Afternoon Update: Albanese vows to protect creatives from AI ‘theft’; local council scraps Lime bikes; and a string of…

Good afternoon.

Anthony Albanese has promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives against misuse of their work by artificial intelligence models, warning it would be “theft” if writers, artists and musicians didn’t have control of their work or receive payment for its use.

Amid growing community concern about large energy-intensive datacentres, the federal government will also set strict new rules for the facilities, including where they can be built, that they shouldn’t compete for land with housing, their power and water use, and that they don’t increase electricity prices for consumers.

In a major speech on AI, the prime minister rejected the prospect of large companies like OpenAI and Anthropic being given free use of Australian data – a development warmly welcomed by creatives including music industry group ARIA – but questions remain about how the government will modernise copyright laws and regulate datacentres.

Top news

Barnaby Joyce claims Australia is a ‘Christian nation’ and says many First Nations people would agree

AFL removes Nicky Winmar from Australian Football Hall of Fame after assault conviction

Minister breaks ranks with Victorian premier by calling for explanation for alleged wrongdoing on project

Japan officials hunt bear that raided couple’s fridge amid string of break-ins

University of Melbourne ‘sharply’ changed protest policies after pro-Palestine sit-ins, commission hears

Liberals re-examine gender quotas in slew of proposals to make party ‘fit-for-purpose political machine’

World Cup 2026

This morning, Spain swatted aside strangely subdued France to reach Sunday’s final, with a final score of 0-2. Tomorrow, England will face Argentina in a 5am AEST game.

The Guardian’s chief sports writer, Barney Ronay, writes that the “Messi arc” will reach a decisive point in Atlanta – passage to a third final or an exit to test the limits of Argentina’s love for their unassuming athlete-genius.

In pictures

Megan Holbeck spent decades on the sidelines watching her kids playing football, envying the laughter, mates and sense of belonging. Now that her kids are older, Holbeck bought herself an early Mother’s Day present: shin guards, shiny new boots and a registration for over-40s football with the Seaforth Bombshells.

What they said …

“We must prioritise the needs of pedestrians on our footpaths, we have legal obligations, and that’s the bottom line” – City of Yarra deputy mayor Sharon Harrison

The City of Yarra – which covers an area in inner north-east Melbourne – on Tuesday voted to end its memorandum of understanding with Lime, terminating its almost six-year-long trial. The electric bike operator will have 30 days to end its operations in the area once notice has been given by the council.

Full Story

Foxtel and wine: aged care residents billed for unused services – Full Story podcast

Australia’s aged care regulator is investigating dozens of complaints that aged care providers are charging fees for services that older Australians can’t use or even understand. Meanwhile, a class action against one of Australia’s largest for-profit providers has also alleged it charged residents additional fees for basic services it is legally obliged to provide.

Nour Haydar speaks to Guardian Australia’s medical editor, Melissa Davey, on the alleged illegal fees being charged to vulnerable Australians.

Before bed read

A priest and two nuns walk into a bar. In Sydney this week, this wasn’t the setup for a bad joke but for a fiery culture war, writes James Thorpe.

Divine Playhouse, which opened to the public last Wednesday, is a year-long queer-friendly and inclusive arts pop-up, supported by the New South Wales government and the City of Sydney. Now its lease is under threat, after the venue was issued a breach notice complaining that Christian beliefs have been “insulted and mocked”.

But, as Thorpe writes, “there is something rather audacious in telling queer people raised under the shadow of the cross that Christian iconography belongs exclusively to those who remained faithful to the institution. We are entitled to wrestle with it, parody it and subvert it. In many cases, it is part of our story too.”

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: EDGE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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