Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Ghosh, given his professional history, understands the importance of getting the law right in this area. He also understands this is a challenging area to regulate. That is why governments across the Commonwealth have come together on this important issue of protecting children—and it is important that we all work together.

We do support appropriate age limits for social media. We have said we will legislate to enforce this, and that legislation will be informed by the report to which Senator Ghosh referred by the former Chief Justice Robert French, as well as by engagement with the National Cabinet and engagement with the eSafety Commissioner. We thank South Australia, including Premier Malinauskas, for its work and we acknowledge the contribution of Premier Minns, too, but ultimately the issue needs national leadership, because otherwise we will see Australia with different laws in each state and territory. That will not keep children online safe and we want to ensure we have an effective solution. (Time expired)