Federal politics live: Albanese denies deal with Greens, feud with Plibersek over environment laws

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has been tapped to lead the review into Australia’s research and development investment.

Industry Minister Ed Husic was asked this morning if the link to Elon Musk was a factor behind the choice.

“No, I think, if I may emphasise, I guess, Robyn’s involvement in a company that recognises, crucially, the value of R&D and improving the way to get things done and to be able to create an edge, and particularly if you look at what Tesla has done, be able to turn an idea into reality at a time where there are a lot of doubters over a long period of time,” he told RN Breakfast.

“The type of people that we’ve got involved, we’ve been thinking about for quite some time, and what they bring to the table.”

(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

A year-long review of Australia’s research and development (R&D) investment has been welcomed by the body that represents the most prestigious universities.

Group of Eight (Go8) chief Vicki Thomson says the forensic review was “overdue and urgent”.

“This is a nation building exercise and it must be a national priority. Investment in R&D is an investment in the future of Australia.

“Australia’s R&D intensity has been in decline for over a decade at a time when productivity growth has been patchy and competitor countries have been investing heavily in R&D. This review is long overdue and urgent.

“Universities – in particular our research-intensive universities – have picked up the slack and expenditure by the higher education sector on R&D has steadily increased from 0.40 per cent of GDP in 2000, to 0.61 per cent of GDP.

“But there’s a limit to how much our universities can contribute to R&D, given our reliance on international student fee revenue to fund that research.”

Thomson says the Go8 has recommended a target to lift Australia’s R&D intensity to 3 per cent of GDP by 2035.

Leading tech expert and chair of Elon Musk’s EV company Tesla Robyn Denholm has been appointed to lead a review of Australia research and development system.

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic says the investigation will give us an evidence base to grow our economy and boost our manufacturing sector.

While the PM was on NewsRadio denying a deal had been reached with the Greens on environment reforms, Sarah Hanson-Young was speaking with RN Breakfast.

The senator, who was part of the negotiations, says the Greens were “definitely close” to a deal.

She says it was “very clear … that the prime minister did not want these laws being debated”.

“What I was told was that there was problems with the set of amendments, or the areas that I have been negotiating [on] with Tanya Plibersek, and that it was too hard to do this week,” she said.

“I walk out of the room, of course. And before we know, at the front page of the Australian, the West Australian, virtually every newspaper the next morning was saying that the business lobby, the miners and the loggers had convinced the prime minister to dump these laws.

She says the laws remain “the unfinished business of this parliament”.

Major democracies around the world have all voted against incumbent governments. So is Anthony Albanese worried he’ll face the same fate?

The PM says he thinks Australians will vote on who has the “best offer for the future”.

“What people will vote for is one our record, the hard work we’ve done producing two budget surpluses, wages increasing, the work we’ve done on tax cuts for all Australians,” he says.

“They’ll vote on that, but they’ll also vote on who has the best offer for the future, and we’ll continue to outline our case.”

He says Labor will work harder in its second term to improve people’s lives in the long term.

(ABC News: Maren Preuss)

Anthony Albanese has denied there was a deal between the government and the Greens to pass its landmark environmental reform bill, despite reports otherwise.

The bill was not part of a deal that saw 30 bills pass the parliament last week. But the ABC understands Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had drafted amendments set to be sent to the Greens.

However, WA Premier Roger Cook said he had “conversations at the highest level” assuring him the legislation would be shelved.

The PM told ABC NewsRadio he has never wanted to agree to “any old amendments” in order to ram legislation through.

Albanese also denied he shelved the legislation to avoid aggravating voters in key industries in the West.

“This isn’t about politics,” he says.

Asked about speculation of an internal feud between himself and Plibersek, Albanese said that “absolutely” wasn’t the case.

“It’s extraordinary that the media want to concentrate on what didn’t happen as opposed to what did happen,” he says.

(ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)

Anthony Albanese has hinted there could be more cost-of-living relief on the way as the government looked to sharpen it’s election pitch.

The prime minister was speaking with ABC NewsRadio this morning, where he was asked if voters could expect Labor to unveil any other “significant measures” ahead of the next election.

He said Labor had already flagged its plan to slash student debt.

“There’s more to come as well, in 2025, because we understand that we want to work each and every day to assist people,” he said.

The PM said he understood people were doing it tough and that was why cost-of-living relief needed to be targeted towards bringing down inflation.

The government last week cleared the legislative decks, sparking speculation Australians could be headed to the polls sooner rather than later.

He declined to put a date on the next election, insisting he had always said it would be held in 2025.

“People will find out when I get in that that white car with the flag and go to Government House,” he says.

Industry Minister Ed Husic points to the digital wallets as an example of where the tech giants have innovated but entrenched its dominance.

Speaking with ABC News Breakfast, Husic acknowledges there is a bit of “chicken and egg stuff happening here”.

“This is the big thing with the ACCC, when the big
players try to entrench and do so in ways that might cause concerns around competition, you’ve got to get on top of that,” he says.

“That’s what we’re trying to do as a government by empowering the watchdog, the ACCC, to look into this. But again, I think that there’s a bit of chicken and egg stuff happening here.

“If we don’t innovate, we get left behind but we don’t want bad behaviour to entrench that.”

Just days after banning under 16s from social media, Labor will today launch a fresh offensive on the tech giants.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will use a speech to outline a plan to whack companies such as Apple and Google with fines of up to $50 million if they behave anti-competitively.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) would be given new powers to designate platforms that pose the greatest risk to competition for consumers and businesses.

Once designated, companies would have to meet new obligations.

Jones will say for too long platforms have used an unseen algorithm to push its own products and services unfairly, regardless of quality.

The ACCC will oversee compliance with the new framework, with penalties up to $50 million where necessary or 30 per cent of a company’s turnover. 

Welcome to our politics live blog. Courtney Gould from the ABC’s Parliament House team here to guide you through the day.

Let’s get into it.