We're going to close the blog here. 

My colleagues will be back in full force tomorrow for budget day.

We'll see you then! 

Shadow Environment Minister and Liberal Senator for Tasmania Jonno Duniam said there was a "bit of work to do yet" but wanted to leave Parliament with the bill having passed because "it's what Tasmanians workers need".

A big topic ahead of the budget, the federal government is hoping to pass legislation this week which would allow salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast.

"We wanted [it] to pass because it was necessary to, and the uncertainty the Government created for this industry and the hundreds of workers in the west coast of Tasmania," he said. 

He added that it was a "very troubling time for the Tasmanian salmon industry".

Education Minister Jason Clare said he understood at least seven Australian universities were so far affected by the Trump administration's temporary pause of research funding, but claimed it was not foreign interference.

Earlier this month, US agencies sent Australian researchers what appeared to be a global notice, asking them to justify their funding, as well as a questionnaire grilling them on a host of issues. 

The document also asks them to confirm if they've received "ANY funding from the PRC" or Chinese state actors, and asks what steps they've taken against "Christian persecution" or to "protect women and to defend against gender ideology."

The Australian Embassy in Washington is working with the US Department and expects the outcome of the US-initiated review to be clear in the second half of April, Mr Clare said. 

"Ultimately, the US will make their own decisions about the research that they want to find," he said.

Federal Labor MPs and Senators have held their final caucus for this term of government. *cue the 1999 hit Graduation (Friends Forever) by Vitamin C*

Ahead of tomorrow night's budget, a government spokesperson said caucus was told the budget would "deliver for working people".

Labor MPs also discussed support for changes to the EPBC Act, which would allow salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania.

As previously reported, this change is meant to protect the industry from certain legal action and safeguard salmon farming jobs in the key seat of Braddon.  

That legislation will be introduced this week. 

One MP raised concerns about the changes, but was told they would be specific to the salmon industry and would not affect any other industries.

A government spokesperson said the government would be making a "a minor change, with extremely strict criteria - focused on giving Tasmanian workers certainty while Government investments protect the Maugean Skate."

"The existing laws apply to everything else, including all new proposals for coal, gas, and land clearing," they said.

A government spokesperson said caucus otherwise discussed a shopping list of Labor's achievements and commitments during this term, including free TAFE and more money for urgent care clinics and bulk billing. 

The Coalition is close to announcing details of its "prospective" gas reservation plan in exchange for easing environmental and carbon emissions regulations on developers, writes ABC's chief digital political correspondent Jacob Greber.

Under gas reservation plans that could be adopted by both sides of politics in an election shootout over how best to secure more energy and drive down prices, gas giants would be forced to supply more energy to the domestic energy market.

Sources told the ABC that Peter Dutton was originally expected to announce the policy during the election campaign, but there is now speculation the opposition leader could make it a key element of his budget reply speech on Thursday.

Read the full story from my colleague here:

The key to achieving a year 12 completion rate target of 85 per cent by the end of the decade is making sure the young students in primary school falling behind "get the extra support they need", Education Minister Jason Clare said. 

He said that NAPLAN data proved that four out of five children who fall behind in their first test, will still be behind when they sit the NAPLAN test in Year 9.

"In other words, 80 per cent of the children who are behind when they are little, are still behind when they're in the middle of high school," he said. 

The key, he said, was early intervention. 

"If you're intervene early, if you identify those children early even before they sit that test, in kindergarten, prep, Year 1 and you provide them with extra individual support they can catch up faster."

The Prime Minister says people should respect political candidates and their posters, after the husband of federal Victorian MP Monique Ryan was filmed removing a sign belonging to rival Kooyong candidate Amelia Hamer.

The video captured Peter Jordan removing the sign belonging to Ms Hamer - who is running against Dr Ryan, with Mr Jordan claiming it was illegally placed on public property.

In a statement Mr Jordan apologised "unreservedly" for removing the sign, saying he should have instead reported his concerns to council.

Dr Ryan has also apologised, saying it shouldn't have happened.

On 3AW Melbourne radio, Anthony Albanese said people should be respectful during campaigns.

"In every election campaign I've been in people have pinched my posters and taken them down, like it has happened and no doubt it'll happen again. Should it happen? No, it shouldn’t. We should have respect,” he said.

"People should be allowed to have their posters up wherever it's appropriate.

"In my own electorate if you stand still for long enough you'll get a poster put on you, they seem to be everywhere between us and the Greens political party, but people should be civilised about it and should be respectful, we're a great democracy, and people have a right to stand and have a right to put forward their cases and frankly the taking down of posters or the taking of leaflets out of letter boxes, any of that stuff is always quite counterproductive I think." 

You can watch the video here: 

With the budget about to drop the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme it is sure to attract headlines.

The scheme remains one of the largest structural spending pressures on the budget.

MYEFO forecast commonwealth contributions would grow at an average 8.2 per cent from 2024-25 to 2034-35, down from 9.2 per cent at the 2024-25 budget.

We'll get an update on how that is going tomorrow night.

It's been 15 months since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured a commitment from state and territory leaders to increase their NDIS contributions, as part of a broader plan to contain scheme growth to 8 per cent a year by 2026-27.

Chief ministers agreed to increase their contribution to be in line with that target, up from four per cent.
(In exchange, the federal government extended the GST no worse off guarantee for a further three years.)

Back on December 6, 2023 National Cabinet also agreed to design new foundational supports outside of the NDIS, like home and community support and skills development.

So, how is that process going?

Asked during a press conference in the prime minister's courtyard on Queensland signing up to the public schools funding agreement about just that the Sunshine State's premier David Crisafulli offered this:

"We'll continue to negotiate in good faith, and I hope what today proves is that we will always negotiate in good faith, but we'll always look for the best deal for Queensland. I don't think that's any surprise to the prime minister," he said.

So in short discussions are ongoing. We'll look for more detail in tomorrow's budget papers.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says the growing number of public high school students not finishing year 12 is a "big challenge" that needs to be addressed in the "historic" deal from the federal government that promises to fully fund every public school student in Australia.

Mr Clare appeared on Afternoon Briefing after Queensland joined the Better and Fairer Schools agreement — in which the Commonwealth has agreed to lift its share of public school funding from 20 to 25 per cent in a $2.8 billion deal over the next decade.

When asked if money is the solution, Mr Clare said it had to be "tied to real reform" that will "help our children who fall behind to catch up at school and to keep up and to finish school".

"The big challenge that we are confronting at the moment is the number of kids finishing high school that's dropping," he said. 

He said it was the biggest investment by the Commonwealth government in public education, worth about $16.5 billion over the next 10 years.

Tasmania's salmon industry is a big topic today ahead of tomorrow's budget.

The federal government is hoping to pass legislation this week which would allow salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's west coast.

You can watch Adam Holmes's cross here: