As it happened: PM supports social media ban for kids; Coalition refuses to back RBA reforms

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Children will be blocked from social media under sweeping national plans, announced late last night, to shield young people from online harm by mandating strict age barriers in federal law and punishing tech giants that break the rules.

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers may drive through the biggest overhaul of the Reserve Bank in a generation with support from the Greens after the Coalition walked away from months of negotiations and concessions aimed at winning bipartisan approval for the changes.

• Property values around the country have surged to record highs, data released today showed. The average Australian home is now worth more than $970,000 as values soar across NSW, but slide down in Victoria.

• In NSW, two boys have been found dead in a Blue Mountains home. Their mother is under police guard in hospital with self-inflicted wounds after being arrested.

• In Victoria, police will have their budget increased by up to $15 million to deal with mass protests this week outside a weapons expo, which thousands of people have vowed to disrupt and blockade tomorrow.

• In Queensland, LNP leader David Crisafulli says he would push wide-ranging, tough new youth justice laws through parliament, with at most two weeks of public scrutiny, if elected in October.

• In Western Australia, the teen driver of a car that allegedly reached 135 km/h before it crashed in July, killing an 18-year-old passenger, has asked a court for permission to drive tractors on his family’s farm as part of his bail conditions.

• In business news, the Australian sharemarket lost some steam in the afternoon but still closed in the green after being buoyed by a healthy lead from Wall Street, which rebounded from its worst week in almost 18 months.

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Twitter no longer exists, lawyers for the social network known as X have argued, and its successor cannot be held responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

The eSafety Commissioner’s case against X Corp continued in Federal Court in Melbourne on Tuesday, highlighting the difficulty in regulating social media companies the same day Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spruiked his new proposal to block children from certain online platforms.

X Corp is fighting a $610,500 fine and the possibility of further penalties for non-compliance.

The eSafety Commissioner issued the fine to Twitter in October 2023, alleging it failed to adequately respond to questions about harmful content on its platform, particularly child sexual abuse material.

The penalty, issued under Australia’s Online Safety Act, could attract daily fines of $780,000 for each day the company does not respond.

But barrister Bret Walker SC, representing X Corp, told Justice Michael Wheelahan the commission’s actions remained “unfinished regulatory business” that could not be passed on to another company following a merger.

Twitter, incorporated in the US state of Delaware, stopped being a company when it merged with X Corp in Nevada, Walker said, and any penalty process would need to be restarted.

“Part of my learned friend’s language … gave rise to a suggestion or a fear on our part that there is some shadowy afterlife, some wisp of Twitter still existing in X, and in our submission that is to be rejected,” he said.

“Twitter has ceased to exist.”

AAP with Lachlan Abbott

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has flagged that the federal government could use bigger fines for tech companies to force them to police the social media age restrictions that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is pushing.

Speaking in a pre-recorded interview aired on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing about an hour ago, Rowland said many social media platforms already had a minimum age for users in their terms of service, which was not enforced. She said this meant both incentives and penalties for social media companies were needed to implement the government’s age limit plans.

Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

When asked what those penalties might be, Rowland said a review of the Online Safety Act would report back with recommendations next month.

“What I can say is the penalties under the Online Safety Act at the moment – of around 500 penalty units, which translates to a very small amount – would be seen to be really out of step with what we have in place right now in relation to consumer protection law, for example,” she said.

“So I think it’s important those penalties are brought up to date.”

One Commonwealth penalty unit is $330, meaning a 500 penalty unit fine equates to $165,000. The maximum penalty against a corporation can be five times more than the maximum ordered against an individual, according to an eSafety Commissioner document outlining enforcement powers under the Online Safety Act.

Rowland was then asked if she expected those fines would be “substantially enhanced”.

“I won’t pre-empt the outcome,” she responded, “but I will say that this, very clearly, is one of the reference terms the reviewer has been looking at, and is one we are very alive to when it comes to compliance and enforcement.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud says Zali Steggall was “looking for attention” when she called a member of the public gallery overweight, hitting back against the teal MP’s claim he threatened her, arguing she had questioned his integrity.

The furor started when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to questions in parliament about the government’s live sheep export ban, an issue that prompted a National Farmers’ Federation protest in Canberra today. A group of farmers watching proceedings in the public gallery scoffed at Albanese’s answers before storming out. One protester yelled “bullshit” as they left.

Nationals leader David Littleproud during question time yesterday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Once question time finished, Steggall rose to take issue with that behaviour, saying one man who was “in jeans, a black T-shirt, overweight and bald [had] flipped the bird” to the chamber. “And in doing so, looked to the leader of the Nationals for support,” she said.

Littleproud then yelled towards Steggall, who then accused him of threatening her.

Appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing moments ago, Littleproud was asked if he had been threatening when he told Steggall to “be careful”. Littleproud said:

Zali Steggall, who was sitting at the back corner of the parliament [and] cannot even see where I’m sitting, made an assertion I encouraged this gentleman to make an obscene gesture to the prime minister. Now, that’s not something I’ll have my integrity questioned over.

I don’t know this gentleman. I didn’t sign him in. The only person I signed in to parliament today was Mia Davies, who is our candidate in [the WA seat of] Bullwinkle. She was in the Speaker’s gallery. These people were in the public gallery.

But they were people that had come in from outside protesting about what this government had done. And they were very upset with the response they had in question time from the prime minister.

When asked if Steggall’s initial remark calling a man “overweight” was unparliamentary, Littleproud said: “Well I think Zali Steggall is looking for attention and I think we should leave it at that.”

Teal MP Zali Steggall has described the man from the public gallery who yelled “bullshit” earlier as overweight, prompting hysterical shouts from Coalition MPs towards the independent, who then accused Nationals leader David Littleproud of threatening her.

As question time ended, Steggall rose to call out the behaviour of the farmers in the public gallery as tempers flared when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked about Labor’s move to end live sheep exports. The National Farmers’ Federation today protested at Parliament House against the ban.

Zali Steggall during question time on August 19.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald

“The leader of the Nationals asked the question … to the prime minister and indicated that guests … objecting to the live sheep lobby were in the gallery and pointed to the gallery here. When they decided to leave, a gentleman in jeans, black T-shirt, overweight and bald, flipped the bird,” Steggall began, before members of the opposition yelled in protest against her remarks.

“For the benefit of the Speaker, the description is so that person may be identified from video content, because upon leaving the gallery, [he] flipped the bird to the chamber. And in doing so, looked to the leader of the Nationals for support.”

Littleproud could be seen yelling at Steggall, which prompted Steggall to accuse him of threatening her.

Nationals leader David Littleproud during question time yesterday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Are you threatening me? Leader of the Nationals, are you threatening me? Mr Speaker, the leader of the Nationals thinks it’s appropriate to threaten me,” Steggall says.

Steggall continued her answer, arguing “if we are here to improve standards, it has to come from all, including visitors”.

“I can also point out, I do take offence to the threat that was made to me by the leader of the Nationals that I should be careful, that is not appropriate conduct in this chamber,” Steggall said.

After Steggall’s answer, deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley made a point of order.

“I thought that that was disgraceful, that body-shaming remark by the member for Warringah, the pejorative description of a member of our public galleries, and it should be withdrawn immediately,” Ley called to the House.

Speaker of the House Milton Dick asked if Steggall wished to withdraw her description, which Steggall refused.

“No, because I would like the video footage to be identified,” Steggall said.

Dick finished the dramatic development in the chamber by reminding everyone to behave better, including members of the public.

Former South Australian opposition leader David Speirs says a video that appears to show him snorting powder from a plate is a deepfake and he is considering reporting it to authorities.

After a front-page story in Adelaide newspaper The Advertiser on Tuesday, SA Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia said he had spoken to Speirs and “he’s assured me that he’s of the belief that the footage is that of a deepfake”.

“So my suggestion to David is that if he believes that that is the case, that he makes sure that he reports that to the authorities, and I think he’s taken that on board,” Tarzia said today.

He added Speirs was “talking to his professional sources and my understanding is that he’s considering that option”.

Speirs denies he is the person in the video and picture first published online by News Corp last night, calling the footage “very troubling”.

“I believe this is a deepfake or an elaborate hoax,” Speirs said in a statement.

David Speirs took over as Liberal leader from Steven Marshall after the election loss by the Liberals in 2022.Credit: AAP

Tuesday was scheduled to be his first sitting day in South Australian parliament since he quit as leader on August 8, but the Liberal Party confirmed he would be absent.

Tarzia won a party-room ballot after Speirs stepped down, saying he had “had a gutful” of being undermined and didn’t have the energy to continue as leader.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the video and image was “all a bit breathtaking”.

AAP

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather have butted heads in question time again, prompting shouting from all sides of the chamber.

Chandler-Mather asked Albanese a question about how “property investors like the prime minister” will turbocharge house prices.

PM Anthony Albanese and Max Chandler-Mather clashed in Parliament in June.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I bet he doesn’t mention [property investors] in their party room … I bet also he doesn’t talk about the housing problem when he’s addressing a rally. A rally in Brisbane to defend corrupt conduct in the CFMEU. I bet he doesn’t do that,” Albanese said.

Greens leader Adam Bandt jumped from his seat, causing both Labor and Coalition MPs to shout with joy at Bandt.

“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. If the first part of the member’s question was ruled inappropriate, then surely that comment ought to be ruled inappropriate. And secondly, it is not relevant to the question,” Bandt said.

Leader of the House Tony Burke argued against Bandt’s point of order.

Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke looks bemused in question time on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“You didn’t ask for the imputation of motives to be withdrawn in that question, and given that it wasn’t withdrawn, it should be completely reasonable for the prime minister to point out the conflicts of interest, the poor motives for somebody who has stood up and railed against action,” Burke said to Chandler-Mather and Bandt.

Albanese continued his answer, criticising Chandler-Mather for his support of the CFMEU rally.

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather addresses the Brisbane CFMEU rally on August 27.Credit: AAP

“It is a fact that the member for Griffith attended a rally in which there were … [protesters] referring to members of this parliament as Nazis. And the member for Griffith standing in front of those signs, there is precedent for that sort of thing.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has used question time to slip in some Gen Z culture, telling Coalition spokesman for energy Ted O’Brien to be “more mindful and more demure” – a popular phrase being used on TikTok.

Taking a Dorothy Dixer on how the government is helping with the cost-of-living crisis and reducing energy bills, Bowen used the end of his answer to make fun of O’Brien and the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald

“[There’s] no details from the opposition … this is what you get when you get a scheme thought up on the run with no details compared with a detailed plan of the Albanese government backed by the experts for renewables, supported by batteries, supported by gas and supported by transmission,” Bowen said.

“The member for Fairfax [Ted O’Brien] should be more mindful and more demure.”

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has been booted from question time as he jeered at Treasurer Jim Chalmers giving an answer about reforms to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Earlier today, Taylor announced the Coalition would not be supporting Chalmers’ RBA reforms as he cited concerns over Labor appointing board members who were aligned with the party.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor during question time today, before he was kicked out.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Chalmers began answering a Dorothy Dixer question on how Labor was reforming the RBA, using his answer to attack Taylor.

“I have tried to work with the shadow treasurer to implement the changes in a bipartisan way,” Chalmers said before being stopped by Speaker of the House Milton Dick.

Dick says: “The member for Hume [Angus Taylor], [is] yelling non-stop. Just continuously. All throughout question time. You are not helping. You are showing disrespect so you’ll leave the chamber.”

Taylor slowly gets up and strides out of the chamber as Chalmers finishes his answer.

Protesters in the House of Representatives gallery have stormed out yelling “bullshit” at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as Nationals leader David Littleproud led a furious question time attack on the government’s approach to live sheep exports.

Today, the National Farmers’ Federation protested outside Parliament House against federal Labor’s reforms banning the trade.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese watches Nationals leader David Littleproud speak in question time.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Littleproud asks: “In the gallery today are farmers whose livelihoods depend on the live sheep export industry. If the government continues with its ban on live sheep exports, Sudan is one country that will take up Australia’s share of this market. Prime minister, who has higher animal welfare standards – Sudan or Australia?”

A member of the public gallery scoffed as the prime minister began his answer.

“We are giving certainty to sheep producers and the supply chain by legislating the phase-out and investing $107 million to support an orderly and well-planned transition away from what is an already declining trade,” Albanese said to shouts from the opposition.

Protesting farmers gathered on the lawn outside Parliament House in Canberra today.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“That is how you provide support for people, those opposite know that this trade will not resume, they know it’s being passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, and they are playing politics.”

Towards the end of Albanese’s answer, Littleproud leaned forward and yelled “rubbish” repeatedly, pointing his finger at the PM. Some public members of the gallery crossed their arms, shook their heads and frowned when Albanese spoke.

As Albanese answered a second question on live sheep exports and said the industry was dying out, the group in the public gallery stood up and stormed out, with one man yelling “bullshit”.