The Rustic Spirits Podcast

The government wants power to decide what counts as "harmful" online, no vote required. We break down the Digital Duty of Care Bill, the Strengthening Enforcement Bill that just passed, and why Labor keeps using kids' safety to sell control.Two separate bills, both amending the Online Safety Act, are moving through Parliament right now. One just passed the Senate. The other is a draft everyone's arguing about, and most people online are mixing the two up.We break down what each bill actually does, the "disallowable legislative instrument" clause that lets the Communications Minister add new "harms" without new legislation, and why the government is blaming "the algorithm" for its own falling popularity instead of its content strategy (or lack of one).We're going to be following this closely as it goes towards a vote.Links we mention during this episode:Anika Wells interview: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/media/2026/09/05/anika-wells-interviewPeta Credlin segment including different interview with Anika Wells: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5DQCYkpIsEMichael Shellenberger on Australia's new proposed legislation and participation in global censorship. Follow this thread: https://x.com/shellenberger/status/2097854587646464227If you want to watch ad free, this episode is available for free on our Patreon: https://rusticspirits.me/membership

Is it better to live in blissful ignorance, or fully plugged in to the 24 hour news cycle. After finding ourselves almost at our limit, and due to take a holiday anyway - we conducted a little experiment ... what really happens when you switch off for a few days .. or even weeks.

It's Census Night this coming week (Tuesday, August 11th) and what for most Australians used to be a quinquennial event, evoking a sense of civic duty and pride, has for many turned into yet another data and privacy gathering exercise foisted upon us amongst a landscape of cameras, facial recognition, digital-I.D. and movement tracking. Public sentiment about the census has shifted in large part from national pride to cynicism, skepticism and distrust. So we take a look at what your legal obligations are and why, for many, census night may be fraught with anxiety and uncertainty.
We also check in on the Price of fuel now that the so-called "relief" the government so gEneROusLy gave us by temporarily removing part of the fuel excise has disappeared - oh, and they upped it at the same time, because, you know ... inflation.
And we reflect on the hundreds of comments we received from our Homesteading channel this week in response to our deep dive into the freedoms that so many of us supposed we had - and it turned out we didn't. Like giving away excess eggs, or saying no to a particular utility or service.

Join the conversation, become a Rustic Spirits Member:
https://rusticspirits.me/patreon

Want more? Join our Email List:
https://rusticspirits.me/email

Fact-Check: From the Karl Stefanovic Show - podcast, Malcolm Roberts actually said government spending is about 28% of the economy — not government jobs. That figure checks out: it comes from IPA research showing government spending across federal, state and local levels hit a record 28% of GDP in FY2023-24, up from 21% a decade earlier. Separately, Alexander Downer made a different point about jobs specifically — that around 80% of new jobs created recently have come from the public sector or public-dependent sectors — and that one checks out too, backed by Ai Group's analysis of 2024 ABS data.

We follow-up with the AusAlert story and share a wide variety of experiences from our viewers including people who hadn't used a phone in 5 years getting it, and one scary incident involving a traumatised dog. We also follow up on the escaped AI Agent from last week - it gets worse - it left notes for it's future self!
And we talk about the surveillance state that's being created with AI powered cameras and facial recognition systems and ask why they're actively seeking out and destroying rare books.
But our top story this week is about how they've been sneaking in new food safety regulations over the last few years and trying to push the requirements down onto the 'little guy' as far as they can - until Tasmania finally caught them in the act. I bet you didn't know it was now illegal to pop up a farm gate stand with a a couple of watermelons on it and an honesty box in most places in Australia now.

We talk about the AusAlert System about to be widespread tested on Monday the 27th of July, the fact that an AI Agent from OpenAI just escaped a security sandbox, how the eSafety commissioner wants more power and why 'Scope Creep' should be the thing you're paying attention to with all of this. Free Speech Union tool to help you make a submission to the senate Hurry, closes July 24thhttps://freespeechunion.au/onlinetransparency/Daniel Kokotajlo on Diary of a CEO - Cofounder of the AI Futures Project who published AI 2027 and now AI 2040https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g4l7YkDQwAhttps://ai-2040.com/Xavier Martin from the NSW Farmers Associationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StKuK78AYkw35 Aussie Companies at risk of AI Job Losses: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/goldman-sachs-lists-35-aussie-companies-in-alarming-report-about-wages-and-profits/news-story/2d041b6c37bdbd5dd1845fd52054de1eAI in Context - a Youtube channel making excellent mini-docos about AI:https://www.youtube.com/@AI_In_Context