World leaders ‘applauding’ push for social media ban, Albanese says
Josh Butler
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has made a speech in the House of Representatives calling for the parliament to give “unanimous” support to his government’s bid to ban under-16s from social media, after Guardian Australia this morning reported a simmering concern among some Coalition MPs about the rushed legislation.
The Nationals MP Keith Pitt and some colleagues are raising issues about the fact children can work at age 14, but wouldn’t be able to go on Facebook until 16 – as well as concerns about the legislation being rammed through parliament within a week with only a token Senate inquiry. The Nine newspapers also reported the Liberal MP Garth Hamilton had voiced concerns.
In an address to the house just now, Albanese claimed world leaders in North America, Europe and New Zealand had recently told him “they are all looking at what we are doing, and they are applauding what we are doing in showing leadership in this area”.
Defending the decision to set the age limit at 16, Albanese said the restriction was in place because “as we develop and mature, we’re better at spotting the fakes and the dangers”.
We build up the mental resilience to ignore the worst of the nastiness. We learn the difference between online followers and true and real friends, we learn not to measure ourselves and our lives against impossible standards or a fake image of perfection.
If children don’t have that chance to learn, if they don’t have the grounding of real experiences and real friendships to support, if they fall into the vortex of thinking what happens online is all that matters, then we know the consequences can be devastating.
The PM went on to say his bill was “worthy of the unanimous support of this parliament”.
Key events
Sarah Basford Canales Coalition quizzes Labor’s future plans on misinformation bill
Over in the Senate, Coalition senators are pressing the federal government over whether it plans to revive the recently-dumped mis- and disinformation bill after the next election.
The Senate’s government leader, Penny Wong, is asked by Nationals senator, Bridget McKenzie, whether Labor would count on support from the Greens to pass it in the future.
Wong said she is advised Labor will not be proceeding with the bill due a lack of support in the upper house and had no plans to reintroduce it.
McKenzie then asked:
Given the Albanese Labor government can’t, or won’t, say whether it will pursue this bill again or if it would do a deal with the Greens following the next election. How [are] the thousands of Australians who oppose this bill meant to think anything other than it being a delaying tactic by Labor, other than a genuine withdrawal?
Wong responded:
There has been more misinformation … you are desperate for a scare campaign, aren’t you? You don’t want to listen to what I have to say. But what I would say to you, Senator McKenzie, is there is an issue… disinformation and misinformation in our democracy, and those of us who care about democratic institutions, including the few on [the opposition side] who do care about democratic institutions, should work with the government working out how we protect our democracy against disinformation and misinformation. That would be the responsible thing to do.
Sussan Ley questions government’s 2035 emissions reduction target
Acting opposition leader Sussan Ley got up to ask the first question, on emissions reduction targets. She asked why the government was keeping its 2035 target a secret?
Anthony Albanese said that when the target of 43% by 2030 was passed, one provision was that the Climate Change Authority needed to provide advice on future targets.
That is the law … For those opposite, who do not have a 2030 target, to actually stand up and say what is your target for 2035? That is after 2030, it is just extraordinary …
We are on track to achieving the targets we have established.
O’Connor MP Rick Wilson was sent out under 94a, just minutes into question time.
The PM was back on his feet and went on to say: “The short answer is I’m complying with the law”.
Those opposite don’t have a target for 2030, opposed net zero by 2050, and have at a nuclear plan sometime in the 2040s, and no idea how you keep the reliability of energy supply in the meantime. None. No idea, no costing, no plan.
The speaker, Milton Dick, said that Parliament House would be illuminated in orange at 7.30pm tonight to mark 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
Acting opposition leader Sussan Ley is also saying a few words to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
She spoke of Isla Bell, and said:
[She] was just 19 and had her whole life ahead of her. It is alleged that she was bashed to death in an apartment in Melbourne. Her body was [allegedly] loaded into a fridge and moved several times before being dumped. On the day that [she] should have been celebrating her 20th birthday, Isla Bell’s body was [allegedly] being hidden from view by men seeking to hide their crimes.
The sad fact is that these events, the killing of women and girls, has been a constant presence for as long as I can remember. Countless women and girls have been killed, attacked and coerced and manipulated …
Women should feel safe everywhere, always. They should feel safe in their homes and where matters domestic violence arise, they should feel safe and supported in their decision-making, including when leaving a violent relationship.
Question time has begun in the House of Representatives, where the deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is representing Peter Dutton – who is absent today for family reasons.
Anthony Albanese has begun by marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women:
We think of every woman robbed of the future she had every right to live, every death is its own universe of devastation. We think of all who live or grow up in the shadow of violence. We think of those who live with abuse, with fear, and we think of all the First Nations women and children who have been murdered or disappeared.
This is a stain upon the soul of our nation [that] cannot stand … We all feel anger [at] all stories we read on the page. But rather than let this overwhelm us, we must be energised to keep acting and working to change.
The prime minister says that the “fear of violence should not be a normal nor accepted part of womanhood”.
Paul Karp Labor’s three migration bills, explained
The Albanese government has a trio of migration bills before parliament to facilitate the removal of non-citizens from Australia, including paying third countries to take them and creating powers to confiscate mobile phones in detention.
The bills are listed to be debated on Wednesday and Guardian Australia understands that the Coalition and Labor are closing in on a deal to pass all three.
What is in them, and what new powers would the government gain? You can read the full explainer below:
Question time to begin shortly
Today seems to have just flown by – it’s nearly 2pm, which means question time in the House of Representatives is due to begin in about 10 minutes.
Grab a coffee, and get ready – we’ll bring you all the key developments as they happen.
Sarah Basford Canales Russian ambassador claims Russian media more liberal than Australia’s
The Russian ambassador, Alexey Pavlovsky, was on ABC radio earlier this morning, where he made a number of eyebrow-raising claims, including that Russian media was more liberal than Australia’s.
The Moscow envoy told the ABC Radio National host Steve Cannane that responsibility for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lay “squarely on the west”.
On credible claims of torture by Russians on Ukrainians in detention found by the UN, Pavlovsky said it was “propaganda” and claimed, without evidence, the UN’s reports were “biased”.
Asked whether he believed Russian forces were torturing Ukrainians in occupied territory, Pavlovsky said he didn’t “accept it as a yes or no question”.
I don’t accept it, because reality is much more complicated than the ABC wants to make it.
Cannane said Pavlovsky couldn’t spread “false information” about the Russian military without being charged with criminal offences under Russian law. The ambassador added Russia was “much more liberal” than Australia, referencing Labor’s recent dumping of the mis- and disinformation bill. Pavlovsky said:
The world needs responsible and reasonable politicians. Unfortunately, Australian politicians do not qualify.
Read more from our colleagues in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv:
Greens and Labor both accuse each other of working with Dutton on housing
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, gave a doorstop this morning about housing legislation, after the government rejected the Greens’ latest compromise offer to pass the Help to Buy legislation (see earlier post).
According to a transcript from his office, Bandt argued that Labor is “more interested in picking a fight with the Greens than working with us to tackle the rental and housing crisis”.
Going into the final week of parliament, Labor’s approach is to pick a fight with the Greens and do deals with Peter Dutton. That is very distressing.
Labor has also been accusing the Greens of working with Dutton over housing.
Bandt argued that for Labor, it is “their way or the highway”.
We put forward some food faith proposals to the government. Our proposals were based on the government’s own model. We’ll have a look now at what to do about the legislation when it comes up tomorrow, but what’s clear is that Labor has given up on the millions of renters who are struggling with soaring rent increases.
Paul Karp Claim and counterclaim on 25,000 extra social and affordable housing units
Labor is sticking by the housing minister Clare O’Neil’s claim that directing the Housing Australia Future Fund to invest in 25,000 social and affordable homes would be unlawful.
The basis for that claim is that the Greens’ demand was to fund providers of a particular 25,000 units that had applied to the Haff in an earlier round.
On that view, it is no answer for the Greens to note a general ability to set the Haff’s strategy and direction.
Paul Karp Tink targets Labor for phone ban in detention
The independent MP Kylea Tink has also detected some slippage on the Labor side when it comes to banning phones in detention.
In a statement she just sent out, Tink noted that in 2020 Labor’s Andrew Giles said there was “no justification for blanket prohibitions”, while Josh Burns said Peter Dutton’s 2020 bill was “not about a proportionate response from government but about cruelty and politics”.
Tink said:
What has changed, other than Labor running scared of Peter Dutton? While Labor has been inching closer to the Coalition on immigration policy, they are no longer trying to hide the fact that their immigration policies are a ‘cut and paste’ of Peter Dutton’s.
Mobile phones are a lifeline for people in immigration detention helping them to communicate with family, friends and the outside world. This is an attempt by Labor to silence a Peter Dutton scare campaign on immigration while silencing any criticism from detainees – preventing them from speaking to journalists, or advocates.
Although, given Dan Tehan has said the Coalition supports the bill, it will pass easily – no need to convince the crossbench now.
Josh Taylor What’s stopping children from using VPNs to bypass social media age ban?
The communications department has hinted at lawsuits against tech companies if teen users are using virtual private network connections to bypass the age assurance law by making their connection to the platform appear to be coming from outside Australia, where the age assurance requirement would not apply.
The LNP senator Matt Canavan asks the social media inquiry:
Will kids just be able to use a VPN? What’s stopping someone just using a VPN?
Department first assistant secretary for digital platforms, Sarah Vandenbroek, says:
Well, that comes back to questions of extraterritoriality and ensuring that the [eSafety] commissioner continues to be supported in any litigation that’s undertaken.
The department deputy secretary, James Chisholm, says platforms would also be expected to check against information on the platform, such as if a user purporting to be outside Australia is posting photos from Bondi beach.
Question time begins
