ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, today is exactly one month until our world leading social media laws come into effect on 10 December. This is about letting kids be kids. It's also about empowering parents to be able to have those discussions with their children. We don't argue that these laws will be perfect in their implementation. We do argue very strongly though that this is the Government of Australia setting down what we expect to happen, including reminding social media companies that they have a social responsibility and that they need to be conscious about their social licence, like other businesses. This is a reform that has come from the bottom up. It has been driven largely by parents who lost their young sons and daughters. It's been driven by young people themselves, people like young Flossie who came here, a 12-year-old from Tasmania just last week, who's run a campaign with her peers saying what they could do rather than spending time on their devices. Playing sport, learning a musical instrument, reading, engaging with each other and building friendships on a face-to-face basis. It is inspirational. The fact that parents have taken what is often a devastating personal tragedy and channelled that trauma into helping others and making sure that other parents and siblings don't go through what their tragic experience has been. So, I will call upon Anika to make some comments as well, but just some comments on some other news of the day, because it's been a busy period.
Firstly, on the loss of John Laws. Yesterday, John Laws was an iconic Australian. His voice resonated throughout our nation. People trusted John Laws, they listened to John Laws and they engaged with John Laws. He was a permanent feature of our media landscape. And those golden tonsils leaning into that golden microphone was something that Australians felt was a part of their everyday experience for not just years, but for decades. John Laws’ relationship, of course with Caroline, that he spoke about on a day-to-day basis was something that we all felt like we knew that relationship, which was indeed wonderful. John Laws was also someone who was great company off air. I enjoyed quite a few lunches with John Laws and he was always engaging someone who had a real insight into the Australian character, both in our cities but also importantly in the bush. He was someone who is particularly attracted towards people in regional Australia and they warmed to him as well.
On Saturday morning we lost Graham Richardson, a Labor legend, someone who made an enormous difference as a Minister in the Hawke and Keating governments as Minister for Communications, Minister for Social Security, Minister of Health, Minister for Sport, but importantly as well, Minister for the Environment is where he had a real impact. He, more than anyone else, I think, is responsible for Labor being the party of the natural environment and protecting their natural environment. Daintree stands today because of the work that Graham Richardson did, but other work that he did as well. He was of course, a formidable character in machine politics in the Labor Party. He's someone who was a remarkable feature of Sydney Town Hall. I served with Graham Richardson when I was Assistant State Secretary of the NSW ALP. He was the Senior Vice President of the NSW ALP. He fought politics hard inside the Labor Party and on behalf of the Labor Party.
And I had a call very early on Saturday morning from Amanda. My heart goes out to Amanda and D’Arcy. Amanda has this morning been in contact with me. She has accepted the offer of a state future funeral for Graham. And when those details sort through, we'll make an appropriate announcement. It's true as well that when I spoke to Amanda about what Graham's wishes were, she responded by saying that Graham and her thought he lived forever. It was a bit like that. Graham, when you saw him after those extensive operations that he went through, you wouldn't have thought that he would continue to be able to not just live, but live well and enjoy life. He certainly did that. He got to see D’Arcy complete his highest school certificate and that was something that he publicly and privately said was his objective in keeping going under circumstances which would have led most people to not be with us for this length of time. So, we'll make that announcement at an appropriate time.
Further today, a couple more to come. I announce that the Honourable Jay Weatherill, the former Premier of South Australia, will be Australia's next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Jay Weatherill is an entirely appropriate appointment. Jay Weatherill served as South Australia's 45th Premier for over six years. He championed national debate on sovereign defence capability, renewable energy targets, and environmental protection issues. He served in the South Australian parliament for 16 years, including not just Premier, but Treasurer, State Development, Education, and Environment. As Premier, he was instrumental in establishing South Australia's leadership in the defence industry, including in the construction of submarines. And as a proud South Australian, as our future High Commissioner, Jay is well placed to take forward AUKUS in our nation's interest, particularly with SSN AUKUS, which we will be doing in partnership with the United Kingdom. I do thank the outgoing High Commissioner Stephen Smith for his service. Stephen has done a remarkable job in representing Australia's interests across the UK, across security and defence matters in particular, has taken a leading role in Australia's work with the Coalition of the Willing that's being convened by Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron.
One final matter, given where we are in mid-December almost, is this morning Cabinet heard a report from Minister Kristy McBain and the Coordinator-General of NEMA, Brendan Moon, just about the preparation for the high risk weather season which is upcoming. I do want to inform the Australian public that that the preparations have been extensive, more so perhaps than ever before. There have been two full drills for a while. That wasn't always the case under past experience. So, two full drills, including a summit here of over 300 people, including emergency management personnel from the Commonwealth and the States, the energy companies and people through utilities, non-government organisations as well, all going through those exercises of preparations. The expectations are not heightened beyond what is normal, but we live in a country where there are always bushfire risks and flood risks as well. There has been substantial amount of rain in parts of Australia and that means that there is a slightly increased risk of flooding because of the nature of the soil and ground which is there as well. So, I just thought it was worthwhile to get that message across, but also to take the opportunity, which I've been asked to do, to say to the Australian public, the Government is preparing. You need to prepare too. If you're in an area that's vulnerable for fire or flooding or other natural events and extreme weather events, then do that preparation. Clear your gutters, do the things that you know need to be done. Don't wait until there's an extreme weather warning heading your way. Make sure you use this period while things are relatively calm to make sure you're fully prepared.
I'll ask Anika to make some comments and then we'll take your questions. Anika will take the hard ones, I'll take the easy ones.
ANIKA WELLS, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Thank you, Prime Minister. One month from today, our social media laws take effect and they will help children rediscover their childhood and they will give parents back some peace of mind. Just this morning, the Member for Bean and I visited St Mary MacKillop College and we met with a dozen students who face a significant change in their life - let's be clear - but one that they are looking forward to. I heard from people like Peyton, who already has a plan to use the time she will be having free of social media to learn Aussie Rules Football. Potentially one day she could end up in the AFLW. As the Minister for Sports, it makes my heart sing. I heard from people like Alex. He is looking forward to learning how to bake. Some students also decided that they might use the time to learn a language. These are just some of the opportunities away from the persuasive pull of social media accounts.
From 10 December, our social media minimum age law will give Australians under 16 three more years to build community and to build resilience in the real world. Our national education campaign was launched three weeks ago and it has already seen record numbers of people visit the eSafety website. Since the campaign launched three weeks ago, more than 200,000 Australians have gone to that website. That is a 20-time increase in the number of usual weekly traffic. Our social media laws are not a cure, but they are a treatment plan. We want children to have their childhood and we want parents to have peace of mind. So, this reform will not just change a law, it will change a generation. And I want to especially thank the Prime Minister for his courage in backing this world-leading law from day one. We know this law will not be perfect, but it is too important not to have a crack.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, electricity prices are still high. Will you be extending the household energy rebate next time?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've said that the rebates won't be a permanent feature. We'll always look though at cost-of-living as our number one priority. We have a range of cost-of-living measures out there as well, some of which began just in the last week and a bit so we'll continue to work on that. But we're also working on making sure that the Budget's got into shape. So, it's a matter of getting that balance right.
JOURNALIST: Jay Weatherill’s appointment today. Over the weekend you've appointed former Labor MP Peter Tinley to the War Memorial Council. We've seen a raft of other jobs for mates, Stephen Jones to the OECD, since the election. Is this why Cabinet hasn't dealt with the Briggs Report yet, as Richard Marles said the other week?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you planning to attend the state funeral for Graham Richardson when it's organised?
PRIME MINISTER: Depends on the date. Obviously, the priority will be to have a date that suits the family. Certainly, if I can be there, I will be there. There's a range of events that I have, including attending the G20 coming up.
JOURNALIST: PM, just to follow on from Mr Riley's question, what's more important? Improving the Budget bottom line or delivering cost-of-living relief?
PRIME MINISTER: These things are all important. You get the balance right. You need to make sure that the economic management is got right. The economy though, as I've said, we want an economy that works for people, not people working for the economy. There's a difference between the approach that my Government has had. We've had considerable cost-of-living relief across the board. It's not just this, it's free TAFE that people are benefiting from, the other measures that we've put in place. Including just from this month, people are getting their student debt notices and that reduction as well. So, we'll always work towards these issues.
JOURNALIST: Given the allegations of corruption in the contracts for our offshore detention system, will you be going through the contracts to make sure they’re all appropriate?
PRIME MINISTER: The Minister will respond to that. But I note that those issues, as I read them, come from a period before we were in government.
JOURNALIST: Just on social media, as you and the Minister point out, it's less than a month to go until this ban, and as of last week we were still finding out what platforms were going to be included in the ban. How can parents, given how late these changes are being made, how can parents have any confidence in this ban? And second to that, can you explain why Google and Microsoft have also been told to implement age verification?
MINISTER WELLS: Well, the social media platforms who are affected by this have actually had 12 months’ notice. This was legislation that passed the federal parliament in a bipartisan fashion at the end of last year and social media platforms who would be eligible or likely to be considered an age-restricted social media platform – and you can all think of those off the top of your head without needing to see them on a list provided by eSafety – have had 12 months’ notice to prepare. We provided that list last week, the eSafety Commissioner and I together, to give parents clarity. You're right. Because we want people to feel informed and to have these discussions with their kids when they're driving to school, around the dinner table at night about what's coming.
Because we accept and we're clear eyed about the fact that 10 December is a big change for a lot of kids coming down the line. That being said, giving parents that information, and you see that they want it, 200,000 people have visited eSafety.gov.au from in the last three weeks since we launched the advertising campaign – the onus is not on parents to deliver this law. The onus is on the social media platforms who have had 12 months to work with the eSafety Commissioner. They've had back and forth, they've completed questionnaires, they've got compliance plans, these companies deal with eSafety and the eSafety Commissioner every single week. This is core business for them every single week. So, whilst this is a new law we are adding because we are so committed to online safety and having a real crack at something big first in the world to do something that will make a genuine change to how kids grow up in Australia. The richest companies in the world have had 12 months’ notice to do this and we do not shy away from the fact we will be on them to deliver on their obligations.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, do you have any updates on the COP31 negotiations and any concern that if you don't block it in, it might affect your standing in the Pacific?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I think the Pacific are fully aware of what the rules are. So, there are three potential outcomes. Turkey has a bid in to host the COP, we have a bid to host in partnership with the Pacific. But every country has the right of veto, effectively, at COP. So, if that occurs, if one country decides to exit exercise that, then the COP will be held in Bonn, which is the home of the UNFCCC. Now, they’re rules that are understood by every country. We continue to put forward our case.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, 200,000 visits to a website speaks to the interest in finding out about the social media ban for parents. Was it a missed opportunity of the Government to actually require the platforms to do that conversation? It may be on them to enforce it, but it seems like it's on the Government and parents to tell kids about it.
MINISTER WELLS: Happy to advise, Clare, that in the regulatory guidance that we and the eSafety Commissioner provided some weeks, if not months ago now to all of the social media platforms, one of the requirements that they must comply with is that they must communicate with their users ahead of 10 December; they must use kind and empathetic language with the people that are going to be affected by these laws; and they must also advise what the appeals process is. So, if you are unintentionally caught up with this, despite you, in fact, are just someone who uses Facebook because you like to sell caravans on Marketplace, the social media platform that you have an account with, must advise what your appeal process is out of that.
JOURNALIST: The power rebates you just spoke about, you’re not ruling out extending them, you need to find a balance between assisting people and the Budget. Have you found a way to means test those payments? Is that what you're looking at?
PRIME MINISTER: No, no, we're not. I'm not going to – don't read more into it other than what I have said. And I've said it very clearly, we set forward budgets and all of that in the normal processes. And the day that I come out here and tell you about our ERC processes before they're taking place is the day that I keep walking that way.
JOURNALIST: Many of the social media companies haven't communicated how they’re going to enforce the ban, what their age verification process looks like. How much longer do they have to give these answers to parents?
MINISTER WELLS: Look we aren't prescribing that particularly because this is going to look different for every different social media platform we have said as part of the regulatory guidance they must do that ahead of the 10 December. So, I won't name them, but working through this because I and the eSafety Commissioner are meeting with these platforms as frequently as we need to. Perhaps in the week leading up to 10 December.
JOURNALIST: Would you like to see other countries, the COP partners make the case to Turkey that Australia has overwhelming support and that they should consider reconsider their candidacy in these final days?
PRIME MINISTER: They are doing that. I believe that a majority of countries clearly support Australia's bid and countries are making their position very clear, including countries in the Pacific and in Western Europe. But that's not the system. If the system were a vote, I would be far more confident about putting forward what the support is. I certainly have received confident, positive statements from not just obviously the countries in the Pacific, but other countries, for example, in the Western Europe group.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, not wishing to preempt ERC, because that would cause a resignation –
PRIME MINISTER: No, no. I think the other side of politics is talking about resignations.
JOURNALIST: Families are now doing budgets for Christmas, as well as small businesses that speak about energy as being one of the big inputs to their budget. When can they expect to learn about any future rebates? Will that come in MYEFO? Is there something else?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the rebates that are in place are the ones that are in place. And we will continue to focus though each and every day on things that Australians are concerned about. Our number one focus is always on cost-of-living and on the economy and making a difference to people's pockets. But we're also focused on protecting people over the season in which natural disasters occur. We're also concerned about protecting families, children and parents from protecting them from the damage that social media can do. We are focused on as well on our defence and security arrangements, including AUKUS and SSN AUKUS, which is why we believe that Jay Weatherill will do an outstanding job as High Commissioner.
We're focused on the big picture of servicing the needs and aspirations of the Australian people. The Coalition are focused on themselves. They'll have three meetings in the next week about themselves. We're not having meetings about our internal affairs. What we're having meetings on is the needs of the Australian people and will continue to do so. I would encourage you to go to the Museum of Australian democracy in about five hours for what will be an important 24 hours as well, I think, considering the historical significance of the 50 year anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government, a big event in Australia's history.
Thanks very much.