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Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes have clashed over the government's net zero emissions plan.

In an often tense exchange at The Daily Telegraph's virtual bush summit, the tech boss repeatedly asked the Nationals leader how the government was going to reach its emissions targets.

The co-founder and CEO of software company Atlassian said while "there are things in the pamphlet that I agree with", the details haven't been explained and he doesn't understand "the how".

The billionaire this week tweeted that the 129 page plan was "ridiculously embarrassing".

The modelling is due to be released in the next few weeks.

Mr Cannon-Brookes said the idea that methane challenges would destroy the beef industry, as outlined by the Nationals leader earlier in the week, was "bulls***".

"How are we going to get methane down to zero? Is it going to come at the expense of the gas industry or ag? Where is it going to come from?" asked Mr Cannon-Brookes.

The tech boss shook his head while the Nationals leader argued that renewables were unreliable and more costly.

"To say that wind makes power cheaper... We've had a six fold increase in power prices in a year... because wind power is unable to fill the void," Mr Joyce said, adding it was a "BS argument" that power prices and reliability aren't affected.

But Mr Cannon-Brookes said "blaming renewables... is the same old tired argument".

They had contributed to a seven per cent drop in NSW power prices, he said.

The two men also clashed over whether renewables would help underpin regional towns in Australia.

"I can't think of one renewable town in Australia, not one, so all these hundreds of thousands of jobs .. surely there would be some of these 'renewable' towns popping up. But they don't exist because it's a mythical statement," Mr Joyce said.

The billionaire hit back.

"I can't tell you where there's a renewable town in Australia because it's all of them," he said.

"Australia's future is underpinned by renewables in a decarbonised economy, in every region in every town."

Mr Joyce wrapped up the session saying the government had to be honest with regional workers and that "right now we are exporting more coal at a higher price than ever before, and that's the truth".

But it was left to Mr Cannon-Brookes to have the last word, and he criticised the government's emissions plan for its lack of detail and ambition.

"We need a plan we don't have one," he said.

© AAP 2021

If she had her time again, Gladys Berejiklian would keep her relationship with disgraced former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire a secret, a combative former premier declared in her first day of evidence at anti-corruption hearings.

Ms Berejiklian was on Friday subject to more than five hours of questioning at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry that forced her to resign as the state's leader on October 1.

ICAC is investigating how her secret relationship may have affected the way she - as treasurer and premier - dealt with projects pushed by Mr Maguire.

Ms Berejiklian was played several intercepted phone calls during which she discussed some of those projects with the former member for Wagga Wagga.

In one, she can be heard saying she got "$170 million in five minutes" for a hospital in his electorate.

"I just spoke to Dom and ... he goes, 'No worries'. He just does what I ask him to," Ms Berejiklian said of then-treasurer Dominic Perrottet, her successor as premier.

In another, she says a public servant would be sacked, but only after he "fixed" a grant proposal Mr Maguire was advocating for.

Mr Maguire was the one originally under ICAC's microscope last year for allegedly using his position as an MP to gain a financial benefit for himself.

Ms Berejiklian says she had no clue Mr Maguire was doing anything "untoward", and he did not get any preferential treatment from her.

The public hearing has focused on two grants for which Mr Maguire lobbied.

Neither faced a competitive tender process and were at times opposed by senior public servants.

Ms Berejiklian told the inquiry she supported a $5.5 million upgrade to the Wagga Wagga Clay Target Club not because of Mr Maguire, but primarily because she thought it would improve the government's standing in the bush after a damaging by-election loss.

The $20.5 million plan to build a recital hall in Wagga Wagga won her favour because she felt the Riverina Conservatorium of Music had been messed around by the public service.

She was "upset" that it had, on advice from bureaucrats, spent "considerable time and money" putting together a proposal to go through a funding process in which it had no hope of succeeding.

Mr Maguire on Thursday agreed his advocacy for some of the projects was partly motivated by a desire to leave a legacy and boost his popularity in the seat so it would be easier for the next Liberal candidate to win.

Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian had previously spoken about him quitting at the 2019 election so they could be together publicly.

But Ms Berejiklian on Friday was incredulous at that proposition.

"That is absolutely not the case. I reject it outright and I find it offensive," she said.

Despite all the trouble it has caused, Ms Berejiklian said even if she had her time again, she would not disclose her relationship with Mr Maguire.

That is despite Ms Berejiklian agreeing with the way Mr Maguire characterised their relationship on Thursday.

He said the pair loved each other, contemplated marriage and discussed having a child.

"I had those feelings but I was never assured of a level of commitment which, in my mind, would have required me to introduce him to my parents or introduce him to my sisters," she said.

She was shown a message, sent to Mr Maguire in April 2018, calling him her "family".

"I regarded him as part of my love circle - part of the people that I strongly cared for - but I wouldn't have put him in the same category as my parents or my sisters," she said.

She was asked why did she disclose other relationships or friendships - including someone she said she had attended functions with - but not one with a person she loved.

She said she believed declarations were necessary where someone stood to gain a personal commercial benefit.

Why then did she not declare her relationship when appointing Mr Maguire to a parliamentary secretary position, which came with a pay rise, Mr Robertson queried.

"I didn't appoint him, I reappointed him," Ms Berejiklian said.

Ms Berejiklian will return to the witness box on Monday, when her lawyer will have the opportunity to examine her.

© AAP 2021

An embattled Facebook Inc. is changing its name to Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, to reflect what CEO Mark Zuckerberg says is its commitment to developing the new surround-yourself technology known as the "metaverse".

But the social network itself will still be called Facebook.

Sceptics on Thursday immediately accused the company of trying to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, the trove of leaked documents that have plunged it into the biggest crisis since it was founded in Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room 17 years ago.

The documents portray Facebook as putting profits ahead of ridding its platform of hate, political strife and misinformation around the world.

Marketing consultant Laura Ries likened the move to BP rebranding itself to "Beyond Petroleum" to escape criticism that the oil giant harmed the environment.

"Facebook is the world's social media platform and they are being accused of creating something that is harmful to people and society," she said.

"They can't walk away from the social network with a new corporate name and talk of a future metaverse."

Facebook the app, where users post personal updates and register likes, is not changing its name. Nor are Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

The company's corporate structure also won't change. But on December 1, its stock will start trading under a new ticker symbol, MVRS.

The metaverse is sort of the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D.

Zuckerberg has described it as a "virtual environment" you can go inside of, instead of just looking at on a screen. People can meet, work and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps or other devices.

It also will incorporate other aspects of online life such as shopping and social media, according to Victoria Petrock, an analyst who follows emerging technologies.

Other tech companies such as Microsoft, chipmaker Nvidia and Fortnite maker Epic Games have all been outlining their own visions of how the metaverse will work.

Zuckerberg said he expects the metaverse to reach one billion people within the next decade and that he hopes the new technology will creates millions of jobs for creators.

The announcement comes amid heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny of Facebook in many parts of the world because of the Facebook Papers. A corporate rebranding isn't likely to solve the myriad problems revealed by the internal documents.

Zuckerberg, for his part, has largely dismissed the furore triggered by the Facebook Papers as unfair.

Some of Facebook's biggest critics seemed unimpressed by the name change. The Real Facebook Oversight Board, a watchdog group focused on the company, announced that it will keep its name.

"Changing their name doesn't change reality: Facebook is destroying our democracy and is the world's leading peddler of disinformation and hate," the group said in a statement.

"Their meaningless name change should not distract from the investigation, regulation and real, independent oversight needed to hold Facebook accountable."

In explaining the rebrand, Zuckerberg said the name Facebook doesn't encompass everything the company does anymore. In addition to its social network, that now includes Instagram, Messenger, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more.

"Today we are seen as a social media company," Zuckerberg said.

"But in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people."

© AP 2021