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ESSENTIALS
- Federal Libs debate taking over South Australia branch
- Word of the day: Epizootic
- Australia is taking sporting diplomacy to new levels
- Exclusive: New AI polling shows government can still shape data center opinion
DRIVING THE DAY
EPIZOOTIC, aka BIRD MASSACRES: That’s a word we might all be learning soon.
Use it in a sentence: Australia has an H5 bird-flu epizootic among wild birds.
We’re now beyond an individual penguin or crested tern keeling over: Hundreds of birds are dying, in multiple locations. There are mounting issues around their disposal.
While there’s no need for panic poultry buying, there’s also no room for complacency (a great reminder that Australia has shallow resilience planning and literacy, despite public service efforts).
Overseas experience shows that H5 viruses can cause severe losses once they enter dense poultry populations. For humans that would first mean egg shortages rather than health risks, but that’s also one step away from a food inflation problem. What Australians can learn from overseas, via Bethany Hoye for The Conversation.
ANYTHING MALI CAN DO, CANBERRA CAN DO (ISH): Not to be outdone by Adelaide’s Royal Commission into artificial intelligence impacts, Federal Parliament will do a wide-ranging review of AI after members voted to establish a joint select committee Thursday, with a report due Nov. 30.
Who’s on the committee? It’s likely to be one of outgoing Liberal Sen. Jonno Duniam’s final orders of business before quitting Parliament. He’ll be joined by Coalition colleagues Andrew Hastie, Aaron Violi and Ross Cadell. On the Labor side: Tony Sheldon, Tim Watts, Jo Briskey, Zaneta Mascarenhas, Marielle Smith and Josh Dolega. The Lower House crossbencher is Kate Chaney. A ballot to decide the independent senator won’t occur until the next sitting period.
Familiar ring? Parliament ran a similar committee on AI adoption in 2024.
ANYTHING ANTIC CAN DO, FED LIBS CAN TAKE OVER: The federal Liberal executive committee will today discuss taking over its South Australian branch, Paul Sakkal reports. That’s a big deal for the famously federated and autonomous Libs.
It’s driven by fears that rogue Sen. Alex Antic is driving the party into electoral oblivion via his efforts to not only take over party apparatus but expel party legends and promote anti-abortion and anti-vaccine views.
BY THE NUMBERS
EXCLUSIVE — AI BLINDSPOT = DATA CENTER OPPORTUNITY: A new survey conducted by JWS Research suggests nearly a fifth of Australians have never heard of data centers.
But the figure isn’t a failure for the prime minister, who recently announced the government would develop national standards for large data centers. Instead, it may be an opportunity.
“There is a first-mover opportunity — for government, industry or a campaign — to define data centers before someone else does, because a fifth of the electorate hasn’t yet formed a view to defend,” JWS Strategy and Insights Manager Tom Cameron said.
The public backlash against data centers seen in the U.S. is not registering yet in Australia, the polling found, with fewer than 1 percent of respondents naming data centers when asked to asked to spontaneously identify what the Australian government should be focused on. However, when asked specifically about their concerns around data centers, only 3 percent of those surveyed said they had none.
THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW
GORDON DE BROUWER – “I’M QUITE USED TO CONFLICT NOW”
The new Australian National University Chancellor, formerly Australian Public Service commissioner, sat down to talk to Miriam in the institution’s University House on his second day in the job.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
You were brought into the APS to clean up after robodebt, and that took a toll on you, so why are you taking on this next cleanup job at the ANU?
The ANU is a great institution. It’s one of the best universities in the world, it’s where I did my Ph.D. and I was a professor here a number of times.
I’ve been through transformation, and I’ve been through change, and I’ve had to deal with cleaning up outrageous mess — I’m talking about the public service there.
The reports that are out really go to failures of governance, of financial management and behavior, and I’ve seen that also in the public service, and I know what good looks like in those things. I feel like I can be helpful to being part of a solution.
The division and controversy within ANU leadership has been pretty toxic and destructive recently. Do you have the skills to deal with that level of conflict?
I’m quite used to conflict now. Most of the conflict that I’ve dealt with is done behind closed doors, [with] the idea that there are different opinions. Different views are a strength, they’re not a weakness, and I see them primarily that way.
Meanness, demeaning people, poor behavior, hiding things — no truck with that.
I do think most people want to be decent, so there needs to be a period of lots of listening and healing, but actually tangible changes in behavior and governance that give people confidence.
Julie Bishop resigned citing overreach from the tertiary education regulator. Do you hold her same concerns around that?
Personally I don’t. This is day two, so my sense is that there’s a role for the regulator to come in and engage when institutions aren’t resolving the issues themselves. In this case, we had a number of really independent, external major reports that pointed to problems.
Have you had a chance to look at the financials? Where are things at now, are any more job cuts necessary?
The previous conversations had been [on] cost containment or cost reduction, but we need to have a strategic conversation around the revenue side, which is largely students and research.
You were a grad at Treasury and then you did your Ph.D. at ANU. You’ve been back to lead in the public service, and now the ANU — are you going back down memory lane?
As you get older you realize that life weaves and sometimes your paths overlap, and I like that, I find it enriching.
CANBERRA MEETS WORLD
AUSTRALIA TAKES SPORTS DIPLOMACY TO A NEW LEVEL
TRIVIA QUESTION: Did you think State of Origin began in 1980? As Finn explains in this story, you should think again.
History lane: The first New South Wales versus Queensland rugby league match was in Papua New Guinea in 1945, between Australian soldiers waiting to come home from World War II. “The captain from New South Wales was from Newcastle — my home — and the bloody Queenslanders won,” Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy told Playbook.
Why that’s not just trivia: The Albanese government is using rugby league — specifically the new PNG Chiefs National Rugby League team — as a diplomatic tool. Would players really want to join the Chinese rugby league competition? Oh that’s right, China doesn’t have one.
What Conroy’s saying: “We’re using every lever of statecraft to be the partner of choice. That means picking things that are high-value to our Pacific partners that only we can offer.”
What others can say: “The more trusted we are as a partner, the more it is the case that we deny China the space to move in,” former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo told Playbook.
Fun fact: Current PNG Minister Peter Tsiamalili’s great uncle was the ball boy at the 1945 match, and Tsiamalili paraded the original Origin trophy, carved out of Japanese artillery shell, during half time at the MCG 2024 State of Origin game.
ISRAEL — DETERIORATING RELATIONSHIP: Prime Minsister Anthony Albanese says his government will make an announcement on its next steps “in the coming days” after expressing outrage over Israel’s decision not to press criminal charges over the 2024 killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza. He also believes an independent investigation is “worth consideration.”
With committing to specific diplomatic action, the PM told 7.30 last night, “It’s certainly not good enough that on World Humanitarian Day of all days, they release this so-called report that essentially says: ‘Yes, we’re responsible, but nothing to see here.’”
Israel’s response: Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman, who was summoned by Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, accused Australia of attacking a legal process which did not suit its “political agenda.” The Israeli military removed two senior officers and formally reprimanded three commanders for what it called a “grave mistake.”
MIDDLE POWER COALITION: Australia’s ambassador to Japan, Andrew Shearer, told Nikkei that Japan, Australia, India and South Korea should form a new “middle power coalition” to supplement the U.S. alliance and counterbalance China.
PLAYBOOK FEEDBACK
On whether Britain’s submarine hub has enough investment to deliver AUKUS: “We are all in on AUKUS. It is critical to our national security. Our significant funding in Barrow is a catalyst for further public and private sector investment. That is already bearing fruit, with tens of millions of additional investments in housing, transport and education for the town.”
— Luke Pollard, U.K. minister for Defense Readiness and Industry
EMBASSY ROW
Former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo‘s old home has a new tenant, with Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Hung Tam moving in. The luxury Red Hill mansion became Canberra’s most expensive property when Pezzullo sold it for $8 million last year.
QUESTION TIME
IS THERE AN EARLY FLIGHT TO ADELAIDE?: Two S.A. MPs, Labor’s Matt Burnell and Liberal Tony Pasin, were punted from QT within 15 minutes.
We checked: If they wanted an early mark after a long sitting week, they were too late for the 2:10 p.m. direct flight. Although knowing Qantas delays…
Inquiring minds: What were Albo and One Nation MP David Farley talking about?
PARTY ROOM
ONE NATION’S VICTORIAN CANDIDATE SLATE: From not even having a leader last month, we’re finally getting some meat on One Nation’s Victorian bones. And a 58-second interview.
74 candidates claimed, 11 named: The party promises another 60 names and a full upper house slate (Victoria elects its upper hour in regional blocs). Of the named 11, four are targeting seats Labor holds by less than a 5 percent margin. All of those candidates are men: Party leader Warren Pickering, Jeremy Johnson, Matthew Katselis and Michael Piastrino. More from One Nation.
STATE OF THE NATION
NATIONAL CABINET IS ON, AND IT’S GOING TO BE INTERESTING …
TAX ATTACK: It’ll be the first time state and territory leaders meet with the prime minister since their public blowup over the Productivity Commission questioning Western Australia’s sweetheart GST deal. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says it’s everyone versus W.A. Premier Roger Cook, who spent the week lashing “east coast clowns.”
Violence against women: The PM will also demand an update on progress made since a special National Cabinet on violence against women in 2024. The Commonwealth funded 500 frontline workers to support survivors of family and sexual violence, and he was pointed about issues with states’ rollout.
“It took longer than we would like, frankly,” he said. “I want to hold (state) governments to account. Sometimes, when the Commonwealth provides additional money, that’s seen as an excuse to withdraw [their] funding.”
WHAT DO YOU WANT THE FEDERAL POLICE TO PROTECT? Soon-to-be Playbooker Paul Karp reported for AFR that the Australian Federal Police spends less than one-tenth of its budget, or $152 million, on counterterrorism.
The AFP spent $523 million on protecting politicians and government buildings, a record it attributed to security needs during the federal election, the new Western Sydney International Airport and Australia’s AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership.
MEA CULPA: We said Thursday that the Greens’ plan to give super to kids would force Jim Chalmers to find an extra $400 million. Of course, it’s the Greens’ favorites — corporations — who’d be footing the bill.
CANBERRA’S WEEK IN REVIEW
COALITION’S GROWN-UP GAMBIT: Opposition frontbenchers including Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie have been at pains this week to avoid taking One Nation’s bait. They’ve followed Angus Taylor’s lead in constructive legislative negotiations and insist they’ll take on both party leader Pauline Hanson and the government more directly when they’re ready.
Takeaway: It is necessary to show the maturity to govern. But it’s insufficient in such a hostile environment. The strategy essentially assumes there’s a natural two-party status quo to return to, when the Coalition is ready.
When the cameras are off: If Taylor hoped to emphasize the Coalition’s governing credentials, he undercut that in a 10-minute address to Parliament just before his MPs headed for the airport. He was doing a good job critiquing the government when he decided to contrast Labor concern about Sydney Swans players under sexual assault investigation to their defense of the PM’s melon gesture.
“The minister for Social Services came out and rightly condemned the lewd behavior of the Sydney Swans,” he said. “Yet she and other female Labor MPs couldn’t apply the same standard to the prime minister. This is completely indefensible. This is the very definition of hypocrisy,” he said.
Cue: David Moncrieff (Hughes) losing it, shouting repeatedly that Taylor was a disgrace for comparing alleged assault to a hand gesture.
LAMBIE’S EXTRAORDINARY PERSONAL SPEECH: While the major parties squabbled over Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh’s decision not to take a meeting with a veterans group around their bid to lift the $5000 allied health care cap, independent Sen. Jacqui Lambie, a veteran, delivered an unusually personal account on her experience with the cap.
Lambie detailed her vagina prolapse and associated bladder issues and said it was directly linked to her back injuries from her time serving in the army. She believes it’s part of a systemic problem with how the department treats female veterans and their health.
“I would like to ask the prime minister, Minister [Richard] Marles and Minister Keogh what they would do if their penises were hanging by a thread, and what they would do if treatment for that injury directly connected to their military service was denied by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs,” she said. Courtney Gould has the details.
AGENDA ASSISTANT
Affordable Housing Roundtable: Nicolette Boele is hosting, seeking a national definition of affordable housing.
The goal: Feed a private members bill addressing a better deal for essential workers and middle income earners priced out of various rental markets; exploring opportunities for institutional investors to pitch in; and finding ways to make new developments acceptable to neighbors.
AWARDS
INTRODUCING “THE GARYS”
We think it’s time to give more love to the staffers who make Parliament sitting weeks actually work. The Garys will reward staffers who go above and beyond, and be dished out in Gold, Silver and Naughty corner varieties.
They’re named after Selina Meyer’s way-too-loyal bag carrier in “Veep,” and also Finance Minister Katy Gallagher’s chief of staff Pat Cronan, who she also affectionately nicknames Gary, and who will be annoyed that this item is the one thing he didn’t control this week.
GOLD GARY: Goes to the very same Pat Cronan, for organizing the Senate guillotine that enabled this week’s legislative package to get over the line in time for the weekend, all while being down one adviser. A clear case of a staffer helping to deliver a big legislative win.
SILVER GARY: Goes to Lexie Browning, independent MP Sophie Scamps’ long-serving media adviser, who has called time on her advising career. She’ll formally wrap up next Friday, before a well-deserved holiday in Europe.
“Lexie’s been a joy to work with — passionate, patient and professional every day,” Scamps told Playbook. “She’s gone above and beyond. She will be sorely missed.”
NAUGHTY GARY: Goes to the male staff on the Senate side who locked Playbook out of our (typically empty) makeshift office. Who wins from that?
AFTER HOURS
TOILET WARS ESCALATE: Fresh from our revelations about the state of DFAT’s toilets, we’re now reliably informed that the female bathroom in the Press Gallery (across from The Guardian office) is a long-running problem.
“I thought the people here were disgusting,” a senior Press Gallery reporter, granted anonymity to protect her relationships with fellow toilet-goers, told Playbook. “Now I know it’s not in that way — I realized maybe it’s actually just a plumbing problem. The toilets were shut for six months, and then it just didn’t change.”
EV-ERY ANNOYING: It cost more than $2 million to install electric vehicle charges in Parliament’s carparks. But three years later, carparks with chargers in the Senate wing — where they’re in a prime location — are being taken up by petrol cars. Playbook has seen correspondence from DPS arguing that the carparks are dual-use on a “first come, first serve basis.”
CHIP IN FOR THE CHIPPER: Does Labor MP Josh Burns need a GoFundMe page? ABC journalist Annabel Crabb beat his partner’s chip cutter to within an inch of its life while filming a “Kitchen Cabinet” episode.
Help a backbencher in need: “It was an engineering feat that defied physics and took the strength of a Spartan to send the chipper to chip-making heaven,” Burns told Playbook. “Please help, or we will never eat a perfectly carved chip again.”
A replacement costs only around $50 — well under MPs’ $300 donation disclosure threshold. Just saying.
LOCAL CANBERRA
SPOTTED: Former Prime Minister and current Liberal Party President Tony Abbott at Aussie’s. He’s also lurking in offices and picking up things on staffer desks.
SAVE THE DATE: The Nationals Seafood BBQ is back Nov. 26. Matt Canavan’s office has sent out the full details for one of Parliament’s best end-of-year events.
RUNNERS GUIDE TO CANBERRA: Great tips here on the best flat and hilly runs in and around the city.
MOVES
OPENING: Keirain Bunton is opening Bar Nova next week in the former Onzieme space in Kingston.
RETIRED: The Saturday Paper’s national correspondent Mike Seccombe has retired after a storied career spanning more than two decades, including stints at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and The Vineyard Gazette (while he lived on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, U.S.!)
“His journalism has always been marked by its dexterity and its wit,” editor-in-chief Chris Jensen said in an email to staff.
HIRING: Pauline Hanson is in the market for a new press secretary promising “real responsibility from day one, working directly with me.” Hanson was frank on X: “This job won’t pay what it would in a major party or a big company,” claiming that is because the PM “has allocated himself 59 personal staff, and his government more than 500. He has allocated One Nation just four.” Email: [email protected].
Yes, but: There’s more money for press secs if there’s less money spent on private planes.
BIRTHDAYS
TODAY: Daryl Williams, former attorney-general; Alanna Clohesy, President of the W.A. upper house
SATURDAY: The Australian Strategic Policy Institute turns 25.
SUNDAY: Josh Butler, The Guardian; Lynton Crosby, Liberal strategist dubbed “The Wizard of Oz.”
It takes a village. Thanks to editor Joe Schatz, Paul Karp, Claudia Long and Courtney Gould.