Radio interview - Nova Sydney

MICHAEL WIPFLI, HOST: Yesterday was a really significant day in Canberra, thanks to the Prime Minister, who confirmed that there would be a rise in the age that kids can join social media from 13 to 16, or, as we have been campaigning - for that 36 months. So, yesterday we sat down with the Prime Minister and first things first, I feel really bad because he did the decency of putting in a phone call the night before to have a chat to me and I missed that. I was out for Japanese, I was having a bit of sake and I didn't know the number, so I had to apologise to the Prime Minister. A couple of sake bombs. But we met and, you know, it was an emotional day because it didn't feel like a moment of celebration, but more a moment of relief, because as we sat down with the Prime Minister and also Michelle Rowland, the Communications Minister, we were there with Matt and Kelly, who had lost their daughter Charlotte, and also Rob Evans, who was there with his daughter, Liv in spirit. So, there was a heavy feeling within the room and the Prime Minister confirmed his commitment to raise the age to 36 months. So, for the families that were there and everybody involved and the 225,000 parents that had signed this petition, it came as such a large relief to so many families and it ensured a better opportunity for our kids and a healthy place for our kids to grow up. Towards the end of the meeting, though, and we're about to speak to the Prime Minister and I need to ask him more about this - it was one of those moments where you're sitting there, you're deep in the moment, and someone walked into the room and you could tell there was a level of emergency around it, and they whispered in the Prime Minister's ear, you need to take a phone call. And then I could kind of hear what was going on in the whispering, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sort of turned to his side and said, it's Donald Trump on the phone.

RYAN FITZGERALD, HOST: Oh.

WIPFLI. So, in hearing that, I said to Albo, are you going to ditch me for Don?

FITZGERALD: Oh, this is - I thought it might have been, thought it might have been a tip for Oaks Day yesterday. No, but. No, it was Donald Trump.

WIPFLI: But if you can imagine, the Prime Minister's trying to juggle his schedule and speak to everybody that has an important message. But he also had to take a call from the new President of the United States. So, the Prime Minister joins us now from Canberra. We want to say thank you, but we also want to talk about that phone call you had to run out to Prime Minister. Thanks again.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. Thanks, Wippa. Yes, that's right. I did speak to Donald Trump. And the difference between our conversation and yourself was, not only do you not take my call, you don't listen to the message either.

WIPFLI: I'm sorry, mate.

PRIME MINISTER: He didn't even, I said, mate, did you get my message? "No, no." Oh, I rang. Oh, okay. "Sorry, I didn't know the number."

KATE RITCHIE, HOST: No. No one can get between him and his sake, I think.

WIPFLI: My true apologies.

PRIME MINISTER: I understand that, Kate, but do you think he might have listened to the voicemail I left? Just some basic curiosity. I wonder who rang and left a message.

RITCHIE: Oh, look, he's a very busy man and I have to say, it has been admirable watching Wippa and his dedication to 36 Months cause he's been working, and it must have been true yesterday, where it was less about celebration and more of a relief that we're heading in the right direction.

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, absolutely. And I had spoken with Kelly on the phone, Charlotte's mum. And so it was very humbling to meet these Australians in Matt and Kelly, who lost Charlotte, and Rob, who lost his daughter Liv. And humbling that people who had been through such a traumatic experience had turned that into advocating so that no one else has to go through that experience. And they're just great Australians. And I was very pleased to meet with them, even though there's that immediate element of - I wish we weren't having to meet, I wish we weren't discussing these issues. But it is something that does have to be dealt with. It's, I think, a major topic of conversations, outside every school pickup, on the sideline of every netball court or footy field or cricket oval, parents are talking about these issues. And we want to get young people off their devices wherever possible and into actually interacting with each other as humans and talking with each other and engaging and playing with each other and having fun with each other. That is something that is so important.

FITZGERALD: Can I just say the words that you said yesterday - and I know Wippa had been pushing for this quite a while - but that is, for every parent, a majority of parents out there, those words of just saying to your child, "unfortunately, you can't go on social media now. It's against the law." And there's something as basic as that. But that is very, very powerful because when your child is saying to you, mum, dad, everybody's got this at school, everybody is on it. And that's really hard to have an answer for that. But now it's something as simple as - well, unfortunately you gotta wait until you're 16 because it is against the law - is very powerful for every parent.

PRIME MINISTER: It sure is, Fitzy. And that is one of the things that we're trying to do here. We don't pretend that this will solve all the issues. We also don't assert that some people will find their way around it. That doesn't mean that society shouldn't send a message by establishing rules, which is basically what laws are - rules that reflect society's values and reflect our common interests. And we ban people under the age of 18 from alcohol, from a range of activities, with good reason. And yes, occasionally people find their way around that. This weekend, chances are there'll be some people who are under 18 who get access to alcohol. That doesn't mean you say, oh well, we'll just let it rip and not worry about that. And that is really what this is about. We have consulted experts, parents, youth organisations, academics. I've been speaking with the Premiers and Chief Ministers individually this week and this morning I'll convene the National Cabinet because one of the things that I want to make sure is that there's uniformity here. I don't want any different rules operating in different states. I want there to be uniformity and for there to be agreement and then for us to continue to work on this. We'll give, when the legislation is passed, it will allow for a minimum 12-month implementation period. But we will establish, the law will mean that platforms will have to meet these requirements under the law. The onus won't be on parents and we think that's important. I noticed there's some pushback from some of the platforms this morning. We expect that. But guess what? They, in social media, need a social license. And social licenses come from society's values.

WIPFLI: We thank you, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: I make no apologies for asserting Australian values here.

WIPFLI: I love that, I love that so much. Thank you, we really appreciate it. And just quickly, Prime Minister, how was that conversation with the President of the United States?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, it was very constructive. It was warm, it was engaging. I congratulated him. It's a significant achievement.

FITZGERALD: Did he ring you, Anthony?

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, well, we gave, we gave the US my mobile number which he has now. He rang from Florida where he is setting up his new Administration, of course. He doesn't get sworn in till January.

FITZGERALD: So, what was the first thing he said to you? What was the first thing he said?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look, I won't go into a word for word thing, that's the way that you build relationships, is to have a chat.

WIPFLI: I love it.

PRIME MINISTER: But it was really warm. It was engaging. We spoke about the common interests that we have. Australia and the United States are great friends. And we reaffirmed that. And we look forward to, we spoke about catching up together face to face. And we certainly will do that. And it was, it was a very good beginning to what will be an important relationship.

WIPFLI: Well, thank you, Prime Minister, on behalf of all the parents and families, kids also, we thank you for your holding the line on 16. We really appreciate it. It means a lot. So, thank you so much.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.