Australia politics live: Microsoft ‘deliberately omitted’ AI-free option in 365 price rises, ACCC alleges; scientists beg for action on deforestation

12.00am GMT As foreshadowed earlier, the House has seen a quick debate on Barnaby Joyce’s repeal net zero bill. He’s running out of people who will argue for the bill, it’s just conservative South Australian Liberal MP Tony Pasin today, flying the flag for him. In practice net zero is a costly illusion, a political slogan masquerading as science, imposed without honesty and absent realism. On the opposite side, Labor MPs Fiona Phillips and Kara Cook speak, as well as independent Kate Chaney who gets heckled by Joyce - Marion Scrymgour, who’s in the speakers chair, tells Joyce to pipe down. While the debate goes on, the Nationals are being briefed by Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell on setting their energy and net zero policy. As Josh Butler mentioned below, there won’t be a decision today, more of a progress update. 11.50pm GMT Littleproud says Nationals can't scrap net zero without alternative climate plan David Littleproud says the Nationals won’t come to a final position on net zero today, and says his party must come up with an alternative climate plan if they are to drop the 2050 target. He also said he’s open to Barnaby Joyce coming back to the fold, and rejoining the party room properly. The Nationals leader has laid down his most explicit markers on what he wants his party to do on net zero, saying they can’t just scrap net zero without outlining what they’d do instead. Following his appearance on Sky news earlier, Littleproud spoke to reporters in a parliament corridor. We won’t be making a decision today. This is a complex piece of policy that we, as a party room, determined together after the election that we would work through a structured process. Not just simply say no, which would be the easy thing to do, but we have to say, if we’re going to say no, what are we going to what are we going to do? I get that takes time, but I’d rather do it right and be able to look the Australian people in the eye. And we encourage Barnaby to be part of that solution. The Nats are meeting today, but Littleproud says they won’t make a final decision today. He says he wants to come to a final decision by the end of the year – and telling Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell, who are leading the Nationals policy review, that he wants to see some ideas and data. It would be easy just to say no and walk away and think that we’re heroes, but we’re not going to be able to convince the Australian people of an alternative policy unless we have one. [Saying] just “no” is not an alternative policy. Updated at 11.57pm GMT 11.47pm GMT Tech Council responds to AI copyright exception being ruled out The Tech Council of Australia , whose chair Scott Farquhar was the most high-profile advocate for giving tech companies free access to people’s copyrighted works for training AI, has issued a one-line response to the Albanese government ruling out such an exemption in copyright law. The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, explicitly ruled out a text and data mining exemption being included in amendments to copyright law to allow AI to mine copyrighted works without paying creators for the privilege in an announcement of a copyright and AI reference group that will explore how to pay creators for AI using their work. Farquhar told the National Press Club that “fixing” the existing restrictions preventing AI being trained in Australia could “unlock billions of dollars of foreign investment” into Australia. While the move to rule out an AI exception has been broadly welcomed by the media and arts sectors, the tech lobby group was more muted in its response to the announcement on Monday. A spokesperson said: The TCA looks forward to participating in the reference group in coming days to help develop a framework which we hope will deliver certainty for AI training as well as for artists and creators. 11.34pm GMT Monique Ryan introducing bill to enforce code of conduct around lobbying Staying on lobbying, Monique Ryan is introducing her bill to the House this morning. The bill would help to strengthen and enforce a code of conduct around lobbying, publish ministerial diaries to show who ministers are meeting with, and stop ministers from being able to move to the private sector in an industry where they’ve held a portfolio. She says Australia’s laws and enforcement on lobbying are lagging behind other OECD nations such as the UK and Canada. She argues the major parties complain about lobbyists when they’re in opposition, but then won’t crack down on reforms when they’re in government. They’re [major parties] conflicted because they accept the personal and political gains served up by the lobbying [industry] … In November 2023, the voluntary register included 703 third-party, 40% of those were former politicians, ministerial advisers or public servants. They were profiting from their knowledge and the networks gained from their time spent here in their service to the public and funded by taxpayers. Seconding her bill is fellow independent Kate Chaney: Part of integrity and accountability in politics is understanding who is influencing our top decision-makers. We should know which lobbyists have access to ministers and cabinet. Updated at 11.39pm GMT 11.28pm GMT Independents urge more transparency around which lobbyists enter Parliament House As we mentioned earlier this morning, the crossbench is proactively disclosing which lobbyist passes they sponsor to enter Parliament House as part of an initiative by ACT senator David Pocock. The independents rallied at Parliament House earlier this morning to urge major party politicians to be transparent about their interactions and make public who they let into Canberra’s halls of power. Pocock said he had been advocating for changes to lobbying pass disclosure rules for years but decided to take the issue into his own hands and create his own register. The senator said: Lobbyists play an important part in our democracy, but the base level expectation should be that there is transparency around that. So far, around 13 crossbenchers, including a One Nation senator, have disclosed how many passes they sponsor, and to who. The register has the names of 78 passholders. No MPs from Labor, the Liberals, the Nationals or the Greens have yet to add their details to Pocock’s register. Updated at 11.35pm GMT 11.13pm GMT Coalition calls for inquiry into CFMEU administration The Coalition are calling for an inquiry into the CFMEU administration after the Nine newspapers reported its efforts have been hampered by a lack of investigative capability. This morning shadow industrial relations minister, Tim Wilson, was joined by Maria Kovacic, shadow assistant minister to the opposition leader, in publicly demanding the independent administrator and relevant officials to come before the parliament to answer a number of questions. Kovacic said she would move for an inquiry in the Senate on Tuesday to examine the administration’s efforts so far. In front of a handful of journalists at a press conference this morning, Wilson was asked about another elephant in the room – the opposition’s timeline on finalising its energy and emissions reduction policy. Wilson answered: My focus is on having net zero tolerance for corruption, on Australian corruption in construction sites, and that is the key difference between us and the Labor party right now. Updated at 11.24pm GMT 11.08pm GMT Former Pauline Hanson adviser Sean Bell sworn into Senate You might remember not too long ago, One Nation senator Warwick Stacey quit the party, just a month or so after being sworn in to the Senate due to health reasons. His replacement, Sean Bell, has just sworn in now into the Senate. Bell is a former adviser to Pauline Hanson. In the House this morning, pollies will be debating private members’ bills (including Monique Ryan’s bill to crack down on ministers and public servants going to work for lobbyists in their portfolio areas.) Also up for debate there is Julian Leeser’s bill to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for child sexual abuse. Updated at 11.20pm GMT 11.03pm GMT Scientists call for action on deforestation, as government negotiates on EPBC reforms More than 100 scientists and researchers have urged Anthony Albanese to tackle widespread deforestation that is driving an extinction crisis across the country when the government introduces legislation to revamp environment laws this week. The environment minister, Murray Watt, wants to get the long-promised reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act passed before Christmas but is facing a backlash from the Coalition and the Greens, who have both been critical of the changes. In an open letter, coordinated by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, sent to Albanese and Watt, the scientists said: Without meaningful reform, deforestation will continue to drive massive biodiversity loss. Vast amounts of habitat are bulldozed each year with clearing for livestock and pasture a major culprit, but much of it happens outside the environment laws. The letter points to a loophole in the laws known as “continuous use” that allows landholders to keep clearing areas without the need to get an environmental approval. Prof James Watson, a leading conservation scientist from the University of Queensland, said: “The large-scale destruction of Australia’s native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands is the single biggest threat to our biodiversity.” It’s driving an extinction crisis unlike anywhere else on Earth – and it’s threatening the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s seven natural wonders, right before our eyes. Updated at 11.13pm GMT 10.52pm GMT Continuing from our last post … ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said: Following a detailed investigation, we will allege in court that Microsoft deliberately omitted reference to the classic plans in its communications and concealed their existence until after subscribers initiated the cancellation process to increase the number of consumers on more expensive Copilot-integrated plans. The Microsoft Office apps included in 365 subscriptions are essential in many people’s lives and given there are limited substitutes to the bundled package, cancelling the subscription is a decision many would not make lightly. Cass-Gottlieb said many customers would have opted for the classic plan if they had been aware of all the viable options. The ACCC is seeking orders including penalties, injunctions, declarations, consumer redress and costs. The maximum penalty would be the greater of $50m, three times the total benefits that have been obtained and are reasonably attributable, or 30% of the corporation’s adjusted turnover during the breach turnover period. Microsoft was approached for comment. Updated at 11.00pm GMT 10.51pm GMT Microsoft ‘deliberately omitted’ AI-free option in 365 price rises, ACCC alleges The Australian consumer watchdog has alleged Microsoft deliberately omitted an AI-free subscription option for Microsoft 365 in communications to 2.7 million Australians when it advised them of price increases as a result of Copilot being integrated into the software package. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched federal court action against Microsoft claiming the company has misled subscribers to Microsoft 365 personal and family plans with auto-renew enabled that if they want to maintain their subscription they must accept the integration of Copilot AI into the software and pay higher prices, or cancel their subscription. The annual subscription price of the Microsoft 365 Personal plan increased by 45% from $109 to $159 with Copilot included. The annual subscription price for the Microsoft 365 Family plan increased by 29% from $139 to $179. The regulator alleged this information was false or misleading as there was an undisclosed third option of “classic” plans which allowed subscribers to retain the features of existing plans without Copilot at the previous lower price. Consumers were only presented this option when subscribers began cancelling their subscription, the ACCC alleges. Updated at 11.14pm GMT 10.47pm GMT Future frontbench spot unlikely for Joyce in Nationals Sky News host Laura Jayes tries to test Littleproud on whether Barnaby Joyce would be granted a shadow portfolio before he quits. Littleproud skirts the question and says the Nationals have “a very talented frontbench”. Pushed again on what would happen if Joyce decided to stay on with the Nats after the next election, Littleproud says “that’ll be a decision for Barnaby”. On the question of net zero, Littleproud says Nationals senators Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell will talk to the party room today about their review of the policy – but wouldn’t give us a hint on how that conversation will go down. Obviously it’s a complex piece of policy work, and while I would have liked it sorted out sooner. We need to get it right, and we just can’t rush it to the extent that we don’t have the right position, the right policy setting … but there’s still some way to go, and they’re [Canavan and Cadell] just going to continue to bring our party room and make sure that we understand the principles of where they’re getting to from the analysis that they found, and that will be updated today again in the party room. Updated at 10.51pm GMT 10.24pm GMT Littleproud says Nationals need to create ‘an environment where Barnaby feels welcome’ It’s not the first time a National has sat outside the party room, says David Littleproud, who is facing a bit of damage control over Barnaby Joyce’s future. Joyce said this morning he will remain in the party (for now) but won’t sit in when the party room meets this week. He won’t be contesting the next election for the Nationals in the NSW seat of New England (and had remained coy about whether he’ll run for a different party and for a different house). On Sky News, Littleproud says his party has to create an “environment” where Joyce feels welcome and wants to come back. I‘ve been here for nearly a decade, I’ve seen this happen two or three times, where members feel aggrieved they’ve sat outside the party room, but obviously support our side … what we’ve got to do is continue to create an environment where Barnaby feels welcome and wants to come back and can contribute. Updated at 10.38pm GMT 10.15pm GMT University leaders travel to China to herald ‘new era’ in Australian relations Universities Australia (UA) is setting off on a delegation to China on Monday to strengthen education and research partnerships with the superpower amid a more favourable diplomatic climate. Described by the peak body as one of the “most significant higher education missions in years”, the five-day visit is being attended by UA chair Prof Carolyn Evans, its CEO Luke Sheehy and almost a dozen vice-chancellors and university representatives. The delegation will visit Shenzhen and Beijing, where they will attend the inaugural Australia-China Leaders Dialogue, held alongside the renewal of the UA-China Education Association for International Exchange Memorandum of Understanding. Evans said education had been one of the “strongest and most stable bridges” between Australia and China. After years of disruption caused by the pandemic and broader geopolitical issues, this visit marks the start of a new era – one focused on innovation, collaboration and solving shared challenges. China continues to be the leading source country for international students in Australia, making up 23% of all enrolments. The federal government has recently signalled that universities must diversify their international student cohort if they are to enjoy higher enrolment numbers, with a particular focus on students from south-east Asia. Updated at 10.21pm GMT 9.53pm GMT Monique Ryan pushes for code of conduct for lobbyists Independent MP Monique Ryan will introduce a bill today to stop bureaucrats and politicians working as lobbyists as soon as they leave politics. Parliament will start sitting at 10am today and Mondays are always allocated to private members’ bills (which also means the government has carved out some time for debate on Barnaby Joyce’s repeal net zero bill because it’s politically convenient for Labor). Ryan told RN Breakfast this morning her bill will introduce a code of conduct for lobbyists, will strengthen the lobbying code, publish ministerial diaries so the public can see who ministers are meeting with, and stop ministers and public servants going to work for lobbyists. She namechecks the former Liberal defence minister Christopher Pyne going to work as a lobbyist in the defence industry within “nine days of leaving parliament” as well as former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop. Ryan says under the current framework, ministers can’t work in an industry where they’ve had a field of interest for 12 months, “but it’s unenforced”. She says it’s the same with the lobbying code of conduct, and movement of public servants into industries where they’ve had decision-making powers “within weeks or months of leaving government” – both are unenforced. The potential for conflict of interest in decision-making and for people using the context that they’ve made while they’re in parliament to further their own careers in a way that gives them a commercial advantage, if you like, or for decisions to be made before they leave government with the expectation that there’s some sort of golden handshake after they leave government is corrosive of people’s trust in the integrity and transparency of government. It’s unlikely Ryan’s bill will go anywhere though – private members’ bills are rarely supported by government. Updated at 10.00pm GMT 9.36pm GMT Greens say environment laws skew too far in favour of businesses and need to protect native forests While the Coalition is calling for the EPBC Act to be split, the Greens have some other key demands for Murray Watt. On ABC News Breakfast a little earlier, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the laws skew too much in favour of businesses – “these are meant to be environment protection laws not business approval laws.” The Greens want to see stronger protections for forests, which she says already aren’t covered. We want to make sure these laws protect our forests and protect our climate ... our existing environmental laws don’t even cover native forests. So you can go into a native forest, it can get logged even if there are endangered species there. We want to fix that, we want to make sure that can’t happen. The minor party has also been calling for a “climate trigger” which would force projects to be assessed on their emissions and climate impacts. The government has refused to include a trigger in its bill. Both sides haven’t shut down further negotiations with the government on the legislation – so far neither the Greens nor the Coalition have seen the full bill – but Hanson-Young said she has some major concerns. What we’re seeing so far from the government is they’re trying to have it both ways and talk out of both sides of their mouth. Updated at 9.44pm GMT 9.19pm GMT Butler announces cost cuts for contraceptives Perhaps somewhat under the radar while the very vocal environment debate takes place, there are some changes happening in the health space this week. Mark Butler has announced a contraceptive vaginal ring and other long-acting contraceptives like IUDs will be added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (making them way cheaper) from 1 November. Earlier this year the government also announced the listing of some contraceptive pills and menopausal hormone therapies. 1 November will also see new bulk-billing incentives kick in for GPs – which Butler told RN Breakfast a little earlier, should make three-quarters of general practices “financially better off”. Already we have had hundreds and hundreds of practices tell us that this week they’re charging a gap fee, next week they’ll move to fully bulk billing, and those numbers are changing every single day. So, we expect a really significant change in bulk-billing practice from this week to next week. It will build over time. The government has committed to 90% of GP visits being bulk-billed over the next decade. Updated at 10.38pm GMT 9.12pm GMT Watt says Ley 'trying to shore up her leadership' amid net zero scuffle The environment minister, Murray Watt, claims Sussan Ley’s reluctance to support the EPBC laws is about her “desperately trying to shore up her leadership” as the Coalition once again ties itself in knots over net zero and climate policy. Speaking to reporters in Parliament House this morning, he says he’s open to making a deal with either the Greens or the Coalition, flatly rejecting Ley’s request to split up the environment bill into various chunks to be voted on separately. Watt says the government has shared “about 70%” of the complex environmental law changes with the Coalition and Greens, and that nearly all of it would be shown to them ahead of it being introduced into parliament. Ley, as we brought you earlier, wrote to Watt asking for some of the more contentious changes to be put into a separate bill – Watt called that idea “mad” and “silly”. It’s because she’s desperately trying to shore up her leadership ahead of some very difficult net zero conversations with her party room. This week, Sussan Ley is in danger of putting her own leadership ahead of the environment and ahead of business. We can’t split the bill. We need to do both, and we need to get on with it. Watt said the bill would be introduced this week and says he still hopes to have it passed by year’s end – with just three sitting weeks left, including this one. Watt says the debate has been going for five years and the changes are overdue, when asked about the timeline. We have been consulting to death on these reforms, and both business and environment groups are crying out for reform to finally be delivered. Asked what would be his optimal pathway through parliament, whether he was hoping for the support of the Coalition or the Greens, the minister said he was open. I can’t make that any clearer. I’ve met the same number of times with the Coalition and the Greens. I’ve spoken as recently as yesterday with representatives from those parties. What we’re about is passing a bill that is good for the environment and good for business, and it’s up to the Coalition and the Greens to decide, are they prepared to do that, or are they going to go into their corners and fight for a bill that only delivers to the environment or only delivers to business? Updated at 9.26pm GMT 9.08pm GMT Shadow environment minister tight-lipped on whether Coalition will keep net zero targets Staying with Angie Bell, there’s a big question mark over whether the Liberal party and the National party will keep a commitment to the net zero by 2050 target. Today Nationals senator (and net-zero sceptic) Matt Canavan will present his review of the 2050 target to his party room. Bell remains tight-lipped on whether the targets will remain in place – or be ditched altogether. The National party is undertaking their own review process, as is the Liberal party, and we’ll continue to work through those processes because what Sussan Ley has said is she wants to see affordable and reliable energy for Australians. But we also need to play our role in emissions reduction. And so that is why the Coalition is reviewing our energy policy. Energy is a huge sticking point for the Coalition – and was one of the reasons why the Nationals and Liberals temporarily split after the election with the Nats wanting stronger guarantees to commit to nuclear power for Australia. Bell says there will be more party meetings this week – including a “long one” on Friday with the backbench – to discuss where they’ll land on energy policy. The shadow energy minister, Dan Tehan, has been leading a small committee to put a position to his party. Updated at 9.16pm GMT 9.01pm GMT To split or not to split? No I’m not talking about the Coalition … but the bill we’ve been covering all morning, the EPBC Act. The government has flat out rejected the Coalition’s call to split the environment reforms to streamline approvals, and legislate environmental protections separately. The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, says she expected the rejection, because for Labor, “it’s their way or the highway”, she tells RN Breakfast. Bell says the Coalition has only seen 50-70% of the draft legislation, and from what they’ve seen so far there’s not much they seem to really like. Bell says: I think some of the things around regional planning certainly have merit, but we’ll work through all of the detail when it lands because we really only have some of the bill, and the minister has said he will introduce it this week into the parliament… But at this point in time, this bill is not workable. Bell says Graeme Samuel’s review was a “very large undertaking” and says the government has cherrypicked some of his recommendations. The minister has put in some of Graeme Samuel’s recommendations and others that he hasn’t. For example, the premise of Graeme Samuel review was that there be a commission for the environment, and instead, what’s happened is the minister has put out there an EPA, an environmental protection agency, which was a promise by the prime minister at the election before the last one. And so there are some things that are straight out of the Samuel review playbook, and there are elements in there of uncertainty … And also, very, very high penalties that were higher than Tanya Plibersek’s natural positive laws. Updated at 9.13pm GMT 8.46pm GMT Watt says environment laws will remove duplicate approval process between state and federal governments The environment minister, Murray Watt, will no doubt have a tough job over the next few weeks to get his EPBC Act 2.0 over the line (never forget Tanya Plibersek’s first attempt last parliament). Over on ABC News Breakfast, he explains the independent powers the bill will create to enforce the environment laws, and why the bill will remove the duplicate approval process between state and federal governments. What we want to do is work with the state so that at least the assessments can be done by a state government on behalf of both the state and federal government, potentially saving months or years in an approval process. Watt is asked about rules around projects that have an “unacceptable environmental impact” which could be accepted or rejected quickly. The minister gives us a few rather extreme examples of what an unacceptable impact looks like – but there’s not much clarity on where exactly the threshold would be. If a property developer wanted to build a development in the middle of an internationally listed wetland, that’s almost certainly going to get a no at the end of a process, and we might as well put everyone out of their misery early and give them a quick no … If a mining company wanted to go and mine under Uluru, and perish the thought they would ever want to do that, but clearly that kind of thing is going to be unacceptable because of the environmental damage that it would cause. So they’re the kind of things that we’re seeking to try to stop and stop early in the process. Updated at 8.51pm GMT 8.36pm GMT Vaginal contraceptive ring to be listed on PBS A contraceptive vaginal ring will be listed on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the first time this Saturday. The Albanese government announced the new listing on Sunday night. It will come into effect on 1 November, alongside cheaper long-active contraceptives like IUDs and birth control implants. NuvaRing, which is used on a monthly cycle, is an alternative to daily oral contraceptives. Before the listing women could pay more than $270 a year for the ring which would be reduced to $31.60 per script (for three months of contraception) under the PBS, the government said. Concession card holders would pay $7.70 per script. From 1 January the maximum women will pay per script is $25. Daile Kelleher, chief executive of Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia, said contraception was “essential healthcare, not a luxury item”: Everyone deserves the right to access affordable contraceptive options and to choose the method that best fits their life, without barriers such as cost. The women’s minister, Katy Gallagher, said the changes would give women “genuine choice” for their reproductive health and ensure their decisions were not limited by cost. Updated at 9.03pm GMT 8.32pm GMT Joyce won’t attend Nationals party room meetings this week Barnaby Joyce says he will sit with the Nationals in the parliament this week but won’t attend party room meetings, and didn’t shut down the idea that he could stay with his party if they dumped their net zero target. Joyce’s latest headlines, the prospect that he would join One Nation, haven’t come to fruition yet, he says – he told us in a Parliament House doorstop just now that he hasn’t joined another political party yet, and says he’ll sit with the Nats in question time today. Joyce ruled out sitting as an independent, and says “I’m still in the National party”, and noting voters had voted him in as a National, so he’d sit as a National for the time being. But it’s not plain sailing and happy families. Joyce repeated his previous statements that “there’s been a breakdown in the relationship, it was quite evident to all of you during the [election] campaign”. Asked whether leader David Littleproud was trying to keep him in the team, Joyce said he’d spoken to Littleproud in a “brief and very courteous conversation that went for about three minutes”. Joyce confirmed again that he’d quit as MP for New England at the next election, but when we asked if he’d continue his political career after that (perhaps in a different chamber of parliament, or for a different party), he said “I’ll make my mind up”. Asked if the Nationals scrapping net zero could be enough to keep him in the tent, Joyce responded: “I’ll see what they come up with.” Pressed further, Joyce said they were “hypotheticals” about what could happen in future. Updated at 8.39pm GMT 8.27pm GMT Rowland: no text and data mining exemption There’s a few big issues kicking around this morning, and one is the confirmation from the government that tech giants will not get a text and data mining exemption to train their AI models. Artists and creatives – and media organisations – have been hounding the government for some security around their works, to ensure they’re not scraped for free by generative AI. There was particularly anxiety around a recommendation by the productivity commission that tech giants get free access to creative works. The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says the government has been “clear” that there would be no watering down of the Copyright Act. There is a body of work to do around what the copyright environment looks like in the AI world, but we are making it very clear that we will not be entertaining a text and data mining exception. ABC host Sabra Lane asks Rowland how authors who don’t want their books taken “full stop” can stop tech companies from using their creative works. Rowland says there’s some uncertainty around whether the current laws fully address that. Currently, under the Copyright Act, there are avenues to be able to do that, but there is a lot of conjecture around whether or not the law is clear enough on that front … We will go forward as a government with an ambitious set of reforms, again, with the outcome of making sure that our copyright laws are fit for not only the digital environment as they have been to date, but also in the world of AI. Updated at 8.34pm GMT 8.24pm GMT Murray Watt rejects call to split environmental bill As my colleague Dan Jervis-Bardy has brought us this morning, the Coalition is calling on the government to split the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – to approvals on one side and protections on the other. The laws are expected to be introduced to parliament this week. But Murray Watt has vehemently rejected the proposition, saying it would weaken protections and remove certainty for industry. We won’t be splitting the bill. The review by Graeme Samuel into these 90s-era laws made clear you cannot have faster approvals without stronger environmental standards … It would mean more habitat destruction, more species threatened, no independent regulator and slower approval times. It’s the maddest idea we’ve seen in the five years of these environmental reforms and we won’t be following it. Updated at 8.41pm GMT 8.24pm GMT Key event Albanese and Trump touch down for Asean The prime minister will be absent this week as arrives in Malaysia for the Asean summit, before flying to South Korea for Apec where Donald Trump and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will meet. The two leaders will likely discuss the US president’s trade war. They might also talk about security issues such as Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory. “One in four Australian jobs rely on trade and we will be focused on continuing to grow our key economic and trade relationships during Asean and Apec,” Albanese said on Sunday. Updated at 8.40pm GMT 8.24pm GMT Good morning Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for what will be another action-packed sitting fortnight. There will be plenty of parliamentary drama this week as the government faces a showdown with the Greens and Coalition on its environmental protection bill – the EPBC Act. The Coalition is calling for it to be split and says it’s anti-business, while the Greens say the opposite. Murray Watt called the suggestion of a split the “maddest idea” he’s seen in the five years since the reforms to the act were first recommended. Meanwhile, the government will also reject a proposal to allow copyright exemptions for AI models. And the prime minister is overseas this week in Malaysia and South Korea for the Asean and Apec summits. I’ve got myself a coffee, I hope you’ve got some caffeine too – stay with us!