Husic denies Elon Musk a factor in choice of Tesla chair to lead R&D review
The science minister, Ed Husic, is speaking on RN Breakfast now about the year-long review of Australia’s research and development investment.
He is being questioned by Patricia Karvelas about the decision to appoint Tesla chair Robyn Denholm to lead the review. Asked if the link to Tesla and Elon Musk and his growing influence was part of the consideration, Husic said:
No, I think, if I may emphasise, I guess, Robyn’s involvement in a company that recognises, crucially, the value of R&D and improving the way to get things done and to be able to create an edge, and particularly if you look at what Tesla has done, be able to turn an idea into reality at a time where there are a lot of doubters over a long period of time.
The type of people that we’ve got involved, we’ve been thinking about for quite some time, and what they bring to the table.
Husic said Australia’s research and development performance has been dropping in the past ten years in comparison to “our competitors in the OECD”.
Key events
Eleven men and two juveniles have been charged by federal police following an investigation into the largest seizure of cocaine in Australia’s history.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said it had made the charges on Monday, after the men were arrest late on Saturday and in the early hours of Sunday as part of a scheme to import 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Australia by sea.
Those arrested include the crew of a vessel allegedly attempting to import the illicit drugs into Queensland and multiple groups allegedly planning to collect the drugs onshore.
The AFP has described the incident as relating to a transnational organised crime syndicate.
Two people shot dead on Mornington Peninsula after reported altercation
Two people have been shot dead, with police searching for the suspected gunman after reports of an early morning fight inside a suburban home.
Homicide detectives are investigating after reports of an altercation between a group of people at a home in Rye, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, shortly after 4am on Monday.
A man and woman were found with gunshot wounds, police say.
“Despite the best efforts of emergency services to revive the pair, they were declared deceased at the scene,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s believed a second man fled the scene.”
Police believe all three people were known to each.
AAP
‘Pondi’ to open in western Sydney for a second summer season
Penrith Beach, affectionately known by Sydneysiders as “Pondi” – will reopen on 7 December for a second season.
The swimming spot in western Sydney – where temperatures are routinely 10C hotter than the city’s east – will operate from 10am to 7pm and will be open every day (including Christmas) until 27 April 2025.
The NSW government said it has invested $2.5m to fund amenities and staffing for a second year. The deputy premier and minister for western Sydney, Prue Car, said:
This is about equity. A place like Penrith Beach is critical for the people of Western Sydney. Hundreds of thousands of Western Sydney locals showed up and enjoyed Penrith Beach last year, and I cannot wait to join them for another summer season.
If you want to learn more about Pondi, I suggest checking out my colleague Mostafa Rachwani’s review:
Man dies after balcony fall during police operation
A man is dead after falling from a balcony during negotiations in a Queensland police operation.
Queensland police said they were called to a Rockhampton home in central Queensland after reports of an unknown trespasser on Saturday night.
When authorities arrived, police found a 37-year-old man standing on a second-floor balcony railing. Officers attempted to negotiate with the man but he fell from the balcony, suffering serious injuries.
He died from his injuries after being taken to Rockhampton hospital.
Police say the Ethical Standards Command is investigating the death and the state coroner has been advised. It will also be subject to independent oversight by the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Craig Kelly joins Libertarian party for another run at parliament
Craig Kelly is making another run for parliament – this time with the Libertarian party.
The new political home for Kelly comes after he has tried out many others. In 2010, he was elected the Liberal MP for the electorate of Hughes. In 2021, he set up and served as leader of the United Australia Party. He ran as an independent for the 2023 NSW election and most recently was the campaign director for One Nation.
Announcing his news to Ben Fordham on 2GB, Kelly said:
I’m proud to announce today that I’m going to join the Libertarian party.
I believe in small government. I believe in the entrepreneurial ability of Australians. Get government out of the way, get government out of their hands. That’s what the Libertarian party stands for. Unfortunately, the Liberal party that I used to be a member of appears to have abandoned all those values.
Asked what happened with this role with One Nation, Kelly said:
I was there working on a contract basis for a small period of time. But look, I think the future in this country as a conservative party, to the right of the Liberal party, is with the libertarian.
Water quality decreasing in largest river system
Leading researchers say low-cost, simple changes could improve the declining health of Australia’s long-mismanaged Murray-Darling Basin, AAP reports.
As town tap water quality declines and the politics of water buybacks rage, a dozen environment and water experts on Monday released a damning assessment of the health of the basin that is home to 2.3 million Australians.
The researchers found widespread failures to meet economic, environmental, social, Indigenous and compliance targets.
The failures resulted in lower-than-expected river flows at 90% of sites measured, poor use of environmental flows and declining abundance of waterbirds.
The researchers concluded that “despite $13 billion committed to water reforms, trends of most indicators (74 per cent) show no improvement or are worsening”.
Prof Bradley Moggridge, a Kamilaroi man, said on Monday:
We found Indigenous-owned water entitlements to be grossly inadequate, furthering the disempowerment of Indigenous peoples in the management of water on country and contributing to negative effects on their health and wellbeing.
The assessment comes after a 12-year, multi-government plan to restore sustainability in the complex river system failed, forcing its extension to December 2027.
The researchers proposed several solutions including some form of rigorous, transparent, accountable system for monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the basin’s health.
Low-cost options included centralising data on threats to water quality, water law breaches, mass fish kills and town water security and supply.
Reports of forced labour and exploitation up by 140% over last six years, AFP says
Forced labour and exploitation reports have increased by 140% over the last six years, according to the Australian federal police, as criminal networks use deceptive tactics to traffic offshore workers to Australia.
The AFP said since 2018 it has received 247 reports relating to forced labour and exploitation. The agency has raised the issue to mark International Day for the Abolition of Slavery today.
In 2024, a Templestowe man was convicted on forced labour offences after he coerced someone to work 14-hour days for two consecutive years under threats of deportation.
AFP’s human exploitation commander, Helen Schneider, said:
Criminal syndicates will use deceptive recruitment tactics to target and force vulnerable individuals into these appalling situations, and trap them into endless cycles of debt, forced labour or domestic servitude.
The AFP is the lead agency in investigating this crime type and we investigate any reports we receive but we also urge members of the public to be vigilant and alert police to any suspicions of human trafficking offences.
Israel-Gaza conflict will be a ‘big issue’ for some voters, Husic says
Circling back to the science minister, Ed Husic, who was on RN Breakfast a short time ago.
Asked if he expects Muslim voters in Australia to follow the trend in the US where backlash increased during the election in some states over the Israel-Gaza war, Husic said for “some people” in Australia this will be a “big issue” when they go to the ballot box.
There have been people for quite some time that have taken a particularly strong view about whether or not ourselves, or the rest of the world for that matter, have reacted as strongly as they could seeing the loss of so much innocent life in Gaza … and especially mothers and children, women and children who have been killed as a result of the actions by the Israeli government in Gaza, and then obviously the spread to Lebanon.
There will be strong feelings about that. But again, to be able to just say definitively, this will definitely be the case, I think there’s a mix of feelings out there talking with people, but you know, again, people, when they go to the ballot box, mix of different issues will be a play. This will, for some people, be a big issue.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has said the Greens were “definitively close” to making a deal with Labor on environment laws, but it was clear the prime minister did not want those debated.
Hanson-Young is speaking on RN Breakfast about the deal Anthony Albanese overruled after last-minute negotiations between the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and the Greens.
It involved a deal to pass Labor’s key election promise to create two new agencies – an environmental protection agency to manage compliance with national laws and an information agency to manage environmental data.
Hanson-Young said it “remains the unfinished business of this parliament.”
She said:
What I was told was that there was problems with the … set of amendments, or the areas that I have been negotiating [on] with Tanya Plibersek and that it was too hard to do this work.
I walk out of the room, of course. And before we know, at the front page of the Australian, the West Australian, virtually every newspaper the next morning was saying that the business lobby, the miners and the loggers had convinced the prime minister to dump these laws.
I want this on the national agenda when parliament returns. Nature’s waited too long, and nature needs us.
Albanese said on Sunday the government still planned to move forward with the changes but indicated it would not concede on Labor’s “values” with crossbenchers.
Husic denies Elon Musk a factor in choice of Tesla chair to lead R&D review
The science minister, Ed Husic, is speaking on RN Breakfast now about the year-long review of Australia’s research and development investment.
He is being questioned by Patricia Karvelas about the decision to appoint Tesla chair Robyn Denholm to lead the review. Asked if the link to Tesla and Elon Musk and his growing influence was part of the consideration, Husic said:
No, I think, if I may emphasise, I guess, Robyn’s involvement in a company that recognises, crucially, the value of R&D and improving the way to get things done and to be able to create an edge, and particularly if you look at what Tesla has done, be able to turn an idea into reality at a time where there are a lot of doubters over a long period of time.
The type of people that we’ve got involved, we’ve been thinking about for quite some time, and what they bring to the table.
Husic said Australia’s research and development performance has been dropping in the past ten years in comparison to “our competitors in the OECD”.
Sarah Basford Canales
Labor announces R&D review in hopes of boosting Australian science and manufacturing
A year-long review of Australia’s research and development investment will soon be under way in an effort to boost the country’s scientific output and manufacturing self-sufficiency.
The science minister, Ed Husic, announced on Monday the review will inquire into the value of existing investments and ties between research and industry in order for Australia to boost its value and drive productivity.
The investment into research and development as a proportion of GDP is at 1.68%, the government said, tailing behind the OECD average of 2.73%. In 2022-23, federal and state government expenditure stood at $4.3bn.
The review will be led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, who will be joined by former chief scientist Ian Chubb, former Australian of the Year Fiona Wood, and Kate Cornick, the chief executive of the Victorian government’s startup agency, LaunchVic.
The report will be delivered by the end of 2025.
Husic said:
Our ideas and intellectual property are an indicator of future economic success. This review is designed to give us an evidence-based pathway to stronger growth. We said after the pandemic we would boost our manufacturing self-sufficiency. That is a big challenge, but Australian knowhow can help us do things smarter and sharpening our edge against international competition.
Sarah Basford Canales
Apple and Google app stores to be forced to play fair on search and payment
Australians are set to get more choice and control over how they search for apps if new rules to slap big tech companies, such as Apple, Google and Facebook, with $50m fines for not playing fair are passed.
The plans would give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission more powers to prevent digital platforms from promoting their own apps over competitors, forcing users to pay for in-app purchases through their payment systems and stopping users from switching from a platform’s app to an alternative.
In a speech to be given on Monday night, the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, will say:
“We want to knock these practices on the head. And we want to lift transparency in a sector that has often been shrouded in secrecy so that consumers get a fair go. And that small businesses have a chance to deliver good products to the market.”
The plans will focus on app marketplaces and ad tech services and will allow the consumer watchdog to fine offending companies up to $50m or 30% of annual turnover.
Jones will say:
This framework will lead to more choice, lower prices and fairer outcomes for consumers. And it will level the playing field for small businesses and give them a chance to compete with good, innovative ideas.
One of the biggest stoushes in recent years over the prace is between Fortnite developers Epic Games, and Google and Apple.
The popular game developer is taking Apple and Google to court in Australia after Fortnite was removed from their app stores for introducing its own in-game payment system, which circumvented the marketplaces’ fee system.
Good morning
Jordyn Beazley
Good morning, I’ll be with you on the blog today.
Australians are set to get more choice and control over how they search for apps if new rules to slap big tech companies, such as Apple, Google and Facebook, with $50m fines for not playing fair are passed.
A year-long review of Australia’s research and development investment will soon be under way in an effort to boost the country’s scientific output and manufacturing self-sufficiency.
As always, if you see anything you’d like to bring to our attention, please send me an email at [email protected].
