Australia news LIVE: Ben Roberts-Smith to appeal Nine defamation ...

Returning to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who has spoken about the stalled trade deal between the EU and Australia.

Australia wants the EU to grant it meaningful access to its agricultural markets and allow producers of foods like champagne, Parmesan and feta to be able to sell them under those names.

But my colleague Latika Bourke reported that Trade Minister Don Farrel said Australia was willing to walk away from talks if they couldn’t reach an agreement.

Speaking on RN Breakfast this morning, Chalmers said the government was committed to getting a deal done with the EU.

Trade Minister Don Farrell (left) with European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels last month.Credit: Twitter

“But not at any price,” the treasurer said this morning.

“We’re talking about almost half a billion consumers, and we want our exporters and our workers and our farmers to actually have access to that market, but not at any cost.”

Chalmers said negotiations had been difficult, but progress had been made, and the government wanted to ensure the best deal for farmers, employers and exporters.

“If that takes a little bit longer, then that’s fine by us.”

National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Maher said he believed a deal could be reached by the end of the year.

“Right now, the offer isn’t good enough,” he said on ABC radio this morning.

Turning to Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Clare O’Neil has spoken about the banks who are set to be grilled by a Senate committee today.

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise morning program this morning, O’Neil said she had a “long history” of holding banks to account.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has spoken about interest rates this morning. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

It was “only fair” that the banks passed on interest rate rises on to savers, as well as mortgage holders, she told the program.

“If you’re put up mortgages, it’s only fair and reasonable thing to do and know that we are in a cost of living crisis where we got people in our country who are skipping meals, banks are earning billions of dollars in profits, they need to treat their customers fairly, and I know Labor MPs will make those points to the CEOs today in the hearings,” she said.

The opposition’s finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said it was important the rates were raised on savings account in a “timely matter”.

“There seems to be a time delay, they’re [banks] quick to put out your mortgage rates when interest rates go up but not quick to put up the savings rate.”

“We all want to see interest rates come back down and the only way to do that is to get inflation under control,” she said.

Returning to Australian news, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government is not considering additional measures to help with cost-of-living despite the nearly $20 billion budget surplus.

Chalmers was asked on RN Breakfast this morning whether the government intended to introduce more measures to help struggling Australians.

Jim Chalmers says the government has a hard-headed but warm-hearted approach to economic management.Credit: Bloomberg

“You don’t have to choose between managing the economy in a responsible way and providing cost of living help for people who really need it, or who are doing it tough,” he said.

He said it was important to get the budget in a “better nick”.

“If at some future point, and we’re not contemplating additional measures right now, but at some future point if we need to, we do that from a much more solid foundation, and that’s because we’re managing the budget so responsibly,” Chalmers said this morning.

Host Patricia Karvelas asked Chalmers the government made an assessment that economic conditions were deteriorating, there would be a case for more support.

“I think it’s smart and responsible to manage the budget in a way where you are improving the bottom line if you can, and we’ve made a really substantial improvement ... the budget’s in much better nick than what we inherited, and that’s a good thing.

“It hasn’t come at the expense of helping people that’s in addition to helping people we’ve got the cost of living package which we’re rolling out right now and which is really important that will help people with out of pocket health costs and rent and medicine costs,” he said in response.

He said the government was “responsive to economic conditions”.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made light of the so-called Sandpapergate cricket scandal in a one-on-one meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Vilnius.

Tensions remain high between the two countries as the heated Ashes series continues in England.

The two leaders met briefly, known in British media as a “stop-and-chat”, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, and reignited the recent war of words over the Ashes.

As the duo posed for their social media teams before the meeting, Albanese said he’d brought something “less sophisticated” and held up a sign which said “2-1 Aus-England”.

Sunak then brought out a picture of tail-end batsmen Mark Wood and Chris Woakes celebrating after hitting the winning runs at Headingly.

Albanese returned fire when he pulled out a photo of Jonny Bairstow getting stumped at Lord’s.

The incident sparked outrage in the UK.

In response to the Bairstow photo, the British prime minister said: “I’m sorry I didn’t bring my sandpaper with me”.

It was a reference to a 2018 scandal in South Africa which led to a lengthy suspension of several players, including Steve Smith, who was sacked as captain.

First, the leaders of the world’s most powerful military alliance are set to declare they are prepared for Ukraine to ultimately join the grouping but will not commit to a firm timeframe, in a move which has infuriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

NATO states have said Ukraine can join the military alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met” after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the “absurd” delay to accession.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers at the NATO summit in Lithuania. Credit: Getty Images

Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, an intergovernmental military alliance between 31 member states – 29 European and two North American – have converged on the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for a two-day summit which will be dominated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a communiqué released on Tuesday evening, NATO said it recognised the need to move faster but would not be drawn on a timeframe.

Read more from Rob Harris on this issue here, who is in the Lithuanian capital for the summit.