11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 6:29am
That’s the end of our live blog!
And that’s all I’ve got for you today! Thank you for joining us. It’s been great having you here.
We’ll be back again tomorrow morning to bring you all the day’s developments for the second day of the parliamentary sitting week.
You can look back on today’s developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 6:26am
Corruption watchdog chief executive clarifies evidence given to Senate estimates
The chief executive of the nation’s corruption watchdog has confirmed integrity chief Paul Brereton provided advice to the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) on eight occasions on the agency’s time and not outside of work hours as originally disclosed.
ABC News revealed in September that Brereton, who earns more than $800,000 a year to head the federal integrity watchdog, had been continuing to “consult” for the IGADF despite previous assurances he had stepped away.
National Anti-Corruption Commission chief executive Philip Reed wrote to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on Tuesday, correcting his evidence to Senate estimates from October 7 and published today, in which he apologised for the “inaccuracy”.
“It has become clear that most, but not all, of the instances when the commissioner provided advice to the IGADF they occurred outside ordinary business hours,” Reed wrote.
“… I apologise for this inaccuracy in my evidence. I wish to clarify for the committee that of the 22 occasions over the 28 months from 1 July 2023 to date on which the Commissioner has provided responses to 18 requests for advice or information from the IGADF, 14 occurred outside ordinary business hours,” he wrote.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 6:22am
Pilot programs offering legal, financial help to sexual violence victim-survivors expands nationally
A “lifeline” service for survivors of sexual violence will be expanded across additional states and territories, with advocates hoping the pilot programs will become permanent.
The federal government has announced pilot programs for specialised trauma-informed sexual violence legal services in the ACT and Western Australia will now run until at least 2028, as part of an existing $19.6 million investment.
The services provide legal assistance and representation, as well as access to financial assistance, counselling and specialist support.
Read the full story by reporter Monte Bovill in the link below.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 6:10am
Greens secure senate inquiry into CSIRO jobs cuts
The Greens have secured a Senate inquiry into job cuts at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO.
The inquiry will consider the impacts of funding cuts on the agency and the CSIRO’s future funding and resourcing needs.
The CSIRO has announced it will cut up to 350 full-time equivalent jobs to address rising costs. It comes on top of more than 800 positions being slashed in the past 18 months.
Greens science spokesperson Peter Whish-Wilson says the Senate inquiry will report back by March 31, 2026.
“Science is one of the best defences we have in tackling Australia’s biggest future challenges — from climate change, food security, and health emergencies,” Whish-Wilson says.
“The short-sightedness of the Albanese government’s job cuts to the CSIRO is negligent. Everybody needs science, and we need to defend it from attack,” he says.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 6:05am
McIntosh hoses down Christmas party speculation
Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh has been asked about reports that she held a Christmas party at the same time as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s Christmas party.
Asked if we should read anything into it, McIntosh says she invited every Coalition colleague to celebrate a “hard year”.
Pressed on whether the party was a leadership pitch, the shadow minister says she’s been very clear on what her ambitions are.
“I think we need to look at more pragmatic policy that really does help Australians in a way that will benefit them by bringing down energy prices,” McIntosh says.
The shadow minister says she would like to be the leader of the Liberal Party in the future, but says she supports the current leader.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:52am
Melissa McIntosh wants Triple Zero network listed as essential service
Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh has joined Afternoon Briefing, where she’s been asked about today’s Optus outage.
More than 14,000 Optus services were affected by an outage in Victoria, with no Triple Zero (000) calls believed to be impacted.
McIntosh says she has been calling for a thorough investigation into the Triple Zero ecosystem.
“I would like us to have the Triple Zero network listed as an essential service under critical infrastructure to allow more protections because we are at risk,” McIntosh says.
“People should be able to call Triple Zero — our most essential service when they need it,” she says.
11h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:33am
Minister says she can’t guarantee federal govt will reach NDIS funding agreement with states
Jenny McAllister says she can’t guarantee the Commonwealth will seal an NDIS funding deal with the states and territories.
The NDIS minister says the federal government is at the table as “good-faith” negotiators.
“We want to make our fair contribution to the funding of hospitals, that complements the investments we are already making to lift primary health particularly through Medicare and bulk billing,” McAllister says.
The NDIS minister says it’s still the government’s plan to get a deal done by the end of the year.
She says the foundations of the agreement are there.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:29am
NDIS minister Jenny McAllister joins Afternoon Briefing
NDIS Minister Jenny McAllister has joined Afternoon Briefing to discuss new laws to crack down on NDIS providers who seriously injure or kill participants.
Providers could be fined up to $16.5 million for failures that lead to the death or serious injury of an NDIS participant.
McAllister has described it as a “really significant intervention” and says the government wants to make sure the laws cover all providers.
She says the government is lifting maximum fines for breaches of the law by 40 times what they were previously.
“We are concerned about some of the things that we have uncovered,” McAllister says.
“When we came to government, there was very little investment in detecting fraud or malpractice. We have lifted the number of staff both of the agency and the regulatory commission,” she says.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:18am
Peter Khalil and Jane Hume clash over public service cuts
Labor MP Peter Khalil says the government hasn’t asked departments to make cuts to services.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has confirmed Labor has asked federal departments and agencies to find further efficiencies.
Labor has asked departments and agencies to save as much as 5 per cent of their costs.
Khalil says the government has instead asked agencies to look at their programs and make sure they are being “efficient” with taxpayer dollars.
“We have done this as we came into government. We have actually found over $100 billion in savings so far,” Khalil says.
Liberal senator Jane Hume says this wasn’t made clear before the last election, and says it’s the equivalent of cutting 22,000 public servants.
“I find it hard to believe. Six months ago, Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese said the big public service was right size,” Hume says.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:12am
Liberal senator Jane Hume says inflation ‘dragon’ isn’t dead after release of figures
Liberal senator Jane Hume and Labor MP Peter Khalil have joined the Afternoon Briefing political panel, where they’ve been asked about the inflation rate.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show consumer prices rose 3.8 per cent in October.
Khalil says while inflation has ticked up, it is still lower than what the government inherited when it came to government.
“We have always known that this job is an ongoing job, and people are still feeling the cost of living pressure,” Khalil says.
“That is why a lot of the cost-of-living measures that we have designed and implemented and put in place are there to provide that relief to people,” he says.
Hume says the cost-of-living crisis continues “unabated” under the Labor government.
She says Australians are concerned about the inflation rate because they know what impact it will have on their mortgages.
“This is, I think, damming of Jim Chalmers and his economic management skills. He said that the inflation journey was tamed, that the dragon was dead, and that is clearly not the case,” Hume says.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 5:00am
Afternoon Briefing has started! 📺
Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas has started on ABC News.
Join along as we bring you the program here live.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:47am
Pocock says older Australians cutting back on home care help
Independent Senator David Pocock has written to Aged Care Minister Sam Rae concerned that older Australians are facing “significantly” higher fees under the new Support at Home program.
The program began on November 1 and has replaced Home Care Packages.
In doing so, Australians who were on a package before last September were promised they’d be “no worse off” under the new scheme.
But Pocock has heard from older people across the country who’ve had to cut back on their services because higher fees mean their package funds no longer stretch as far.
“[This] has led to people being either forced to stop services or pay more to receive the same mix of services each month,” Pocock told Rae in the letter.
He shared the story of six people, including a woman in her 80s who’s no longer getting help preparing food and doing laundry because the cost of her personal care has shot up.
The amount providers can charge for at-home services is uncapped until July next year, so Pocock is also seeking information about how much fees have risen in the interim.
12h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:33am
Foreign minister responds to US ‘mass migration’ demands
The foreign minister and the treasurer have responded carefully to questions about the Trump administration’s attempts to pressure Western nations — including Australia — to curb “mass migration”.
Earlier this week, the US State Department held a media briefing saying they’d instructed US embassies in several Western countries to gather data on crimes committed by migrants, with a senior US official calling large-scale migration an “existential” threat to the West and global stability.
The federal government said yesterday that the US hadn’t yet made any representations to Australia on the issue, suggesting US diplomats here weren’t exactly rushing to take up the cudgels on the fraught topic.
This afternoon, crossbench Senator Fatima Payman pressed the Foreign Minister Penny Wong to condemn the directive.
Senator Wong didn’t do that, but stressed Australia was a “pluralist” nation.
“This government will always make decisions about Australia’s policies based on what is best for Australia,” she said.
Earlier, Treasurer Jim Chalmers told journalists the government would “form our own views about the appropriate migration settings for our country” — while stressing that net migration was already falling.
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:21amEnvironment negotiations firm in favour of Greens
The ABC has heard from groups on both sides of negotiations over reforms to Australia’s environment laws that the government is close to reaching a deal with the Greens.
The federal government maintains it is open to a deal with the Greens or the Coalition, having circulated compromises earlier this week in the event of either camp agreeing to a deal.
But with a soft deadline of this evening to strike an agreement, multiple sources suggest negotiations are leaning in favour of a Greens deal.
The Liberals, alongside consulting with stakeholders, must also ensure negotiations are amenable to their junior Coalition partner, the Nationals.
If that happens, watch for any changes that limit or exclude coal and gas projects from being able to access fast-track pathways under the reformed laws.
That is likely to be what will cause the greatest ire among business groups.
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:20am
Labor remains ‘firm’ in commitment to implement social media ban
Communications Minister Anika Wells says the federal government remains “firm” in its commitment to implementing a social media age ban despite the new laws facing a legal challenge.
“Despite the fact that we are receiving threats and legal challenges by people with ulterior motives, the Albanese Labor government remains steadfastly on the side of parents, and not platforms,” she said.
“We will not be intimidated by threats. We will not be intimidated by Big Tech on the behalf of Australian parents. We stand firm.”
Wells made the comments in Question Time on Wednesday shortly after advocacy group the Digital Freedom Project announced two “representative young Australians” had filed proceedings in the High Court challenging the social media ban.
15-year-olds Noah Jones and Macy Neyland are the plaintiffs in the case challenging the laws.
The basis of the case is that the social media ban “trespasses on the Constitutional right of freedom of political communication and is therefore unlawful”.
Digital Freedom Project president John Ruddick MLC said the “ban is disproportionate and will trespass either directly or indirectly upon the rights of every Australian”.
“This ban is a direct assault on young people’s right to freedom of political communication,” he said.
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:20am
📸 QT in pictures
Darren Chester is excited to be here. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Anthony Albanese strutted in with Mark Butler. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
No Barnaby, you won’t find a sandwich pressed steak up there. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Sussan Ley let Labor know what she thought of their answers! (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:12am
And that’s the end of Question Time
And with that final dixer to Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, Question Time has come to an end.
Who would have thought a blackout would happen in the middle of questions without notice?
It surely had to be one of the more fiery Question Time sessions of the year!
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:11amMore funding on the way for CSIRO
Last week, the CSIRO announced it would cut 350 research positions to meet an ongoing funding squeeze.
Rebekha Sharkie asks if the government will invest the $75m needed to “stop the loss” of the jobs.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, who has the job of representing Science Minister Tim Ayres, gives us a little taste of what we can expect in the upcoming Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
“There has
been a decision taken by the government through the MYEFO process to provide additional funding for the CSIRO,” she says.
Rowland says more details will be made public at another time.
So watch this space, pals.
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:05am📹The moment the lights went out in the House of Reps
13h agoWed 26 Nov 2025 at 4:03am
McCormack asks about asbestos concerns in renewable imports
Nationals MP Michael McCormack asks about reports that asbestos has been found in imported materials from China used to build wind towers in Australia.
“What action is the minister taking to address this?” McCormack asks.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the matter relates to Goldwind Australia projects completed in 2020.
Bowen says it’s a “very serious matter” and that state regulators are undertaking checks to determine if other wind farms are impacted.
He says the government is working with states to ensure workplaces are safe.
“Work is being conducted to replace the affected parts under the comprehensive safety management plans. An independent industrial hygienist had been assessing the risk,” Bowen says.
“It’s the responsibility of importers and exporters to ensure that they do not import or export prohibited goods such as asbestos,” he says.