QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:17): I thank the member for Banks for his question. Indeed, he, like I think all members of this House, agrees that social media companies have a social responsibility—a responsibility to back parents and protect young people from harm. That's why we legislated our world-leading social media ban for under-16s.

I pay tribute to the former leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, for the support that was given across the board for this change as well as to the crossbenchers. This is world-leading legislation. It has led to 20 countries following Australia's lead and implementing legislation right across the board.

This is about children having a childhood that isn't spent glued to a device with all the danger that that can represent. This is change that has been supported by members of this parliament but not led by it. It's been led by brave parents who've taken what was personal tragedies of losing a son or a daughter and channelled that energy with courage and with vigilance into making sure other parents didn't have to go through what they had gone through.

Today, we're joined in the gallery by Wayne and Mia. Wayne and Mia are parents who've seen firsthand the impact, and I pay tribute to Wayne and Mia, who are with us here today. They are part of organisations like Let Them Be Kids and 36 Months that have made an enormous difference.

They know the difference that this can make. Social media companies are not doing enough to comply with the law, and that's why this afternoon, the minister will introduce new legislation that doubles down on our reforms and strengthens our action. We'll give the eSafety Commissioner expanded powers of enforcement to make sure that social media companies are complying with the ban, and we'll double the fines for social media companies that aren't doing enough to keep children off their platforms.

This is about doing the right thing for parents and for Australian children, and it will give the eSafety Commissioner more power to be successful in legal actions which need to be taken if these companies simply won't comply. This is about strengthening a reform that's important not only for young people today but for the wellbeing of future generations. We will have to, as technology changes, continue to respond as a parliament, as will parliaments right around the world, in order to make sure that we hold these companies to account because they simply shouldn't be able to get away with making these massive profits with consequences for the youngest and most vulnerable people in our society.