Australia politics live: Senate hearing told Optus sent notification about triple-zero outages to wrong email; Ryan raises disease control concerns

Australia and Singapore will “step up” security and defence cooperation, says Lawrence Wong, who also heralds the decades long diplomatic relationship between the two nations.

Wong says Singapore will support Australia’s vision “to become a renewable energy superpower”, as well as deepening security ties within the South-East Asian region.

Well today is becoming more uncertain and unsettled but Australia and Singapore share a common strategic perspective that is built on the deep reservoir of trust.

Asked whether stronger defence cooperation will see the presence of Australian defence troops in Singapore, Wong says Australia is a “resident power” in Asia.

We already have a strong defence partnership, but we are enhancing it further and providing more support and enhanced access to Singapore’s air bases. This will enable Australia to deploy more of its forces in our part of the world. We are working out the details of what this will entail, but clearly it will mean stronger facilitation for Australia to participate in Asia, for Australia to expand its security presence in South-East Asia and the region more generally.

Albanese and Singapore PM pledge to increase defence, climate change and AI co-operation

Anthony Albanese and Singapore’s prime minister Lawrence Wong are standing up together at Parliament House, celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations and have this morning launched an upgraded comprehensive strategic partnership.

Albanese says the two nations will increase co-operation on defence, climate change and artificial intelligence.

The PM says the two leaders also discussed the recent Optus outage. Optus is owned by Singaporean telecommunications giant Singtel.

We also discussed the recent Optus emergency outage, we had a constructive [discussion], and I thank Prime Minister Wong for his words of condolence for those who were impacted and their families.

Business group dismisses WFH productivity claims

A major business association has described worker claims they are more productive at home as “self-reported perceptions” amid a tussle between employers and unions over flexible work arrangements.

The criticism of productivity claims comes amid a Fair Work Commission process designed to modernise the award for clerical and administrative workers by taking into account work-from-home arrangements.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said in its submission that while it accepted employee reports of the benefits of working from home, it “does not broadly accept that there are similar advantages for employers”.

The business group said “productivity gains referred to by the unions are self-reported perceptions of productivity”:

It is ACCI’s strong view that the location of operations is a feature of the workplace to be determined by employers.

The clerks award, which informs the working conditions of millions of Australians, is seen as a test case for the broader workforce amid a growing tussle over flexible work.

While employees can request flexible arrangements, there is no assumed right to work from home in Australia. But there are expectations Labor could legislate a work-from-home right for workers.

Swinburne University of Technology research conducted for the Fair Work Commission found that two in five employees reported working longer hours when working from home. The survey also found that employers were divided on whether flexible arrangements improved productivity.

Tony Abbott affected by Amazon author mix-up

While Tony Abbott tells the Tory conference in the UK to send migrants across the English channel (see our earlier post), the former PM has been promoting his book that’s coming out in a few days.

But there’s been a bit of an awkward error on the book’s Amazon page. In a minor case of mistaken identity (first noticed by Crikey), Amazon has linked Abbott’s author bio to a children’s author based in the US who has the same name.

The former PM’s book is titled “Australia: A history” – perhaps a tough read for kids and teens.

But it’s a winner among some former pollies, including John Howard and the former Labor minister Kim Beazley, who sing its praises in quotes on the book’s Amazon page.

You can see the author switch up on the website here (if you feel so inclined).

Coalition targets ‘mega home affairs’ department in Senate estimates

We’re listening in to Senate estimates this morning and as always, it’s a delight.

The Department of Home Affairs is up today and will be questioned about a number of important issues - immigration, national security – but before we get to those, let’s start with a bit of early morning estimates snark.

The acting shadow home affairs minister (after Andrew Hastie’s recent high-profile resignation), James Paterson, is back and he wants to know why the Albanese government brought back the mega home affairs department it dismantled back in 2022 after it won government.

Paterson begins his segment with a sardonic query aimed at the department’s head: “Just to make sure that after the election, nobody accidentally confused the blue book with the red book?”

Murray Watt, the minister alongside department officials at the witness table, is equally known for his quick-wittedness, but he gives a relatively straight response this time.

Security issues are much more ... cutting across portfolios than they have ever been before, and all of those things put together meant that the government made a decision to make some administrative changes, which resulted in the AFP, Asio, Austrac and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, transferring under the Department of Home Affairs portfolio, alongside some policy responsibilities from the attorney general’s department.

What that ultimately means is that we have all operational agencies in the same portfolio with oversight powers under the attorney general, and our view is that for this moment in time, that is the best structure to adopt.

Settle in, it’ll be a long day.

Coalition attempt to suspending standing orders to establish triple-zero inquiry

There’s a little bit of drama going down in the House, with shadow communications minister, Melissa McIntosh, trying to move a suspension of standing orders to establish a parliamentary committee to examine the triple-zero system.

McIntosh says this should be “an uncontroversial motion”.

It’s as simple as this, do we as members representing our communities across Australia on the cusp of bushfire season want more scrutiny of this vital emergency service or less?

Her motion for a committee would require it to hand a report back to the government by 8 December. She argues a parliamentary committee would have more power than another investigation – powers like compelling witnesses and allow members to travel across the country to hear evidence.

The Coalition has been going hard on the triple-zero outage last month, with all questions directed at the communications minister, Anika Wells, during question time yesterday. And we can guess that there’ll be many more questions put to her again today.

Bailout of Mount Isa copperworks expected as industry minister heads to site

The government is set to announce a bailout for a copper smelter in Mt Isa in far north Queensland, with the industry minister, Tim Ayres, heading over there this morning.

Swiss mining giant Glencore had warned it would be forced to close the facility if it could not secure state or federal funding.

A bit earlier this morning, the Bluescope steel CEO, Mark Vassella, called for the government to set up an east coast gas reserve to help curb rising gas prices.

Steel manufacturer calls for east coast gas reserve

Australia should establish an east coast gas reserve, the CEO of Bluescope steel has said. Mark Vassella told ABC RN Breakfast this morning that manufacturing in Australia is closing down “largely because of dysfunction in the gas market”.

He says the gas industry has been very valuable for the country but we are now seeing “out-of-control” energy costs, particularly for trade-exposed industries like Bluescope steel.

In major producing nation countries like Qatar or the US, energy costs … $2 or $3 a gigajoule. In 2024, Australia paid over $10 a gigajoule for gas … for gas now in Australia, you’re paying in the high teens, somewhere between $13 to $20 a gigajoule…

Those producer nations that I’ve talked about with much lower costs typically have a reservation system and a pricing mechanism. In fact, Western Australia since 2006 has run a reservation system where domestic gas prices have been at a much lower level than we see on the east coast … And I think, quite frankly, if the government was setting up the industry today, we would be looking at a very different setup and a reservation system and a pricing mechanism would be part of that setup.

Coalition continues targeting ‘waste’ in budget

The Coalition says it will go through the budget “line by line” looking to cut “waste” as part of its economic plan.

There’s not really a whole lot surprising there - the Liberals promised the same thing ahead of the last election, and have continuously accused Labor of going on a budgetary spending spree.

The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, won’t reveal where the waste is or what he’ll cut, and won’t say whether the Coalition will cut taxes if it wins government.

There is no doubt that this government is introducing measures in their budget which are wasteful. We will be going through line item by line item to identify where that waste is.

Liberal senator accuses communications minister of having ‘training wheels on’

The Coalition is pinning blame on the government over the Optus triple-zero outage in September, and is calling for a Senate inquiry into the issue.

Yesterday, the opposition directed every single question to the communications minister, Anika Wells, during question time.

Former shadow communications – now backbencher – Sarah Henderson is on ABC RN Breakfast this morning and questions why it took so long for the government to act when a report into a previous Optus outage was released 18 months ago.

This minister has her training wheels on, she’s a new minister by her own admission, she’s not doing a good enough job, and she’s got a lot to answer for.

Asked why there needs to be another inquiry when the Australian Media and Communications Authority (Acma) is already looking at it, Henderson says:

Asking Acma, the regulator, to investigate this matter is like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank. The regulator cannot investigate itself.

Clare O’Neil decries opposition’s ‘cover-up’ accusations over return of six Australians from Syrian detention

Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil and shadow cabinet minister Michaelia Cash have clashed this morning over the circumstances surrounding the return of six Australians from a Syrian detention camp.

On Sunrise a little earlier the two traded barbs over whether the Australians were supported by the government in their return. The opposition is accusing Labor of a cover-up over their return.

The first group of Australian children born to foreign fighters to be returned from northern Syrian camps was in 2019 under the former Morrison government.

This morning, O’Neil was at pains to say the Labor government wasn’t helping the latest group, and attacked Cash for calling it a “cover-up”

Here we have a group of people who were not offered any repatriation assistance by our government. So, as usual we’re seeing Michaelia trying to make a political issue out of something that doesn’t really make sense. Why was Michaelia in favour of it in 2019, but in 2025 she has all these issues and questions?

Asked for details on exactly how the group made their return, O’Neil said she’d let the foreign minister and prime minister answer those questions. Cash wasn’t convinced.

Australians want leadership, not excuses. They want answers not silence …

What is the issue, Clare, with saying the ISIS brides have returned? The children were not born in Australia. They were born overseas. They didn’t have any documents, they didn’t have a passport or birth certificate. The Australian government had to facilitate the giving of those documents to the children in order for them to come into Australia.

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for another parliamentary sitting day. It’s going to be a busy one, so let’s get straight into it!

Labor to introduce ‘tell us once’ legislation to cut red tape

The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says Labor will make it easier for Australians to engage with government services, with new legislation to create a “tell us once” approach.

Labor will introduce new legislation today called the regulatory reform omnibus bill 2025, designed to provide better regulation, cut red tape and provide more accessible government services.

The “tell us once” approach at Services Australia is designed to reduce the number of times Australians are required to provide the same information when accessing services like Medicare rebates, Centrelink, and child support.

Gallagher said the bill is an result of the government’s economic reform roundtable.

“These are commonsense reforms from the Albanese Labor government that will make a real difference in people’s lives,” she said.

“Accessing everyday services shouldn’t be difficult or burdensome, and we’re committed to streamlining services like the age pension and child support to make them simpler and easier to access.”

Lawyers argue police opposition to Palestine Action Group’s Sydney rally is unconstitutional

As 1,000 gathered in Bankstown, roughly 400 marched through Melbourne for a peaceful vigil to honour the war dead.

Further gatherings are planned this week, including Palestine Action Group’s planned Sunday rally that will start in Sydney’s city centre and finish at the Sydney Opera House forecourt if police fail in their legal bid to have it banned

The NSW supreme court elevated the matter to the state’s highest court for a hearing set on Wednesday, when pro-Palestine lawyers will argue police opposition to the protest is unconstitutional.

“You’d have to live in a vacuum not to be aware of the significant public importance of these proceedings to all members of the community,” Justice Ian Harrison said, citing the urgency required to have the matter finalised by Sunday.

NSW has a permit system that allows protest participants to block public roads and infrastructure unless a court denies permission due to a police challenge.

A lawyer for the organisers argued a narrow reading of the protest legislation meant only relatively minor protections would be offered.

Specific offences relating to activities at the Opera House would not be covered, unduly constraining demonstrators’ implied constitutional right to political communication, they said.

“This case will have far-reaching ramifications, not only for the pro-Palestine movement, but for the right to protest in general in Australia,” their lawyer, Nick Hanna, told AAP.

Read more here:

Related: Pro-Palestine activists ask court to make genocide ruling during battle over Sydney Opera House protest