Coalition partners spar over corporate trade agenda and AI rules
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Rifts inside the Coalition are widening as the Liberal and National parties fight over a proposed EU trade deal and over how far copyright law should be bent to suit big AI interests and data-centre expansion.
The Liberal and National parties are showing their first signs of strain since reuniting earlier this year, with the junior Coalition partner taking increasingly aggressive positions on free trade and artificial intelligence that critics say put corporate priorities ahead of workers, creators, and climate responsibility. In a Liberal-only meeting, former minister Alex Hawke, a factional opponent of Deputy Prime Minister Angus Taylor, criticised Nationals leader Matt Canavan for announcing opposition to a proposed trade deal with the European Union without the leadership group's approval. Hawke warned that allowing the Nationals to dominate the Liberal position on key economic issues could hurt the coalition electorally, and he praised Taylor for defusing the situation instead of letting the dispute spiral further.
Moderate Liberals also expressed concerns about the substance of the deal drafted by Trade Minister Don Farrell, which Taylor has described as a “dud.” Critics in both parties argue the agreement would lock future governments into the Paris climate accord, disadvantage dairy and red-meat producers, and embed pro-union labour rules, showing how the Coalition remains split between climate denial, agricultural lobby pressure, and reflexive hostility to worker protections.
On artificial intelligence, the Nationals and conservative Liberal Garth Hamilton are pushing back against a proposed Liberal-Labor consensus on data-centre expansion and copyright reforms aimed at attracting frontier AI labs. Nationals leader David Littleproud, whose Queensland seat hosts a planned large data centre, told this masthead that he opposes any weakening of copyright laws, citing concerns about the social licence of a project that would require extensive renewable energy. The dispute highlights the tensions created when major energy-hungry projects are sold as innovation policy while communities are left to absorb the costs.
Senator Ross Cadell, a member of the bipartisan AI committee, called for tighter copyright protections, describing current rules as “property theft.” The hardening positions on AI complicate Taylor’s negotiations with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who seeks bipartisan support for copyright reform while balancing creators’ compensation and the risk of a rigid licensing regime. The standoff underscores how both major blocs are struggling to reconcile the demands of big tech with the rights of artists and other content creators.
Polling cited by Resolve Political Monitor shows Labor at 29 % of the primary vote, One Nation at 25 %, and the Coalition at 23 %, with Nationals sources noting improved regional polling as they confront the threat of One Nation in key seats.