Sarah Hanson-Young is also asked about the allergic reaction Australia’s politicians have when it comes to criticising Donald Trump. Instead of addressing the administration head on, Australia’s leaders from both sides of politics keep falling back on the ‘exceptional friendship’ Australia has with the United States, (which seems to be just Australia following America around everywhere and hoping for the best – you can learn more about that with Dr Emma Shortis)

The Greens put up an urgency motion in the senate yesterday, arguing that Australia needed to break away from Trump and the US. It was voted down by the major parties. This morning Hanson-Young says:

“Well, I am concerned that Australia is trying to hide behind the couch and hope that Donald Trump and Musk and Zuckerberg and all of Donald Trump’s billionaire bros don’t notice us. I don’t think that’s the way a confident independent nation like Australia should behave.

Obviously, we need diplomatic relations but, you know, take a leaf out of Malcolm Turnbull’s comments on this when he says you don’t deal with bullies by giving in to them or sucking up to them. You have to be honest and upfront and I think lots of Australians will be worried about the Australian Labor and Liberal parties who seemingly are following tune with the billionaires of just wanting to suck up to Donald Trump rather than taking on the agenda. It’s not the type of politics we need here in Australia. This creeping in of Trumpian policies into Australia and the type of control that billionaires have over politics in the US right now is scary and it can’t be allowed to happen here.”

Asked about her personal thoughts on the DeepSeek ban, given it is on the heels of the TikTok ban (although politicians still have accounts – they usually have the app on a separate device) Sarah Hanson-Young says:

“TikTok – us as politicians, most of us have TikTok accounts and, you know, there’s millions of Australians on TikTok so it’s a way of engaging with them, but I must say we can’t have them on our government-issued phones.

That’s something the security agencies have told government not to do. But I also just think there’s a bigger question here about the role of big tech and billionaires in politics and I don’t want to miss this opportunity to say how creepy those shots of Rupert Murdoch in the Oval Office with Donald Trump were, that surfaced yesterday, whether it’s media Moguls like Rupert Murdoch or Elon Musk, frankly, these type of media and tech billionaires should not be calling the shots on government policy.“

In the wake of the announcement the government is banning Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from employees’ devices, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has asked why the government isn’t doing the same thing when it comes to addressing big tech.

She tells ABC News Breakfast:

“All we know is what the Government has released publicly, that they’ve been given advice from the security agencies that having this chatbot on government-issued phones and devices potentially puts the information on our devices at risk. So, you know, I’ll take the security agencies’ advice on that one. But what it does do is highlights just how fast technology is moving and how quickly governments need to catch up with the regulation of big tech in particular. AI, social media, online spaces, and I am worried that despite being able to move fast on something like this in relation to this Chinese-owned chatbot, that we’re seeing the Government and seemingly the Opposition starting to crab-walk away from stronger regulations against the big tech companies and billionaires like, of course, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.

Ukrainian presiden Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tweeted about a conversation he held with Anthony Albanese overnight (you always learn more about these things from other country’s leaders than our own, no matter who is leading the country) where Zelenskyy made the case for the defence aid package to be fast tracked:

“I spoke with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese @AlboMP and thanked for Australia’s unwavering support for Ukraine and our people. It is crucial that our coalition in defense of international law remains truly global. We are also working to expedite the new defense aid package. We discussed strengthening sanctions against Russia for its war, and Australia is ready to take further steps. Ukraine’s priority remains reliable security guarantees, reinforcing our defense, and increasing pressure on Russia to end the war. We also addressed diplomatic efforts and appreciate Australia’s firm stance that all substantive negotiations on Ukraine must include Ukraine—this is the only way to achieve a just peace. Additionally, we must establish all the circumstances surrounding the case of Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, who fought for Ukraine and has been taken prisoner by Russia.“

In case you missed it (hopefully because you have a life and much better things to do than keep a constant eye on the ridiculousness of Australian politicians) Sussan Ley was last in the news on January 26 after a speech she gave in her electorate compared (favourably) Australia’s colonisation to Elon Musk’s mission to colonise Mars (nothing more attractive to a billionaire than a whole new planet to dominate and destroy apparently).

Ley said then:

“All those years ago those ships did not arrive – as some would have you believe – as invaders. They did not come to destroy or to pillage.

“…In what could be compared to Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s efforts to build a new colony on Mars, men in boats arrived on the edge of the known world to embark on that new experiment. A new experiment and a new society.”

Ley was pushing back against what John Howard famously labelled the ‘blackarm band view of history’. Also known as historical fact. Which it seems Ley should probably scrub up on if she doesn’t think the British came to what was later called Australia to invade, destroy and pillage, given well established British colonisation history.

Ley is asked on the ABC why she made the comparison and said:

“That speech did attract attention, it’s bringing Australians together. I’m tired of the divisiveness. I’m a strong supporter of the Australia Day being on 26 January. I love our country, a country I migrated to many years ago. I want Australians to be proud of what they have. I have acknowledged our dark past and the chapters in our history where we haven’t done well. My record as environment minister and health minister backs that in. But Australia Day is important for every Australian to come together under that one flag.“

That sound you hear is the culture war machine whirring up ahead of the election. Everytime a Coalition MP mentions ‘one flag’ Peter Dutton receives an aura point.

For reasons lost to most people with reason, Sussan Ley and the Coalition are continuing to defend the policy to give businesses with up to $10m in turnover a tax break for lunches. The Coalition didn’t release costings, so Treasurer Jim Chalmers did it for them, releasing figures from Treasury yesterday.

Chalmers said the policy would cost, at best $1.6bn and potentially up to $10bn which had shadow treasurer Angus Taylor blowing a casket and writing to Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy over the politicisation of the Treasury.

This Angus Taylor. Accusing someone else of ‘politicisation’.

ANYWAYS.

Ley is doing the media rounds today in defence of the small business schnitty plan and she tells ABC News Breakfast it is for the good of the country.

“Let’s not forget the effect it has on the small business itself. And these business owners are standing in their businesses 15 hours a day. They’re working incredibly hard. They’re making the coffee you pick up on your way to work. Their making the beautiful food you eat. They’re not paying themselves because it’s so tough. I can’t understand why the government ridiculed the policy.“

The Coalition still hasn’t released its own costings, while continuing to dispute the government’s figure. So why won’t the opposition just release what it thinks the schnitty for the country plan would cost?

Ley:

“Costings will come out. Every single one of our policies, including this one, in the lead-up to the election. That’s not in doubt.“

Hello and welcome to the second sitting day of the year! Labor is wasting no time getting ahead of potential issues, with Tony Burke preemptively banning the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from government devices, after a security review found it posed an “unacceptable risk” to national security.

After Liberal senator James Paterson managed to make TikTok a national security issue (the Coalition has since reversed ferreted there with even Peter Dutton launching his own account in an attempt to appeal to Gen Z), Labor announced the ban on government devices ahead of today’s second sitting day in organised drops to the media.

After wiping billions of dollars from Wall Street (turns out China saying it can do something cheaper, and faster than American tech is still a big deal) DeepSeek rocketed to the top of app downloads, but any government employee with it on their official phone must now remove it, block access to it’s products and report to the government the actions they have taken. (ABC, Australia Post and other corporate government organisations are exempt from the ban and government employees can still have DeepSeek on private devices).

It shows how quickly Labor is looking to clear the decks of any potential issues ahead of the election, where national security is expected to play a role, as Dutton looks to shape the election ground according to his own strengths. But it also shows that China is still being treated as a threat, rather than a risk in a lot of spheres, while the United States is considered a friend who is just ‘going through it’, despite Donald Trump and ‘special government employee’ Elon Musk’s attacks on democracy – and ‘allies’.

Labor senator Raff Ciccone defended Trump/Musk against a Greens motion in the senate late yesterday:

I”t’s also fair to say that President Trump is like no other president we’ve seen before. From what we saw when he was last in the Oval Office and from what we will see over the next four years, it’s fair to say that his approach is always not very conventional. Having said that, we need to respect the outcome of the election last year. President Trump has also made it very clear that he’s going to do things very differently. We shouldn’t be surprised as he implements his ‘America first’ agenda.
As two nations, the United States and Australia have so much in common. But we are also two very different sovereign independent nations with our own ways of how we conduct business. Just as we respect the rights of American citizens to determine their own future, we have those same rights here in Australia. Equally, as Australians we are confident in our values, in our place in the world and in our ability to deliver on our national interests. So, contrary to what the Australian Greens are arguing in the motion, it’s not all doom and gloom.“

Which would be all fine and dandy if Australia wasn’t locked into security and defence arrangements with the United States that don’t serve our interests.

We’ll cover all the day’s events and more, with some research and factchecking thrown in. It’s a three coffee morning, on what is shaping up to be a muggy Canberra day – but hopefully there will be a bit more energy from those inside Capital Hill than what we saw yesterday. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world for that.

Ready? Let’s get into it.