SYLVIA JEFFREYS, HOST: Well, the Government’s insistence that they aren’t responsible for cost-of-living pressures just isn’t cutting it with Australian households. Only 20 per cent of voters this morning say they trust Anthony Albanese. 42 per cent blame Labor for high inflation, while the Government’s primary vote has fallen to a record low at 26 per cent.

For more, we’re joined by Communications Minister Anika Wells in Canberra with more. Minister, thanks for your time this morning. Australians are blaming the Albanese Government whichever way you look at it, ahead of other factors for the cost-of-living crisis. Do you accept that assessment from voters?

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS ANIKA WELLS: Look, I understand people are under a lot of pressure. These are difficult and tricky times, and Australians want their lawmakers, their governments, to know that. That’s understandable and that’s their right and we hear that feedback. I’ll give you another number though - 93 per cent of Australians want us to pass a Digital Duty of Care. And the Prime Minister has been really courageous in the world of online safety. We’ve led the world, and we’ll continue to do that diligent work as the Senate inquiry kicks off today.

JEFFREYS: Okay, but they’re immediately concerned about how much they’re paying at the supermarket, how much they’re paying on their interest rates, on their mortgages right now. Are Australians wrong to point the finger at Labor over their rising bills?

WELLS: No, and as I said in my last answer, Sylvia, I accept that. I hear the feedback. I think it’s understandable that they want to send a message when everyone’s under a lot of pressure, and that’s why we’re here in Canberra to work on MYEFO, to deliberate on what savings we can make ahead of MYEFO, just as we have in all previous budget packages.

JEFFREYS: Ok, before we get to the Digital Duty of Care, I want to move on to a pretty scathing statement from Jimmy Barnes in the Australian newspaper this morning. He’s fired a warning shot at the PM over proposed copyright law changes that would allow US tech giants to mine and scrape his songs and lyrics for free. He’s used some pretty choice language in there as well. I won’t repeat it, but will the Government go ahead and water down these copyright laws?

WELLS: We haven’t changed on this. We want to see strong protections in place, and my role in this in online safety is to crack down on Big Tech and to make sure that we are holding them to account and that they can’t build their own systems, they can’t decide what kind of risk they’re prepared to get away with, they can’t live test their products on Australians and that’s what I’ll continue to do.

JEFFREYS: Will they have free access to Barnesy’s music?

WELLS: Like I said, we’re continuing to work that through, and we absolutely want to make sure that there are strong protections in place for Australian artists.

JEFFREYS: Is it possible that they will be able to mine Barnesy’s music for free?

WELLS: Sylvia, like I said, we’re going to continue to work that through. Our position hasn’t changed since we last talked about this.

JEFFREYS: OK, are you under the pump from AI lobbyists, as Barnesy suggests?

WELLS: Sylvia, I am lobbied by Big Tech, their surrogates, by everybody on the other side of the fence. Online safety is a contentious place because this is the Wild West, it’s been unregulated. Of course, Big Tech doesn’t want to be regulated. Of course, they want to make as much profit off Australians and our attention and our affections as possible. A government’s job is to hold them to account and to say this is what Australians expect, to build some basic safety standards in an industry that has not had them.

JEFFREYS: Okay, let’s get on to the Digital Duty of Care bill with a Senate inquiry to be held today into why it’s necessary. Just explain for us what we’re expecting to hear today.

WELLS: So we’ll hear from bereaved parents first up this morning who have lost their children to online harms. We’ll also hear from the department, from eSafety. These are all people who want to see a Digital Duty of Care in place. It’s about embedding some basic safety standards and saying to Big Tech, if you build it, you are responsible for its risks.

JEFFREYS: eSafety complaints are on the rise as well. The regulator receiving more than 9,000 reports of image-based abuse. What does that tell us about how prolific this issue is?

WELLS: It tells us that the current system isn’t working. It tells us that we need to go further and we need to do more because Australians are not being protected online and Australians are suffering things like image-based abuse online. That’s why we want to legislate a Digital Duty of Care, and we’ll hear evidence from absolutely all sides of the fence over the next two days. But, like I said, 93 per cent of Australians want to see us do this.

JEFFREYS: OK. Communications Minister Anika Wells thanks for your time this morning. Appreciate it.