The health minister, Mark Butler, has promised to re-introduce a bill that would reduce subsidies for private health insurance for people over the age of 65. The bill was previously blocked by the crossbench and the Coalition in the Senate.
Butler stated that he had previously served as the minister for the elderly before becoming the minister for communications. He highlighted that there are not enough beds built for elderly Australians who require support.
In a separate development, the Greens will support the duty of care bill if the government adds a provision allowing Australians to directly sue technology companies. Sarah Hanson-Young stated that Australians are 'sick and tired of being manipulated, dictated to, and made dependent on by large technology companies'. Hanson-Young also stated that the right-wing campaign against the bill 'is shielding large technology companies' and that the claim it is censorship is 'absolute nonsense'. She added that it is a false debate and that 'it is the far right that is putting forward the talking points of large technology companies'.
A committee of inquiry into the bill will be formally established later today, with a report due in November. The Greens will introduce a bill in November to 'ban the broadcasting of live executions'. The debate on whether Australian regulators could block a live broadcast of an expected military execution in the United States was held earlier this week.
Conservative campaigns, podcasters, and media figures have strongly criticised the bill. Critics argue that the bill would be used to censor right-wing groups and viewpoints. The government has firmly denied these allegations. The bill was a central topic of discussion at the CPAC conference last weekend in Brisbane.
Anika Wells stated that she is confident she can push through the duty of care reforms through the Senate. She expressed disappointment that the Coalition is not participating, stating that the Coalition has made a complete about-turn from when Peter Dutton, a former liberal, advocated for the protection of children on social media. Wells recalled that in the previous parliamentary term, when she presented the draft, the Coalition had called a party meeting to reject the draft.
Wells explained that a 'sock puppet' is a fake account created to allow researchers or the e-Safety Commissioner to test how technology companies comply with the law. In many cases, she said, the only way for the e-Safety Commissioner or researchers to investigate these issues is by creating a test account as a 14-year-old. These provisions simply make it legal to use such accounts and allow the evidence gathered to be used, she added.
Australian researchers have used 'sock puppets' to demonstrate how platforms have responded to complaints about content related to eating disorders. Wells stated that the variation in the response of platforms to reports of this dangerous and distressing content was significant, ranging from 'inadequate' to 'negligent'. She highlighted that 'sock puppets' are legally protected under the law.
Wells added that the e-Safety Commissioner and accredited researchers are currently located outside Australia because they lack legal protection in Australia. The e-Safety Commissioner and researchers are seeking to have this included in the bill so that they can carry out this important work in Australia and ensure that the evidence gathered can be used in enforcement and prosecution.
