In his press conference explaining the merger law reforms he is about to introduce, Jim Chalmers also asked about the spike in oil prices and what that will mean for consumers.

Paul Karp asked whether consumers would be gouged and Chalmers said:

Obviously, we are concerned in at a time when the global oil price is increasing.

We don’t want to see the service stations take Australian motorists for mugs, and we want to make sure that the global price is appropriately reflected in the price that people pay at the bowser people are under enough pressure already.

We don’t want to see the service stations do the wrong thing by people.

The petrol price has been much lower in the last little while than at most times of the last couple of years we have seen the global oil price come down considerably over the course of the last year but spike in the last week and a half for obvious reasons, and we want to make sure that people are treated in the right way when they fill up their car.

Minns: NSW is looking for ‘extra help’ on public education funding and ‘we can’t settle for anything less’

The Senate will be looking at Jason Clare’s education funding bill but it is not guaranteed to pass, with key crossbenchers unhappy with the government’s offer. As are the states, as Caitlin Cassidy outlined here:

Chris Minns is one of the premiers holding out. He told the ABC a little earlier:

It’s a standoff. Ultimately, the federal government has deeper pockets. We’ve got real needs when it comes to public education in the state.

We currently fund most of public education in New South Wales. We need a bit of extra help from the commonwealth government and when you consider most kids in the state are educated in the public system, we can’t settle for anything less.

So I’m sorry, I know they’re the same political persuasion as us, the same political party, but my obligation is to New South Wales and that’s particularly so for the next generation going through our public education system.

Buckle in for parliament’s last session this month

The last parliament session for this month will start in about 30 minutes.

The lovely people at About the House have you covered for what is going on in the house:

Albanese speaks on sideline meeting with Chinese premier at Asean

Anthony Albanese arrived in Laos late last night for the Asean summit and, as is tradition with these sorts of trips, held a mock doorstop interview where he spoke about how happy he was to be in (insert international summit host city here).

He was also asked what his message would be to China, given he will hold a sideline’s meeting with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang. There are official meetings at these summits – but then there are the unofficial-but-still-official sideline chats, which are set up in advance but are shorter and less structured than the official-official meetings.

Albanese:

My message will be a consistent one, which is that we’ll cooperate where we can, we’ll disagree where we must, and we’ll have some direct discussions about some of the disagreements that are there, but also that it is in our interest to communicate with China, which is our largest trading partner.

Dreyfus details bill implementing two robodebt royal commission recommendations

The Albanese government is introducing a bill to implement two recommendations of the robodebt royal commission:

• Imposing a statutory duty on agency heads and the public service to assist the ombudsman; and

• Establishing a new offence for withholding reasonable assistance from the ombudsman so they can get records

The bill also enhances the ombudsman’s ability to undertake full, independent and transparent investigations, including modernising information-gathering powers to enable remote access to agency records. The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said:

Legislation introduced today will help protect Australia against any repeat of the former Liberal government’s illegal and immoral robodebt scheme by ensuring commonwealth agencies are subject to stronger and more rigorous scrutiny ...

The royal commission found that some officials and agencies engaged in behaviour designed to mislead the ombudsman and impede their investigation into the robodebt scheme.

The bill will ensure this can never happen again.

Payman: no concerns over anti-Islam group also known as Australia’s Voice

The former Labor senator Fatima Payman announced her own political party, Australia’s Voice, yesterday.

She spoke to ABC News Breakfast this morning about the announcement and was asked whether she had concerns about her new party name being similar to an anti-Islam group known as Australian’s Voice, Payman said:

That doesn’t concern me. We have nothing do with that party. We don’t even know if it’s still active. So when I heard about these rumours yesterday, it was no concern for me because Australia’s Voice is a voice for every Australian out there who is disenfranchised, who is sick and tired of the duopoly that the major parties -–like Coles and Woolies – have had over our political system and our democracy for way too long and we need minor parties and independents to keep them honest and accountable.

More details on today’s social media summit

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, and the SA premier, Peter Malinauskus, are holding a joint summit today to talk about the impacts of social media.

It is quite possibly the most leaders of NSW and South Australia have spoken since 1836 when SA was established as a free settlement after colonisation and took a slice from the NSW colony in the process.

Minns and Malinaukus are united in taking the lead on this issue – Malinaukus commissioned the report which got the federal government heading down an age ban for social media path, and Minns is on board with helping to shape what that will look like.

Malinaukus says he wants to listen to parents, telling ABC News Breakfast:

Parents are crying out for a degree of certainty, they’re crying out for government guidance, a lot more rule that people can follow. That doesn’t mean there won’t be challenging but at least provides a starting point for parents. It gives them a tool about how to address this and parents who have gone through all this and all the pain that social media can place upon their children, they’re the ones I think are the most powerful advocates for this reform.

There are a few sticking points with this idea, though. The federal government says it will have legislation on it by the end of the year – but there is still debate over whether parents should be held responsible if their children do find a way to get on social media while underage and if there should be a punishment attached to that. There is talk already of allowing teens and kids who are already on social media to stay on it as an exemption to the laws. And child and mental health advocates say it takes away from the focus on the social media platforms and their responsibility to create safe spaces.

Chalmers details merger law changes

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is holding a bright and early press conference – he’ll be in the blue room (called that because – well, it’s blue and it’s a room) where he will be talking about the upcoming merger legislation.

He’s been calling it the biggest change to mergers law in 50 years (not sure there have been that many changes to start with). In an op-ed published in the AFR, Chalmers describes the changes as:

Firstly, any merger will be looked at if the Australian turnover of the combined businesses is above $200m, and either the business or assets being acquired has Australian turnover above $50m or global transaction value above $250m.

Secondly, the ACCC will look at any merger involving a very large business with Australian turnover more than $500m buying a smaller business or assets with Australian turnover above $10m.

Finally, to target serial acquisitions, all mergers by businesses with combined Australian turnover of more than $200m where the cumulative Australian turnover from acquisitions in the same or substitutable goods or services over a 3-year period is at least $50m will be captured, or $10m if a very large business is involved.

Report into youth justice to be launched today

The national children’s commissioner, Anne Hollonds, will publicly launch her grim report on the reality of Australia’s youth justice system at parliament house in Canberra on Thursday.

As first reported by Guardian Australia in July, the report details disabled children in detention being allegedly kept “in cages” in police watch houses. Hollonds interviewed 150 children in the youth justice system and found that prisons detaining children are where “the most egregious breaches of human rights are occurring in this country”.

The report calls for a ban on solitary confinement practices in child detention facilities and the establishment of a national taskforce for reform of child justice systems.

Guardian Australia previously reported the high rates of children in detention with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other brain injuries.

The launch will be attended by the chair of Justice Reform Initiative, Robert Tickner, the Law Council of Australia’s president, Greg McIntyre, the Australian Medical Association’s president, Dr Danielle McMullen, and young people with lived experience. McMullen said:

This report is an incredibly sobering read, as it contains many uncomfortable truths about youth justice in Australia – egregious human rights violations, the overincarceration of First Nations children and young people dying in custody.

She called for the report’s recommendations to be implemented – especially raising the age of criminal responsibility in all jurisdictions to 14 years. Read more:

Social media summit being held in Sydney

A groundbreaking social media summit that begins in Sydney today must consider what mental health impacts will flow if kids are banned from platforms, advocates say.

AAP reports that a two-day, jointly hosted summit between the NSW and South Australian governments starts in Sydney today, when discussions are expected to focus on the details of the youth ban rather than whether it will be introduced.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and a host of state leaders – including NSW’s premier, Chris Minns, and SA’s premier, Peter Malinauskas – have backed an age limit but are yet to disclose where the cutoff should be set.

Youth mental health organisation ReachOut warned removing social media would block access to what has become a key support for a younger generation. Read more in our preview:

The summit will shift to Adelaide on Friday.

Robodebt royal commission recommendations to be legislated

Attempts to hide the next robodebt scandal from independent oversight of the public service will be punished by thousands of dollars in fines, the Australian Associated Press reports.

Public servents and agency bosses would be bound to help investigations while those stonewalling access to files could be dragged to court. The changes proposed by the Albanese government are aimed at ensuring commonwealth agencies are subject to stronger and more rigorous scrutiny.

They fulfil two recommendations from the robodebt royal commission.

“The robodebt royal commission made it clear that strong and effective oversight is necessary to safeguard the community in their dealings with government,” the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said. “Trust in government depends on this.”

Under the proposal, an offence would be created for withholding reasonable facilities and assistance from the commonwealth ombudsman. Anyone penalised for breaking this law could be fined more than $3000.

The watchdog would be able to access agency records remotely under enhanced information-gathering powers. The tax ombudsman would also receive the same powers.