Exclusive: Revelation comes after company’s executive told parliamentary inquiry he did not believe AI had been used to write message

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OpenAI used AI to help write the email to the Australian government advising that its AI agent had hacked into key departmental websites, Guardian Australia can reveal.

On Tuesday, one of the company’s executives told a parliamentary inquiry that he didn’t believe that its own technology had been used to create the email, but said the company needed to confirm this.

Anthony Albanese faces criticism after appearing to joke on a podcast about a gift of melons from Sanae Takaichi

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has rejected calls to apologise to Japan’s prime minister over a joke he made about melons on a satirical podcast, amid a media frenzy and accusations of sexual innuendo.

Government MPs have defended the prime minister as criticism mounted over last month’s remarks, branded by the Coalition opposition as “grubby”. The assistant minister Pat Gorman told media: “I don’t know why we’re still talking about this.”

Solomon Islands prime minister says he doesn’t want to see more countries testing ICBMs in Pacific, adding ‘be our friend but don’t threaten us’

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said China’s weapons test in the Pacific risks fuelling dangerous nuclear proliferation, with the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Monday capable of causing “considerable damage” if weaponised.

International condemnation has grown overnight after China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that a “strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead” had been launched from a “strategic nuclear submarine of the navy”.

Prime minister picked pop singer in game of ‘shag, marry, date’ on comedy podcast

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Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for his comments while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a comedy podcast when he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories.

The prime minister issued a statement on Monday morning after receiving criticism at the weekend for his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with the comedian Nikki Osborne.

Interim report contains 14 recommendations, after inquiry examined agencies’ actions before the attack in which 15 people were killed

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Sydney’s Jewish community told police of a “high” threat of an attack at December’s Chanukah by the Sea festival at Bondi beach, but New South Wales police appeared not to have completed a comprehensive risk assessment for the event, an interim royal commission report has found.

The interim report of the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, established in the wake of December’s terror attack, found no gap in current laws that could have prevented the shooting. But it did call for greater coordination of policing at Jewish festivals and events.

Government’s draft news bargaining incentive scheme includes 2.25% levy on local revenues of digital giants

Anthony Albanese has urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with Australian media outlets to avoid a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues, warning digital giants should not be able to exploit the work of journalists to boost profits.

Releasing an exposure draft for the government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) scheme on Tuesday, the prime minister said platforms who sign new deals with publishers to pay for news content would receive offsets of between 150% to 170% from the new levy.

Nearly 70% of under-16s with accounts on Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok had maintained access, survey finds

The Australian government has accused big tech firms like Meta, TikTok and Google of disobeying the landmark ban on under-16s using social media, after the country’s online safety office warned many children had accounts.

A survey of 900 Australian parents found around a third (31%) said their children still had one or more social media accounts after the ban, compared to 49% before the laws.

Energy minister, Chris Bowen, says ‘we’re a long way’ from further action like fuel rationing despite shortages

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Hundreds of service stations across Australia have run out of fuel, with the federal government inking a deal with Singapore, one of the country’s biggest sources of refined petroleum, to keep supplies of diesel and petrol flowing.

Concerns are now broadening to supplies of fertiliser and other chemicals, heaping more pressure on the Albanese government’s leveraging of overseas exports of coal and gas in a bid to handle of the crisis.

Iran urges players to ‘come home’, saying they would be welcomed ‘with open arms’

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One of the Iranian football squad members who had sought asylum has changed her mind, home affairs minister Tony Burke has confirmed.

The turnaround comes as Iran’s foreign affairs ministry accused the Australian government of holding the players “hostage”.

Home affairs minister Tony Burke confirms US president Donald Trump’s overnight comments on social media that the players had been ‘taken care of’

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Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, offering assistance to the other players and saying “help is here”.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed the humanitarian offer on Tuesday morning, hours after the US president, Donald Trump, posted about their plight on social media. Burke said the visas had been granted at about 1.30am on Tuesday morning, around the time of Trump’s social media posts, which first criticised, then praised, Australia.

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - said it had received threats against Albanese if upcoming performances went ahead

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Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his official Canberra residence on Tuesday night as police responded to a bomb threat made against him in relation to upcoming performances of the Chinese group Shen Yun.

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - told Guardian Australia that one of their colleagues had received two threats in recent weeks, written in Chinese, threatening harm against Albanese if the performances went ahead. The threats, the second of which was received this week, were reported to the Australian Federal Police and are thought to have been the reason for the prime minister to be evacuated from the Lodge and the house to be searched by officers.

Home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the government had ‘no time for hatred when it came to cancelling visas’

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The federal government has cancelled the visa of a British man charged with displaying prohibited Nazi symbols, after police seized swords bearing “swastika symbology” from his Queensland home last month.

Federal police announced earlier this month that a 43-year-old United Kingdom citizen living in Queensland had been charged with three counts of allegedly displaying prohibited Nazi symbols, and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.