MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND SPORT ANIKA WELLS:  Good morning. Thank you all for coming. I think you'll be aware by now that, with the evidence of our world-leading social media ban, the Albanese Government is not prepared to stand idly by where we see actors not doing the right thing and not keeping our children safe online.

So, that is why today I'm taking action on Roblox. I'm sure many of you would have seen the recent reporting about what is happening on the game of Roblox, and many of you I think, like me, were probably disgusted by the fact that children as young as four or five are seeing graphic and gratuitous violence on this platform. I've been thinking about that since those reports came out in particular, and so I am taking three steps to try and improve the situation.

Firstly, I have written to Roblox and asked them to come and see me for a meeting and account for themselves, explain to me what they are doing to keep our kids safe online. I can give you an update this morning - they've already written back agreeing, so we're in the process of teeing that up.

Secondly, I've asked the eSafety Commissioner to consider and give me some advice about more urgent measures. Many of you who've been following our online safety mission here in the Albanese Government would be aware that we are working on our Digital Duty of Care. It's going to be a really remarkable, again, transformative world leading reform, that up-ends the system from what it currently is, where the onus is really on Australians to inform yourself about how to keep you and your family safe online and to then report where things go wrong, to an entirely different framework where the onus is on the people who operate these companies - big tech, who use and operate these platforms - the onus is on them to provide a duty of care, particularly to our kids. 

So, whilst we work on that, I've asked the eSafety Commissioner to give me advice about if there are any more urgent measures, any more levers that I can pull in the interim to stop these kinds of things from happening where we know that they are happening.   

And thirdly, you might be aware that Roblox as a game was classified last in 2018 - it was classified as a PG game. I think we can all agree a lot has happened since 2018. And given what we now know about what's happening on this platform, I want them to reclassify it, I want them to have another look. So, I've written to them asking them to do that.

So, those are the three things that I'm doing today. You'd be aware that I'm off to speak at an online safety event very shortly, but welcome any questions.

JOURNALIST: Has there been a regret that gaming and messaging apps have been exempt from this ban?

WELLS: Look, I've heard so much from parents about Roblox and whether it should or should not be included in the social media ban. I think the point, as a first principle, is that the social media ban isn't there to cure the internet. You've heard me say that before. It can't cure all the ills of the internet and the social media minimum age is designed specifically to address the predatory, persuasive algorithms, features and functions - that kids experience on social media.

This is obviously quite different, and you've heard the eSafety Commissioner before speak about gaming platforms being different. Nonetheless, I accept lots of parents would like us to ban it because they see these kinds of harms, they're worried about it. We need to treat that a bit differently, which is why I'm doing these three things instead.  

JOURNALIST: What will satisfy you out of your meeting with Roblox? What would be your metric of satisfaction of what they have to say? What do you want them to be able to say to you?

WELLS: Well, you would have seen the reports that there are paedophiles on this platform going after our kids, and that those kids are as young as four or five. They need to account for that, I think manifestly, as a first principle. We'll take it from there.

JOURNALIST: Just on the problem of algorithms. The crossbench is hoping to see some hoping to see some kind of opt-in option when it comes to social media algorithms. Is that something that the Government is considering?

WELLS: Yes, I've seen those initiatives too. Other people are considering them in other jurisdictions as well. I'm always happy to consider anything that will help keep our kids safer online.

JOURNALIST: Minister, on the data that came out from the first month of the social media ban, 4.7 million accounts. There’s been some disputing of that figure. Are you able to step through a bit more what is in that figure, the breakdown and the extent to which there might be Google accounts that were, essentially, had their link to YouTube broken, but weren’t necessarily being used for YouTube at all? There seems to be some dispute around whether that 4.7 is accurate.

WELLS: There has been some back and forth in Estimates this morning about the 4.7 million figure. Let me say two things. One, none of us have any reason to question the integrity or reporting or information provided by Australia's eSafety Commissioner. She is globally renowned. She is the independent regulator of this framework. She is a woman of great integrity. There is no reason for any of us to doubt the numbers that she is providing to us - both to me and the Prime Minister who stood alongside her as we made that announcement of 4.7 million. And she will be accountable to the Parliament this afternoon and at Estimates as well. So first principles, there is no reason to doubt this data whatsoever.

So, second point I'd make, the people who are questioning this data – one, the social media platforms who have been against this reform from the very beginning because it impacts their business model; and two, bizarrely now, the Opposition who voted for these reforms. Senator Henderson voted for these reforms in the Senate and she and the Shadow Communications Minister now seem to be at pains to amplify, literally, any dissenting voice against the social media ban. Which I find bizarre, given the Opposition supported these in the Parliament and often like to claim credit for initiating it in the first place. It is for the Opposition to account why they are, like you say, now challenging these figures for those two reasons.

JOURNALIST: Minister, on Triple Zero, is there a need for a public education campaign? We've seen now a lot of older phones and devices aren't connecting, but the telcos are saying that a number of their customers aren't updating their devices. Would you support a public education campaign?

WELLS: That is something I've been discussing with our Triple Zero Custodian over the summer. What kinds of things can we do when we're not in a crisis mode reacting to things like the Optus breach in September? What can we do to restore public confidence in the Triple Zero system and, like you say, help Australians who have to navigate different pieces of equipment in a rapidly changing environment? What can we do? So the short answer is yes.

JOURNALIST: Do you have a timeline for when the Digital Duty of Care changes will come in? Is that something that's going to happen this year?

WELLS: We are working on that process now. We've been consulting with lots of people will be impacted by that, and my intention is to bring that to the Parliament this year. That is my intention to do so. It's one of those things where we'd like to bring it in as quickly as possible because clearly there is harm online, and we would like to stop that as quickly as possible. But also, this is a really big reform. It's another world-leading reform. We have to make sure that we do it right.

JOURNALIST: Minister, I acknowledge you’ve referred off your travel entitlements to IPEA to be reviewed. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think you've received any response back to that yet. But just over two months ago, you said that you would check whether the birthday party you attended in Adelaide was locked in and the invitation received before any other of the events were organised around that event. Have you now checked your records, and can you give us an update?

WELLS: The answer to both parts of your questions are the same. Yes, I have checked my records. Whilst IPEA has not concluded their audit yet, they have asked me for a number of pieces of different information, put a number of questions to me to provide several different records, including those, and I have done those checking and I have provided those records. So you and I are both still in the hands of IPEA whilst they finalise their report.

JOURNALIST: Can I ask another question about another area of your portfolio, which is the spectrum valuation? It has reached $7.3 billion. Telcos are saying that price will force them to hike phone bills. I guess, what's your response to that claim? And will you bear some responsibility if that valuation goes ahead and they do hike prices?

WELLS: I think you would expect telcos to make those kinds of arguments as they run a process with the independent regulator for their industry, ACMA. That process, the valuation of spectrum, is the result of a heap of work being done by ACMA so far, but it continues. So I think this is all fairly natural sparring between telcos and ACMA as they settle that process, and you and I both await that process to conclude.

JOURNALIST: And Minister, do you regret the expense scandal in light of the fact that you're now not attending major events for your portfolio - like the Winter Olympics?

WELLS: I regret that the travel costs are so high. I think a lot of Australians are finding the cost of travel is very high at the moment. And like I said to you all at the time, I do think some of those figures prompt a gut response. I completely understand that. I felt that too when I saw them and we had to discuss in the office the decisions that we needed to make in a very quick succession of time.

The second part of your question, honestly, as the Sport Minister, I probably don't attend more than 90 per cent of the things that I am invited to. It is not possible to attend all of the events, both grassroots through to international and major events that the Australian Sport Minister is invited to. I get to what I can and I try to make it a good spread of things across grassroots sport and Australia on the world stage. I am in constant contact with everybody on the ground in Milano Cortina. It is one of the real privileges of the job, and I'm really proud that the Albanese Government has put more than $3 million in the pockets of the Australian winter athletes who are over there with our dAIS funding, which is about helping athletes with cost of living. More than $30 million from the Albanese Government towards our winter athletes' high performance preparation in Milano Cortina. I'm sure that we all wish them really well. It's been early mornings so far – five, 5.20 starts to watch our Australians. We're moving to kind of midnight as we enter moguls tomorrow, and I'm sure you will all join me in saying we're so proud of them. The biggest ever percentage of women, winter or summer, of Australians are in that team over there at the moment, and we wish them all the very best.

JOURNALIST: Minister, on the advertising campaign for the social media ban, we just heard in Estimates today that has gone up to another 10 million, so it's at $20 million. How can you justify that? And why is another $10 million needed for that advertising campaign?

WELLS: Those were decisions taken over the second half of the last year in response to feedback on the ground. People like the Opposition, for example, were saying that not enough Australians were aware of what was coming and that people needed to inform themselves. And one of the ways that we help Australians inform themselves about laws that are going to impact them is an education and awareness campaign.

JOURNALIST: Minister, should Brisbane dig deep and try and keep Payne Haas from going south to the Rabbitohs?

WELLS: I can tell you I have been on the phone this morning about that very issue. I'm devastated that he's chosen to leave us. Brisbane's loss is the PM's gain. He's got a cooling off period, obviously no pressure, but we would be very, very happy to welcome him back if he was to change his plan.

JOURNALIST: Just on the protests last night in Sydney, what did you make of those scenes and also Grace Tame chanting, globalise the intifada?

WELLS: I agree with my good friend and colleague, Minister Plibersek, when she said this morning, everybody needs to take a deep breath. The Prime Minister is absolutely right when he says we need to lower the temperature of debate in this country. And whilst everybody has the right to have a very strongly held opinion about what is happening, about the protests, at the heart of it is the domestic terrorism event on our soil. Fifteen people who lost their lives and 15 families who have said that this visit would bring them some comfort, and that, at first principle, should be what we stick to.

I've got to go to the online safety event. Thank you all. It's been a pleasure. Have a good day.