David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Banks from moving the following motion immediately—

That the House notes:

(1) the protection of children from online harm is a fundamental responsibility of government;

(2) in 2021, under the former Coalition Government the eSafety Commissioner commenced work on a roadmap for age verification technology;

(3) this work arose from the recommendations of the bipartisan Protecting the Age of Innocence inquiry, chaired by the Member for Fisher;

(4) in March 2023, the eSafety Commissioner provided its report, which recommended a trial of age assurance technology to help keep children safe online;

(5) the Albanese Government has refused to implement this recommendation, instead leaving the issue of age verification up to the pornography industry through the development of industry codes;

(6) more than 45 children's and women's safety advocates have strongly criticised the Albanese Government for its refusal to implement the eSafety Commissioner's recommendation on this issue; and

(7) therefore private Members' business notice No. 31 relating to a Bill for an Act to amend the Online Safety Act 2021, and for related purposes standing in the name of the Member for Banks being called on immediately and debate on the second reading proceeding for a period of no longer than two hours, after which any questions required to complete passage of the bill then being put without delay.

This is an absolutely outrageous decision by the Albanese government. There is nothing more important than the online safety of children. This is one of the defining issues of our era. Every single parent in Australia worries about this. It's an immensely significant issue.

Back in 2020 the member for Fisher chaired a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry, by members from all parts of this House. One of their key recommendations was to pursue age verification technology to stop children from accessing dangerous content. Our government asked the eSafety Commissioner to investigate this issue. The eSafety Commissioner, the person in this country who has more expertise than anyone else on these matters, spent two years looking into this issue, and in March she presented a report to the government. Her key recommendation was to conduct a trial of age assurance technology to protect children, principally from pornography and other forms of dangerous content, and then mandate and prescribe age assurance technology. That's what the eSafety Commissioner said.

What did this government say to the eSafety Commissioner? 'No, we're not going to do what you, the eSafety Commissioner, want us to do. But do you know what we are going to do? We're going to do what the pornography industry wants us to do.'

Many things in politics can be explained, but what the Minister for Communications did defies all explanation. Here's what the minister decided to do: not implement the eSafety Commissioner's recommendation. No, don't do that. Instead, leave the matter up to the industry! The industry in this case, of course, is the pornography industry. What an extraordinary thing for the Minister for Communications to do. Immediately, the children's safety and women's safety experts of Australia stood up and condemned this decision by the government. Of course, we're talking about such a serious issue, and the government's own National Plan to End Violence against Women and Childrensays:

With pornography now overwhelmingly consumed online and via mobile devices, it is both prevalent and pervasive, perpetuating sexist, misogynistic and degrading views about women. This is a serious concern in addressing the drivers of violence against women and children.

That's absolutely right. That's a reason why this is such an urgent issue that must be debated by the House.

An activist group called Collective Shout organised 49 advocates and experts in children's safety and women's safety to say what they thought about this issue. Here's what they said:

Early porn exposure harms developing sexual templates, contributes to damaging stereotypes, the development of sexist ideas, the normalisation of violence against women and a rise in child-on-child sexual abuse.

This is a very serious matter. Then the experts went on—and this is a damning indictment on the Albanese government—to say:

It is our strong view that the Government has allowed itself to be swayed by industry resistance to an age verification system. Vested interests should not have been put before the wellbeing of children.

Who signed that letter? Forty-nine experts. One of them was Robert Fitzgerald. You know who he is? He was the former royal commissioner into child sexual abuse. He signed that letter, as did the author Maggie Dent; Chanel Contos of Teach Us Consent, who does such tremendous work in this area; Alison Geale, the CEO of Bravehearts; the Daniel Morcombe Foundation; author Steve Biddulph, an expert in this area; Professor Clive Hamilton; Grace Tame of the Grace Tame Foundation; and Anna Bowden, the CEO of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia. They all signed this letter, saying:

It is our strong view that the Government has allowed itself to be swayed by industry resistance to an age verification system. Vested interests should not have been put before the wellbeing of children.

That's what they said.

And you know who else had something to say about it? Anne Hollonds. Anne Hollonds is the National Children's Commissioner. Her job is to stand up for the rights of children, to look after the welfare of children and to basically speak up for kids, who often can't speak up for themselves. Anne Hollonds, the National Children's Commissioner, said:

If child wellbeing was a national priority, we would act on e-Safety's plan to trial ways to protect young kids from online porn. This would help to reduce child sex abuse, youth crime, domestic and family violence.

That's what the National Children's Commissioner said.

But you know who did actually welcome it? The Eros Association, who speaks for the pornography industry. Graeme Dunne from the Eros Association, on the day the minister announced this decision, appeared on the ABC and said, 'We've always advocated for a sensible approach, and that includes what the government is recommending today.' That's what the Eros Association said. So 49 of the most eminent people in Australia—if you were to define 'eminent', do you get any more eminent than the royal commissioner into child sexual abuse? It's extraordinary. Forty-nine of the most eminent experts in Australia—people who are passionate about protecting our children and passionate about issues relating to women's safety—condemn it. The Eros Association says it's good. This is the situation we are in under this extraordinary Minister for Communications.

But it's not only about the Minister for Communications, because there is a very obvious question that springs to mind: what is the Prime Minister doing about this? Is he backing the Minister for Communications on this, against the advice of Australia's top experts? What on earth is going on? There are basically two scenarios here. One is that the Prime Minister doesn't know what's going on and what his minister is doing—

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