Coalition web filter plans stump Joe Hockey

JOE Hockey tonight said he knew nothing of the compulsory internet filter flagged by his own party in last-minute policy announcements.

Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey says he isn't aware of his party's internet filter plans.

AUSTRALIANS would face internet censorship under a Coalition Government with the quiet release of a policy to block adult content from smart phones and home internet.

But Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey tonight claimed he knew nothing of the compulsory internet filter flagged by his own party in today's last minute policy announcements.

He made the comments on Channel Ten's The Project and when asked about Malcolm Turnbull's 2001 comments - in which Turnbull described the Labor proposal of a similar filter, almost exactly the same filter, as a restraint of freedom of speech - Hockey said: "Well, I'm not sure it's the same internet filter. I mean that's news to me.''

"I will check it out ... I've been a bit preoccupied today.''

When pressed about that it was a bit late to check out given it had already been announced just 36 hours out of Saturday's election, Hockey said: "Hang on - It's not quite the same as the internet filter that was previously - which I also campaigned against, the previous government's internet filter. But let me have another look at it. Today I have been preoccupied. I don't want to cut across what has been released today.''

A day after Tony Abbott announced he would consider creating a new cyber-bullying offence and two days before the election, the Coalition's policy document on enhancing online safety for children was released online.

It promises to copy measures introduced in the UK in recent months for opt-out internet filters for unsuitable content like pornography.

The 11-page policy document says mobile phone operators will be ordered to install adult content filters on smart phones and tablets that will be switched on as the default unless the owner proves they are over 18.

And major internet service providers will install home network filters for all new home broadband systems that will automatically block content unless the customer specifically orders the block be removed.

The document notes the increasing use of mobiles and personal devices to access the internet, especially by young people, and says online environments present many dangers to children.

Parents could not always monitor what their children were doing online, it says.

"The Coalition does not support heavy-handed regulation of the internet," it says.

"But we must do more to address cyber-bullying, predatory behaviour and children accessing age-appropriate content."

The measure will be part of $10 million package the Coalition says will make the internet safer for children.

The policy comes after the Gillard Government was forced late last year to abandon a Rudd Government promise to introduce a national internet filter, which critics said would be inefficient, slow internet speeds and block unintended sites.

But the Coalition document says its approach is "a very different approach to the discredited compulsory filter", allowing people to decide whether to operate the "maximum protection" filter or not, as had been adopted in the UK.

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