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Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you our top stories before Rafqa Touma takes over as a busy sitting fortnight ends.
Australia’s top soldier has delivered a stark warning about the dangers posed to western democracies by disinformation spread from Russia and other countries. In a speech last night, ADF chiefemployed as a “a weapon of statecraft” could eventually leave citizens struggling to sift fact from fiction. Such campaigns could increasingly be used to fracture “the trust that binds us”, he said, and could induce “truth decay” that would render societies unable to resist outside influences.
The voice to parliament referendum campaign has been marked by concerns about deliberate misinformation sowing doubts in the minds of undecided voters. As if to underline the issues highlighted by Campbell, we’re reporting this morning that anti-voice campaigners are makingabout the impact ticks and crosses on ballot papers could have on the outcome of the referendum.
We also have another exclusive story about questionable government use of consultancies. We have learned that the Victorian government paid a consultancy firm to lead the state’s consultation on changes to tobacco and vaping laws –. The state’s health department has repeatedly declined to say how much KPMG was paid for the work this year and did not answer questions about whether the firm’s long association with big tobacco and its ongoing work for the industry were declared.
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