Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Every student, every child has the right to be safe at school and at home. We have no tolerance for bullying of any kind. Let us be quite clear about that: bullying, whether it is in the classroom, on the bus or on the internet, wherever it occurs, is utterly unacceptable. It is unacceptable on whatever basis that bullying occurs—whether it is on the basis of a child's sexual orientation, their perception of their sexuality, their race, their gender, their religion or their appearance. All of us have been children and many if not most of us are parents. We know how damaging bullying of children is. We know, too, how significant bullying on the internet can be. When I was a child, of course, bullying was much more of a personal, face-to-face issue. Now we know that destructive bullying of kids online can do enormous damage. That is why our government has established a Children's eSafety Commissioner to ensure that bullying and abusive material directed at young people is taken offline.

Let me come to the particular point of the honourable member's question. He asked about the Safe Schools program. We are totally committed to schools being safe—absolutely. Members of this parliament on both sides have raised concerns about some of the content that has been made available, apparently or purportedly, through or in connection with this program.

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