TOM STEINFORT, HOST: Australian parents are sounding the alarm this morning after the Greens and Coalition delayed changes that would strengthen the social media ban. Emma Mason's daughter, Tilly, took her own life because of cyberbullying and had this to say about the hold-up.

[Excerpt]

EMMA MASON, MOTHER: I'm just so confused because this is bipartisan law that, you know, was changing children's lives in Australia and we now find that there's a deficit, we need to fix it, and now it's a political game. I'm just- gosh, I'm so upset.

[End of excerpt]

STEINFORT: Communications Minister Anika Wells joins us now live from Canberra. Good morning, Minister. How are you feeling about the delay and also what Emma had to say there?

MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS ANIKA WELLS: Emma speaks for so many parents out there this morning. It is inexplicable why something that is world-leading, that is bipartisan and ultimately it is very simple. Parents feel powerless to protect their kids online. This world-leading law is about giving them some armour to do that. The eSafety Commission has asked us to give us some more powers to help improve the laws. It's a four-page bill and it's been piffed off for an eight-week inquiry.

STEINFORT: You're accusing the Coalition of siding with big tech on this one, but the Human Rights Commissioner is on their side as well, saying that this shouldn't be rushed through. So, you know, there are people that say that you're going about this the wrong way.

WELLS: It's urgent. This is an urgent piece of legislation because every day we delay, like you heard from Emma, every day we delay, kids are at risk. And Wayne Holdsworth, head of SmackTalk, said, please don't make this a political football. We're not trying to make it a political football. Until yesterday, this was bipartisan, and now there is this craven, tribal, expedient decision on the part of Angus Taylor that he needs to explain, because honestly, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg must be licking their chops at their new friend in Canberra this morning, with Angus Taylor making a decision to sell out Australian parents and Australian kids to big tech.

STEINFORT: Part of your government's pitch on getting these through quickly is that tech giants are trying to use tricky tactics to bypass the current laws. If that's the case, why haven't you fined any of them yet?

WELLS: This is at the heart of the bill that we are trying to urgently get through. It's for the eSafety Commissioner to take these guys to court. We all know they're doing the wrong thing. We all want to see it reduced. The eSafety Commissioner said ‘I need these powers to bolster my chances in court’. We're urgently trying to give them to her. The Coalition have decided to piff it off for an eight-week inquiry. It's a four-page document. I mean, for goodness sake.

STEINFORT: All right, well, taking your Communications Minister hat off for a second, putting your Sports Minister hat on, it was good to see you at State of Origin 2 the other day at the MCG, your highest profile outing yet since the travel rort scandal. Did you make sure you dotted your Is and crossed your Ts to make sure that this trip was within the rules?

WELLS: I always am extremely diligent about, firstly, where I get to go. There's always too many places to be at the one time, trying to calibrate all of that against, as you can see, a really busy portfolio in communications and really important work that we need to do. It was my first time seeing a square game in a round stadium, a league going to the MCG, and I was interested to see how that worked. They've obviously got the NFL coming in September, but ultimately, Tom, as a fellow Queenslander, you'll understand that sitting next to the PM and watching the Blues lose, watching the Queenslanders win, it’s a thrill. It's a thrill.

STEINFORT: I'm looking forward to moving to Queensland after that. It’ll be news to my wife. All right, great stuff. Good to see you, Anika. Thank you.