The $1.8 Billion stadium Tasmania was told not to build, gets government go-ahead

Across the country, things are happening at a local level that have an impact nationally. Here’s the stories you might not hear about in the traditional media.

Locals in a South Western Victorian town were stunned to find a young seal in a bin behind the RSL — sparking a police investigation into how it got there.

The West Vic Brolga’s Zara Cuthbertson reports the pup appeared thin and had an eye injury, but calmly waited on the soft cuttings at the Portland RSL while rescuers arrived. It’s now being cared for by Zoos Victoria’s Marine Response Unit.

Authorities are appealing for information, with police investigating possible human involvement.

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Victoria’s Phillip Island has switched on seven new community batteries designed to soak up excess solar power from empty holiday homes — and help keep the lights on during peak demand.

The Gippsland Monitor’s Jacob Wallace spoke with Totally Renewable Phillip Island chair Simon Helps, who says the shared batteries mean the community can share the benefit around.

The network aims to cut blackout risks and boost local energy resilience.

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Councils across the country are urging locals to ditch synthetic spider webs this Halloween — and not just because they’re spooky.

The North Shore Lorikeet’s Huw Bradshaw reports Birdlife Australia and Humane World for Animals warn the plastic strands can seriously injure or even kill native birds, who sometimes use them in nests during breeding season.

Experts also say most decorations and costumes end up in landfill, with only 1% of Halloween costumes being recycled — so op-shop creativity is the way to go.

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If you want to watch this story instead of reading, I’ve done a video version here.

Global consultancy firm Deloitte will now partially refund the Federal Government after it was revealed the company had submitted shoddy work, despite billing the public for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Deloitte was hired by the Federal Government to produce a report into the computer systems used in pausing welfare payments.

When the report was published by Deloitte for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in July, the University of Sydney’s Deputy Director, Health Law, Dr Christopher Rudge - gave it the once-over and noted inaccuracies.

He told the National Account he believed Deloitte’s AI was hallucinating, something software life ChatGPT does, where it makes up quotes and resources. Think of it as adding three and three together and coming up with 658.

Rudge said such a public blunder from a corporate giant was not only unprecedented, but inevitable. He predicted it will happen again and again as the world grapples with how to employ AI in the Wild West, where few if any rules apply.

Deloitte later admitted AI was used in the production of the report, and will refund part of the $440,000 it billed the taxpayer. The exact amount of the mea culpa refund is not known. A new version was uploaded to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website on Friday.

In the world of consultancy, Deloitte is a huge player, alongside the likes of McKinsey, Bain & Company, KPMG and PWC. These companies charge massive sums to assess a business or political policy and offer advice on how to make it better.

Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill told the Financial Review the Government should be requesting a full refund.

She claimed “Deloitte has a human intelligence problem” and that the company’s report “would be laughable if it wasn’t so lamentable”.

Rudge said that despite the blunders in the report, he agreed with most of its conclusions. However, he said, the use of AI, and the initial misrepresentation of the sources meant the report was compromised.

Following Rudge’s revelation, a Deloitte spokesperson told Nine: "The matter has been resolved directly with the client."