That's the end of our live blog for today. Thank you for joining us!

We'll be back again tomorrow for another sitting day here at Parliament House in Canberra, and another day at Senate estimates of course.

You can look back on today's developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.

Make sure you join us tomorrow for more politics fun!

Australia's parliament is likely to get larger as the government canvasses possibilities for expanding the number of MPs and moving to fixed or four-year terms.

The parliament's joint committee on electoral matters has been tasked by Special Minister of State Don Farrell to examine whether more politicians should represent voters in the House of Representatives and Senate.

It will also explore sending Australians to the polls in fixed cycles, rather than on a date determined by the current prime minister, and the possibility of four-year terms.

Read the full story from political reporter Courtney Gould in the link below.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry secretary Adam Fennessy left his position in September, just two years into his five-year contract.

Senate estimates heard he received a payout of $899,620 — equivalent to one year's salary.

Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer told estimates privacy reasons meant he couldn't say why Fennessy's position was terminated, but says the sheer fact he was given a payout means his position was involuntarily terminated.

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins has previously declined to answer questions about Fennessy's departure.

The AUKUS submarine pact may need "commonsense" action from both Australia and the US to make it more "sustainable", Donald Trump's nominee to oversee US defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific has said.

But John Noh gave few specifics when questioned by the US Senate's Armed Services Committee, saying he did not want to pre-empt the Pentagon's ongoing review of the Australia-UK-US pact.

Noh was asked for his assessment of AUKUS, including its first "pillar" to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, at his confirmation hearing for the role of assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

He said there were "commonsense things that we can do to strengthen AUKUS".

"I don't want to get ahead of both Undersecretary [Elbridge] Colby and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth because the review is ongoing," Noh said.

"My personal view is that there are things that we, as in both the United States and Australia with the United Kingdom, can do to strengthen pillar one and make it more sustainable."

Our friend Brad Ryan in Washington DC has the full report for you at the link below. 

Ed Husic says an east coast reservation policy is inevitable.

The Labor MP says gas prices are too high in Australia, partly because Australia exports a lot of gas. 

"Part of the recent prices are so high is because we export a phenomenal amount of gas and a lot of foreign multinationals who are on a great deal," Husic says. 

He says Australia needs to assert itself and needs to introduce a use it or lose it mechanism. 

Asked if that should be imposed on existing contracts, Husic says if foreign buyers are not using it for themselves and simply using it to make money, Australia should have a mechanism to intervene. 

"We cannot have a situation where Australian manufacturers are put under such pressure because of the state of gas pricing," he says.

"We need to take a stand to get access to a resource that should confer on us commercial and economic advantage."

And that's where we'll leave Afternoon Briefing for today!

Labor MP and former industry and science minister Ed Husic has joined Afternoon Briefing and he's been asked whether bailouts, like the one for the Mount Isa smelter, will become more common. 

Husic says he thinks there are pressures on businesses, including global factors, that has had an impact on operations in places like Mount Isa. 

The Labor MP says Australia needs to take a multifaceted approach to ensure sovereign capability. 

"I think government dollars can only go so far, can be a catalyst. Private dollars have to play at big role, private capital as well," Husic says.

Alex Hawke has been asked whether leaking in the Liberal party needs to stop.

A part of former Liberal leader Peter Dutton's contribution to the Liberal party's post-election review was leaked to Nine newspapers earlier this week.

Hawke says he thinks it should stop and that it happens sometimes. 

"It happens in all major political parties at all times but I think what we are going through after our election loss, it has to happen," Hawke says.

"One of the criticisms of the previous term was we didn't actually have the real discussions with each other. We did prioritise unity but now we have to prioritise being honest with each other so will have those conversations," he says.

Asked if his Liberal colleagues are backing Sussan Ley sufficiently, Hawke says "overwhelmingly yes". 

Shadow Industry and Science Minister Alex Hawke has joined Afternoon Briefing, where he's been asked about the Queensland and federal government's decision to bail out the Mount Isa copper smelter. 

Hawke says the Coalition welcomes the government's move, but has blamed the government for making it too expensive to do business in Australia. 

"Future Made in Australia is becoming very questionable and the National Reconstruction Fund is being poached continuously by the minister, Tim Ayres," Hawke says.

Asked if the Liberal Party doesn't want to have a bailout industry, Hawke says he wants a manufacturing industry that is competitive. 

Larissa Waters has been asked about comments she made on Insiders on Sunday about the Manchester synagogue attack.

The Greens leader appeared to link the antisemitic attack in the United Kington for Australia's failure to sufficiently punish Israel.

The prime minister said that her remarks were undignified and not worthy of a senator.

Waters says the PM can say whatever he wants about her, but that she would rather he focus on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

She says it wasn't her intent to sound insensitive.

"I said on Sunday, the violence we saw in Manchester was totally unacceptable, it was awful. But I also said on Sunday was this government should do everything it can to end the genocide and it's not and it should," Waters says.

The environment minister has ruled out including a climate trigger in overhauled environment laws.

Larissa Waters has been asked whether that would exclude the Greens from negotiations on the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act changes.

The Greens leader says she is taking the minister's statement with a grain of salt and that it's positioning from the government. 

"They may well want to do a deal with the Liberals to have really bad environmental laws that don't protect nature and just keep giving the go-ahead to gas," Waters says.

"That is open to them but what they should do is come and talk to the Greens about laws that fit this century, will protect nature and make people's lives better," she says.