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
Question Time begins
Question time has begun in the House of Representatives, where deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley is representing Peter Dutton today – who is absent 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 said 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.
Coalition will support bill to confiscate phones in detention
Paul Karp
The shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, has revealed the Coalition will support Labor’s bill creating powers to confiscate drugs and mobile phones in detention.
The phone ban bill, along with the migration amendment bill and Labor’s first deportation bill are all listed for debate on Wednesday. Guardian Australia understands that the parties are close to a deal on all three.
But Tehan said the Coalition would support the phone ban bill without amendment. In his remarks, he targeted Andrew Giles, Peter Khalil and Josh Burns for comments they made in 2020 opposing a similar bill proposed by the Coalition, such as Giles describing it as a solution in search of a problem.
However, Labor’s bill has greater safeguards including requiring immigration detainees be given alternative means of communication if their phones are confiscated.
It’s a good development that the Coalition hasn’t tried to toughen this up in a way that makes the law vulnerable to challenge – as occurred on the ankle bracelet and curfew visa conditions.
More context on claim Greens’ proposed housing concession ‘unlawful’
Earlier this morning, the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, said that the Greens’ proposed concessions on the Help to Buy bill (which the government didn’t agree to) were “nonsense” and “unlawful”.
She argued that one of the Greens’ proposals would have required her to direct Housing Australia to fund homes it has decided not to fund, “and that is against the law”.
For a bit more context on those claims: While the minister cannot direct Housing Australia on particular projects, the minister can give direction about strategy and policy – including undertaking further funding rounds.
The Greens’ proposal was for the government to provide additional funding to Housing Australia to unlock more social and affordable homes.
Petra Stock
Forrest calls for ‘plastic tax’ as global treaty to end plastic pollution negotiated
The Australian businessman Andrew Forrest has called for a “plastic tax” as more than 175 countries – including Australia – negotiate a legally binding global treaty to end plastic pollution in Busan, South Korea.
A “polymer premium” applied as a small price per tonne on plastic production could be used to fund waste management and further research as well as cleaning up past pollution, Forrest wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Environmental group WWF Australia said the treaty was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a global solution to the worsening crisis, with plastic pollution expected to triple by 2040. Kate Noble, the WWF plastic policy manager, said:
Plastic pollution is a global scourge but its impact across Oceania – a large continent that is predominantly oceans, and home to some of the world’s most incredible biodiversity and pristine marine environments – is particularly horrific.
WWF has urged governments to include explicit text in the treaty to ban and phase out the most harmful plastic products, mandatory product design requirements to ensure remaining products are safe and easy to reuse and recycle, and funding and mechanisms for strengthening the treaty over time.
Negotiations conclude on 1 December.
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”.
Peter Hannam
NSW’s forecast power shortfall reduced but conditions remain ‘tight’
Earlier this morning, we noted that the Australian Energy Market Operator had issued an alert for a pretty big potential supply gap in NSW on Wednesday afternoon, and it was seeking a response from the market.
Well, it has received some of that desired response. So instead of 1700 megawatts (about the size of the now closed Liddell power station when it was having a good day), the forecast supply gap has been cut to 351MW.
And instead of an eight-hour stint when supply might not meet demand (aka “blackouts”), the period has shrunk to five hours from 4pm (Aedt) to 9pm. Aemo said in a statement:
High temperatures and strong electricity demand, combined with some generation outages, are causing tight electricity supply forecasts in New South Wales tomorrow and Wednesday afternoon.
“Aemo has alerted the energy industry and is working with power station operators and transmission businesses to boost electricity availability,” adding that if the market’s response is inadequate, it will take “actions” to ensure supply.
And, as we noted, Queensland also faces “tight electricity reserves” on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully they don’t get tighter too.
Peter Hannam
NSW holding off any official call for power use reduction as mercury climbs
As noted in an earlier post, the electricity grid in parts of eastern Australia faces strains this week as a low- to severe-intensity heatwave sweeps eastwards.
NSW’s energy minister Penny Sharpe told a media conference in Sydney (mostly about the fire dangers of lithium batteries) that the “first thing” is for people to take care of themselves in the coming heat. (Parts of western Sydney are expected to reach 38C-39C tops tomorrow and Wednesday.)
You should drink water, you should check in on neighbors, and you should think about whether you need to walk out in the middle of the day in the beating hot sun.
Sharpe, though, said the Australian Energy Market Operator was making the call on strains to the power grid although “we’re obviously keeping a close eye on it”.
While not giving “any official advice at this point,” the minister said people consider “on really hot days” whether every single light needed to be in the house or whether air conditioner really needed to be set at 19C say.
There are some big gaps for Aemo to fill, though, so we’ll be watching closely too.
Meanwhile, fire danger risks in NSW will be elevated in some regions early this week as the mercury climbs. The likelihood of light winds and the fact the landscape hasn’t dried out – yet – will spare the state more severe fire conditions this time around.
Mis- and disinformation bill withdrawn in the Senate
Just earlier this morning, the government’s mis- and disinformation bill was officially withdrawn in the Senate.
The opposition leader Peter Dutton welcomed the move in a post to X, saying this is “a win for free speech for our democracy”. He also called on Labor to “rule out bringing this legislation back, now or after the next election.”
Nationals senator Matt Canavan wrote that it was “the most anti-democratic law ever introduced to the Australian parliament.”
Greens senator David Shoebridge also wrote on X that it was a good outcome:
Good outcome. Now do the social media age ban.
Man arrested at Sydney airport and charged over vandalism in city’s east
Mostafa Rachwani
A man has been charged after cars and buildings were damaged or vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s east last week.
Just after midnight on Thursday, emergency services responded to reports of a vehicle on fire on Wellington Street in Woollahra.
This vehicle and a further nine vehicles parked along Wellington Street, Tara Street, Fullerton Street and Ocean Street were also allegedly graffitied.
Another vehicle allegedly received minor damage as a result of the fire. Police estimate the total value of the damage to be in excess of $70,000.
Three buildings on Ocean Street and Fullerton Street were also allegedly graffitied. At this time, the total estimated value of the damage is between $20,000 to $30,000.
Following an investigation under Strike Force Mylor, a 20-year-old man from Mascot was arrested at around 3:50am this morning at Sydney airport.
He was taken to Mascot police station and charged with 21 offences:
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Fourteen counts of destroying or damaging property.
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Three counts of entering a building or land with intent to commit an indictable offence.
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One count of destroying property in company using fire to the value of more than $5,000.
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One count of destroying property in company using fire to the value of less than $2,000.
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One count of having a blackened or disguised face with the intent to commit an indictable offence.
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One count of behaving in an offensive manner in or near a public place or school.
He was refused bail and is due to appear in the Downing Centre local court today.
Josh Taylor
Hanson-Young: ‘You’re asking us to ram through a piece of legislation without any evidence’
A theme of hearing on the proposed under-16s social media ban is around the short timeframe the government is expecting the Senate to review the bill. Today’s hearing is just three hours long and is the only examination of the legislation.
The comms department’s deputy secretary James Chisholm was asked by the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young why the government had not released the review into the Online Safety Act given it goes to many of the issues that the age ban bill aims to address.
Chisholm said the timing of the release was a matter for the minister.
Hanson-Young said:
This is why this is such a joke. A piece of legislation is being rammed through that relates directly to the issues that were raised in this review…. You’ve just said a whole lot of recommendations. It’s been kept secret from the public, secret from the Senate, and you’re asking us to ram through a piece of legislation without any evidence.
The government says digital ID won’t be used for age assurance – but does the bill rule it out?
Josh Taylor
The federal government has said its digital ID won’t be used to assure ages on social media, but when pressed could not point out in the under-16s ban legislation where it was specifically prohibited.
The infrastructure department’s first assistant secretary for digital platforms Sarah Vandenbroek said:
I know there have been questions raised in a few areas about whether there’s any linkage here to the government’s digital ID system. And to be clear, there is no linkage. That is not the intention. The trial will look at the different methodologies and assess not just their accuracy, but also their security and privacy settings to see which of those technologies might be considered a reasonable step.
But when asked by Nationals senator Matt Canavan about where specifically the legislation rules it out, the department indicated there was no specific exclusion in the bill. Canavan:
Can you point me to the bid in the legislation which restricts the eSafety commissioner from designating digital ID as a means of age verification … Once it goes through the Senate, that’s it. I don’t get to touch it again. Is there anything in the law that says that?
Department deputy secretary James Chisholm:
Nothing in this law that says that.