JAMES GLENDAY: But first, we're going to take you to Canberra, where it is set to be another busy day. The Federal Communications Minister, Anika Wells, is with us now from Parliament House. Minister, good morning.

ANIKA WELLS: Good morning to you, James.

JAMES GLENDAY: So let's start off with this decision to include YouTube in the social media ban for under-16s. Why are you doing this?

ANIKA WELLS: Fresh evidence from the eSafety Commissioner that 37 per cent of kids had their most recent or most impactful online harm at the hands of YouTube. So that is evidence that I can't ignore, and they are joining the ban.

JAMES GLENDAY: This had been called for by the eSafety Commissioner. A question close to my own heart - I've got a six-year-old who is very keen to know, is the app YouTube Kids also going to be restricted?

ANIKA WELLS: No, YouTube Kids doesn't qualify for the laws because it doesn't have the ability to upload videos and it doesn't have the ability to make comments on videos. And I think we can all agree, like you say, social media has its place. You know, we use YouTube Kids when you need to occupy your child while you're working or whatever, but persuasive and predatory algorithms do not have a place, and that's what we're cracking down on.

JAMES GLENDAY: So how will kids actually be prevented from logging on? Because a lot of people don't actually log on to YouTube, and parents can't watch their kids all the time.

ANIKA WELLS: Yeah, and I want parents to know, we have your backs. The onus here is on the platforms to uphold their social responsibility as a social media platform, and come 10 December, social media accounts held by under-16s must be deactivated. Platforms must deactivate them. They must take reasonable steps to make sure that they don't get reactivated or new accounts or workarounds, because kids will find workarounds, God bless them, we know that they will. Platforms must take reasonable steps to try and stop that from happening.

JAMES GLENDAY: Okay, so reasonable steps. How do you then stop a kid just going onto YouTube without a login watching inappropriate content?

ANIKA WELLS: Well, if you are in a logged-out state, YouTube says that you don't see age-restricted content. So if it is unsafe in a logged-out state, that is a social responsibility upon YouTube to fix that, just in the general sense, I would argue. But this is about the chilling effect. I mean, there's another survey that asks kids who are north of 16, do they wish that they'd gotten on social media later or had a delayed start? And they all say, yes, we do. But when everybody's on it and you're not, that's really isolating. So what this is, is a chilling effect. You're not on it, it's the law, and we'd prefer you to be outside playing sport, but your kids, your friends aren't on it, so you're not missing out.

JAMES GLENDAY: A lot of parents have been in touch this morning, some saying that they're quite supportive of this ban. Just a few raising questions about what will happen to good educational content, for example, that a lot of educators are posting, particularly trying to improve skills that NAPLAN tests, which are also out today, test for. I mean, what will happen to this educational content?

ANIKA WELLS: So that's exactly the kind of content that you can see on YouTube Kids. It's also the kind of content that teachers could send a YouTube link home. I know my kids have learnt number blocks on YouTube. We understand that. Social media has a place. And this isn't something- these laws aren't infallible. That's the nature of humanity. It's like smoking - there's kids who are under 18 who are going to find a way to smoke. There's kids who are under 16 who are going to find a way around this. But it's about making a positive impact and it's about the chilling effect that it's the law, you're not meant to be on there and there's plenty of other things for you to do. We'd rather kids work out who they are before social media platforms assume who they are.

JAMES GLENDAY: And just the last one on this topic, for everyone who is over the age of 16, wants to get on YouTube, watch whatever they feel like, what's going to be the process for verifying someone's age?

ANIKA WELLS: Well again, that's for the social media platforms to work with the eSafety Commissioner about what that looks like for their individual platform. But there's plenty of ways that platforms already know. They know a lot about us. They target us with deadly accuracy for the purposes of advertising. If you have had a Facebook account since 2005, we know that you're over 16.

JAMES GLENDAY: Okay. I just want to take you to the issue regarding Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state. The UK Government says it's going to recognise a Palestinian state as early as September unless Israel agrees to certain conditions like a ceasefire and a two-state solution. Is this a good move?

ANIKA WELLS: Yeah, I think like what the Prime Minister was saying in the House just yesterday, what is happening in Gaza has gone now beyond the world's worst fears. And Labor, we have long advocated for a two-state solution. It is now a question of when, not if, that happens. We are working with like-minded parties to see that that happens as soon as possible.

JAMES GLENDAY: Rank-and-file members of the Labor Party have been pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state, goodness, for many, many years now. Do you see that that could happen relatively soon?

ANIKA WELLS: Well, I think it's a question of when, not if. There's a number of things to work through, none of which will be news to you and your listeners, James, who have been following this closely. We need Hamas to release the hostages. We need to secure aid as quickly as possible. Everybody is working on that. But, like you say, Labor has long advocated for a two-state solution.

JAMES GLENDAY: Now, before I let you go, I'm slightly surprised you're not wearing your papaya today. If we go to your sports portfolio, you're a big F1 fan. Do you still have faith that Oscar Piastri is going to get it done this year and become the first Australian to win the Drivers' Championship in 45 years?

ANIKA WELLS: From your lips to God's ears, James, it is a glorious time to be an Oscar Piastri fan. And I think he's so Australian about the way he goes about his business, you know? Like, you just know that he walks into a barber and he says, hi, I need a haircut, please. And they'd say, like, what kind of haircut? And he'd say, a haircut. But nonetheless, he is a cold-blooded assassin on the track, and I just think that's a wonderfully Australian way of going about it, and we've all got our fingers crossed.

JAMES GLENDAY: We certainly do. We had to wait until State of Origin's season was over before getting you on. Thank you so much for coming on to speak about this YouTube ban. I'm sure you'll get a lot of questions about it today.

ANIKA WELLS: Looking forward to it. Have a good day.