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Agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports are forecast to reach over $80 billion in 2026-27 – the third highest result, with strong demand for Australia’s world-class food and fibre. This success is a testament to the hard work, resilience and skill of Australia’s farmers, fishers and producers. It is backed by the Albanese Labor Government’s work to secure more market access opportunities, and to remove trade barriers, including $20 billion worth of trade with China.

Since the Albanese Government came to office, the value of Australia’s agricultural production has increased by 15 per cent, and more than 285 market access improvements have been delivered – with our agricultural trade now the most diversified it has ever been. Over the past year, the Albanese Government has secured new market access opportunities in key markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada and India, supporting exports of products such as blueberries, apples, rendered products and organic goods.

The success of Australia’s food production system is helping to strengthen our national economy and regional communities, and maintaining Australia’s reputation as a trusted and reliable food supplier – supporting strong agricultural supply chains globally. These are key priorities of Australia’s first National Food Security Strategy, Feeding Australia, which the Albanese Government will deliver next year.

Development of Feeding Australia continues to progress, with extensive consultation across the agriculture industry, food and transport supply chain, nutrition and health sector undertaken over the last year, including more than 400 public submissions and 36 workshops held across the country. It will provide a long-term plan to boost the productivity and resilience of Australia’s food system, building on the Government’s existing work to keep our food production strong, and to help support farmers, fishers and producers impacted by the war in the Middle East and our changing climate.

For more information on Feeding Australia, visit: www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/food/national-food-security-strategy Quotes attributable to Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP: “On World Food Day, we recognise the people who make Australia's food system one of the strongest and most trusted in the world, from our farmers and fishers to the workers who process, transport and sell our food.

“Our farmers, fishers and producers are the backbone of this nation, which is why our Government has worked to restore Australia’s international standing and to unlock more opportunities for them to export more of our world-class products. “Our agricultural trade is now the most diversified it has ever been, which is not only good for our farmers and regional communities, but supports the important role Australia plays in strengthening food security across the Indo Pacific and more broadly.

“We continue to work with our agriculture industry to help them manage disruptions today, and to develop Australia’s first National Food Security Strategy, which will ensure our food system remains globally completive and strong into the future.” Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Anthony Chisholm: “World Food Day is about recognising the industries and communities that produce the safe, reliable and nutritious food that every Australian relies on.

“We have the best food in the world and we are proud of it, which is why our Government is backing our farmers and producers to succeed today and to seize new opportunities tomorrow. “Our food system is a national asset, and through our investments to bolster our biosecurity system, and to boost agricultural innovation and climate resilience, we are helping to make it stronger for the future.” We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia.

We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Korean quarantine officers will no longer be required to undertake pre-clearance inspections in Australia prior to export, and will maintain Korea’s biosecurity protections through existing export certification and compliance arrangements. The new import requirements will also enable Queensland lemon exporters to access the Korean market thanks to the improved arrangements.

Australian lemon exports to Korea have risen from $295,000 in 2021-22 to $1.78 million in 2025-26. Under the Albanese Labor Government, the value of Australia’s agricultural production has increased by 15 per cent, and more than 285 market access improvements have been delivered, supporting the continued diversification of Australia's agricultural trade. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports are forecast to reach over $80 billion in 2026-27 – the third highest result, with strong demand for Australia’s world-class food and fibre.

Over the past year, the Government has secured new market access opportunities in key markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada and India, supporting exports of products such as blueberries, apples, rendered products and organic goods. Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP: “Korea is an important trading partner for Australia and we welcome these new arrangements, which will benefit Australian growers and exporters.

“The revised import requirements will provide greater flexibility for growers and export facilities seeking to access the Korean market while also supporting future growth opportunities for Australian lemon exports. “These changes are also a win for Queensland lemon growers and exporters, who are now able to access the Korean market. "Our Government will continue working around the clock to deliver more opportunities for Australian farmers who export our world-class produce.” We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia.

We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports are forecast to reach over $80 billion in 2026-27 – the third highest result, with strong demand for Australia’s world-class food and fibre. This success is a testament to the hard work, resilience and skill of Australia’s farmers, fishers and producers. It is backed by the Albanese Labor Government’s work to secure more market access opportunities, and to remove trade barriers, including $20 billion worth of trade with China.

Since the Albanese Government came to office, the value of Australia’s agricultural production has increased by 15 per cent, and more than 285 market access improvements have been delivered – with our agricultural trade now the most diversified it has ever been. Over the past year, the Albanese Government has secured new market access opportunities in key markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Canada and India, supporting exports of products such as blueberries, apples, rendered products and organic goods.

The success of Australia’s food production system is helping to strengthen our national economy and regional communities, and maintaining Australia’s reputation as a trusted and reliable food supplier – supporting strong agricultural supply chains globally. These are key priorities of Australia’s first National Food Security Strategy, Feeding Australia, which the Albanese Government will deliver next year.

Development of Feeding Australia continues to progress, with extensive consultation across the agriculture industry, food and transport supply chain, nutrition and health sector undertaken over the last year, including more than 400 public submissions and 36 workshops held across the country. It will provide a long-term plan to boost the productivity and resilience of Australia’s food system, building on the Government’s existing work to keep our food production strong, and to help support farmers, fishers and producers impacted by the war in the Middle East and our changing climate.

For more information on Feeding Australia, visit: www.agriculture.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/food/national-food-security-strategy Quotes attributable to Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP: “On World Food Day, we recognise the people who make Australia's food system one of the strongest and most trusted in the world, from our farmers and fishers to the workers who process, transport and sell our food.

“Our farmers, fishers and producers are the backbone of this nation, which is why our Government has worked to restore Australia’s international standing and to unlock more opportunities for them to export more of our world-class products. “Our agricultural trade is now the most diversified it has ever been, which is not only good for our farmers and regional communities, but supports the important role Australia plays in strengthening food security across the Indo Pacific and more broadly.

“We continue to work with our agriculture industry to help them manage disruptions today, and to develop Australia’s first National Food Security Strategy, which will ensure our food system remains globally completive and strong into the future.” Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Anthony Chisholm: “World Food Day is about recognising the industries and communities that produce the safe, reliable and nutritious food that every Australian relies on.

“We have the best food in the world and we are proud of it, which is why our Government is backing our farmers and producers to succeed today and to seize new opportunities tomorrow. “Our food system is a national asset, and through our investments to bolster our biosecurity system, and to boost agricultural innovation and climate resilience, we are helping to make it stronger for the future.” We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia.

We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

The proposed commitments for inclusion in the NAP4 have been developed in consultation with Australia's Open Government Forum, which consists of civil society and government representatives. The Government is now seeking feedback on these commitments, which include: delivering Australia's first national media literacy strategy strengthening youth engagement in government decision-making enhancing transparency of corporate ownership to build integrity and trust and reduce the risk of financial crime and corruption strengthening civic participation through collaborative design of model government engagement processes enhancing transparency of AI and digital accessibility strengthening Commonwealth fraud and corruption control frameworks improving access to government information and communications for people with disability.

Feedback gathered through this consultation process will inform the priority and composition of final commitments included in the Plan. Further information, including the consultation paper and details on how to make a submission, is available on the Attorney-General's Department Consultation hub Submissions are open until 6 November 2026. Quotes attributable to the Attorney-General, Hon Michelle Rowland MP: "The Albanese Government is committed to upholding Australia's international status as an open, accountable and transparent democracy.

"The proposed commitments reflect practical opportunities to improve transparency and accountability in government and strengthen public participation. "Public engagement and participation are fundamental principles of open government. I encourage all interested Australians to have their say and share their perspective on the proposed commitments."

An Australian Defence Force member has been identified as a person of interest and is assisting with inquiries. Vice Admiral Buckley has labelled the incident a despicable betrayal of trust, and in a statement assured personnel that any perpetrator will be held to account. Pat Conroy is the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and joins me now.

Minister, welcome back to Breakfast. MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY, PAT CONROY: Thanks for having me, Sally. SALLY SARA: How concerning is this incident from the Government's perspective?

MINISTER CONROY: It's a reprehensible act, a breach of trust, and it's completely unacceptable, and I join with Admiral Matt Buckley in his condemnation of it. It's important that we know that the military police are investigating it right now, and that an ADF individual is assisting the military police with their inquiries. SALLY SARA: What's your understanding of the time frame for that investigation?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, that's really up to them to gather the evidence and make a decision around all the facts. We're not going to rush them; they're going to do their job properly. We owe it to all the service personnel involved who have been impacted by this despicable act.

But this is completely unacceptable, and we need to obviously make sure that this never happens again. SALLY SARA: Vice Admiral Buckley is talking about a sweep right across the fleet to look for similar issues. How long will that take?

MINISTER CONROY: Again, that is occurring right now. It's happening as fast as possible. I'm not going to get into timelines for how long that will take.

My understanding so far is this incident refers to a single recording device. But Admiral Buckley is doing absolutely the right thing in making sure that there are no other devices of this manner on any Naval vessel in the fleet. SALLY SARA: Why does this keep happening, these kinds of incidents that undermine the safety, particularly of female members of the ADF?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, this is obviously a cultural issue that we're grappling with and will continue to grapple with as we see more and more female Australians serve in the ADF, I think one in five ADF personnel are women. They need to be treated with respect and dignity like all service personnel, and the culture has to change to accommodate that. There was obviously a key finding in the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide, and Minister Keogh is launching a women's veterans’ strategy today that obviously deals with other issues associated with women's service.

So, this is a cultural challenge that the ADF leadership and the political leadership is up for, and we'll continue to make sure that cultural change is occurring. SALLY SARA: What's your message to young Australian women and their families if these women are considering joining the ADF when this cultural challenge remains, and we see incidents happening again and again?

MINISTER CONROY: My message is we want you to serve, we want you to serve, we want to make sure you can serve in a safe and respectful environment, and we're working very hard to do that, but we're really grateful for anyone who sticks their hand up to serve in the Australian Defence Force to help defend our country. SALLY SARA: Tasmanian independent senator and veteran Jacqui Lambie says defence should clean up its culture and is calling for an independent body to be established outside of the ADF to deal with these sorts of incidents.

Is that something that the Government would consider? MINISTER CONROY: I've got a lot of respect for Senator Lambie and her passionate commitment to this cause. Her private legislation, private members' legislation hasn't [indistinct] unintended consequences that might mean it's not the right pathway, and we've got to arrange ‑‑ SALLY SARA: What do you mean?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, details of how that would run is something that Minister Keogh is dealing with, but what we are committed to is making sure that the culture is there that's safe and respectful, and we've got a range of measures in place to allow us to do that. SALLY SARA: On a separate issue, today you're announcing that Australia will work with Fiji to acquire uncrewed ocean drones known as Bluebottles to support Fiji's maritime security.

How will Australia help Fiji to get these ocean drones? MINISTER CONROY: Well, we're building a factory; in fact, I'm opening the factory this morning to produce these Bluebottles. We've allocated a $176 million contract for our own Bluebottles.

We're running over ten now, and our fleet will be over 50 when that's finished. That will be the largest fleet of uncrewed maritime surveillance vessels in the world, and we're also acquiring some for Fiji. These are brilliant vessels.

They're small yacht-sized dinghies that run on solar, wave and wind power. They're fitted with radars, cameras and sonar, and they've got a great ability to detect and track maritime vessels and submarines at long distances. So, this is Aussie innovation, basing technology at the University of New South Wales with boat builders from the Hunter Valley, and it's a great example of us working with the Pacific to make our region safer, to obviously deal with military threats but also the scourge of drug trafficking which affects all countries in the Pacific.

SALLY SARA: Minister, yesterday you told the ABC that "the rot has to stop" after a Freedom of Information document showed Defence officials behind Australia's flagship missile program, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, racked up at least $15.6 million in financial and procurement blunders. Should Australians be alarmed by basic accounting and administrative issues that have cost taxpayers millions of dollars?

MINISTER CONROY: Well, they should be assured that we're reforming Defence. This is an example of why we need to reform the Defence organisation, and we're undertaking the biggest reform to the Defence organisation since 1979. Let's be clear about what occurred here.

The last government, the Abbott Government, sacked thousands of skilled project managers from the Department of Defence and outsourced project management to private sector contractors. Those private sector contractors were responsible for these procurement errors and are no longer working on that team, and we're rolling the Guided Weapons Group into the Defence delivery agency that will be stood up on 1 July next year, staffed by skilled public servants and ADF personnel who will be the best project managers in the Commonwealth.

We're bringing that capability within the public service because we shouldn't have to rely on external contractors to deliver critical defence capability to the extent that the Liberal Government allowed to happen. SALLY SARA: Minister, on a separate issue, Ukraine's Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko is expected to meet with Greens leader David Shoebridge today.

This meeting comes after the Nine newspapers reported that Senator Shoebridge and his party said his party doesn't support military aid to Ukraine. Does the Australian Government have a message to Ukrainian Australians on this? MINISTER CONROY: My message to Ukrainian Australians is that we stand with you in supporting the people of Ukraine in their valiant struggle against Vladimir Putin's illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

We're supporting them through $1.8 billion in assistance, including over $1.6 billion in military aid. I was appalled by Senator Shoebridge's comments. Why he's decided to side with Vladimir Putin and deny the people of Ukraine assistance in their hour of need is beyond me.

What we're seeing here is an example of the extreme left and extreme right meeting in the middle in a circle. Just as Pauline Hanson called Vladimir Putin a strong leader, why Senator Shoebridge is, hopefully unintentionally, aiding and abetting Putin's invasion of Ukraine by denying critical military assistance to the armed services of Ukraine is beyond me. It's appalling, and it's an action of a deeply unserious leader.

SALLY SARA: Just finally on a separate matter, what's your reaction to the news from the White House that it will not go ahead with the proposed live stream of the execution of a convicted mass shooter who killed US troops? This execution will take place in December, but the President has announced that the live stream won't go ahead. What do you think?

MINISTER CONROY: I welcome that decision, quite frankly. I don't think we need to get into the details, but I think live streaming of such an event poses lots of challenges to people watching it, and obviously I think we've all learned once something gets out onto the Internet it's there forever, and I certainly don't want to be in a situation where anyone sees those sorts of incidents.

SALLY SARA: Minister, thank you for joining me this morning. MINISTER CONROY: Thank you very much.

We're joined now by the Defence Industry Minister, Pat Conroy. Pat, welcome back to our program. MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: Thanks for having me.

JAMES GLENDAY : James, is just one person thought to be responsible for this? MINISTER CONROY : Well, I can confirm that there is one person, one ADF person, assisting military police with their inquiries. We have to be very careful.

There is a live investigation going on right now, so we're constrained with the details, but there is one person assisting in this investigation into what is an appalling incident, disgraceful and absolutely reprehensible incident. That is completely unacceptable. JAMES GLENDAY : Do you know yet how long the camera was there or if any of the vision captured by the camera was shared or even posted online?

MINISTER CONROY : Well, again, that goes to a live military police investigation, and I'm not going to compromise that investigation by disclosing those sorts of details. Obviously, Chief of Navy Admiral Buckley has quite rightly commissioned an urgent investigation of all other naval vessels to make sure that there are no other recording devices on board those vessels.

But this is completely unacceptable. We need to let the military police investigation run its course. They're working with civilian authorities as well, which is appropriate.

And obviously we need to let that process run its course. JAMES GLENDAY : Sure. I mean, can you just make it crystal clear for us, though, you don't think this is espionage-related, right, you think this is misconduct?

MINISTER CONROY : Well, again, I have to be very careful about it. But we've got no indications that it is espionage at this stage. JAMES GLENDAY : I mean, as you say, there's going to be this broad sweep of naval ships for cameras.

Are you concerned this is indicative of a broader cultural problem within the Australian military? This is not the first time a camera is actually being found in a space operated by the military. Are women serving at the moment safe?

MINISTER CONROY : We've been very open that the culture of the ADF has to change. It is changing, it is improving, but these incidents are still occurring, and they're completely unacceptable. We're committed, as is the senior leadership of the Australian Defence Force, to changing the culture so that everyone who joins the ADF is respected and can serve their nation with respect and dignity.

One in five serving personnel are now women. That's great news, and we want to see that number increase. But the ADF has to change its culture to allow that to happen.

JAMES GLENDAY : Jacqui Lambie, the Independent Senator, she revealed this incident in Parliament. She was on our show yesterday talking about some of the problems in culture that she sees within the military. One idea she has is for an independent body to investigate this.

Does this need to be handled at arm's length, do you think? Is the military in Australia capable of marking its own homework and investigating itself? MINISTER CONROY : Well, we've got an inquiry right now, an independent inquiry led by Senator, former Senator, Natasha Stott Despoja into military sexual violence.

And that was a really important initiative, and we’ll obviously pay very close attention to the recommendations that come out of that inquiry. But I've got enormous respect for Senator Lambie. She's passionate about veterans and serving ADF personnel's welfare, and we're very committed to working with her through the details of her Private Member’s Bill that goes to this issue.

And we're in complete alignment about the intent of the Bill, which is to make sure that the Australian Defence Force is a safe working environment for all Defence Force personnel. And we're working very closely with Jacqui on this issue, and I want to thank her on behalf of the nation and the Parliament for her passionate commitment to this issue. JAMES GLENDAY : I just want to go to something else she said then, before we moved on, she said that this is not kind of really the first.

She alluded to the fact there might be other incidents like this. Are any other incidents under investigation currently? MINISTER CONROY : Not that I'm aware of.

I'm not the Defence Personnel Minister, I'm the Defence Industry Minister. I can say that so far this is…this investigation relates to a single recording device found on one particular naval vessel. And we're obviously doing a sweep of all other naval vessels to make sure that this appalling behaviour isn't occurring anywhere else.

JAMES GLENDAY : Ok, let's go to your direct portfolio then, Defence industry. The ABC has a story showing that defence officials behind a missile program racked up about $15.5 million in financial and procurement blunders. I mean, that's a small amount of cash in terms of the whole defence spend, but it's still big by anyone's view.

How did this happen? MINISTER CONROY : Let's be very clear, these were not defence officials. These were contractors.

There's no excuse for what occurred. In fact, this is further justification for the very extensive reform to the defence organisation that we're undertaking right now. What happened was, under the former Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government, they gutted the Department of Defence.

They outsourced significant roles into the private sector and ended the Department of Defence being a project management organisation and brought in thousands of contractors and consultants, some who are really important but others who are doing jobs that should be done by public servants, we're committed to changing that. We're standing up the Defence Delivery Agency and building the premier project management organisation in the Commonwealth so that we don't have to rely on contractors who, in this instance, acted inappropriately.

And that incident was discovered by a subsequent project management team who then reported it. JAMES GLENDAY : You've been in government for four years now, I mean, are you confident that on these huge spends, these huge military projects, these military acquisition projects, that taxpayer money is not being wasted now? MINISTER CONROY : I'm confident that we're using taxpayers’ money as efficiently as possible, but we're committed to doing better, and that's why we're reforming Defence.

I'm not pretending that it's perfect. In fact, I'm saying it's not perfect, and we're working very hard to reform it. That's why we've undertaken the most significant reforms to the Defence organisation in 50 years to ensure that taxpayers get better bang for buck and that the Australian Defence Force gets the equipment it needs.

This incident was unacceptable. It relates to contractors brought in by the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government in a flawed system. And we're fixing it right now.

We're not waiting for reviews, we're fixing it right now. We've stood up the Defence Delivery Group that will then be spun out of the Department of Defence into the Defence Delivery Agency on 1st July next year, headed by the National Armaments Director, who will drive commercial expertise so the incidents like this don't occur again. JAMES GLENDAY : Just finally, Pat, Donald Trump says a US military firing squad execution will not be live-streamed.

I imagine you're going to welcome that decision. Does the fact this was even a discussion in America risk damaging the way that Australians perceive our military Alliance, our close Alliance with the United States? MINISTER CONROY : Look, I think that's a pretty long bow to draw, James.

I'm very relieved that this execution will not be live streamed. I think, like most Australians, I believe there's no place for the depictions of these sorts of incidents on the Internet. Once it's out there, it's very hard for it to be brought back in.

And it's something I don't want any Australian to see, quite frankly. JAMES GLENDAY : So, you don't believe some of the more erratic ramblings of the Trump administration and friends damages Australia's relationship with America? MINISTER CONROY : The Alliance with the United States is the bedrock of our national security.

It's as critical as our investment in our own capability for the ADF. The Alliance is in a very strong position, and we're committed to supporting it as is the US, and the Alliance is supported, no matter who is in the White House and no matter who is the Government of Australia, because it's in both our national interests. And I think if you ask most Australians, they see the essential value of it, just as they see the essential value in our record investment in our own defence capabilities to make sure that we've got the national sovereignty and the self-reliance and independence to defend our country by ourselves as well.

JAMES GLENDAY : Pat Conroy, we always appreciate your time. Thanks for joining our show. MINISTER CONROY : Thanks James.

Have a good morning.

JOURNALIST: Minister, where do you see these being deployed? What sort of areas in terms of [indistinct]? MINISTER CONROY: I’ll see if Admiral Buckley wants to add to it, but they’re being deployed right now through Operation Resolute to protect our borders.

And that’s playing a critical role. Fifteen are being used by the Navy right now. We’re acquiring another 40.

They will be equipped to do intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, including the ability to detect submarines. That’s a really important capability. And as I said, they’ll be deployed to the south west Pacific to help deal with the scourge of drug smuggling.

I’ll see if Vice Admiral Buckley wants to add. VICE ADMIRAL MATT BUCKLEY: Thanks, Minister. I mean, the beauty of these capabilities is they’re incredibly flexible.

Not only can we deploy them for many, many months at a time in our northern approaches but we can put them in a container, we can stick them in the back of an aircraft or a ship and therefore deploy and anywhere that we want to operate in the Indian or Pacific. And they can stay out at sea for many, many months at a time, survive a couple of cyclones. So very resilient, very versatile.

And, you know, we’re really excited to have this capability. JOURNALIST: Minister, will the Bluebottles in Fiji be under police command or under navy command? MINISTER CONROY: Well, there’ll be under the command of the Government of Fiji.

Whether they use it through their navy or their police force, that’s up to them. They’ll be sovereign assets of the Fijian Government. We’ll work closely with them.

We supported the construction of the Maritime Essential Services Centre, the MESC. That is a great capability not just for Fiji but for the broader region. And they’re at the heart of the Waqa Moana initiative, $600 million cross-Pacific initiative to tackle the scourge of drug smuggling.

JOURNALIST: And how many Bluebottles will you supply to Fiji? MINISTER CONROY: We’re not at liberty to discuss the final number for operational reasons right now. Obviously it will tip off drug smugglers.

But the first one will be being deployed early next year. Any other questions? I’ll just check, sir, if there’s any- Anna, do you have anything from the gallery on defence?

JOURNALIST: I have a defence question. MINISTER CONROY: Any more on Bluebottles first. On Bluebottles?

JOURNALIST: Bluebottles first. Bluebottles first. JOURNALIST: Absolutely.

Then we have some other questions on broader issues for defence, so thank you. Just in relation to the capability here, is this capability also potentially able to detect things like submarines travelling under the surface or other things [indistinct] and movement from maritime capacity of other nations? MINISTER CONROY: Absolutely.

These will be one of the critical intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance platforms for the Royal Australian Navy. They are equipped with a sonar right now which has the ability to detect both vessels on the surface but also submarines as well as radars and a range of other optical detection devices. So these absolutely will be part of a layered approach to detecting submarines and surface vessels.

And the beauty of them is that they are quiet – they’re literally powered by the sun, the waves and the wind – so that they are very hard to detect themselves. They are virtually impossible to detect unless you get very close to them. So that gives us a real operational advantage when you’re trying to detect submarines.

JOURNALIST: Minister, can I ask a question – MINISTER CONROY: Any more questions about Bluebottles? JOURNALIST: You mentioned the destination for the drugs is Australia. MINISTER CONROY: And New Zealand.

JOURNALIST: And New Zealand. MINISTER CONROY: Don’t forget New Zealand. JOURNALIST: Okay.

Can you tell us a little bit more about the capability and the cooperation between Australia and the Pacific nations around this particular issue? MINISTER CONROY: Well, we are providing direct bilateral cooperation with countries like Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu are three examples, as well as regional support. So we have the Pacific Maritime Surveillance Program where we provide Guardian-class patrol boats to almost every Pacific nation that they run.

So that’s a patrol boat capability. We also have an aerial surveillance program that we are increasing funding for at the moment. We in fact have a live tender out at the moment.

So we’ve got maritime vessels that we provide, aerial surveillance that we provide as well, and we have strong cooperation through the Australian Federal Police, Border Force and Customs. And, on top of that, we announced a $600 million Waqa Moana initiative that the Prime Minister announced at the Palau PIF last month. All that is about us supporting the Pacific.

As a proud Pacific nation we’re part of regional efforts. Pacific security should come from within the Pacific, and that’s what we’re doing right now. Excellent.

Well, we might – any others about this? No? We might let [indistinct] escape.

Thank you very much. Any other questions about defence? JOURNALIST: Yes, Minister.

Danuta Kozaki, ABC News. What reassurance will you give the women serving our country that they won’t have recording devices on board ships? MINISTER CONROY: Well, I’ll invite Vice Admiral Buckley to comment about the role that he is performing here, but I was shocked and appalled by what we saw on HMAS Leeuwin.

Every ADF personnel should have the right to operate with dignity and respect, and that did not occur in this instance. That’s why there’s a Military Police investigation going on right now, and there’s one person cooperating with that inquiry right now. Vice Admiral Buckley, quite rightly, has ordered a review of all naval vessels to make sure that there are no other recording devices.

We’ve been very upfront that we’re committed to changing the culture of the ADF. It is improving, but we’ve got a long way to go, and that’s a commitment of the senior leadership of the ADF as well as the political leadership through the Deputy Prime Minister, myself and Minister Keogh. But I’ll see if Vice Admiral Buckley would like to add.

CHIEF OF NAVY, VICE ADMIRAL BUCKLEY: Yeah, thanks, Minister. As I said to our people yesterday, this is a despicable act, an incredible betrayal of trust for the amazing men and women of our navy. It does not define our navy.

And we absolutely must act with alacrity to ensure we provide a safe workplace for our people. Only last night we completed a hundred per cent audit of the entire fleet to ensure that there were no such similar devices. We will, of course, rigorously review our procedures to make sure that we don’t have a recurrence of this event.

And as I said to our people, I am absolutely determined that we will hold this perpetrator to account. JOURNALIST: Vice Admiral, do you know if any of the images were livestreamed? VICE ADMIRAL BUCKLEY: I do not know that any of the images were livestreamed.

And the investigation is still underway at this stage. JOURNALIST: And have you had any discussions with any of the women on board or anyone impacted? VICE ADMIRAL BUCKLEY: I’ve spoken to some of the impacted people.

I sent the Warrant Officer, Navy. She went up to Cairns immediately after finding out. She only flew back last night.

She had a one-on-one with the crew, with any of the impacted people. That was an important opportunity for us to do so. And our people need to understand that we have their interests at heart.

It’s the most important thing we do. And to make sure that they’ve got a safe environment and getting rid of sexual violence of any type has to be our priority. It’s the most important thing because we need to do that to ensure we have the trust of all people in the ADF in our workforce.

JOURNALIST: Were there concerns addressed to you by women serving our country? VICE ADMIRAL BUCKLEY: I have spoken to a number of our sailors. As you would expect, many of them have raised this with the leadership of the Navy.

And I have given them the exact same commitment as I’ve just said here on camera and in my message to them. We have to listen to their concerns and we have to respond appropriately to what they need to feel that they safe in their workplace. That’s critical.

JOURNALIST: And what guarantees will you have this won’t happen again? VICE ADMIRAL BUCKLEY: We will do everything that we physically can, put all of our resources to make sure that these events do not occur again. JOURNALIST: We saw at Land Forces that there was a need for a national discussion on readiness and preparedness, and the RSL Australia has just prepared a framework for national preparation and readiness.

Is the Government late to the party on that issue? MINISTER CONROY: Absolutely not. And I’ll see if Minister Ayres wants to add to this, because he’s got an incredibly important role in national resilience and he’s doing a great job on that.

We identified this in the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, a need to lock at defence beyond the borders of the Department of Defence and the ADF and the need to mobilise the nation in terms of readiness and preparedness. And, in fact, we titled our key chief defence strategy the National Defence Strategy for that intentional reason – it’s about national defence that does not end at Russell or the ADF.

Today is a great example of that. We’re mobilising companies that have never done business with Defence before to supply the ADF because there are 100,000 people in the defence industry and we need that to grow. And we’ll do that by tapping the brewing innovation and entrepreneurship of the broader Australian industry.

Tim, anything you wanted to add? MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION,TIM AYRES: I’ll just say very quickly, this is a government that has since its election put resilience at the core of our industrial and economic strategy. The budget this year, two things – reform and resilience.

And resilience is the core of that. We have the biggest pro-manufacturing policy platform of any government in Australian history, from dealing with securing our heavy industrial capability in places like Central Queensland and the Hunter through to announcements like this that deliver the most advanced Australian manufacturing capability in the interests of our national security and our defence.

Boss, we’ve got probably time for one more. Anna, did you have anything on the line there? JOURNALIST: Yeah, we do have a couple here, so appreciate your patience. [Indistinct] Channel Seven as well.

So, yeah, we have [indistinct] questions [indistinct]. Well, we might – let’s start. JOURNALIST: Yes.

Minister, Tom [indistinct] from Channel Seven. The US President has stepped in to stop the broadcast of the Pentagon’s execution this morning. What’s the government’s reaction to that? [Indistinct] broadcasting to the Australian people?

MINISTER CONROY: Look, we welcome the decision of the Trump administration. I, like many other Australians, were very concerned about livestreaming of an execution, and we are just very relieved by the decision. JOURNALIST: Minister, can I ask you on a separate matter – either minister – the Opposition has said they won’t approve or don’t condone the trade deal with the EU.

Are you open to further talks with the EU given this position in the Australian Senate? MINISTER AYRES: Well, let me make this very clear: there is only one government, one party in Australia that is serious about delivering free and fair trade for Australian industry. This is a very sharp economic test for Angus Taylor and the Liberals and Nationals of their economic credibility.

There’s a binary position – vote for a top-shelf, top-quality European-Australia free trade agreement with this giant market for Australian industry, or vote against it. It is a test of their economic credibility, and they need to think through very clearly what their approach will be. JOURNALIST: Were you surprised given that [indistinct] starts on free trade?

MINISTER AYRES: It just demonstrates that they have drifted so far from the mainstream interests of Australians and of Australian industry that they are prepared to scuttle investment, firms, jobs, opportunity, in order for a sort of inside baseball Canberra political game. This is not a game. This is about a trade agreement with 400 million Europeans ready to buy Australian goods that drops barriers to entry for Australian firms to Europe.

It’s a test for Angus Taylor – can he deliver mainstream economic credibility for the Liberals or will he walk away from it? One more from the phone. We’ve got time for one more from the phone.

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] ask one question [indistinct]. [Indistinct] I wanted to get your response to the fact that the Greens Leader David Shoebridge when interviewed [indistinct] today [indistinct] concerns about [indistinct] producers [indistinct] Australia and [indistinct] concern [indistinct] future. What [indistinct] the Greens do about – MINISTER CONROY: Do you want to ask the question to Tim as well, and then I’ll address it?

JOURNALIST: Thank you. And to Minister Ayres, there’s been [indistinct] around Chinese [indistinct]. You’re obviously aware of details of [indistinct], but are you now prepared to retaliate [indistinct] China, and why do you think this action is justified?

Thank you. MINISTER CONROY: Thanks, Anna. I’m going to respectfully correct your question, slightly there.

The Greens haven’t voiced concern about providing military aid to the people of Ukraine; they’ve said they’re opposed to it. Just reflect on that for a moment. The Greens political party’s official position is that they would stop Australia providing military assistance to the brave people of Ukraine in their valiant struggle to defend their nation against Vladimir Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of their homeland.

Think about that for a moment. This is a betrayal of Ukraine. This is a betrayal of Ukrainian Australians, and it makes no sense.

It makes no sense that they would do this. And for them to act as hopefully unwitting puppets of Vladimir Putin is a national shame, and they should have a long hard look at themselves. This is another example of the extreme left of Australian politics and the extreme right of Australian politics going full circle and meeting.

You’ve got Pauline Hanson saying that Vladimir Putin is a strong leader, and you’ve got David Shoebridge assisting Vladimir Putin – sorry, you’ve got David Shoebridge assisting Vladimir Putin by saying that we shouldn’t provide military assistance to Ukraine. It’s a betrayal and it’s a disgrace, and it shows that they’re a deeply unserious party that can’t be trusted with any part of government.

MINISTER AYRES: Well, thanks. Thanks very much for the question, Anna, about the preliminary determination of the Australian Trade Remedies Commission. This is a preliminary decision.

It is part of our framework, WTO-compliant framework, that deals with dumping in the Australian [indistinct]. We’ve built the Australian Trade Remedies Commission, legislated it through the parliament, to make sure that we’ve got a strong, modern, fit-for-purpose Trade Remedies Commission to make sure that Australian industry is on a level playing field. You know, 80 per cent of Australian windows and doors that Australians purchase are made here.

And I expect, like the Albanese Government, Australians will continue to back Australian industry. The real test today and over the next few weeks on a commitment to free and fair trade and a test on economic credibility is whether Angus Taylor and the Liberals will vote for the European-Australia free trade agreement. Whether they will scuttle, using their votes in the Senate, undermine Australia’s economy and Australia’s exporters by voting against that deal.

That would be the end of the Liberals and Nationals’ mainstream economic credibility. All right, take care, everybody.

Their service strengthens Australia’s national security, builds sovereign capability and shapes the future of our Defence Force, but women’s experience of service can vary from their male counterparts. Research and consultation have shown women can face different challenges during and after military service, particularly in areas such as health, employment, financial security, safety, caring responsibilities and access to support.

This landmark Strategy provides a framework to ensure women veterans’ service is better recognised, understood and reflected through policy and supports during and post service. The Strategy is grounded in consultation with serving and ex-serving women veterans across service types, ranks, service eras and geographic locations, ex-service organisations, academia, health and service providers and government and international counterparts.

We are embedding women’s health, transition and economic security into the core of policy, not treating it as an add-on. Developed in partnership between the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Department of Defence, the Strategy will improve visibility and inclusion, strengthen health and wellbeing outcomes, enhance safety and trust, support employment and economic security, better recognise caring responsibilities, and build more gender-responsive services and systems.

The Strategy provides a coordinated, evidence-based approach to addressing these issues through long-term reform, with a focus on improving gender specific approaches to healthcare access and improved understanding of women’s health needs, alongside the critical areas of mental health and wellbeing, economic security and support to women who have experienced Military Sexual Trauma.

This is an important part of the Government's response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, helping ensure veteran policies and services better reflect the experiences of all veterans. For more information and to access the Women Veterans' Strategy and supporting documents, visit www.dva.gov.au/women-veterans-strategy Media Contact: Stephanie Mathews (Minister Keogh’s Office) - 0407 034 485 [email protected] Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 Open Arms website Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072 Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 Defence Health Portal Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608

Many returned home, returned to civilian life, and were later buried without a headstone or formal recognition of their service, often because their families lacked the money at the time. More than a century later, the Marking (World War One) Private Graves program seeks to ensure their service is properly honoured, ensuring they are remembered by future generations.

Community groups, ex-Service Organisations and individuals can now apply for funding to appropriately commemorate the unmarked graves of First World War service personnel in their area. Funds will be awarded to be put toward the cost of establishing a marker for the unmarked graves of veterans who died from causes unrelated to their war service. The Marking (World War One) Private Graves program supports the private graves of those whose death was not as a result of their military service and are therefore not regarded as official war graves.

Graves of veterans who died as a result of their war service may be eligible for official commemoration, maintained in perpetuity by the Office of Australian War Graves. Applications close at 9.00 pm AEDT on Friday 27 November 2026. For further information, and to submit an application, please www.dva.gov.au/MPGgrants Lest we forget.

Media Contact: Stephanie Mathews (Minister Keogh’s Office) - 0407 034 485 [email protected] Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling provides 24/7 free confidential crisis support for current and ex-serving ADF personnel and their families on 1800 011 046 Open Arms website Safe Zone Support provides anonymous counselling on 1800 142 072 Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 Defence Health Portal Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608

The Commission provides expert advice to the Government on international agricultural research programs, research priorities and the allocation of program funding through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Each member was chosen for their expertise in specific areas of international agricultural research, governance and board leadership, science and innovation, and development policy.

I thank outgoing Commissioners Professor Lindsay Falvey, Dr Michelle Freeman, Ms Lukina Lukin, Dr Beth Woods and Mr Tony York for their service to the Commission and commitment to sustainable agricultural development.

New South Wales will receive more than $66.7 million for 22 projects, including $5 million to widen and upgrade Montpellier Drive in Wollondilly Shire. Victoria will receive more than $24 million for eight projects, including designing and upgrading Woorndoo-Streatham Road, Nerrin Nerrin in the state’s southwest. Queensland will receive more than $20.8 million for nine projects, including designing and building a new bridge over Granite Creek on Springmount Road near Mareeba in the state’s far north.

Western Australia will receive more than $11.7 million for three road upgrade projects: on North Fence Road between Nyabing and Nairibin in the state’s southern inland, Carlton Hill Road in Kununurra, and Barytes Road in Wyndham. Tasmania will receive more than $8.1 million for two projects, including replacing Savage River Bridge and Guthrie Creek Bridge on Norfolk Road on the state’s upper west coast, and the Upper Natone Road Realignment at Upper Natone, in the state’s north.

West Daly Regional Council in the Northern Territory will receive $3.2 million for the design and upgrade of Woodycupaldiya Road, southwest of Darwin. The Albanese Government has strengthened Commonwealth road programs, including doubling the Roads to Recovery Program to $1 billion per year, increasing the Black Spot Program from $110 million to $150 million per year, as well as providing $200 million per year for SLRIP.

For more information on the SLRIP and a full list of funded projects, visit: https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/about/local-initiatives/safer-local-roads-infrastructure-program Quotes attributable to Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Kristy McBain: “As someone that drives hundreds of thousands of kilometres across my electorate, I know how important it is to improve the safety of our local roads.

“I’m proud to be part of a government that is investing in road infrastructure that makes a practical difference to the daily lives of everyone on our roads. “These 45 projects will address known road safety risks while improving access to essential services, workplaces and community facilities. “Importantly, these projects have been identified by local councils as priorities for their communities and will deliver long-term benefits across their regions.”

The Bill implements key reforms required under the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code including: reinforcing the independence of Australia's anti-doping system by transferring responsibility for imposing consequences from sports to Sport Integrity Australia protecting vulnerable participants by ensuring publication decisions balance the public interest with privacy safeguards modernising Australia's anti-doping laws by updating the definition of athlete to align with the Code strengthening the appeal rights of athletes in relation to Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) decisions.

The revised Code comes into effect on 1 January 2027. Australia is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code through Sport Integrity Australia. Quotes attributable to Minister for Sport, Anika Wells: “The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring Australia remains at the forefront of international anti-doping and sport integrity practices.

“Athletes expect to compete on a level playing field and we have a proud history of having strong safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of Australian sport. “This law put in place by the Albanese Government ensure compliance with the international code set by WADA, keeping Australia in harmony with anti-doping frameworks worldwide.”

The upgrades will improve drainage and reduce the risk of flood damage to the railway, helping keep freight moving more safely and reliably between Western Australia and the eastern states. Crews will remove the existing track and culverts before installing new reinforced concrete structures that will carry more water away from the railway during heavy rainfall.

Once the new culverts are installed, crews will rebuild the track and prepare the railway to safely reopen to freight services. ARTC has worked closely with freight operators to plan the work around train movements and minimise disruption. The new culverts have been designed to safely manage a one in a hundred year flood event, including projected climate change impacts to 2060.

These works form part of broader investment along the east-west corridor to strengthen vulnerable parts of the railway and reduce the risk and impact of weather-related disruptions. Recent upgrades have already shown the value of this investment, with nine upgraded locations along the east-west corridor withstanding flooding in 2026. Since 2024, new banks of culverts have been installed at 27 sites between South Australia and Western Australia, mitigating the risk of washaways at 35 existing culvert locations.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King: “The Albanese Government is delivering vital upgrades to bolster the resilience and reliability of the east-west corridor. “As we reach another important milestone in this program, this investment will improve rail infrastructure and support the safe, reliable and efficient movement of freight across the country.

“By supporting future growth, these upgrades will ensure that freight can support domestic and international trade for many decades to come.” Quotes attributable to Senator for Western Australia Dorinda Cox: “The east-west rail corridor is an essential link between Western Australia and the rest of the country. "When extreme weather disrupts that connection, the impacts can be felt right across our supply chains and in the cost and availability of everyday goods, especially in our regions.

“By strengthening vulnerable sections of the rail network, we’re helping protect this vital freight route, reduce the risk of costly disruptions and keep goods moving between WA and the eastern states. "This is about building more resilient infrastructure that our communities and industries can rely on, now and into the future.” Quotes attributable to ARTC CEO & Managing Director Wayne Johnson: “The east-west rail corridor is one of Australia’s most important freight links, carrying goods between Western Australia and the eastern states every day.

“These upgrades target locations where better drainage can make the railway more resilient to significant rainfall and reduce the risk of damage and disruption. “At these sites, we are replacing the existing culverts with a much stronger structure designed to manage a one in a hundred year flood event, taking projected climate change impacts through to 2060 into account.

“This is a good example of how we are targeting investment through the Network Investment Program to strengthen vulnerable parts of the network and help keep Australia’s supply chains moving.”

This significant reform will be transformative for Australians, particularly those in regional and remote communities – delivering better connectivity to some of the country’s hardest to reach places. The changes will keep Australians more connected, making them safer, and ensuring they are able to call for help in times of emergency. The improved coverage will be made possible by a combination of existing land-based towers and new Low Earth Orbit Satellite technology, which allows for mobile signals to connect Direct to Device.

For the first time, the law allows the Minister for Communications to determine standards, benchmarks and rules mobile service operators must meet to ensure they deliver quality and reliable services to Australians. The UOMO will start on 1 December 2027, subject to market developments, with the Government working closely with industry and stakeholders on the rollout.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Communications, Anika Wells: “The Albanese Government is serious when we say we’re leaving no Australian behind when it comes to connectivity. “The Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation is a transformative reform, recognising that mobile phones are now a vital part of our lives, no matter where we live. “This is an important update to the universal services framework that makes sure our laws better reflect the way Australians communicate today.

“The new laws also enable the government to set minimum performance and reliability standards for mobile carriers to ensure they are delivering the services that Australians need and deserve. “Together with our continued investment in communications infrastructure and resilience, this law will make a real difference to the lives of regional and rural Australians – keeping them safer and more connected than ever.”

It also increases penalties by about 40 times to more than $10 million or higher in some circumstances – with fines to be based on the value of the benefit obtained from the breach, or the turnover of the relevant telco. This means stronger and swifter enforcement of codes, standards and determinations, which will help protect and support everyday Australians, including when people are experiencing financial hardship or domestic, family and sexual violence.

The law also improves industry transparency by establishing a Carriage Service Provider registration scheme to increase accountability of telcos and enable ACMA to stop dodgy providers from operating. Quotes attributable to Minister for Communications Anika Wells: “The Albanese Government is committed to keeping Australians connected. Strengthening consumer protections means a fairer and better system for everyone.

“Australians should be able to trust their telecommunications providers to have their interests at heart. “This law puts in place clear rules setting out how telcos must support their customers, particularly those experiencing financial hardship or domestic, family and sexual violence. “This law ensures ACMA can take swift and strong action against any telco found to have done the wrong thing, with penalties increased more than 40-fold.

“This Bill also furthers the Albanese Government's commitment to improve transparency and accountability in the telco industry by better regulating carriage service providers, who have previously been able to fly under the radar.”

And I think you are doing an extraordinary job, and I say, more than fulfilling the confidence that I had in you. And at a time where you've added kindness – kindness, I said in a different context once a couple of years ago – kindness isn't weakness. It is something that we need more of.

I do want to acknowledge all the special guests who are here. I acknowledge all the dignitaries. But particularly I want to acknowledge all of you who are either current or past contributors to making The Canberra Times the success that it is, getting to a centenary here.

So, whether you are reporters, whether you're people who work in the back rooms, But also the people who just make a difference putting it together, a newspaper. I'm a bit like Her Excellency, I get it delivered there to The Lodge every morning. I'm old school – I pick up the paper and read it rather than online first thing in the morning.

I haven't quite stopped – sometimes, the papers get delivered at exactly the same time as Toto's going out for her morning constitutional. And so far, there haven't been any incidents beyond growling at the poor AFP officers who just leave the paper from the front. But it is indeed something that I look forward to each and every day.

And indeed, Geoff Pryor, who I don't think I've actually met, there is a Pryor cartoon from the 1990s, I think probably the first one in which I featured, in my electorate office in Marrickville, before I was a Member of Parliament. One of the things about really great cartoonists such as Geoff, is they can be insightful, humorous, witty – and without being nasty.

And Pryor was that, he gave us an insight each and every day. And I know that as someone who has spent a fair bit of my life now in this great city of Canberra, that is something that sits literally behind my desk there in Marrickville. It is an absolute pleasure to be with you here tonight.

JP actually texted me about this idea many months ago, and I said, 'yep, I'll be there'. Because I think that to celebrate a milestone not just in the Australian media landscape, but I see this event very much as a celebration of this great city. A city that I note is represented by Katy here, as well as Andrew, Dave, Alicia, and Senator Dave, as well, are all here.

Says something that every representative in the Federal Parliament from the ACT is here with us this evening about how important it is. The Canberra Times is a story of courage and vision. It’s a story of resilience, innovation, and survival through every upheaval of war, recession and pandemic.

Through the rapid evolution of media consumption and the shifting tides of ownership. Crucially, it’s interwoven with the story of this city. When the first issue of The Canberra Times appeared, the population here was a modest 5,000.

Parliament still sat in Melbourne, Lake Burley Griffin was a future dream, and Summernats were still six decades away. Yet here you were – and here you have proudly remained. Every city deserves its own masthead, a newspaper that becomes an inseparable part of a city’s identity and the sense of community that it its truest heartbeat.

Yet Canberra has always been more than just a city. It’s been an idea, a dream, and a bundle of paradoxes. It’s our national capital – but also a regional city, and our largest inland city, as I remind people.

It’s a symbol – but also a daily reality for roughly half a million people. And though it’s far from the coastal fringe that is home to the majority of Australians, it holds the heart of the democracy of our entire people. This made for a few complexities when it came to designing a newspaper, but the challenge was adroitly seized by the founding Shakespeare family.

Not least patriarch Thomas Shakespeare, who had long been an advocate of a national capital. As your very own Jack Waterford, who is here with us, of course, this evening, once noted of the embryonic city: “Its newspaper would have to have a national outlook. This did not mean that it would not be closely focused on the affairs of Canberra, and the doings of its citizens, but it did mean it would have to rise above the petty and parochial to embrace what Canberra was all about … … being the first city of the nation, the centre of parliamentary and executive government, and the home of people closely concerned with the affairs of people in the states and territories, and with Australia's relationship with the wider world.” The description applies just as fittingly to the city and the newspaper, and what you detect is a sense of ownership that spreads far beyond the ACT border.

On Sunday, I had the honour of speaking at the Australian War Memorial. Every time I go there, I think of what Prime Minister John Curtin said at its opening in 1941. In his words: “This Memorial belongs, like the capital city itself, to all Australia.” A sentiment that is both beautiful and powerful in its simplicity.

And it captures one of the great elements of Canberra – you don’t have to live here to feel like you have a stake in it. And a part of that is the institutions to which Canberra is home. Institutions in which my Government has proudly invested because they hold elements of our nation in their most concentrated essence.

Among them, of course, The Australian War Memorial, with the amazing new work that has been done there and now opened. The National Gallery of Australia The National Film and Sound Archive The National Archives The National Jewish Memorial Centre The National Library The mighty CSIRO And of course what gets every school group excited? Of course, Questacon – that great highlight of any school excursion.

And of course, Australia's most visited building, Parliament House, there up on the hill. And of course, one of those institutions we're celebrating tonight, The Canberra Times , deserves to be considered just as important as those national institutions. And, of course, the Museum of Australian Democracy – the Old Parliament House, which plays such a unique role in the civic education of our country. 2027 is a particularly special year for Old Parliament House – for it will be 100 years since the “Provisional Parliament” was opened.

Earlier this year, I established a Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Centenary of Parliament in Canberra, led by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Sharon Claydon, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, to advise on how we best recognise this anniversary. So it is with great pride that I formally announce that next April, the Parliament will sit for a day at Old Parliament House.

We will have Question Time, legislation and other statements to be experienced in those chambers for the very first time, of course, in decades. Celebrating and learning from our democratic institutions is more important than ever, a great opportunity this centenary provides us all. Just as a well-functioning Parliament and transparent electoral system are essential for a flourishing democracy and the way of life it underpins, so, too, is a healthy, independent media.

And I do want to acknowledge The Canberra Times and community media for the work that you have done in difficult circumstances. The truth is that in major parts of the world, newspapers are disappearing. Journalism, though, is never more important today than it has ever been.

One of the reasons for, I think, a decline in social cohesion is that the common experience which brought us together, when everyone read the same news and everyone saw the same news at night, at whatever channel they chose to look at. There was much more commonality in what brought us together, and what we discussed in common discourse and healthy debate about what we thought about that.

But now that news is consumed largely by devices and in ways that is far more diverse, but also far less capable of being checked and being accountable. This is an issue that we have to deal with. It's why we have been part of what is a global debate taking place about not how we control through government new technology, but how people themselves can have control with the development of new technology, including whether that be choosing whether people receive algorithms or not, or whether people actually are in control of what they receive.

And AI, of course, is absolutely crucial going forward. AI is real – it's not going to be put back in the bottle. So, we need to engage to shape AI now, so that AI stands for Australia's interests.

And for the media, that is very important going forward. Which is why I want to acknowledge the bipartisan work that has taken place on the committee, doing work leading up to Australian Standards for AI, which will be crucial for making that case. And similarly, the News Bargaining Incentive, our world-leading legislation that will help keep our media sector vibrant and sustainable, ensuring that the big digital platforms pay their way.

If you have produced intellectual work, that is your property. It should not be taken without appropriate compensation, and that has been important as well. These are challenges which we have to deal with in 2026, but which my government is determined to do so.

And there is nowhere that is more important than in a city such as Canberra, which has The Canberra Times, one newspaper that plays such a vital role and is so essential for the life of this great city. The Canberra Times is a vital part of our history – we need it to be a vibrant part of our future as well. Challenges abound, of course – but it’s hard to think of a time when that wasn’t the case.

Indeed, it is instructive to return to what then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser said in 1976 when The Canberra Times was celebrating its 50th birthday: “In these days, when many great international newspapers and journalists have closed their doors and others are reducing in size because of cost pressures, it is a most significant achievement for a newspaper to celebrate a half century.” Well, this is twice as good.

Twice as good, clearly. So, it is quite a remarkable achievement. It is a proud testament to all of you, and all who have gone before you.

Congratulations. Happy centenary. Here’s to a bright future.

PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.

INPEX proposes to permanently store up to 443 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the West Peron formation with injection occurring over a period of up to 35 years. Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King said the approval was a significant milestone for the project. "This declaration is an important first step for the Bonaparte CCS Project and demonstrates the Australian Government's support for technologies that help reduce emissions," Minister King said.

"Carbon capture and storage will play an important role in reducing emissions from hard-to-abate industries, supporting Australia's transition to net zero.” Subject to necessary regulatory approvals, the Bonaparte CCS Project is expected to initially store CO from Ichthys LNG and has the potential to support multiple industrial facilities. The project has the potential to establish the Bonaparte Basin as a major long-term carbon storage hub supporting regional jobs, investment and economic growth.

"The Bonaparte Basin has the potential to become an internationally significant carbon storage hub that supports industry decarbonisation, regional jobs and long-term economic growth," Minister King said. "Projects like Bonaparte CCS can help deliver the emissions reductions needed to meet our climate goals while supporting continued industrial development and investment." The Department of Industry, Science and Resources recognises the First Peoples of this Nation and their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the lands, waters, seas, skies, and communities.

We Acknowledge First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Lore Keepers of the oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past and present. We extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples. Stay informed of the latest ministry list on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website This website is managed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources

You’re always welcome here in Brisbane. Thank you. Yeah, I think last time we finished by calling you Super Nintendo Chalmers.

And, yeah – but no, it’s obviously we’ve come – That wasn’t the worst thing I got called in Budget week. Look, honestly. Yeah, I mean, comrade Jim, there was the communist manifesto.

Are you still writing that one up? That was an intense headline. Honestly, some of the backlash I saw was extraordinary.

And I think we’re kind of here to talk about a bit of the follow‑up from the Budget. It’s been 3 months since the Budget’s been released. Probably one of the more contentious and, dare I say it, ambitious budgets for at least a Labor government of recent memory.

What’s changed in your mind? What are the really big things that you’ve noticed in terms of not necessarily the perception but from what people have told you, from the impact on the economy, from, like, housing as well? That was a very big thing.

Yeah, well, a couple of things about that. I mean, first of all, the big reaction didn’t really surprise us because I think at any point in the history of this country when you’re trying to make a meaningful change then there are people who are very supportive of that and there are people who are very not. I mean, that’s just the reality of politics.

It’s not a reason not to do difficult things. So none of that is especially surprising. I think, if anything, since May the case for some of the things that we are doing has strengthened rather than weakened.

The fuel security package obviously more important now in the context of the war dragging out. The cost‑of‑living package more important now in the context of this persistent inflation challenge that’s coming at us from around the world. The productivity package more important when you think about the intergenerational report and some of the pressures on our economy.

The budget repair package in the context of borrowing costs going up. But I think most sort of controversially, the tax package is more important now. If you look at some of those intergenerational issues that are in the intergenerational report that we put out – and housing really is the defining intergenerational challenge – then the case for what we’re doing there I think is more important.

And it boils down to a pretty simple motivation there which is to try and make the housing market fairer for first‑home buyers and particularly for young people who have been locked out for too long. Yeah, and I think it’s interesting you bring that up, because, I mean, the changes don’t really come into effect until next year. And I think as well, you know, the reforms, we’ve seen a bit of a slight correction in house prices, and that’s starting to happen.

But there is a bit of a disconnect I’ve noticed between, well, what people sort of – or what, you know, maybe the media or what, you know, some people may want with regards to housing – going up basically in value, but then also how does it become cheaper? I guess, how do you see, well, I guess, reconciling those 2 things? Because it’s almost like people want housing to go both up and down at the same time.

And I’m sort of sitting here, like, how can you get affordability when people want both contradictory things to be true? Yeah. I think some really interesting numbers have just come out.

And what they show is that even though housing has continued to come off a bit, prices have continued to come off a bit really since the start of the year, since before the Budget, not just after the Budget. Even with all of that, we’re still talking about house prices which are currently at the level they were at towards the end of last year, around November of last year.

So over that almost a year period house price growth has been flat. It’s come off in the last 6 or so months. And so what that tells us is that even when prices have come off a bit.

And they’ve come off, I think in the last 2 decades they’ve come off I think on 7 different occasions, even though we’ve had this amazing price growth, huge price growth. There have been 7 times in the last couple of decades where house prices have come down. Yeah, yeah.

And people don’t – I don’t think people really remember that. In fact, there was a very substantial drop in house prices between 2017 and ’19. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that’s because what we’re seeing now and what we saw then was obviously a combination of factors – interest rates going up has had a big dampening effect on the housing market.

Of course, yeah. Of course it has. And broader economic conditions.

And so the changes we made in the Budget are not the only factor playing out in the housing market. We know this because house prices started to come off before the Budget. Yeah, and, I mean, this is something I think as well that I know a lot of people my age are very concerned about with regards to rent.

Obviously interest rates do have an impact on rents and how much people are paying and how much they can afford to pay into their rent as well. But a big thing that we saw a lot in social media was a lot of landlords, especially landlords owning a lot of properties, passing on increased rents to tenants in light of the reforms that you made to capital gains tax.

Despite the changes, again, not really being implemented for a little bit now as well. It’s sort of like the whole thing of, well, is there a reason that they’re actually doing that. I guess, does the government sort of intend to and especially with regards to Treasury, I guess, crack down on landlords that are perhaps trying to raise rents?

You know, yes, it’s in light of the changes, but the changes don’t come into effect yet, and it’s put pressure on tenants. Well, more than that – I mean, they shouldn’t be opportunistic in the context of, you know, for people who are currently negatively gearing, people who own those properties already and renting them out, they can continue to negatively gear them.

Not everybody likes that, but that’s an important part of our policy. And so there is no justification for people who’ve had those properties for a while blaming the government for jacking up rents unnecessarily. They shouldn’t be opportunistic about it.

And from time to time governments do look at ways to make sure that we’re keeping landlords up to the mark and doing the right thing by people. We don’t want to see them misusing their powerful position in the rental market. The best way to put some downward pressure on rent is to build a heap more homes, and that’s still overwhelmingly our primary focus, to build more homes.

Even just this month I announced some new social homes for kids at risk of homelessness and for families fleeing domestic violence. That’s part of our effort. But we’re investing $47 billion in building more homes in all kinds of different ways.

And that’s because that’s the best way to put downward pressure on rent over time. You did mention the Iran war dragging out as well. And I think a lot of people would see that as yet putting on hold a lot of maybe more ambitious economic reforms, being maybe a little bit more, you know, defensive in trying to help people with the cost of living, I guess.

What sort of things and what areas of the economy that maybe you were hoping to reform or make progress on have maybe been something you’ve had to put on hold and be, like, okay, we have to wait until this finishes up, until an agreement is reached between the US and Iran. Well, there hasn’t been a lot of that because we see the developments happening around the world, the pressure coming from the war in the Middle East, what’s happening with borrowing costs around the world, inflation around the world, a lot of that is a reason to reform rather than a reason not to reform.

For some of the points I made earlier about a lot of the reforms we’re making are more important in the context of this war dragging out. So we found a way to help with the cost of living, tax cuts are a big part of that, bulk billing a big part of that, wages, making the housing market fairer for first‑home buyers. All of that is recognising the pressures that people are under.

Those pressures are turbocharged by some global developments, unwelcome global developments. I mean, let’s be frank about it, for young people and for Australians more broadly the war in the Middle East has been disastrous from a cost‑of‑living point of view. Disastrous.

No point beating around the bush. And from an economic point of view it can’t end soon enough. But while it is ongoing, while it’s dragging out, people are under more pressure than they would be otherwise, and that’s why our cost‑of‑living help is so important.

Just before we finish up as well, obviously taxing resources, still a very big contentious issue. Obviously a lot of discourse online about the petroleum resource rent tax as well as taxing of, like, gas exports, all those sorts of things. You know, things that I often get a lot of feedback on in my comments as well where people do want to see a little bit more about that.

Yeah, I noticed that in your comments. Yeah, exactly right. And, you know, a lot of creators that we know are obviously very supportive of reform around resource taxation as well.

So, I guess, my sort of question on that is: there obviously is a little bit of a – I don’t want to a disconnect – but there is a difference in what, say, your government is delivering versus maybe what, like, you know, some people would say online and maybe in the public as well. How do you get that balance right between, obviously it is a real thing that people want, but at the same time obviously you’re the one seeing the books and, you know, you’re the one talking to a lot of the companies and you’re trying to get that balance right.

How do you see getting that balance right? Yeah, I think that’s a good way to come at it. We are always trying to strike the right balance.

And, a couple of years ago I made a change to the PRRT, the offshore gas tax regime, and I do acknowledge that a lot of people, including a lot of people who follow you closely, would like us to go much further. But we did make some changes. And because of those changes the new numbers that we got this month actually showed that the PRRT take is up quite substantially.

Okay, yeah. Interesting. I actually didn’t know that.

They only just came out. Literally just came out. And what they showed was we were collecting one and a half a couple of years ago, now more like $1.9 billion.

And, again, I acknowledge some people would like us to collect much more. Some people would like us to collect less. And so the tax take has gone up.

And instead of 11 entities paying the PRRT, it’s now more like 21. So we’ve made some progress. Yeah, wow.

Okay. Yeah. Not as much progress as your followers would like us to see.

That’s acknowledged. But we have made some progress. Yeah, yeah.

And also, when it comes to, I think the kind of way that you put the question to me – because we are trying to balance that against a whole bunch of other considerations, including, how we think about our international relationships, because we’re trying to secure diesel and liquid fuels at the same time as we’re exporting gas. We’ve also got this big piece of work on right now which is about gas reservation, which is actually a big, complex piece of work which is taking a lot of our time and focus as well.

And so those are our priorities. We made some changes to the PRRT. We are seeing some of the benefits of that, but we acknowledge that some people would like us to go further.

I’ve always been of the opinion that, like, government can be a little bit harder than, I guess, just doing it. But, as well at the same time, you know, there is, you know, people who do sort of want to demand a little bit more. And then, yeah, obviously there is the pressure of the war, fuel pressures as well.

So, like, I think, I guess, I can understand that being a concern. So, yeah, no, it is obviously a very complex issue and it does factor in several international factors as well. So, yeah, it does make sense as, I guess, frustrating for some people as it may be.

Well, the thing that I appreciate about the work that you do on this podcast and why I’m really happy to be back on it is because you can give people a sense of what we’re grappling with. There are a series of trade‑offs in governing and balances that you need to strike. There’s a lot of complexity.

But if you look across the budget, you look across the government, we’re trying to do the right thing by people, especially by young people. I can’t remember a budget that had young people more front and centre than the one that we just handed down. And so we’re doing the best that we can for people, but we appreciate the way that you help people understand some of the complexity that sits behind these decisions.

Yeah, thank you. I think, yeah, it’s one of those things where it’s just, again, you’re dealing with, you know, everyday decisions that will affect millions of people and also, like, very, very serious consequences come of what you do. So, yeah, I think that’s the sort of main thing we want to do, is be, like, you know, you can demand more but at the same time it is a very complicated thing.

So it’s just, you know, make sure that, you know, we’re communicating it right, make sure people understand that. But, yeah, thank you very much for jumping on today. Absolute pleasure.

And, yeah, hopefully we’ll chat to you soon. That would be good. Thanks, mate.

Amazing. Thank you.

You’re always welcome here in Brisbane. Thank you. Yeah, I think last time we finished by calling you Super Nintendo Chalmers.

And, yeah – but no, it’s obviously we’ve come – That wasn’t the worst thing I got called in Budget week. Look, honestly. Yeah, I mean, comrade Jim, there was the communist manifesto.

Are you still writing that one up? That was an intense headline. Honestly, some of the backlash I saw was extraordinary.

And I think we’re kind of here to talk about a bit of the follow‑up from the Budget. It’s been 3 months since the Budget’s been released. Probably one of the more contentious and, dare I say it, ambitious budgets for at least a Labor government of recent memory.

What’s changed in your mind? What are the really big things that you’ve noticed in terms of not necessarily the perception but from what people have told you, from the impact on the economy, from, like, housing as well? That was a very big thing.

Yeah, well, a couple of things about that. I mean, first of all, the big reaction didn’t really surprise us because I think at any point in the history of this country when you’re trying to make a meaningful change then there are people who are very supportive of that and there are people who are very not. I mean, that’s just the reality of politics.

It’s not a reason not to do difficult things. So none of that is especially surprising. I think, if anything, since May the case for some of the things that we are doing has strengthened rather than weakened.

The fuel security package obviously more important now in the context of the war dragging out. The cost‑of‑living package more important now in the context of this persistent inflation challenge that’s coming at us from around the world. The productivity package more important when you think about the intergenerational report and some of the pressures on our economy.

The budget repair package in the context of borrowing costs going up. But I think most sort of controversially, the tax package is more important now. If you look at some of those intergenerational issues that are in the intergenerational report that we put out – and housing really is the defining intergenerational challenge – then the case for what we’re doing there I think is more important.

And it boils down to a pretty simple motivation there which is to try and make the housing market fairer for first‑home buyers and particularly for young people who have been locked out for too long. Yeah, and I think it’s interesting you bring that up, because, I mean, the changes don’t really come into effect until next year. And I think as well, you know, the reforms, we’ve seen a bit of a slight correction in house prices, and that’s starting to happen.

But there is a bit of a disconnect I’ve noticed between, well, what people sort of – or what, you know, maybe the media or what, you know, some people may want with regards to housing – going up basically in value, but then also how does it become cheaper? I guess, how do you see, well, I guess, reconciling those 2 things? Because it’s almost like people want housing to go both up and down at the same time.

And I’m sort of sitting here, like, how can you get affordability when people want both contradictory things to be true? Yeah. I think some really interesting numbers have just come out.

And what they show is that even though housing has continued to come off a bit, prices have continued to come off a bit really since the start of the year, since before the Budget, not just after the Budget. Even with all of that, we’re still talking about house prices which are currently at the level they were at towards the end of last year, around November of last year.

So over that almost a year period house price growth has been flat. It’s come off in the last 6 or so months. And so what that tells us is that even when prices have come off a bit.

And they’ve come off, I think in the last 2 decades they’ve come off I think on 7 different occasions, even though we’ve had this amazing price growth, huge price growth. There have been 7 times in the last couple of decades where house prices have come down. Yeah, yeah.

And people don’t – I don’t think people really remember that. In fact, there was a very substantial drop in house prices between 2017 and ’19. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And that’s because what we’re seeing now and what we saw then was obviously a combination of factors – interest rates going up has had a big dampening effect on the housing market.

Of course, yeah. Of course it has. And broader economic conditions.

And so the changes we made in the Budget are not the only factor playing out in the housing market. We know this because house prices started to come off before the Budget. Yeah, and, I mean, this is something I think as well that I know a lot of people my age are very concerned about with regards to rent.

Obviously interest rates do have an impact on rents and how much people are paying and how much they can afford to pay into their rent as well. But a big thing that we saw a lot in social media was a lot of landlords, especially landlords owning a lot of properties, passing on increased rents to tenants in light of the reforms that you made to capital gains tax.

Despite the changes, again, not really being implemented for a little bit now as well. It’s sort of like the whole thing of, well, is there a reason that they’re actually doing that. I guess, does the government sort of intend to and especially with regards to Treasury, I guess, crack down on landlords that are perhaps trying to raise rents?

You know, yes, it’s in light of the changes, but the changes don’t come into effect yet, and it’s put pressure on tenants. Well, more than that – I mean, they shouldn’t be opportunistic in the context of, you know, for people who are currently negatively gearing, people who own those properties already and renting them out, they can continue to negatively gear them.

Not everybody likes that, but that’s an important part of our policy. And so there is no justification for people who’ve had those properties for a while blaming the government for jacking up rents unnecessarily. They shouldn’t be opportunistic about it.

And from time to time governments do look at ways to make sure that we’re keeping landlords up to the mark and doing the right thing by people. We don’t want to see them misusing their powerful position in the rental market. The best way to put some downward pressure on rent is to build a heap more homes, and that’s still overwhelmingly our primary focus, to build more homes.

Even just this month I announced some new social homes for kids at risk of homelessness and for families fleeing domestic violence. That’s part of our effort. But we’re investing $47 billion in building more homes in all kinds of different ways.

And that’s because that’s the best way to put downward pressure on rent over time. You did mention the Iran war dragging out as well. And I think a lot of people would see that as yet putting on hold a lot of maybe more ambitious economic reforms, being maybe a little bit more, you know, defensive in trying to help people with the cost of living, I guess.

What sort of things and what areas of the economy that maybe you were hoping to reform or make progress on have maybe been something you’ve had to put on hold and be, like, okay, we have to wait until this finishes up, until an agreement is reached between the US and Iran. Well, there hasn’t been a lot of that because we see the developments happening around the world, the pressure coming from the war in the Middle East, what’s happening with borrowing costs around the world, inflation around the world, a lot of that is a reason to reform rather than a reason not to reform.

For some of the points I made earlier about a lot of the reforms we’re making are more important in the context of this war dragging out. So we found a way to help with the cost of living, tax cuts are a big part of that, bulk billing a big part of that, wages, making the housing market fairer for first‑home buyers. All of that is recognising the pressures that people are under.

Those pressures are turbocharged by some global developments, unwelcome global developments. I mean, let’s be frank about it, for young people and for Australians more broadly the war in the Middle East has been disastrous from a cost‑of‑living point of view. Disastrous.

No point beating around the bush. And from an economic point of view it can’t end soon enough. But while it is ongoing, while it’s dragging out, people are under more pressure than they would be otherwise, and that’s why our cost‑of‑living help is so important.

Just before we finish up as well, obviously taxing resources, still a very big contentious issue. Obviously a lot of discourse online about the petroleum resource rent tax as well as taxing of, like, gas exports, all those sorts of things. You know, things that I often get a lot of feedback on in my comments as well where people do want to see a little bit more about that.

Yeah, I noticed that in your comments. Yeah, exactly right. And, you know, a lot of creators that we know are obviously very supportive of reform around resource taxation as well.

So, I guess, my sort of question on that is: there obviously is a little bit of a – I don’t want to a disconnect – but there is a difference in what, say, your government is delivering versus maybe what, like, you know, some people would say online and maybe in the public as well. How do you get that balance right between, obviously it is a real thing that people want, but at the same time obviously you’re the one seeing the books and, you know, you’re the one talking to a lot of the companies and you’re trying to get that balance right.

How do you see getting that balance right? Yeah, I think that’s a good way to come at it. We are always trying to strike the right balance.

And, a couple of years ago I made a change to the PRRT, the offshore gas tax regime, and I do acknowledge that a lot of people, including a lot of people who follow you closely, would like us to go much further. But we did make some changes. And because of those changes the new numbers that we got this month actually showed that the PRRT take is up quite substantially.

Okay, yeah. Interesting. I actually didn’t know that.

They only just came out. Literally just came out. And what they showed was we were collecting one and a half a couple of years ago, now more like $1.9 billion.

And, again, I acknowledge some people would like us to collect much more. Some people would like us to collect less. And so the tax take has gone up.

And instead of 11 entities paying the PRRT, it’s now more like 21. So we’ve made some progress. Yeah, wow.

Okay. Yeah. Not as much progress as your followers would like us to see.

That’s acknowledged. But we have made some progress. Yeah, yeah.

And also, when it comes to, I think the kind of way that you put the question to me – because we are trying to balance that against a whole bunch of other considerations, including, how we think about our international relationships, because we’re trying to secure diesel and liquid fuels at the same time as we’re exporting gas. We’ve also got this big piece of work on right now which is about gas reservation, which is actually a big, complex piece of work which is taking a lot of our time and focus as well.

And so those are our priorities. We made some changes to the PRRT. We are seeing some of the benefits of that, but we acknowledge that some people would like us to go further.

I’ve always been of the opinion that, like, government can be a little bit harder than, I guess, just doing it. But, as well at the same time, you know, there is, you know, people who do sort of want to demand a little bit more. And then, yeah, obviously there is the pressure of the war, fuel pressures as well.

So, like, I think, I guess, I can understand that being a concern. So, yeah, no, it is obviously a very complex issue and it does factor in several international factors as well. So, yeah, it does make sense as, I guess, frustrating for some people as it may be.

Well, the thing that I appreciate about the work that you do on this podcast and why I’m really happy to be back on it is because you can give people a sense of what we’re grappling with. There are a series of trade‑offs in governing and balances that you need to strike. There’s a lot of complexity.

But if you look across the budget, you look across the government, we’re trying to do the right thing by people, especially by young people. I can’t remember a budget that had young people more front and centre than the one that we just handed down. And so we’re doing the best that we can for people, but we appreciate the way that you help people understand some of the complexity that sits behind these decisions.

Yeah, thank you. I think, yeah, it’s one of those things where it’s just, again, you’re dealing with, you know, everyday decisions that will affect millions of people and also, like, very, very serious consequences come of what you do. So, yeah, I think that’s the sort of main thing we want to do, is be, like, you know, you can demand more but at the same time it is a very complicated thing.

So it’s just, you know, make sure that, you know, we’re communicating it right, make sure people understand that. But, yeah, thank you very much for jumping on today. Absolute pleasure.

And, yeah, hopefully we’ll chat to you soon. That would be good. Thanks, mate.

Amazing. Thank you.

Ms Tallon Bennett founded Salann Tax in 2022 and has previous experience as a director at Prosperity Advisers Group, a managing partner at Markel Tax and partner at BDO UK. These appointments will continue the high level of skills and experience available to the TPB, to continue to strengthen the TPB and to help improve the integrity of the industry by ensuring tax practitioners are meeting the appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct.

Learning from our democratic history and institutions is more important than ever. In its role as the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House has continued to play a vital role in the civic education of Australians. Arrangements are being advised and supported by the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Centenary of Parliament in Canberra, chaired by the Member for Newcastle and Deputy Speaker, Sharon Claydon MP, with Member for Riverina and former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack MP, as Deputy Chair.

I thank the Committee for their continued work to celebrate the Centenary and our democratic institutions. Our unbroken democracy goes to the heart of who we are as a nation and why we continue to be a beacon to the rest of the world. PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community.

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