Radio National Breakfast

Australia is enjoying a global boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure with around $10 billion invested in data centre in 2024 alone - the second-largest destination globally for investment after the US.

With the government's national road map for AI now public, how is the industry preparing to make the most of the windfall?

There's fresh hope that a landmark inquiry into sexual violence within the Australian Defence Force will help drive cultural change within the organisation.

Yesterday, the federal government revealed the probe - which was recommended as part of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide - will commence next year. 

The federal government has rejected key recommendations of a report into government appointments, which was finally released yesterday after two years' of cabinet secrecy.

Former bureaucrat Lynelle Briggs accused governments of both stripes of "patronage and nepotism", saying so-called 'jobs for mates' let down the public and eroded institutional trust.

• Guest: David Pocock, independent Senator for the ACT
• Producer: Jason Whittaker 

The Coalition is expected to ask senior government officials questions on the state of aged care when Senate estimates hearings continue later this morning...

It comes as the government continues to negotiate with the states and territories over a five-year public hospital funding deal.

• Guest: Anne Ruston, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate 
• Producer: Isadora Bogle 

The fast-tracking of approvals for affordable housing developments have come under question, after the ABC revealed Woolworths is using New South Wales and Victorian development schemes to push ahead with supermarket and apartment projects opposed by local councils.

But how do these fast-track approvals work, and do they ultimately address the housing crisis?

• Guest: Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning with the University of Sydney
• Producer: Grace Stranger

The list of social media platforms banned for kids under 16 years old could grow ahead of next week's lockout.

The eSafety Commissioner has written to two platforms — Lemon8 and Yope — recommending they self-assess to determine if they fall under new laws that begin on December 10. 

The High Court is also considering a last-minute challenge to the laws, as bureaucrats dismiss concerns the ban will further isolate vulnerable young Australians.

• Guest: Lizzie O'Shea, Chair of Digital Rights Watch and human rights lawyer 
• Producer: Jason Whittaker 

After four years of hard work and study, it's graduation day for the first cohort of 24 Sydney University rural medical students who have completed their degree in the regional New South Wales centre of Dubbo.

They're set to make their mark across regional and rural Australia as country doctors practising in local communities.

• Guests:

  Laura Mattiske, Doctor of Medicine graduate

  Associate Professor Paul Lunney, School of Rural Health at the University of Sydney

• Producer: Oscar Coleman

More than 1200 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by devastating flooding and landslides across four countries in Asia in recent days.

Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have been battered by tropical cyclones and heavy monsoon rains that have submerged whole towns, destroyed key transport routes and cut off vital water and electricity.

Sri Lanka is one of the countries hit the hardest by cyclones, with more than 400 people dead and 100,000 forced to evacuate to emergency shelters.

• Guest: Bismarck Swangin, UNICEF's chief of communications in Sri Lanka
• Producer: Pip Cook

Russia claims to have captured the key Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, as diplomatic efforts around the world try to secure peace between the nations.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have today sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Earlier, Mr Putin declared Europe's demands for the end of the war were "not acceptable", saying while he didn't want a wider war if "Europe wants to fight with us, we are ready to do so right now."

• Guest: Maria Snegovaya, Senior Fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Producer: Eddy Diamond

The federal government has released its National AI Plan, describing it "comprehensive road-map" to unlock the full potential of the technology for all Australians.

Then, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA), misinformation, anti-science sentiments and vaccine fatigue have eroded the public's trust in vaccines.

And it's been described as one of the biggest reforms to defence in five decades, but why is not everyone sold on the government's latest change to defence procurement. 

And why have farmers been pushing for 'right to repair' protections?

Recap the morning's news, politics and global affairs with the Breakfast Wrap.