Australia politics live: government to set new minimum age limit of 16 for social media platforms; Ray Hadley announces retirement | Australian politics
Government announces new minimum age limit of 16 for social media platforms
Albanese says the there will be “no penalties for users”, for parents or young people:
The eSafety commissioner will provide oversight and enforcement. The legislation will come into force 12 months after passage. There will be a review of the legislation following its commencement to make sure. This is world-leading legislation.
There will be exemptions, and a flexible definition of social media service to avoid unintended consequences, he says. There will be privacy protections on the information collected for age-assurance purposes, and it won’t feature grandfathering arrangements. He says:
We don’t argue that the changes that we will be legislating will fix everything immediately. We have laws such as people can’t buy alcohol if they’re under 18 and, from time to time, that can be broken. But those laws set what the parameters are for our society and they assist in ensuring the right outcomes.
Key events
Ray Hadley to retire from 2GB
Amanda Meade
Former cab driver and rugby league caller Ray Hadley has announced he will step down from his 2GB mornings program next month after clocking up a record-breaking 160 consecutive ratings wins. He told his listeners:
It’s been a hell of a ride from a young bloke who wanted to call the races.
But the time has come for someone else to do the job.
My own four children made many sacrifices for me over the years, allowing me to realise my ambitions, and I want to spend more time with them and my seven grandchildren.
Nine Radio’s content manager, Luke Davis, said Hadley’s contribution to Australian radio and millions of listeners over the years can be marked by volume, impact and tenure, telling staff:
Ray was the founding member of the Continuous Call Team – which has been our country’s leading rugby league radio coverage for the past 38 seasons – inventing the ‘fun & football’ format that has proven so successful on weekends.
Ray has amassed 99 State of Origin and 35 grand final game calls.
Sarah Basford Canales
In the foreign affairs and trade committee in Senate estimates this morning, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Australian government is still “seeking a call” from president-elect Donald Trump following his win on Wednesday.
The shadow foreign affairs minister, Simon Birmingham, said UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Araibian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had all noted they’d received calls from Trump.
Wong said she would update once the call occurred with the prime minister Anthony Albanese. A Dfat official said Albanese had not met with Trump previously.
Peter Hannam
Greens senator Nick McKim says Trump an economic ‘wrecking ball’
So WA Liberal senator Dean Smith kicked off the questions about Trump, and Greens senator for Tasmania Nick McKim has gone in even harder at Senate estimates.
McKim warns Donald Trump will be an “unstable wrecking ball in perhaps the most influential position in the entire global economy”, and isn’t happy the RBA doesn’t have precise answers about what’s going to happen next.
Isn’t that why the RBA chiefs get paid “the big bucks”, he wonders. The key question for Australian borrowers, though, is this one:
Do you think that a Trump presidency increases the risk that the cash rate in Australia will need to be held higher for longer?
Bullock replies bluntly: “I don’t have a view on that.”
Her assistant governor, Christopher Kent, does have a stab at explaining why the RBA can’t tell what a Trump presidency will mean. For one thing, should he carry out his threat to slap tariffs of 60% on Chinese imports, “you can’t imagine …that China will do nothing”, he says.
That “something” might be retaliation (which Kent doesn’t go into), or it could be extra stimulus measures than have already been announced. It’s no accident that the Chinese government is holding a special meeting of its parliamentary standing committee from 4-8 November.
Kent notes that while the Australian dollar has lately slid against the US dollar, its wider trade-weighted measure (tracking currencies in their proportion of our trade) hadn’t changed “very much”. In fact, it even strengthened overnight.
But in any case, who can tell what Trump will do when he takes office?
Sarah Basford Canales
Penny Wong says Australia has ‘few ways to move the dial in the Middle East’
In Penny Wong’s opening statement to Senate estimates, the foreign affairs minister noted the conflict in Gaza, where the death toll has officially surpassed 43,000 according to the Gaza health ministry.
Wong acknowledged Australians were “understandably traumatised” by the past year but said Australia had “few ways to move the dial”:
I understand people want their government to make this war end, but this isn’t Vietnam. It isn’t Iraq. Australia is not contributing to the war, nor are we supplying weapons for it on our own, Australia has few ways to move the dial in the Middle East. That is why we are so focused on partnering with other countries, which also want to end this war, deliver life-saving aid and uphold international law.
Wong said the federal government had committed $94.5m in humanitarian assistance to support civilians affected by conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon in the period.
The Labor senator said “Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas”, noting the sanctions Australia has applied against Israeli extremist settlers in the West Bank.
She said:
Ultimately, I hope all of us want the Middle East cycle of violence to end. That can only happen when the promise of two states is fulfilled, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state, the state of Israel living side by side in peace and security within internationally recognised borders.
A reporter asks Albanese if he is rethinking his approach to the next election after Donald Trump’s election. He says he ran the last campaign saying no one would be held back or left behind:
We needed to make sure that gaps in equality in terms of income did not continue to grow, and that’s why we’ve been very focused on our industrial relations legislation. Our IR legislation is about giving people a fair crack, giving people a fair wage. Same job, same pay.
Albanese says he won’t apologise for comments about Trump
Anthony Albanese is asked if he’ll apologise for unflattering things he has said about Donald Trump in the past. He says “no, I look forward to working with President Trump” and that he’ll speak with him soon.
“I’ve demonstrated, I think, my ability to work with world leaders and to develop relationships with them, which are positive,” he says. He goes on to say that former prime minister Kevin Rudd is doing a “terrific job”, and that Australia is prepared if Trump goes ahead with tariffs:
We’ve had considerable briefings, whether it be across security, economic and other issues, but Australia is a supporter of trade. We’re a trading nation and we will continue to be advocates for free and fair trade.
National cabinet to discuss social media ban on Friday
National cabinet will meet to discuss the proposal tomorrow, but Albanese is confident of support, he says. Asked why not teach children to safely navigate social media rather than banning them, Albanese says that “assumes an equal power relationship”:
The fact is that young women see images of particular body shapes that … have a real impact, in the real world, and young men, through some of the misogynistic material that they get sent to them – not because they asked for it – but if you’re a 14-year-old kid getting this stuff, at a time where you’re going through life’s changes and maturing, it can be a really difficult time and what we’re doing is listening and then acting.
Rowland says she recognises those harms don’t end at a specific age and it is also important for children to be equipped to deal with the potential harms of social media. She says the common understanding of what constitutes social media includes Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X:
YouTube would likely fall within that definition as well. That goes to some of the issues also of exemptions – like whether it is done in a logged-out state and there will be the potential for regulations and also for the eSafety commissioner to make determinations of what could constitute low-risk for the purposes of that exemption regime.
Rowland is asked whether all adults will have to prove their age, whether that will put off social media users, and what sort of pushback she expects from the likes of billionaire Twitter (X) owner (and mate of Donald Trump) Elon Musk.
She says the details will be worked out during the age assurance trial, and that any business operating here will be covered:
Every company that operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences.
Rowland says a trial of age-assurance technology is looking at how users will identify themselves and prove their age. “This is a complex area but it is one that we are determined to get right,” she says.
Albanese says it won’t be perfect:
What we are wanting to state upfront, from the very beginning, is we don’t pretend that you can get a 100% outcome here. [On underage people buying alcohol] people have to produce ID, but I bet this weekend I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere in Australia, someone who is under 18, it is possible that they might get access to some alcohol.
Rowland says Labor has taken ‘pragmatic approach’ on social media ban
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, says Labor will seek agreement from the national cabinet, and that the government had taken a “pragmatic approach” to choosing 16 as the minimum age for social media access:
We’ve consulted widely with experts, with parents, with youth organisations, with advocacy groups, with academics and, of course, our state and territory colleagues.
I want to particularly thank New South Wales and South Australia for jointly hosting the social media summit, which was most instructive in this record … what our approach does is helps to achieve a balance between minimising harms caused to young people accessing social media, while still enabling connection and inclusion.
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