relations between the Nigerian government and Niger are strained.

But it is surprising that the army is labelling this as a new terror group. It has in fact been operating in several communities along the Nigeria-Niger border since 1999.

This is according to research by Murtala Ahmed Rufa’i, an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto.

His book chapter is based on interviews in 2021 with traditional and religious leaders, teachers, vigilante group members, and members of various Islamic sects. He suggested that the Lakurawas were herders who from about 2016 transformed into a criminal group which operated in border communities, with headquarters in Sokoto state.

Rufa’i said the group was formed at the invitation of local traditional leaders seeking assistance in fighting armed bandits. He described Lakurawa as a unique group of terrorists, among the few in the world who are herders, who promote their own version of Islam and also seek to create a caliphate.

In one of our papers we’ve argued that the inability of Nigeria’s government to provide security for its people has led to an increase in ungoverned spaces, which has bred groups like the Lakurawa.

In our view, the group’s growing activities, and the army’s assertion that this is a new development, highlight the fact that the region’s ungoverned spaces are increasing. Making it seem like a newly discovered problem may be an effort by the army to avoid blame.

Read more:
Borderlands in West Africa are ungoverned: why this is bad for security

Who are the Lakurawas?

The Lakurawa group has been known for over 20 years. In his book chapter Rufa’i provides the following insights:

The Lakurawa are armed herders who speak Arabic and Fulfulde. The predominant language in northern Nigeria and many parts of Niger is Hausa, whereas Fulfulde is primarily spoken by the Fulani people.
Members of the group came from Mali to settle in border communities. They married local women, and recruited young people from these communities into jihadist activities.
They promote an interpretation of Islam that deviates from mainstream sects such as Tijjaniya, Qadiriyya and Izala.
They have attempted to implement sharia law in communities where they live.

Rufa’i says the group was initially recruited to fill the security void left by Nigerian state agencies between 2016-2017. Recruitment was arranged by the district head of Balle in Gudu Local Government and the district head of Gongono in Tangaza Local Government, with support from a former chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria.

The aim was to protect local communities against armed bandits from Zamfara State.

The Lakurawa were paid for their services and succeeded in dislodging the bandit threat between 2016 and 2017.

However, they soon began their own campaign of violence and imposed their own form of Islam. Consequently, their activities became a threat to the leaders who had invited them to form the armed group. This led to a fallout, culminating in the killing of the district head of Balle.

Since then, the Lakurawa have remained in the area, preaching, collecting taxes from the locals and engaging in other illicit activities.

Read more:
Hundreds of Nigerian children are being kidnapped – the government must change its security strategy

The security vacuum

The porous nature of Nigeria’s borders has been a big factor driving insecurity in these communities. This situation is worsened by the lack of a security presence in many of the affected areas.

Terrorist groups do not recognise borders or state authority. They often seek to create their own mini-states where they can govern, collect taxes, and enforce their own rules or religion.

Linking the Lakurawa’s rise to recent coups in the Sahel might support the narrative of them being “new”. However, the insecurity across the Sahel has led to decades of military operations by the French and their allies.

Labelling the Lakurawa as a new group and attributing their emergence to coups does not lessen the harm done to the sovereign integrity of Nigeria and Niger. It also doesn’t absolve the security agencies and leaders of these countries from their failure to fulfil a basic duty of a government: the protection of lives and property.

Read more:
Nigeria can defeat banditry by reconstructing the police system – criminologist

What’s next for Nigeria’s security strategy?

The Nigerian security forces, under Operation Fansan Yamma and Operation Farautar Mujiya, launched air and ground assaults on camps belonging to the terror group after Lakurawa attacked residents of Mera in Kebbi State, killing 15 people, on 9 November 2024.

But operations like this in the past have not stopped the violent conflicts between the nomadic herders and sedentary farmers nor the activities of Boko Haram and its affiliates in Nigeria. These security measures alone are unlikely to eliminate insecurity without empowering local communities and creating state police. In one of our papers, we suggested that police authority be devolved from the central government to the federating units to enhance the effectiveness and responsiveness of policing.

The reliance of communities on groups like the Lakurawa for protection made it possible for a band of armed herders in Mali to become a powerful terror group in Nigeria. This situation shows how security agencies in Nigeria have failed these communities. Also, it underscores the need to reconsider establishing state police in Nigeria.

Nigerian security agencies’ reactive approach to insecurity must change. The lack of preventive intelligence operations to stop terror groups like the Lakurawa from infiltrating communities is also a major challenge.

In addition, Nigeria must increase its security cooperation with its neighbours to stop the armed groups operating in the Sahel. Läs mer…

Houseflies live close to humans and domesticated animals and because they are so mobile they can easily spread bacteria that make people sick.

They carry these disease-causing agents on their body surfaces and in their gut.

Owing to their diverse habitats, ability to fly long distances and attraction to decaying organic materials, houseflies greatly amplify the risk of human exposure to harmful microorganisms.

A single housefly can carry enough of these to cause infantile diarrhoea, cholera, bacillary dysentery, tuberculosis and anthrax.

The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance

As microbiologists specialising in medical and veterinary bacteria and zoonosis, we collaborated on a study of bacterial communities harboured by houseflies in three hospices in South Africa. We used advanced methods to identify the bacteria.

Our research identified an additional health risk: some of the microbes that the flies carried in their gut may be resistant to antibiotics.

According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. Antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the leading global public health threats.

How we went about our study

We chose hospices for our study because they house terminally ill patients with weak immune systems.

Adult houseflies were collected at three hospices between September 2019 and February 2020. Two of the hospices were in Bloemfontein and one was in Johannesburg.

A minimum of three ribbon sticky traps were set for three to five days over a two week period. They were located in the kitchens and dining halls to capture houseflies near areas where food was prepared or consumed.

A total of 657 houseflies were collected from the three hospices.

Previously the microbiological culture method was one of the most broadly used tools to identify microbial organisms.

It was considered as a “gold standard” because of its ability to detect new bacterial species and test their susceptibility or resistance to antibiotics.

However, with this old method many bacteria couldn’t be cultivated, especially those harboured by insects.

The bacteria are difficult to isolate, or they grow slowly in the culture.

We were able to use new DNA sequencing methods that get around the need to grow cultures. They help us better understand the diversity of microorganisms on the flies.

We found houseflies captured from hospices harboured highly diverse bacterial communities with antibiotic-resistant genes.

The hospice with the highest prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes was in Bloemfontein. The reason for this prevalence might be the hospice’s proximity to a nursery which produces seedlings for vegetable production, broiler chicks and piggeries.

These types of agricultural activity often involve using antibiotics to prevent and limit the spread of diseases and as growth promoters.

Antibiotics are widely used in animal husbandry, and antibiotic resistance genes are frequently detected in livestock waste around the world.

Looking forward

The presence of houseflies in hospice surroundings is of particular concern because the patients are frail and resistant bacteria are a health hazard.

It’s important to take extra care to limit housefly breeding by following high standards of hygiene. Staff should be informed about the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Staff should sanitise their hands at building entrances, for example, and kitchen surfaces should be kept very clean.

Waste management is also important. Any garbage kept inside and outside the building should be in sealed containers to avoid contact with flies. Läs mer…

A byelection occurred on Saturday in the South Australian Liberal-held state seat of Black. With all election day votes counted, Labor gained Black by a 60.6–39.4 margin over the Liberals, a 13.3% swing to Labor since the 2022 state election. Primary votes were 46.5% Labor (up 8.4%), 32.3% Liberals (down 17.8%), 15.6% Greens (up 3.8%) and 5.6% Australian Families (new).

SA doesn’t allow pre-poll and postal votes to be counted on election night, so the count is only up to 42% of enrolled voters. ABC election analyst Antony Green expects the large number of pre-poll and postal votes to reduce Labor’s lead, but Labor will still win easily. These votes will be counted from Monday.

This is the second time the SA Labor government has gained a seat from the opposition at a byelection. In March, Labor gained Dunstan, the seat of former SA Liberal premier Steven Marshall. This was the first time in a century that a SA government had gained from the opposition at a byelection.

This byelection was held owing to the resignation of former Liberal leader David Speirs, who became leader after the 2022 election. SA Labor has now gained two former Liberal leaders’ seats.

I don’t think this result is due to a backlash against Donald Trump’s election as US president, as the latest federal polls have been ordinary for Labor.

There’s only been one poll since the 2022 election of SA state voting intentions. That poll, taken in August, gave Labor a 60–40 lead. A very popular Labor government is the most likely explanation for this byelection result.

Australian economic data

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said wages grew 0.8% in the September quarter, the same as in the June quarter, but 12-month wage growth dropped to 3.5% from 4.1%. With headline inflation up 0.2% in the September quarter and up 2.8% in the previous 12 months, real (inflation-adjusted) wages were up 0.6% in the September quarter and up 0.7% in the previous 12 months.

Real wages have increased in the last four quarters, but they fell for the two years until September 2023, with the fall peaking in December 2022 at above a 4% real wage drop.

The ABS said the October unemployment rate was unchanged from September at 4.1%, with 15,900 jobs added. The employment population ratio (the percentage of eligible Austalians who are employed) remained at 64.4%, an equal record high.

Federal Morgan poll: Coalition retains narrow lead

A national Morgan poll, conducted November 4–10 from a sample of 1,665, gave the Coalition a 50.5–49.5 lead, a 0.5-point gain for Labor since the October 28 to November 3 Morgan poll.

Primary votes were 37.5% Coalition (down 0.5), 30.5% Labor (steady), 12.5% Greens (down 1.5), 6.5% One Nation (up 0.5), 8.5% independents (up one) and 4.5% others (up 0.5).

The headline figure uses respondent preferences. By 2022 election flows, Labor led by an unchanged 51–49.

Additional Resolve questions

Support for the Greens was down one to 11% in the November national Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, their lowest since February. Newspoll and Morgan have also shown a drop for the Greens.

Greens leader Adam Bandt’s net likeability was -15 in Resolve, equal with October as his lowest net likeability since February. The Greens’ net likeability was -19, their worst since August.

Other politicians and parties’ net likeability was -40 for Lidia Thorpe, -23 for Pauline Hanson, -15 for Bob Katter, -10 for Albanese, -4 for Labor, -1 for Dutton and +7 for the Liberals.

On flight upgrades, 36% said MPs should get upgrades for work but not personal flights,, 25% wanted no upgrades and 23% wanted them always allowed. By 45–39, voters thought MPs should continue to accept airline lounge memberships as long as they declare it.

On Albanese’s acceptance of benefits, 35% said he should not have accepted them for personal flights, but it was OK for official travel, 30% said it was OK to accept them and 24% said he should not have accepted benefits for either work or personal flights.

WA state and federal polls

The Western Australian state election will be held in March 2025. The Poll Bludger reported on November 13 that a DemosAU poll, conducted October 30 to November 4 from a sample of 948, gave Labor a 56–44 lead.

Primary votes were 41% Labor, 34% Liberals, 4% Nationals, 12% Greens and 9% for all Others. Labor incumbent Roger Cook had a 42–29 lead over the Liberals’ Libby Mettam as preferred premier.

The federal version of this poll gave Labor a 52–48 lead in WA, a 3% swing to the Coalition from the 2022 federal election. Primary votes were 38% Coalition, 34% Labor, 14% Greens, 6% One Nation and 8% for all Others. Albanese led Dutton as preferred PM by 40–33. A federal WA Redbridge poll gave Labor a 54.5–45.5 lead.

Victorian Resolve poll: Pesutto now preferred premier

A Victorian state Resolve poll for The Age, conducted with the federal October and November Resolve polls from a sample of over 1,000, gave the Coalition 38% of the primary vote (up one since September), Labor 28% (up one), the Greens 13% (down one), independents 14% (down one) and others 7% (steady).

Resolve doesn’t usually give a two-party figure, but The Poll Bludger estimated a Coalition lead by 50.5–49.5. Liberal leader John Pesutto led Labor incumbent Jacinta Allan as preferred premier by 30–29, a reversal of a 30–29 lead for Allan in September. It’s the first time Pesutto has led on this measure.

By 42–37, voters supported the building of more high-density housing near train and tram stations in their area.

US election late counting

I continue to follow United States election late counting for The Poll Bludger. Republicans have a 52–47 lead over Democrats in called Senate races, and are likely to win the final uncalled contest in Pennsylvania.

In the House of Representatives, Republicans have a 218–212 lead in called races with five uncalled. I expect Republicans to win two of the uncalled races, Democrats two and one is still undecided. Läs mer…

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, the relationship between the US and Iran could change significantly.

Trump’s unconventional foreign policy led to a period of heightened confrontation with Iran during his first term in office. However, the regional dynamics have evolved over the past four years, and Trump’s approach to Iran may shift as a result.

Tensions are running high between the two adversaries. Last Friday, the US Department of Justice unveiled federal charges in what it said was a thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the allegations as “fabricated”.

In a report in the Wall Street Journal, Iranian officials also told the US government in a secret exchange last month that the country wouldn’t seek to kill Trump.

So, will these tensions continue in a second Trump term? Or might there be an opportunity for Iran and the US to actually improve relations?

How did the ‘maximum pressure’ policy work?

During his first term, Trump enacted a so-called “maximum pressure” policy aimed at curbing Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East.

Iran had grown much stronger after sanctions were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated by the Obama administration.

Trump withdrew from this agreement in 2018. The US re-imposed severe sanctions on Iran and an embargo on its oil exports. This had severe impacts on Iran’s economy and contributed to social unrest within the country.

A man reads the Iranian daily newspaper Sazandegi in 2019, with pictures of then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and US President Donald Trump on its front page.
Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

In January 2020, tensions between the US and Iran culminated in the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike. This led to reprisal attacks by Iran on a US military base in Iraq.

In response to these mounting pressures, Iran scaled back its adherence to the JCPOA. It barred International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program and enriched uranium to near-weapons-grade level.

Regional dynamics have changed

Over the past four years, there have been substantial shifts in Iran’s relationships with Arab states in the region.

Most significantly, Iran and its chief rival, Saudi Arabi, resumed diplomatic relations in March 2023, marking a historic end to a long period of hostility.

Relations between the two nations quickly progressed to a level of co-operation unthinkable just years ago. And as Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon have continued, Saudi Arabia has drifted away from Israel and closer to its biggest foe, Iran.

Although some scepticism remains, the foreign ministers of both countries met last month in Riyadh, followed by a meeting this week between the general chief of staff of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces and his counterpart in Tehran.

And at a summit of regional leaders in Riyadh this week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged Israel to respect Iranian sovereignty and accused Israel of “collective genocide” in Gaza. The summit resolution also warned of the danger of Israel’s “expansion of aggression” against Iran and other regional countries.

The latest confrontations between Iran and Israel have underscored both nations’ destructive capabilities. A war between them would likely trigger a catastrophic broader conflict that could draw in the United States, Russia and other players. Such a scenario would have profound economic and security repercussions worldwide.

Trump’s stance towards Iran

In his campaign for a second term, Trump has consistently spoken out against prolonged US involvement in wars. He also signalled a more conciliatory approach to Iran. Rejecting the idea of US-driven regime change in Tehran, he remarked:

I would like to see Iran be very successful. The only thing is, they can’t have a nuclear weapon.

He further expressed a hope for improved relations: “I’m not looking to be bad to Iran, we’re going to be friendly, I hope.”

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire closely allied with Trump, also met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations earlier this week in a bid to defuse tensions in the next administration, The New York Times reported.

However, other reports indicate that Trump’s top advisers are planning to reinstate the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. It would include increasing sanctions again and choking off Iran’s oil income by “going after foreign ports and traders who handle Iranian oil”.

Trump’s unpredictable policymaking style suggests it is too early to know what approach he might take.

Iran’s stance toward a second-trump Term

Iran is now led by a reformist government (by Iranian standards), whose tenure would overlap with much of Trump’s second term.

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration has voiced its desire to improve relations with the West and resume nuclear talks. And contrary to previous reformist governments in Iran, it generally enjoys the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the ultimate power in the country.

Despite its military strength, Iran faces deep economic challenges, with public dissatisfaction growing. Therefore, Iran may seek to prioritise diplomatic solutions with the new Trump administration, knowing any escalation could destabilise the region.

In a sign of openness towards Trump, Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has urged him to reassess the policy of “maximum pressure”, saying: “Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past.”

In the same vein, Araghchi, the foreign minister, has sent positive signals to Trump, saying:

The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect […] Confidence-building is needed from both sides. It is not a one-way street.

He also emphasised that Iran is “NOT after nuclear weapons”.

Iran has yet to respond to Israel’s latest direct attack in late October. Though Iran has launched two direct attacks of its own on Israel this year, it may seek to de‑escalate tensions. In a statement in late October, Iran’s military said a ceasefire in the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts is more important than retaliation against Israel.

If a ceasefire were to occur, the region could enter a period of relative calm after a year of heightened tensions. This would present a valuable opportunity for the US to work with Israel, Arab states and potentially Iran towards a more permanent regional peace framework. Läs mer…