Wells rejects claims from Coalition that eSafety ‘sock puppets’ will spread disinformation
Wells rejects claims from Coalition that eSafety ‘sock puppets’ will spread disinformation
For those (including myself until very recently) who don’t know what a sock puppet is, it’s a fake undercover account that Wells says allows researchers or the eSafety commissioner to test and see how tech companies comply with the laws.
In her speech Wells said:
In many cases, the only way eSafety or researchers can examine those questions is to create a test account as a 14-year-old for the purpose of investigation. These provisions simply make that lawful and the evidence they collect usable. Australian researchers used sock puppets to show how they responded to complaints about eating disorder content on their platforms. It showed a huge variation how platforms responded to reports of this dangerous and disturbing content, ranging from not good enough to negligent.
Wells is asked to respond to claims from the Coalition that these sock puppets – which are legally protected under the legislation – will be used to spread partisan mis- and disinformation.
Wells says:
I would say it is just absolutely nothing of the sort. The reason that it’s in the bill is because eSafety and accredited researchers currently basing themselves outside of Australia because they experience no legal protection in Australia want us to put this in to allow them to do this important work here and for the evidence they gather to be able to be used in compliance and enforcement. It’s important that eSafety and researchers asked us to include this in the bill for good reason.
Shoebridge denies knowing about Steele-John allegations
Asked if he knew about the allegations or was aware of rumours about Jordon Steele-John, Shoebridge responds:
No, I received the correspondence in my capacity as leader of the Australian Greens, and I’ve dealt with it with the urgency which I think is appropriate.
Shoebridge tells journalists Steele-John asked to temporarily leave the party room and he accepted that request.
He says he won’t “be engaging in a running commentary on the matter”.
I received correspondence in relation to Senator Steele–John earlier this week and I want to be clear that I in the party room take these matters incredibly seriously. And what is matters like this are raised they require a fair and independent and timely process for them to be dealt with. The WA Greens are commissioning that process and the matter has been referred across to the WA Greens for that process.
Liberal MP Mary Aldred is next and asks the small business minister how much the trust tax will add to the cost of housing, with more than 60,000 small businesses in the construction sector operating as a trust.
Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino takes the question again.
He says there are mechanisms for small businesses to more easily be able to handle their tax affairs – called schedule two and schedule three.
Schedule Two contains a mechanism by which it is possible for a business to move to a corporate structure, and there will be rollover relief
Schedule three relates to an election method, which is something which has been added again after stakeholder consultation, and that that will provide for relief, which includes in our advice relief from state transaction taxes.
Anthony Albanese is defending his economic track record, after Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown asked if he would take responsibility for real wages going backwards, corporate profits increasing, while Australians’ living standards are worse.
He rattles off some numbers:
Employment is now 14.8 million. It was 13.5 million when we were elected. Participation rate is higher today than it was then, even in spite of the growth in population. 66.8%, up 0.5%, even with the increased population. Gender pay gap, it was 14.2 and it’s now 11.3%, a record low.
Watson-Brown makes a point of order on relevance, saying she was asking about the cost of living. But Milton Dick bats it off and says she never used the words “cost of living” and the PM is being relevant.
Albanese continues:
A $78bn deficit was anticipated in the [budget] last year and we turned that into a $22bn surplus, thanks to the treasurer. The next year, the $56bn deficit was turned into a $15bn surplus by this government.
‘I’m also the minister for international development’ Aly defends travel bill
Anne Aly is still copping heat from the Coalition, now asking her about a $150,000 bill for several international trips over 17 months.
She says it’s a fundamental part of her other portfolio:
As the member is aware, I’m also the minister for international development, which is a portfolio within foreign affairs and trade and which, obviously, has a requirement for me to travel internationally on behalf of our country.
Independent MP asks attorney general about recommendation for program in family law and justice systems
When will the attorney general’s department implement a five-year time-bound program as recommended by the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner to stop continual harm being caused in the family law and justice systems, asks independent Kate Chaney.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says work is being done on the second national action plan to end violence against women and children.
She doesn’t give any commitments on the recommendation by the commissioner but says more broadly:
In March this year, we announced the establishment of new specialised trauma informed sexual violence pilots in New South Wales and Queensland and they build on the expansion and extension of the pilots already operating in the ACT and in Western Australia and the establishment of new pilots in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania, which we announced in November 2025.
Trust compliance costs for small businesses ‘a fraction’ of public claims, says Labor
We’re back to small business and trusts.
Nationals frontbencher Anne Webster asks the small business minister about the roughly 350,000 businesses who use trusts that will face tens of thousands of dollars to rejig their finances if the minimum 30% trust tax is implemented.
The minister, Anne Aly, and the assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, exchange looks and give each other a small nod.
Mulino will take the question (prompting jeers from the Coalition).
Mulino defends the policy, and says as a proportion hardly any small businesses use trusts, and the compliance costs being quoted publicly are totally blown out.
In the last 20 years, the number of trusts have doubled and a significant proportion of that growth is discretionary trusts. The majority of trust income flows to the top-earning 10% of families and about 90% … it is important to note that the compliance costs of our reforms are set out and they’ll be a fraction of some of the figures that are in the public realm.
‘That’s just what they need, more compliance’: Liberals probe minister on digital duty of care regulations for small business
Liberal frontbencher, Aaron Violi, is up next and asks the small business minister, Anne Aly, to confirm if the digital duty of care bill will require all small businesses with a website to undertake annual risk assessments, which must be kept for six years.
Long story short, Aly says there will be a small level of compliance for small businesses because they generally don’t have private messaging mechanisms between strangers or allow people to upload harmful or classified material.
Providers of low-risk services like websites and applications run by small businesses will have minimum obligations under the Digital Duty of Care. The eSafety Commissioner will provide further regulatory guidance in due course.
Someone from the Coalition shouts “that’s just what they need, more compliance”.
We’re now a second MP down – during the last dixer to Mark Butler, Nationals backbencher Alison Penfold got the boot, with several other MPs on warnings.
Howard government had ‘rivers of gold flowing in’ when it gave over-65s extra private health insurance rebates
Humiliation seems to be the word of the day in the House, with Liberal frontbencher Melissa McIntosh asking when Labor will stop “waging war on senior Australians” after suffering a “humiliating” defeat when its private health insurance premiums bill was thrown out of the Senate yesterday.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, maintains the reforms are fair and that the rebates were originally put in during a very different economic era.
That measure that came in by the government during the mining boom, where they had to actually make changes to the aged discrimination act in order to bring it in, because they had rivers of gold flowing in.
We’re one MP down during this question: at the end of the last dixer to the PM, Liberal backbencher Ben Small got kicked out of the chamber for interjecting too much.