Author: Allan Boyd

Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia.

The technology scans and stores facial features as unique data.

It can then be data-matched against photos — such as pictures stored in the Federal Government’s massive biometric database, which includes drivers licences, passports and harvested from social media accounts.

Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras.

Over the past decade, facial recognition technology has spread across a number of industries. In many stores in China, you can now pay with your face.

7-Eleven Australia is also deploying facial recognition technology in its 700 stores nationwide for what it says is customer feedback.

To discuss this I spoke with Rick Sarre Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at the University of South Australia.

[Note: Apologies for the intro – I have a cold!]

Read Rick Sarre’s article in the Conversation… 

Art Gallery of WA rooftop to feature massive Noongar artwork

The WA Daily

The McGowan Government has announced it will transform the Art Gallery of WA’s rooftop into a multi-use gallery and 500-person venue over the next six months.

The new rooftop gallery known as “Elevate” will feature a 34-metre artwork by prominent Noongar artist Christopher Pease.

The giant painting will wrap around one third of the rooftop wall.

The Art Gallery of WA say the new work will be the largest Aboriginal art commission in the Gallery’s history and will be part of the State Art Collection.

Pease’s powerful, multi-layered artworks often focus on postcolonial history and Aboriginal identity – overlaying traditional scenes of Indigenous ways of living with ideas of western culture.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt said he was delighted the huge Noongar artwork will be a centrepiece for the development.

“Aboriginal art is not only strikingly beautiful, it is critical to truth telling and provides us insight into the history of our State and the connection of first nations people with these lands,” he said.

Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said the project, the largest rooftop venue in Perth, will provide views of the hills, the city skyline and the new WA Museum.

He said the “combination of rooftop events, artworks and people will add vibrancy to the Perth Cultural Centre precinct.”

Other Art Gallery of WA announcements include the appointment of an Indigenous curator to focus on Noongar art and a new ground floor gallery dedicated to contemporary Aboriginal art.

Elevate will also include an external lift and skybridge from the Perth Cultural Centre precinct enabling access to the rooftop after-hours.

It is expected the project will be completed by January 2021 and will support 265 construction jobs.

Is it the job of corporate media to amplify divisive and offensive commentators?

The vitriolic and inflammatory Senator Pauline Hanson was dropped by Channel Nine last week – when they announced she would no longer be a regular commentator on the Today Show.

Hanson had made divisive, offensive and racist comments on the show – in reference to the residents of Melbourne’s nine public housing towers – who were under COVID-19 lockdown – labeling tenants ‘drug addicts’ and ‘alcoholics’.

Senator Hanson, who had regularly appeared as a contributor in a news chat segment on the show,  made comments regarding residents inside public housing towers under COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne.

In a statement, Channel Nine said: “We don’t shy away from diverse opinions and robust debate on the Today Show. But … accusations from Pauline Hanson were ill-informed and divisive” – and said – Hanson “will no longer be appearing on our program as a regular contributor”.

When voices such as Hanson’s are amplified – is the safety of the public put at risk? Is the job of the mainstream media to give a platform for public figures who will probably make racist remarks?

I caught up with Journalism expert Dr Denis Muller – Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne to discuss the effects of the language of Pauline Hanson in the media.

Dr Muller’s article in the Conversation can be found here: “When The Today Show gave Pauline Hanson a megaphone, it diminished Australia’s social capital”.

I asked Denis: how does Hanson continue to vent her opinions on the public? This has been happening for decades – Why do media organisations continue to support her offensive ranting? Is it about ratings? What’s going on?

Interview with Dr Jolynna Sinanan – Research Fellow in Digital Media and Ethnography – on the social media action: Blackout Tuesday

Amidst the rage, turmoil and political action in U.S. streets over the past few months – in response to the killing of George Floyd – the 46-year-old black man who died on May 25 after being restrained face-down by police in the U.S. city of Minneapolis – the social media activist campaign Blackout Tuesday emerged.

Blackout Tuesday happened on Tuesday the second of June 2020 – and was a global reaction against racism and police brutality – initiated by members of the music industry.

Back on that day – you may have seen your Instagram feed hijacked by a stream of posts – showing simple images of a black square. These posts – often hash-tagged Blackout Tuesday – were a gesture of solidarity – with the Black Lives Matter movement.

I spoke with Dr Jolynna Sinanan – who is a Research Fellow in Digital Media and Ethnography at the University of Sydney.

Her article “Blackout Tuesday: the black square is a symbol of online activism for non-activists” was published in the Conversation recently.

First episode of the Perth Slam Podcast – http://perthslam.com

Chris Cunneen – Can we defund the police in Australia? –  Professor of Criminology, University of Technology Sydney

Calls to “defund the police” following the death of George Floyd in the US have led to various proposals to either dismantle or cut funding to police departments in several North American cities. And there has been similar anger over Indigenous deaths in custody here in Australia – with over 10,000 people marching with the Black Lives Matter movement in Perth. But, would the idea of defunding the police – or something similar work here…

I caught up with Professor Chris Cunneen – from the University of Technology Sydney – (who co-wrote an article in the Conversation – “Defunding the police could bring positive change in Australia. These communities are showing the way“) and asked him – what does Defund the Police actually mean? And can this happen in Australia?

Gavin Mudd – Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, RMIT University & Chair of the Mineral Policy Institute – on why we need to stop the push to fast-track uranium mines…

Prime Minister Scott Morrison – in a bid to fast track the economy – recently announced that BHP’s proposal to expand its Olympic Dam uranium mine, in South Australia – would be fast-tracked for environmental approval. Currently, any new uranium mine – requires both state and federal government environmental approvals. But it seems the Minerals Council of Australia wants to change this. I spoke with Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at RMIT University – Dr Gavin Mudd – who has written an article in the Conservation: “Expensive, dirty and dangerous: why we must fight the push to fast-track uranium mines”.

I asked Gavin: “Why should uranium mining approval remain a federal issue?”

Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that “there was no slavery in Australia”. Now, he’s back-pedaled and apologised since – but the ongoing issue of historical ignorance remains – that there is indeed a well-documented history of Slavery in this country.

I spoke with Dr Stephen Gray – Senior Lecturer, with the Faculty of Law at Monash University, who co-authored an article in the Conversation (with Dr Thalia Anthony) entitled “Was there slavery in Australia? Yes. It shouldn’t even be up for debate” – which gives many well-documented examples of Australia’s history of slavery… I asked Dr Grey (who has published widely on historical Australian Slavery) what he thought of Scott Morrison’s statement…

Marnta Sandalwood is an Aboriginal owned sandalwood harvesting, seeding and oil product company based in Leonora Western Australia.

Marnta only harvest dead sandalwood trees in the wild and plant sandalwood nuts to promote new growth and sustain the species. They also create sandalwood oils for luxury skincare and fragrance.

I spoke with Ngalia leader and business owner Kado Muir about the project…

 

 

Interview with Jess Beckerling convener and campaign director of the WA Forest Alliance – WA’s peak forest conservation body. In March 2020 The WA Government has placed a 12-month freeze on the logging of “two-tier” karri forests in the state’s wooded South West region (ABC). WAFA says the 12-month ban on logging karri timber is a “major breakthrough” for the forests…