Opposition wants ‘balanced outcome’ on environment protection reforms – as it happened

6.37am GMT
What we learned today, Monday 27 October

With that, we will shut the blog for the evening. Thanks for reading. Krishani Dhanji will be back with you first thing tomorrow for all the latest in the world of Australian politics.
Until then, here were today’s major developments:

Microsoft “deprived” Australian consumers of informed choice, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has alleged. The body will take federal court action against Microsoft over allegedly misleading about 2.7m Australians with Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
More than 100 scientists and researchers have urged the PM to tackle widespread deforestation that is driving an extinction crisis across the country when the government introduces environment reforms this week.
The Business Council of Australia has rejected Sussan Ley’s call to split the environment bill into separate pieces, saying the legislation should be passed as one “holistic” package dealing with both pro-environmental and pro-business sections.
An RAAF flare incident was directly raised with the Chinese premier, Anthony Albanese has confirmed, without giving details as to what he said. He told reporters his meeting with Li Qiang was “positive”.
And the Coalition is calling for an inquiry into the CFMEU administration after Nine newspapers reported its efforts have been hampered by a lack of investigative capability.

Updated at 6.52am GMT

6.12am GMT

Taxpayers fork out $75m for embattled Spirit ferries
Taxpayers will fork out $75m to help the beleaguered operator of two new Spirit of Tasmania ferries navigate ongoing financial issues, AAP reports.
It has also been revealed human error is to blame for $9m worth of upgrades needed for the vessels and their yet-to-be-completed berth in Tasmania.
The two replacement vessels are not expected to be in service until late 2026, years behind schedule, because a berth in Devonport was not built in time for their arrival. The saga, which caused one of the new ships to be kept in Scotland for months, has been dubbed one of the biggest infrastructure stuff-ups in Australia’s history.
Tasmania’s government on Monday announced it would give the ship’s state-owned operator TT-Line an injection of $75m in the November 2025-26 budget. The funds would deal with “medium-term” financial issues, the TT-Line chair, Ken Kanofski, told reporters:

What we said is ‘we need a buffer’, we don’t want to run too close to the wind.

The Labor opposition MP Dean Winter said Tasmanians were being forced to pay the price for incompetence. The state government has not ruled out giving TT-Line the remaining $25m of the company’s request if needed.

Updated at 6.24am GMT

5.53am GMT

Coalition wants a ‘balanced outcome’ on environment protection reforms
The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, has told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing the Coalition will “look at everything that is on the table” when it assesses the federal government’s environment protection laws.
The Coalition wants to break reforms of the federal environment protection regime in two, prioritising measures to fast-track projects while probably further delaying protections for nature.
Asked if the Coalition would be satisfied with Labor doing a deal with the Greens if it can’t find a compromise, she said they had “only just received” extracts from the second part of the minister Murray Watt’s reforms.

Currently we’re going through those extra details. The first tranche of extracts that we received have a lot of moving parts. There’s a lot of uncertainty … but also there’s not much in there really about protecting the environment in detail.
We want to get a balanced outcome and that means we want protections for the environment but we want assurances … I have met with the minister’s office and the department now five times and we’ll continue that consultation as we go through the process. We want to make sure the bill is the best it can be.

Updated at 5.58am GMT

5.37am GMT

Entain gambling acknowledges ‘certain deficiancies’ in old anti-money laundering system
Gambling company Entain – which runs the Ladbrokes and Entain brands in Australia – has acknowledged its previous anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime “missed the mark”.
Entain was taken to the federal court in December by Australia’s financial intelligence agency Austrac, which alleged the company accepted $152m in bets from 17 high-risk customers who had “suspected criminal profiles and associations”.
The company has now filed its defence in the case. While it acknowledges “there were certain deficiencies” in its operations, it disputes a number of allegations made by Austrac.
Entain Australia’s chief executive, Andrew Vouris, said in a separate statement the company “sincerely regrets that our old program didn’t meet expectations”:

We followed expert advice at the time but, looking back, we recognise the old program missed the mark. We’ve acknowledged our shortcomings, taken responsibility, and spent the last two years learning from them and fixing them.

In a statement, the company said it had significantly expanded its anti-money laundering unit and invested millions of dollars in new systems and technologies.
The company said it closed the betting accounts of all 17 high-risk customers “prior to legal proceedings” and in some cases “as far back as 2020”.

Updated at 5.40am GMT

5.27am GMT

Government won’t say when it will respond to antisemitism and Islamophobia reports
Aly was also asked about when the federal government would respond to two reports which have been handed down in recent months: one from the antisemitism envoy, and one from the Islamophobia envoy.
Both made a series of recommendations about how to address antisemitism and Islamophobia in Australian society, including reforms to education and the media, as well as detailing a significant rise in discrimination.
Aly said they were currently looking at both reports concurrently but neglected to answer whether a comprehensive response would be delivered by the end of the year.

I don’t want to put a timeframe on it. It’s an incredibly important piece of work and it’s important we get it right. The efforts that have been put into the reports deserve us to take our time and be thoughtful and comprehensive in our response.

Updated at 5.30am GMT

5.17am GMT

Labor willing to negotiate with Greens or Liberals to get environmental reforms passed, Anne Aly says
Anne Aly, the minister for multicultural affairs, international development and small business is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing as debate continues over environmental reforms, to be introduced to parliament this fortnight.
The Coalition wants to break reforms of the federal environment protection regime in two, prioritising measures to fast-track projects while probably further delaying protections for nature. The Business Council wants the government to water down powers to block projects and for bipartisanship on the issue.
Asked if Labor was prepared to water down the bill to meet demands, she said “pretty much everyone” had an opinion on the legislation:

We’re focused on getting the bill passed and getting the balance right between ensuring that our environment is protected but also that there is confidence for industry as well … these laws frankly are no longer fit for purpose. They are laws that were drafted back in the ‘90s.

On whether Labor would prefer to do a deal with the Coalition or the Greens – who want the reforms to go further – she said:

There are two pathways to making a deal. One with the Greens and one with the Liberals. I believe that Murray Watt as the minister responsible has done a great job in negotiating thus far … We want to get it passed and as soon as possible. Through either of those avenues as long as it delivers what Australians want, what Australians need which is environmental protection and certainty to the industry.

5.08am GMT
Coalition to move motion calling for Senate inquiry into Optus triple zero outage

Coalition senator Sarah Henderson will move a motion on Tuesday for the federal government to launch a senate inquiry into last month’s Optus triple zero outage.
An inquiry by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) is under way but Henderson said that was “woefully inadequate” and questions remained over when the federal government was informed about the breakdown.
Speaking to the Senate today, Henderson said there were still conflicting reports about whether three or four people died as a result of the outage.

This is an essential service for all Australians. Every Australian needs to know that when they pick up the phone and dial triple zero they will get the help they need from the fire brigade, from the ambulance service or from the police …
We are also putting on the table the need to bring mobile phone roaming into this country so that if you don’t have a mobile connection or service from one carrier, particularly when you’re in a regional area, you can use another carrier’s tower.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is co-sponsoring the notice of motion to set up the inquiry alongside Coalition senators Dean Smith and Ross Cadell.

Updated at 5.33am GMT

4.59am GMT

Vaginal ring contraceptive to be added to PBS on 1 November
Hundreds of thousands of Australian women will have access to another affordable contraception option as a vaginal ring is added to the government’s medication subsidy scheme for the first time, AAP reports.
The NuvaRing is a prescription contraceptive method which is inserted into the vagina by the user and distributes hormones to stop ovulation.
It can be used for three weeks in a row before being removed for a week, and a new one is then inserted. Used correctly, the ring is is 99.5% effective, which is similar to other hormonal contraceptive options.
The NuvaRing is available in a three-pack as a private script for $130. From 1 November, when it will be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), it will cost general patients $31.60 and concessional patients $7.70. From 1 January, the maximum women will pay per script will be $25.
Sexual Health Victoria medical director Sara Whitburn told AAP one of the biggest barriers to people choosing the NuvaRing has been cost, but it could be a good option for people who had stomach upsets from taking the pill.
Side effects of the ring are similar to the contraceptive pill, including acne, bloating, weight gain and reduced libido.
Health minister Mark Butler said women’s health needs had been sidelined for too long.

Australia has one of the lowest uptake rates in the developed world of long-acting contraceptives, partly due to access and affordability.

Updated at 5.03am GMT

4.44am GMT

Thank you all for following along on the blog with me today!
I’ll leave you with the fabulous Caitlin Cassidy for the rest of the afternoon and see you here bright and early tomorrow.

4.42am GMT

Musician Holly Rankin warns institutions have ‘failed to engage’ with young people
Earlier today, Holly Rankin (also known by her stage name Jack River) who’s been pushing for protections for artists against AI, as well as engaging young people in politics, gave the Speaker’s lecture at Parliament House.
She warned institutions have “failed to engage” with young people, which has seen a new generation move “from institutions to individuals, from mastheads to personalities, from politicians to podcasts”.

Young Australians aren’t disengaged from civic conversation. They’re just having it somewhere else.

The conflict, she said, is that the new “public square” where young people are getting their information, is controlled by a small handful of billionaires.
She says young people want to see humanity and authenticity in politicians, and urged them to meet young people where they’re at.

Where the town square once gathered people into one conversation, algorithms scatter them into thousands of bubbles, pushing and prodding us into attentional addiction. Each citizen lives inside a personalised poker machine – an individually engineered echo chamber that plays on our fears, hopes and insecurities ...
Young Australians are ready to engage in democracy. They’re building civic communities with or without institutional support. They value transparency, accountability, humanity, and truth – the same values that birthed democracy itself.

Updated at 4.48am GMT

4.27am GMT

Tl;dr here’s what you missed in question time

There was plenty of energy in the chamber today, and the eviction of two Labor MPs from the House by one sassy Speaker Milton Dick. The first was Rob Mitchell during the very first question, and the second was Josh Burns, while Ted O’Brien was trying to roast Jim Chalmers.
The Coalition used the first half of its questions to press the government on the administrator of the CFMEU following reports by Nine Newspapers.
The government backed the work of the administrator, in response, and said it was taking the “strongest” action possible.
Independent MP Nicolette Boele asked the government how taxpayers would benefit financially from the critical minerals deal signed with the US (when the current petroleum resource rent tax has been heavily criticised for getting little out of the profits mining and resource companies make). Richard Marles wouldn’t address the financial issue, and just said the deal is in the “national interest”.
Barnaby Joyce, after all the hoo hah this morning, sat in his usual spot with the Nationals (though left the chamber for about 15 minutes).

Updated at 4.34am GMT

4.24am GMT

Failed First Guardian fund’s vendors request government refund
Companies that allowed customers to invest in the failed First Guardian superannuation fund are asking the government to help refund members who lost money.About 6,000 Australians had a combined $505m in savings in the collapsed fund before the corporate regulator froze its assets in February 2025, having moved their super into the fund through wealth companies Netwealth, Equity Trustees and Diversa.Netwealth told investors today it had applied for financial assistance on behalf of its 1,088 fund members who had $101m in the failed fund. The company said it had complied with all relevant laws when offering the First Guardian Fund and believed the losses were the result of fraud.Netwealth said that qualified it for a payout under super laws that protect defrauded funds and had applied to the assistant treasurer for help on Friday. It warned investors may still only see partial compensation, in a sharemarket update today.Diversa today told Guardian Australia it also believed the First Guardian losses were the result of fraud and would apply for assistance and Equity Trustees confirmed it was also considering applying.Asic and First Guardian’s liquidators have raised widespread concerns over the fund’s use of investor money and are continuing investigations. You can read more about the collapsed funds here:

Related: Australians lost $1bn through collapsed investment funds. What happened and how can workers keep their super safe?

Updated at 4.26am GMT

4.16am GMT

Protest against changes to NDIS
Just before question time today, a group of advocates arrived in front of Parliament House to protest against upcoming changes to the NDIS by the Albanese government.
The health minister, Mark Butler, announced major changes to the important scheme in August, including the $2bn Thriving Kids program that will result in children with mild to moderate levels of developmental delay and autism being diverted off the NDIS and onto state-ran support programs.
The Greens senator, Jordon Steele-John, joined the rally, telling the audience consecutive governments since the NDIS first began rolling out in 2016 had slowly undermined the scheme in an effort to improve its financial sustainability.
The senator urged the disability community to continue fighting to protect the scheme:

I know that so many of us wish that we never again would have to have these fights. The word ‘burnout’ flows throughout the community. I know that the road has been hard, and I know that the road still is to come ... I draw hope that we will endure together, that we will thrive together, that we will celebrate together, And that victory will be ours.

Craig Wallace from the Disabled People Against Cuts group said the NDIS “was a world leading social reform that offered choices ... it was structured around the way we live our lives, not our impairments”.

There are problems with the NDIS ... but they are not problems caused by us. They are caused by the decisions of the people behind us in this building [Parliament House]. They are the problems with services, markets and providers and state governments pulling away, and yes, disability is expensive and that cost is borne by us and by families and by carers, and eventually, by the whole community.

Read more:

Related: What are the changes to the NDIS and how will it affect those already using it?

Updated at 4.35am GMT

4.11am GMT

With a final dixer on the upcoming PBS listing of contraceptives, question time is done for the day. Just three to go.

4.10am GMT

New Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele asks about the critical minerals deal
Back to the crossbench, new independent MP Nicolette Boele asks Richard Marles how much the Australian public will benefit financially from the critical minerals deal.
Over the weekend, we reported members of the crossbench are calling for a mining rent tax to guarantee taxpayers a “fair cut” of a potential critical minerals boom.
Marles says the $8.5bn deal signed by Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump is “genuinely in Australia’s national interest”.

What we have faced globally is that while we have been engaging in the mining and extraction of critical minerals and rare earths, the processing of them – a sector that would involve significant employment and significant industrial development in this country – has proven much more difficult, given the structure of the global market. And that’s why we have put in place a number of measures, such as the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive, and the Critical Minerals Facility.

He doesn’t say whether there will be any tax on the revenue made by companies mining and producing critical minerals.

Updated at 4.14am GMT

4.01am GMT

‘A lot of intelligent people here’
There’s not much that unites the Labor and Coalition benches these days, but the unintentionally perfect timing of House Speaker Milton Dick was one of them just now.
Labor MP Josh Burns was ejected from Question Time after interjecting during a question from Liberal deputy Ted O’Brien. This is a real bugbear of Dick’s, who admittedly gives a fair bit of leeway during the QT interjections but gets unhappy when a question is interrupted.
“I don’t know why this is so difficult. When people are asking questions, don’t interject,” Dick called out in an angry voice.
“There’s a lot of intelligent people here ...,” he continued, letting that remark hang in the air for a moment – until nearly the entire chamber cracked into laughter.
O’Brien himself, at the dispatch box, put his hand to his forehead as if shielding his gaze from the sun, looking around in the chamber in mock confusion, mouthing: “where?”
Dick continued, amid the laughter: “Well, in the [public] gallery, there are.’

Updated at 4.06am GMT

4.00am GMT

Treasurer attacked over super tax U-turn
It’s starting to get snarky in QT, shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien asks the treasurer whose “rejection most influenced his decision to dump his [super] tax”.

Was it (a) the Coalition? (b) industry experts and economists? (c) the prime minister? (d) his own Labor colleagues and Labor luminaries Paul Keating, Bill Kelty and Peter Beattie, or (e) all of the above?

(In the middle Labor MP Josh Burns gets kicked out of the chamber by Milton Dick – more on that in a second!)
But first, a recap of the government’s backflip on the super tax bill here.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says “I’ll make it really clear to the House that I didn’t take the advice of those opposite.”

They [the Coalition] are always trying to undermine and diminish and come after the superannuation that the working people of this country need and deserve for a decent retirement. Also, don’t forget that the question comes from the same guy who wanted to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to build nuclear reactors to push power prices up, not down.

Updated at 4.04am GMT

3.51am GMT

Andrew Wilkie calls for hospital funding fix, saying ‘people are suffering needlessly’
Back to the crossbench, Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie asks if the government will take action to fix hospital funding. He says:

People are suffering needlessly and far too often dying prematurely. Only the commonwealth has the financial and policy heft to turn things around.

Health minister Mark Butler, who’s been out spruiking the upcoming listing of contraceptives into the PBS and bulk-billing incentives for GPs, says it’s a “particularly weird week for the member to suggest this is not a government focused on bold reform”.
Wilkie stands up on a point of order and says the questions isn’t about bulk billing or urgent care clinics but about hospitals. Butler continues:

The member for Clark knows that the health and aged care system is an integrated ecosystem, and when bulk-billing is not working, when people are paying too much for their medicines, they don’t fill the scripts their doctors have said are important. They don’t go to the GP when they need to go to the GP, and the member for Clark knows that means they end up in hospital far more regularly than they should.

Updated at 3.56am GMT

3.46am GMT

Nationals ask about possible closure of Gladstone power station
Nationals MP Colin Boyce gets the next question, and takes a turn from prosecuting on action against the CFMEU.
He asks the minister for industry how many jobs will be lost with the possible closure of the Gladstone power station.
Pat Conroy (the minister representing the industry minister who sits in the Senate), hesitates for a minute before answering. He starts off saying a question on energy should be directed to the minister for energy.

We’ve been pretty clear that the energy sector is going through a transition as ageing coal-fired power stations close down. Unlike those opposite, we have plans in place to drive investment into the sector.

Deputy Nationals leader Kevin Hogan gets up to make a point of order on relevance, arguing his question was “tight” (and there’s been no potential job loss numbers disclosed so far). After a bit of back and forth, Conroy finishes his question and hands the baton to energy minister Chris Bowen.

There are about 200 direct employees at the Gladstone power station, and others have worked on a contract basis indirectly, and obviously that’s a significant number for the people of Gladstone.

Bowen then goes to the unreliability of coal-fired power.

Today, we had two units of the Callide power station which the honourable member would know well out, out and non-operating. And we have a total unplanned outage across the national energy system of 3.4 gigawatts of coal-fired power. Not planned, not maintenance, coal-fired power stations that were working and all of a sudden break down. It’s the biggest threat to the reliability of our energy system and that in turn is a threat to energy prices.

Updated at 3.50am GMT

3.36am GMT

Tim Wilson asks about journalists exposing CFMEU ‘corruption’
Tim Wilson is back and asks what the government is doing to protect journalists who are threatened while exposing “CFMEU corruption”.
Nine Newspapers reported over the weekend that police are investigating the targeting of the home of journalist Nick McKenzie, who has been investigating the CFMEU.
Amanda Rishworth says there’s “absolutely no tolerance for intimidation of journalists or indeed anyone in this country.”
She then talks about protections for whistleblowers more generally.

Not only are there protections in the registered organisations act but our government specifically built in whistle-blower protections in the administration …
In my conversations with the administrator, the action that he has taken ensures first and foremost the safety of his staff. That’s the seriousness that he is undertaking with his work, that the safety of his staff and in the course extends to all Australians.

Updated at 3.54am GMT

3.29am GMT

Tim Wilson accuses Labor of not doing enough to tackle CFMEU
Shadow employment minister Tim Wilson heads to the dispatch box next (no prizes for guessing what issue he’ll press the government on).
He accuses the government of not doing enough to tackle the CFMEU, and asks if it’s “because the prime minister’s Labor leadership, under his leadership, those opposite have received almost $7m in CFMEU donations?”
Leader of the House Tony Burke tries to get Wilson to withdraw the accusation (he does).
Employment minister Amanda Rishworth says she “outset reject[s] the assertions that were in that question.”
She lists the work the administrator has undertaken – including the Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission, state and territory police forces, and regulators.

I can reassure this House that we have done more in our term in government than those on the other side. We are taking this seriously. The shadow minister might want to pretend he’s in university politics, throwing around accusations, while we’re the adults in the room - and we’ll continue to be so.

Updated at 3.33am GMT

3.21am GMT

Housing minister rejects claim 5% deposit scheme pushing up prices
Over to the crossbench, Elizabeth Watson-Brown says the median house price in capital cities has increased by $35,000 over the last three months “as a result of the government’s 5% house deposit scheme”.
She asks the government whether it will admit that it’s driving unsustainable house price growth.
Housing minister Clare O’Neil defends Labor’s 5% deposit scheme (and won’t agree with the Greens MP that Labor is driving up house prices).
O’Neil says the scheme has significantly dropped the number of years that young couples have to save for a housing deposit, from 11 to just two or three.

We now have 190,000 Australians who have been supported into their first home because of our government’s program, 190,000 Australians that the Greens political party are saying should never have got government support to buy their first home.

Updated at 3.25am GMT

3.15am GMT

Barnaby Joyce still sitting with Coalition
Barnaby Joyce isn’t sitting in the Nationals party room at the moment, but he’s still sitting with the Coalition in the parliament.
The maverick Nationals backbencher has taken his normal seat in question time, perched alongside fellow Nat MP Colin Boyce right up the back. He and Boyce have been chatting quietly, with Liberal MP Aaron Violi – the only Coalition MP further away from the action – right behind them.
Joyce and Violi exchanged a few quick words, and passed a paper back and forth.
The back rows of the Coalition benches are a bit of a rogue’s gallery at the moment. There’s Joyce alongside Boyce (who Pauline Hanson has said would be a good fit for One Nation) next to another Nat, Llew O’Brien, who told The Australian today that the Coalition could split if they didn’t dump net zero.
A row back and behind is Andrew Hastie, who recently quit the frontbench, next to Tony Pasin, who this morning spoke in favour of Joyce’s anti-net zero bill, and next to him is Garth Hamilton, who is also pushing against net zero.

Updated at 3.20am GMT

3.14am GMT

Action taken against CFMEU ‘strongest’ a government can make, minister says
I’m sensing an early theme – opposition leader Sussan Ley is back at the dispatch box and asks if the government will deregister the CFMEU, as the Coalition has been calling for.
Amanda Rishworth argues the action Labor has taken has been the “strongest” a government can make, as opposed to the former (and now abolished) Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

If she [Ley] had been following the debate while we were putting the CFMEU into administration, she would know the strongest possible action you can take, in terms of transparency and in terms of ensuring that there is accountability, is to put the CFMEU into administration … And if we look at some of the incidents and allegations that are being exposed at the moment, they happened under the ABCC and indeed the Coalition’s watch.

Rishworth then accuses the shadow employment minister, Tim Wilson, of making “baseless claims” against the administrator, Mark Irving.

Updated at 3.58am GMT

3.07am GMT
Labor MP ejected as Sussan Ley asks about the CFMEU

Sussan Ley starts and asks the government about the CFMEU administration.
The Coalition is calling for an inquiry into the CFMEU administration after the Nine newspapers reported its efforts have been hampered by a lack of investigative capability.
Before she can even finish her question, the Speaker boots out Labor MP Rob Mitchell (fastest booting I’ve ever seen in QT!)
Employment minister Amanda Rishworth says the government has “no tolerance” for criminal conduct, and backs the work the administrator has done so far.

I have spoken with the administrator on numerous occasions about just how difficult this work is, and for him, he is absolutely committed to clean out this union and I just want to go through some of the work that he has already been doing. He has taken significant steps to either remove or accept the resignation of over 60 staff. Over two-thirds who were in leadership positions or organisers.

Updated at 3.10am GMT

3.02am GMT

It’s question time!
Richard Marles is in the hot seat today, while Anthony Albanese is overseas. (He gets a few jeers from the opposition benches as he stands up to say he’ll be representing the PM).

2.49am GMT

US-Australia relationship discussed with China premier, Albanese says
The meeting with China comes off the back of the meeting between Albanese and Donald Trump, where the two signed a big critical minerals agreement.
The PM is asked if premier Li brought up the agreement. Albanese says that, more broadly, the relationship between the US and Australia was discussed.

I clearly have indicated the success of my visit to the US and we talked in a common way about that it was a good thing that President Trump and President Xi have a meeting over the next little period.

Updated at 2.51am GMT

2.38am GMT
RAAF flare incident was directly raised with Chinese premier, Albanese says

Albanese says the seventh meeting between the PM and Chinese premier Li was “positive”.
When asked whether he brought up the flare incident between the Chinese military and an RAAF plane, Albanese confirms he did. But he doesn’t give us details on what was said.

We have disagreements and friends are able to discuss issues. That’s what we’re able to do. It’s important that we engage and that we engage diplomatically and we make clear our position, which I did directly, which we did when the incident occurred. He heard the message very directly. I’m not here to report in on what meetings that, on what people say when I have meetings. I’m accountable for what I say. I made the position directly clear, that this was an incident of concern for Australia.

Asked a follow-up on whether the incident makes it harder to trust China (after, a reporter points out, Albanese has said President Xi has given him no reason not to trust him), Albanese says this was a “nation to nation issue” that was raised directly.

I engage directly, I’m a straight guy. I talk to leaders the way that I talk to the Australians. Straight, clear, unambiguous but in a positive [way] so that where there are differences, I talk about that.

Updated at 2.43am GMT

2.31am GMT

Anthony Albanese speaks from Asean summit
Having finished a bilateral sit-down with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Albanese is speaking to press from Kuala Lumpur.
He starts, talking about the importance of the summit.

We speak about the proximity of opportunity and that’s what south-east Asia represents for us. That’s what living right near the fastest growing region in the world in human history represents for us. An opportunity to grow jobs, to grow our economy, to diversify our markets and our trade, to succeed in Australia, which is the basis of why I am here. Asean alone represents nearly 700 million people.

Albanese has announced funding, including $175m going to a pool of funding for investment in south-east Asia, and a quarter of a billion dollars to “kickstart Australian investments in the region”.

Updated at 2.32am GMT

1.58am GMT

Sarah Henderson on AI copyright exemption being ruled out
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson, who’s had a bone to pick with tech companies pushing for free use of creative material to train generative AI, is very happy with the government’s commitment not to create a text and data mining exemption.
The Victorian senator, who prosecuted tech firms and the Productivity Commission (who had discussed an exemption in its interim report) at a Senate hearing, tells Sky News an exemption would have “effectively legalised the theft of the work of creators”.

The big tech companies were very happy to basically steal the work of Australian creatives and not pay them for it. There is a very sophisticated licensing scheme under our laws in this country. If any big tech company wants to use the work of any artist or writer or musician, they can pay for it. That’s the bottom line. And they were effectively trying to see a change in the law, which would mean that they could basically steal it. So we really raised a very big red flag.

Creatives have said there needs to be better protections in place to stop their work being taken for free.
Earlier today, Michelle Rowland was asked on ABC radio whether works created by AI should be clearly labelled so under Australian copyright laws, but she wouldn’t say.

A number of people whom we have consulted with over the past few months have had a variety of views on that. And these are very valid. They’re obviously groups that have been intimately involved with licensing and with ensuring their own copyright protection. So we will let that run … We’ll ensure that there is proper consultation on that.

Updated at 2.20am GMT

1.27am GMT
Monique Ryan calls for three-year ban on MPs working for lobbyists after quitting

Independent MP Monique Ryan has introduced a private member’s bill aimed at enforcing a code of conduct around lobbying. The bill includes a crackdown on ministers and public servants going to work for lobbyists in their portfolio areas.
Watch here:

Updated at 1.28am GMT

1.17am GMT

Albanese meets Chinese premier Li Qiang at Asean
While all the drama takes place around Parliament House, the prime minister is in Kuala Lumpur and has just held a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, on the sidelines of the Asean summit.
It follows a recent incident in the South China Sea last week, where the government said a Chinese fighter jet released flares “very close” to an RAAF surveillance aircraft.
Anthony Albanese made some remarks before the meeting got under way, emphasising the “shared interests” between the two nations.

We have much shared interests – trade, climate change, people to people links, tourism – and I welcome the continued tempo which continues to rise of our high level engagements.
Whenever there are differences we navigate those wisely, including on regional strategic issues, in forums such as Asean and of course Apec.

The meeting today also follows a critical minerals deal signed between the US and Australia last week.
Yesterday the PM met with his new Japanese counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.

Updated at 1.22am GMT

12.56am GMT

ACCC to seek compensation for around 2.7m Australian Microsoft subscribers
Gottlieb said the investigation had been “very quick” and the ACCC had moved quickly after being notified of the alleged breaches.
She said the ACCC would seek a range of court orders, penalties and redress for consumers for any loss they had suffered due to being unable to make an informed choice on their subscription options.

What I can say is we see this as very serious conduct, in terms of key elements that determine the level of penalty, we see this as affecting a very significant number of Australian consumers, as being the action by a very major corporation … in respect of services that are vital for the operation of families in Australian homes.
We will be looking for a penalty that identifies non-compliance with the Australian consumer law … we will seek a penalty that achieves both specific deterrence of such conduct happening again by Microsoft, and also general deterrence for all companies, whether companies operating in the tech sector or more broadly.

Updated at 1.18am GMT

12.52am GMT
Microsoft ‘deprived’ Australian consumers of informed choice, ACCC alleges

Chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Gina Cass-Gottlieb, has addressed the media in Sydney after the body declared it would take federal action against Microsoft over allegedly misleading around 2.7m Australians with Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
Gottlieb alleged that since 31 October last year, Microsoft told auto-renewing subscribers to the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans that they had only two options.

The first: in order to maintain their existing services, they must accept the Copilot integration and pay higher prices. The second: can cancel their subscription. We allege that this was misleading because, in fact, there was a third, hidden option, which allowed subscribers to continue their existing plan without Copilot and without any price increase.
Following a detailed investigation, the ACCC allege that Microsoft deliberately hid this third option to retain the old plan at the old price in order to increase the uptake of Copilot and the increased revenue from that Copilot-integrated plans.

She said the price increase for a Personal plan was an annual increase from $109 to $159 annually, or 45%, and $139 to $179 for a Family plan, or 29%.

We have taken these proceedings today because we allege millions of Australian consumers were deprived of the opportunity to make an informed choice about the subscription options available to them.

More than 100 Australian consumers made complaints to the ACCC in late 2024 and early 2025, Gottlieb said, contributing to the investigation.

Updated at 1.18am GMT

12.41am GMT

Queensland public school teachers to vote on pay offer
Queensland public school teachers will vote this week on whether to end a long-running industrial dispute with the state government.
Thousands of members of the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) struck in August, disrupting class for tens of thousands of students. It was the first strike in 16 years.
After months of bargaining, the union has agreed to put a state government pay offer to members. It will represent an 8% pay rise, the same as offered to all public servants.
The union has not endorsed the offer but says it agreed to do so “to determine whether the union can reach in-principle agreement with the government”. A spokesperson said:

The government has advised that if the offer is rejected, it will seek the QTU’s consent to refer the matter to arbitration.

Queensland education minister John-Paul Langbroek said it was a “historic offer that backs our teachers with higher wages, better conditions, and a reduced workload”.

The Crisafulli government has delivered an offer with the highest teacher salaries in Queensland’s history.

Updated at 12.44am GMT

12.28am GMT
Israeli government names Iranian commander allegedly behind antisemitic attacks in Australia

The Israeli government has named a senior Iranian commander it alleges was responsible for at least two attacks on Jewish Australians, which led to the Iranian ambassador being expelled from the country and a move to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
In a Sunday statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office, Mossad claimed that a senior commander of the IRGC, Sardar Ammar, was behind attacks in Australia, Greece and Germany.
Mossad said Ammar commands 11,000 operatives in carrying out covert operations.
The statement alleged:

Under Amar’s command, a significant mechanism was established to promote attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets both in Israel and abroad. This mechanism is directly responsible for the attempted attacks exposed in Greece, Australia, and Germany in the past year alone, and its numerous failures led to the wave of arrests and its exposure.

Australia’s spy agency, Asio, has alleged the IRGC was behind at least two attacks, on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on 20 October 2024, and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue on 6 December 2024.
The department of foreign affairs and trade has been contacted.

12.24am GMT

Barnaby Joyce won’t say whether he’ll rejoin Nationals if they scrap net zero
Speaking to Sky News, Barnaby Joyce says he doesn’t want sit in the party room while they discuss their policy position on net zero. He also remains very vague on his future in the party.

My position is adamantly against net zero. I don’t want to be part of the discussion of an amelioration of net zero.

Asked “what are you?” and whether he’s still a National, Joyce says:

I’m Barnaby Joyce, and I’m very proud of it. I look at my name tag and, Laura, I’m a parliamentarian that’s had the incredible blessing of representing the people of New England, and I’ll continue to do what is best for the people of New England …

Note the lack of mention of the Nationals in the answer. Pushed on whether he’ll be an independent instead, he says:

Because I just think that you’ve got to go with a bloc of votes in the end … I’m not going to cut and dice into where I’m going. You can have an interview with me down the track.

Updated at 12.31am GMT

12.10am GMT

Andrew Wilkie says reported offer to brief Coalition on FoI changes ‘cynical politics’
Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie says he’s sceptical about a reported intelligence briefing offered to the Coalition to bring them into the tent on the proposed changes to freedom of information (FoI) legislation.
The long-serving crossbencher said this morning it’s “really cynical politics”:

... One of the oldest tricks in the political book is to bring your political adversaries into the tent, share with them something that is, supposedly, highly sensitive and secret, and it’s intoxicating. This is just an old political trick to suggest that there is a security dimension and it is so sensitive it can’t be shared with the broader community. This is really cynical politics. This is not about national security.

Labor’s bill would place a fee on FoI requests and tighten rules around access to information. It would create time limits for each request, preventing FoI officers from spending more time to search for documents within scope.
But the proposal has so far failed to win the hearts and minds of the Coalition or the Greens – one of which the government will need to pass the bill in the upper house. For now at least, it looks to be stalled.

Updated at 12.18am GMT

12.07am GMT

Business Council ‘very much committed to net zero’ and ‘looking for certainty’
Business Council boss Bran Black also says his members are committed to net zero - as the Liberals and Nationals once again twist themselves in knots, for the umpteenth time, over whether they will back or scrap the climate target.
“We’re very much committed to net zero. We have been for some time,” Black told a Parliament House doorstop.

We have recently assisted, we hope, government in the context of putting forward its own position on what our new target for 2035 should be, at 62 to 70%, and from our perspective, there is a pathway to deliver that. And we consider that that pathway will be a difficult pathway to tread, but there is a pathway.
Nonetheless our message fundamentally, in terms of the transition to net zero, is very clear. We’re looking for certainty. Certainty gives business the confidence that it needs to invest knowing what the settings are, knowing what the supports will be, knowing where government will pull levers for where it won.

Updated at 12.11am GMT

12.04am GMT
BCA chief rejects Sussan Ley’s push to split environment bill

The Business Council of Australia has rejected Sussan Ley’s call to split the EPBC bill into separate pieces, saying the legislation should be passed as one “holistic” package dealing with both pro-environmental and pro-business sections.
The BCA chief, Bran Black, said they want to see the bill passed as one package, even though they have some reservations about some of its components. He said splitting it up would actually harm business certainty.
“What we’ve always favoured, and what we continue to strongly favour, is a single, holistic approach to looking at these reforms,” Black told a Parliament House doorstop just now, saying he was keen to look at “supporting the interests of business, but also supporting the interests of the environment”.

At the end of the day, our view is that we need to deliver an outcome that has longevity, and that means getting the balance right. To get that balance right, everything needs to be on the table.

Asked why he wants the bill passed in one big bill, rather than split into smaller components, as Ley’s Coalition is seeking, Black said it would actually be better for business certainty to have one large package.
“That goes directly to the point about longevity. I think if you get a bill that is unbalanced, if it is too much in favour of business interests or too much in favour of environmental interests, then that just leads to more scope for changes to be made in the future,” he said.

That undermines what business, frankly, is most looking for, and that is certainty. We want certainty and confidence in the settings now.
But I do stress, from a business perspective, we have concerns with respect to some aspects of the draft this point, and we want to see those concerns addressed.

Updated at 12.07am GMT

12.00am GMT

Debate on Barnaby Joyce’s bill to repeal net zero
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 Speaker’s 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.

Updated at 12.04am GMT

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 lobbyists, 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 1.24am 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.

The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

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!