Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Twice I have been interviewed in the ABC studio by Greg Jennett opposite the Assistant Minister for Trade, Senator Tim Ayres, when the topic of child safety and the internet arose. On the first occasion, the South Australian Labor premier, Peter Malinauskas, announced that he was going to put forward a bill similar to this in place in his state. I was asked off the cuff what I thought about it. Sometimes you get blindsided in a media conference about things that have just arisen. Yet, when it's good legislation and good for society, you don't mind backing it in, even though it might come from the other side. I know Mr Malinauskas reasonably well, and I know he was concerned enough to put forward this particular motion at the time for South Australia. I welcomed it and said that, when it is good legislation, it should be supported. I am sure the South Australian Liberals will give it the credit it deserves.

Just yesterday, again I found myself in the studio. I was asked a question about this particular federal legislation before the House today. Put on the spot, I said: 'Don't necessarily ask me this question; ask the parents of those young people who have been bullied to point where they felt it necessary to take their lives. What would they think? What would those families think?' To that end, I have to give credit to the Daily Telegraph and its editor, Ben English. They have been campaigning on this for some time. I know the shadow communications minister, the member for Banks, has just praised the opposition leader, and I share that praise. I know that the member for Dixon announced in June 2024 that a coalition government would implement an age limit of 16 for social media within 100 days of being elected. That's what he said at the time.

I'm in the chamber at the moment opposite the member for Richmond—another Labor member. She served as a police officer on the Gold Coast for seven years. That's not an easy beat. She would know, as we all do—I look around this chamber and every one of us is a parent—that the first order of being a parent is to look after your kids and the first order of being a police officer is to protect your community. That is what this legislation is about. Is it perfect? No. But sometimes you have to let the perfect go to achieve the good, and there is a lot of good in this legislation.

I am not being political, but, to be honest, I am a little surprised and disappointed that the speakers list is full only of coalition and crossbench speakers. I would have liked, expected and hoped that government members would have come in to speak about this, because this is too important to not get up on your feet, go to your microphone and talk about—not just for yourselves and not just for your own families but for the communities you serve. It is important legislation.

I mentioned before the campaign that the Daily Telegraph has been running. In particular, they have been doing a documentary following a campaign called Charlotte's Wish. You can watch the video and read about that poor little girl, Charlotte O'Brien, who, at 12 years young, asked that her story be told to stop bullying and save lives. In a two-month investigation, the Daily Telegraph interviewed eight families who've lost children to suicide in the face of bullying and dozens of other people whose lives have been ripped apart by its devastating impact. So, to all of those people who will contact our offices and say, 'You're siding with Labor,' and that children who are aged 14 or 15 should be able to have social media: think of Charlotte O'Brien. Think of those parents who, particularly this Christmas and every Christmas from now on, will have an empty chair at their table. They will never, ever be able to live their lives as they would otherwise have. They will always have that hole in their heart and that emptiness in their soul because they have lost a child.

In the English language, there is the word 'orphan'. It is a word to describe a child who's lost their parents. There is 'widow' and 'widower' for a spouse who's lost their loved one. There is no word in the English language for a parent who has lost a child. Do you know why that is the case? The reason that is so is that parents should not lose a child. They should not lose a child. It's not nature's way. It's not the normal thing. But the O'Briens and so many other families interviewed by the DailyTelegraph are people who belong in that category of parents who've lost a child. The investigation that the newspaper undertook uncovered a disastrous patchwork of school based policies, skills and enforcement to support families as bullying evolves and a tech driven wave leaves victims with no escape. And there is no escape.

It's been a long, long time since I was at school—more years than I care to remember. But, when I went to school, there were bullies. There were bullies in the schoolyard and in the classroom. We were strapped to within an inch of our lives by the Christian Brothers. I probably deserved every one that I got, but that's by the by. I think I grew up okay. Once we got on the school bus and arrived at the front gate at home, however, the bullying stopped. There was no bullying. These days, a lot of kids have iPads, laptops and computers, and the bullying never stops. It's ceaseless. Whether it's bullying about how you look, what you wear, what your body shape is or just the fact that someone doesn't like you, it continues. I have to say, the member for Forrest has been a champion at having conversations and conferences about bullying. I say to every school group whose classroom I visit or who come into parliament: when you get social media, don't write something you wouldn't like to have said about yourself. Don't do it. It's wrong.

Some kids cope better than others. Some kids are more resilient than others. Sometimes it's more than just friendship issues or exclusion issues, but it's those things and so much more. When we look at little Charlotte O'Brien, we see what a beautiful young girl she was. What a happy soul she seemed to be. Then, of course, Dolly Everett was just 14 when she took her own life. They were so young. Tilly Rosewarne was just 15. Lauren Rafferty took her own life on Mother's Day in 2021 at just 12 years old. The list goes on and on.

The Telegraph came across helpless girls and boys who were told by their tormentors that they should kill themselves. They were told they were fat and ugly. They were called rats and monsters. We sometimes are unkind to one another in this parliament. There has only ever been one parliamentarian who has, sad to say, taken their own life, out of the more than 1,200 who have sat in the House of Representatives. We should be better, but this is a robust chamber of debate. The schoolyard is not. It is a place where kids should be nurtured and loved. They should be kids. I grew up reading Enid Blyton, playing with Matchbox cars and playing cowboys and Indians, and that's how I remember my childhood.

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