Doorstop interview, Parliament House, Canberra

Subjects: superannuation, Digital Duty of Care Jim Chalmers: One Nation’s superannuation policy is an absolute shambles and now the Coalition say that they want to copy it. When most people would run a mile from this absolute madness which is the One Nation superannuation policy, we now hear that Andrew Bragg wants to copy it. Andrew Bragg, the Coalition spokesman, today has made it really clear that instead of rejecting One Nation’s superannuation madness, they want to photocopy it.

It’s hard to understand what the point of the Liberal Party is if it’s just to photocopy One Nation’s policies. Whether it’s One Nation, the Liberals or the Nationals, they are now indistinguishable from each other when it comes to attacking superannuation, attacking wages and attacking workers. All 3 of these parties are one and the same.

They are all anti‑superannuation because they are all anti‑worker. It’s that simple. Now, right across the board, the Liberal Party seems to take the approach to wait for One Nation to announce something and then to replicate it.

This absolute madness that One Nation has put out there is falling down all around them. It is almost friendless. Except for the Liberal Party spokesman, Andrew Bragg.

Now, they haven’t been able to tell us: what does this mean for pension spending? They haven’t been able to tell us: what are the broader economic implications of this superannuation heist from One Nation? This is a shambles from beginning to end.

Instead of running from it, the Liberal Party wants to photocopy it. I think that says it all about the very dangerous and risky anti‑worker, anti‑super ideology shared by One Nation, the Liberals and the Nationals. Journalist: There’s a lot of focus on Digital Duty of Care and social media algorithms today, but there are a lot of businesses that are quite concerned that they won’t be able to access new customers if changes to the algorithm are put in place.

Do you think that’s a valid concern? Well, we’ll get the balance right as we have. As we work through all of these issues, I think it’s hard to mount a credible case that some of these algorithms aren’t doing real damage in our society.

Anika Wells, the Prime Minister and others are doing a heap of wonderful work to recognise that these big tech companies have got responsibilities. We want to make sure that online is a safer place, particularly for our kids and the Digital Duty of Care is part of that effort. Journalist: Do you think that you’d consider any kind of carve‑out for small businesses and perhaps they’re able to get into full speed, while other things aren’t?

We’ll strike the right balance. I mean, we recognise that a lot of small businesses and others do business online as is appropriate. Our job is to make sure that the online environment is a bit safer, and that means holding the tech giants’ feet to the fire on their obligations to Australians, and particularly to younger Australians.

There are real risks here. You don’t need to be a parent to understand that there are huge risks in our society from the way that these algorithms operate. The government is doing the right thing, the sensible thing, in making sure that the tech giants discharge their responsibilities and their obligations in an appropriate way.

And as we go about that work, we’ll make sure we strike the right balance. Journalist: Do you think that it equates to government censorship if these laws do get up? No, of course not.

I mean, that’s just the excuse that some people use for allowing these algorithms to do their damage in our society, in our country. I think it’s possible to recognise free speech in a legitimate way, but also to recognise that the tech giants have obligations and responsibilities. This is a government which has shown a willingness to lead on this, whether it’s the social media ban for under 16s or in other ways.

The Digital Duty of Care is a really important piece of leadership from the Prime Minister and Minister Wells to make sure that the online environment is a bit safer for people, particularly for our kids. Journalist: And just finally, the Digital Duty of Care. Why is it so important?

Why is something like that necessary? Well, the Digital Duty of Care is about ensuring that the big tech companies try and do the right thing by our people and particularly by our young people. It’s about recognising that when they operate in Australia, they’ve got responsibilities and obligations to our people.

This is obviously a fast‑moving area. It’s obvious there is a whole range of complexity here, but the government’s shown a willingness to lead, to recognise the complexities, to strike the right balances. But overall, with that big objective, which is to make the online environment safer for young people.

Thanks very much.