Don Farrell has told the ABC that Ted O\u2019Brien had walked out on him while he was explaining the deal, along with the Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, who protested the trade deal while holding a pineapple earlier today.<\/p>\n
But Farrell told Patricia Karvelas the Coalition\u2019s and Greens\u2019 objections to the deal did not mean it could not proceed, adding:<\/p>\n
double quotation markI have to find nine sensible senators beyond the 30 that I\u2019ve got. I\u2019m discussing it with everybody. And don\u2019t think for one moment, Patricia, that the opposition is united in their position against this agreement \u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m hopeful, in fact, I\u2019m perhaps even confident that there are enough senators in the Australian Senate right now who understand just how important this agreement is for Australia to get through.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.27 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Husic rejects Wong\u2019s criticism of Palestinian Authority delaying elections<\/p>\n Ed Husic has pushed back at Penny Wong\u2019s criticism of the Palestinian Authority delaying its elections until 2027.<\/p>\n The foreign minister, with counterparts in Canada, France and the United Kingdom, has called the delay \u201cdeeply disappointing\u201d.<\/p>\n Husic has told the ABC:<\/p>\n double quotation markGaza has been levelled. There are Palestinians trying to hold on to their homes in the West Bank. Imagine trying to put a polling station in that circumstance.<\/p>\n The issue is, trying to make sure you have a election process that you can be confident in, that is held in a time that that can occur, and I don\u2019t think it can be, not with those current circumstances \u2026<\/p>\n And there are people who say, well, and the foreign minister I know has made this point, that our [Australia\u2019s] recognition of the state of Palestine was predicated on the elections, and I absolutely agree. But there is a time and a place. And this is not the right time.<\/p>\n Displaced Palestinians fill jerrycans at a water distribution point in Gaza City on Tuesday. Photograph: Majdi Fathi\/NurPhoto\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.08 EDT<\/p>\n Husic says he understands \u2018discomfort\u2019 at PM\u2019s office helping write a letter to itself<\/p>\n Ed Husic, the Labor backbencher, has backed independent David Pocock\u2019s concern at the process by which the AI parliamentary committee wrote its letter to the prime minister.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese\u2019s office signed off on language in the bipartisan letter on the AI inquiry before it was sent to the prime minister. Husic told the ABC:<\/p>\n double quotation markI think the time for inquiries is over \u2026 But having said that, if we are going to do an inquiry, the expectation is it\u2019s done thoroughly. Normally the process would be if you want to do an interim report, you do a report, and the secretariat gets involved, and it puts it together, and the committee has a chance to go through it, and make sure that it\u2019s a thorough response.<\/p>\n So, you know, I can understand why there would be some discomfort about, you know, a letter being put forward in the way that it was done. If you\u2019re going to do it, do it right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.03 EDT<\/p>\n Greens deputy leader hopes to be in government in \u2018not too distant future\u2019<\/p>\n The Greens\u2019 new deputy leader, Steph Hodgins-May, says she wants the minor party to form government and hopefully soon.<\/p>\n Hodgins-May was on the ABC just now, discussing her objections to the government\u2019s planned reform to its minimum 30% tax rate on discretionary trusts.<\/p>\n Steph Hodgins-May, deputy leader of the Greens. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n She said the Greens still wanted the reforms to happen \u201cthis year\u201d but wanted an inquiry to find and close any loopholes in the proposed system:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe\u2019re saying what the government\u2019s dished up at present isn\u2019t good enough. They\u2019ve watered down something to the point where we\u2019re uncomfortable with it. We think that it\u2019s going to create further inequity in the taxation system and benefit the 1% \u2026<\/p>\n Even if it\u2019s not perfect, well, we\u2019re going to fight for it to be better than it is.<\/p>\n Asked whether she accepted that the Greens could not make the laws \u201cperfect,\u201d Hodgins-May said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWell, until the Greens are in government, which I do hope happens in the not too distant future \u2013 when we can put up legislation that we are incredibly proud of and that we think Australians would also get behind \u2013 yes, there\u2019s a level of compromise. But let\u2019s be clear, we are sending this to inquiry. We will interrogate it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.51 EDT<\/p>\n US is repeatedly warning Labor on algorithm reforms, says trade minister<\/p>\n Don Farrell has said the US representatives to Australia have repeatedly complained about Labor\u2019s planned algorithm laws but made no direct threats.<\/p>\n The digital duty of care laws are expected to be introduced to parliament this week. Farrell told the ABC:<\/p>\n double quotation markThey\u2019ve been raised with me every time I\u2019ve met with the Americans. We obviously have a difference of opinion. We certainly don\u2019t believe anything we are doing is contrary to our free trade agreement \u2026 I\u2019ve tried to explain to the Americans that our objective is to protect our citizens, particularly young people. And so far, there hasn\u2019t been a direct response.<\/p>\n He said the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, has raised a range of social media issues but there had never been a threat of a consequence for the laws.<\/p>\n Farrell added:<\/p>\n double quotation markIn a few minutes, I\u2019m meeting the new American ambassador. He may or he may not [mention the laws]. I don\u2019t know. But if he does, I will explain to him, as I\u2019ve explained to Jamieson Greer, our job as an Australian government is to protect our citizens, and this is one of the ways we\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.30 EDT<\/p>\n Trade minister says Coalition MPs walked out of meeting on EU trade deal<\/p>\n The trade minister says Coalition<\/a> representatives have walked out of meetings on the European Union trade deal but some of its members might still be interested in getting the deal done.<\/p>\n Don Farrell has told the ABC that Ted O\u2019Brien had walked out on him while he was explaining the deal, along with the Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, who protested the trade deal while holding a pineapple earlier today.<\/p>\n But Farrell told Patricia Karvelas the Coalition\u2019s and Greens\u2019 objections to the deal did not mean it could not proceed, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation markI have to find nine sensible senators beyond the 30 that I\u2019ve got. I\u2019m discussing it with everybody. And don\u2019t think for one moment, Patricia, that the opposition is united in their position against this agreement \u2026<\/p>\n I\u2019m hopeful, in fact, I\u2019m perhaps even confident that there are enough senators in the Australian Senate right now who understand just how important this agreement is for Australia to get through.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.27 EDT<\/p>\n RBA warns staff pay rise \u2018will not proceed\u2019 if rejected ahead of vote<\/p>\n The Reserve Bank of Australia has told its staff they will miss out on their pay rise if they don\u2019t support a disputed wage deal.<\/p>\n RBA staff rejected a 9% increase over three years in July and have fought management for a better offer but the bank will put a roughly similar offer to a vote tomorrow.<\/p>\n Susan Woods, the RBA\u2019s chief operating officer, told staff in an email today the 9% offer was competitive. She said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe have genuinely negotiated to arrive at this position and are at the limit of what we can responsibly offer while meeting our obligations as a public institution and Australia\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n Staff have already missed six weeks of pay rise as their deal would have started in September. Woods told staff the RBA would not offer any back pay, adding:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is the Bank\u2019s best offer for the 2026 EA. A further \u201cno\u201d vote will not recover the salary already forgone, and the proposed 3.7 per cent increase will not proceed \u2026 Bargaining would continue, with no guarantee that this would result in a higher wage outcome.<\/p>\n An ibis bird perches next to the Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters in central Sydney. Photograph: Daniel Munoz\/Reuters<\/p>\n The RBA has compared its bargaining to federal public service, which is also offering 9%, and the Commonwealth Bank, which yesterday agreed pay rises over three years of 13% for its lowest paid staff but 5% for those on over $165,000.<\/p>\n The Finance Sector Union has asked RBA staff to reject the deal and fight for an 11% three-year deal. The vote will close at 5pm AEDT on Monday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.27 EDT<\/p>\n Thanks Krishani and hello readers! I\u2019ll be with you for the rest of the afternoon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> That\u2019s all from me on the politics blog today, thank you for following along.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll leave you with the magnetic Luca Ittimani (to borrow from <\/a>Jason Clare<\/a>) for the rest of the afternoon, and will see you back here bright and early tomorrow!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Tl;dr here\u2019s what happened in question time<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese said he and Jim Chalmers were in complete lockstep on delaying the ATO credit card ban, trying hard to pour cold water<\/a> over commentary that the prime minister had gone over his treasurer\u2019s head. Angus Taylor said Chalmers\u2019 had been \u201chumiliated\u201d and called for him to be sacked.<\/p>\n Small business minister Anne Aly faced more questions from the opposition who accused her of \u201cwaging a war<\/a>\u201d on small business. She tried to counter saying small business numbers were going up.<\/p>\n Communications minister Anika Wells used a dixer to implore the Coalition to support the government\u2019s digital duty of care bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n Josh Frydenberg\u2019s name got more of a workout by Labor – it\u2019s getting old so here\u2019s to hoping that soon ends.<\/p>\n And despite an at times pretty rowdy question time, as well as a few behavioural warnings, there were no ejections today!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.28 EDT<\/p>\n NSW One Nation<\/a> leader tours state parliament, says party is \u2018living rent free\u2019 in government\u2019s head<\/p>\n The NSW One Nation leader, Mike Newman, has been a surprise presence in and around state parliament today, appearing in the upper and lower house and hosting an unannounced press conference outside.<\/p>\n The NSW party does not have any MPs in either chamber, but is polling at 25%, in second place behind Labor, according to a September Sydney Morning Herald Resolve poll. During question time in the legislative assembly, Newman stood just inside the doorway by the opposition benches. He was asked to leave by the serjeant at arms before the premier, Chris Minns, used a question to criticise Newman for rejecting a legislative bid to compel One Nation to cost their election promises.<\/p>\n Newman, the candidate for the lower house seat of Cessnock at next year\u2019s election, told reporters this afternoon that One Nation was \u201cliving rent free in their heads\u201d. \u201cNo seats in upper or lower house, they still have to mention us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mike Newman in Cessnock last week. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts\/AAP<\/p>\n Newman was accompanied at a press conference by Libertarian upper house member, John Ruddick, who, like him, was also wearing a bright orange tie. Asked if Ruddick was joining One Nation, Newman, who later insisted he was not on a \u201crecruitment drive\u201d, said:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe haven\u2019t had that discussion at all. John\u2019s John, I\u2019m me. Don\u2019t let the orange tie fool you.<\/p>\n Newman, a former investment banker and trade bureaucrat, is not a Cessnock local and returned to Australia after spending 25 years working in Japan. He was quizzed on his knowledge of the electorate, fielding questions on his favourite Cessnock pub, restaurant, what he likes to order there and the name of the local footy team.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.44 EDT<\/p>\n The assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, gets the final dixer, and tries to get in a few last jabs to the Coalition<\/a> on Josh Frydenberg.<\/p>\n One of the jokes take a couple of goes to land.<\/p>\n After that the PM mercifully calls time on QT.<\/p>\n Just one more to go for the week.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.40 EDT<\/p>\n Nationals deputy leader Darren Chester asks the prime minister if he takes responsibility \u201cfor the average mortgage\u2013holder now paying $30,000 more per year because of the 16 interest rate rises under his government.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese says he does take responsibility for the two budget surpluses and budget improvements under the Labor government.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe fact that we\u2019ve produced eight separate either budgets or budget updates \u2013 every one of which has had a savings measure in it. We take responsibility for the fact that over 260,000 Australians…<\/p>\n The opposition tries to interject \u2013 the PM hasn\u2019t said he takes responsibility for the higher mortgage payments, and the Coalition<\/a> are trying to back him into a corner.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t work, Albanese opts to sit down, indicating he\u2019s finished his answer.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Sharkie questions government over aged care funding<\/p>\n Independent Rebekha Sharkie is next and asks the aged care minister why the Australian National Aged Care Classification \u2013 the funding model for residential aged care \u2013 has only received a 2.55% funding increase, below inflation.<\/p>\n She asks:<\/p>\n double quotation markWe need 10,000 new aged care beds annually, last year just 800 were added. Thousands of our elderly are stuck in hospitals waiting for an aged care bed around our nation. Minister, this is a disaster on your watch. Will you lift the ANACC funding to at least match inflation?<\/p>\n The aged care minister, Sam Rae, says the government increases funding to the ANACC based on independent advice.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe government sets aged care funding based on the independent advice from the independent funding authority. It provides expert [advice] to myself and Minister Butler \u2026 with a view to working out the efficient cost of delivering care.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.22 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Miscommunication\u2019 over digital duty of care, Wells tells One Nation<\/a> MP<\/p>\n Anika Wells gets another question on the DDOC, this time from One Nation\u2019s David Farley, who asks about an issue which has strongly activated right-wing opponents of the bill \u2013 powers for regulators to establish \u201csockpuppet\u201d accounts online.<\/p>\n Wells said such fake accounts had been used by \u201cmalevolent\u201d actors online for nefarious purposes, but that regulators would use it for \u201cmystery shopping\u201d purposes, like doing research on how platforms serve up particular types of content to particular types of users.<\/p>\n double quotation markThey need to mystery shop what is happening on platforms in order to test whether the platforms are actually doing what they say that they are doing. So if they say they are asking a 14-year-old for their age, we need to test if they are actually doing that.<\/p>\n What the eSafety commission, or accredited researchers do, is create an account, as a 14-year-old girl, and test those hypotheses. They do it for good purposes.<\/p>\n We think that we should be able to mark tech platforms\u2019 homework \u2013 they should not get to mark their own homework. So that is the purpose of sockpuppets.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.18 EDT<\/p>\n Prime minister quiet on goldmine court case<\/p>\n Nationals MP Jamie Chaffey asks the prime minister about the federal court ruling that the government blocked a billion-dollar goldmine in central-west NSW without authority.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese doesn\u2019t want to bite \u2013 he says it\u2019s a legal matter so won\u2019t comment.<\/p>\n double quotation markI understand the federal court found the declaration was not validly made. This was a complex legal case and as it\u2019s a legal matter we will work through the judgment together with the attorney general and we\u2019ll consider the findings very carefully indeed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.06 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Magnificent, marvellous, magnetic\u2019, the House plays a guessing game on Clare\u2019s dixers<\/p>\n There\u2019s a bit of a running joke on the education minister, Jason Clare\u2019s, dixers.<\/p>\n Clare loves a bit of alliteration when thanking a backbencher for a pre-planned softball question.<\/p>\n \u2018Magnetic\u2019 \u2026 Education minister, Jason Clare. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n Yesterday it was the \u201cdazzling member for Deakin\u201d.<\/p>\n Today the question comes from the member for Menzies, Gabriel Ng, and the opposition tries to guess the adjective as Clare steps up to the dispatch box.<\/p>\n They try, \u201cmagnificent\u201d, and \u201cmarvellous\u201d.<\/p>\n Clare laughs and thanks \u201cthe magnetic member for Menzies\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.25 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Put your politics to the side\u2019, Wells urges Coalition on online safety The communications minister, Anika Wells, says Labor\u2019s proposed digital duty of care \u201cmoves the safety net upstream\u201d to require tech companies do better, taking a shot at the Coalition<\/a> for refusing to discuss the legislation.<\/p>\n Wells will introduce the legislation tomorrow, then give a major speech at the National Press Club about it. She tells question time Australia already has \u201cone of the most comprehensive online safety frameworks in the world\u201d, but more work is needed.<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cAn independent statutory review has found that it is not able to cope with the growing scale of problems in the online world. Just last week, the AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett, warned that the police cannot be the only safety net when it comes to the radicalisation of young people online. By the time the AFP is knocking on a door, the harm is already done.<\/p>\n She said the digital duty of care would \u201cshift the burden from the shoulders of victims \u2026 to the companies that are creating the environments where harms occur.\u201d<\/p>\n Australian communications minister, Anika Wells, during question time today. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n double quotation markIt moves the safety net upstream to the people who design the product before it ever reaches the child.<\/p>\n double quotation markWells said she was surprised at the Coalition\u2019s reticence over the bill, after shadow spokesperson Sarah Henderson said the opposition wasn\u2019t interested in negotiating.<\/p>\n double quotation markLast week, they were criticising our online safety laws for not having enough parliamentary scrutiny. This week, they\u2019re criticising our online safety lords for having too much parliamentary scrutiny.<\/p>\n Put your politics to the side, listen to the AFP commissioner, and help us pass these laws.<\/p>\n![\"Luca](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791959890_200_Luca_Ittimani.png\")
Luca Ittimani<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791959891_805_Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\n![\"Penry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791959891_581_Penry_Buckley.png\")
Penry Buckley<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791959892_20_Josh_Butler.png\")
Josh Butler<\/p>\n