Prime Minister, thanks for joining Seven News.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good to be with you, Mark.
RILEY: Will this save lives?
PRIME MINISTER: Yes, it will. And this is a reform that has come from the grassroots. I've met in this very room with parents who've had to farewell their young sons or daughters, and those tragedies, every one of them is one too many. What this will do is protect children and allow them to be children, give parents the authority to speak with their children and say, well, this is the law. We need to comply with it. And to stop that peer group pressure of young Mary saying, I need to be on this device and on this platform because my friend Rebecca is on it. And so this is world-leading. It's really common sense.
RILEY: What have those parents, that you've had in this room discussing the loss of their child, told you that's moved you?
PRIME MINISTER: That they're heartbroken and that for many of them they simply weren't aware of what their children, their child was going through. The fact that we have so much bullying, the fact that when a child is in their room - when we were young, Mark, our parents knew what we were up to in the room.
RILEY: We were mostly outside. They couldn't get us in the house. That was the thing.
PRIME MINISTER: Indeed. And now when you see that powerful British fiction, but based on reality, Adolescence, that really tells a story of heartbreak as well and the mental health issues that have been associated with new technology, that can be terrific, but we need to make sure that humans are in control.
RILEY: The social media giants don't seem to be scared of governments. They think they're bigger than governments, more powerful than governments. What's your message to them?
PRIME MINISTER: That they have a social responsibility and they need a social licence as well. And Australians are saying, we are determined for this to happen and this has support right across the Parliament. And that reflects a concern that is being discussed outside every school on the sidelines of every footy or netball game, the concern that parents are having in discussions they're having with their families around the kitchen table.
RILEY: Yeah, that's a point. What would you like parents to do as this ban comes into place?
PRIME MINISTER: Have a discussion with children, talk it through. There'll be some pushback, but this is the law, we expect compliance. And parents overwhelmingly have said to me that they really welcome this leadership and that they've been concerned. It is from parents as well as from some children as well that has determined this reform.
RILEY: What about the children? What's your message to Australian children?
PRIME MINISTER: I had the pleasure of welcoming a young 12-year-old Tasmanian to my office just a couple of weeks ago, young Flossie. And what Flossie had done with her peers is she had a whiteboard and she was encouraging them to write down what they could do instead of being on their devices. Play sport, learn a musical instrument, read a book, talk with and actually communicate and develop those human relations with their friends. What we know is that the schools who banned mobile phones during class have seen better education, all outcomes, but they've also seen less stress, less mental health issues, better communication because kids are actually playing with each other and talking with each other.
RILEY: Would you like to see all schools do that? All schools ban phones?
PRIME MINISTER: I absolutely would.
RILEY: And is there some way you can do that through legislation or is that too heavy-handed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's largely through the states and most state governments have done that. And schools that have done it have found it's better for teachers, but most importantly it's better for students.
RILEY: We know the kids are smart, they'll get around this and you accept that. Are you worried at all that this might force some kids into the darker reaches of the internet? They'll go way off into those recesses. A bit like the tobacco wars. They'll find some place, some black market and some hideous website to become involved in.
PRIME MINISTER: No, it's important that this is about compliance and this is the law. This isn't a voluntary thing. And of course like anything, we ban children from going into a pub until they're 18. That doesn't mean that occasionally there might be a 16 or 17-year-old who's been able to order a beer over a bar, but it does mean that society is saying this is what is acceptable. And we do accept that there will be non-perfection here, but we expect compliance. This is the law.
RILEY: So, Prime Minister, you've been to a lot of international forums this year, a lot. So, this must have been a topic of discussion with other leaders. What have they asked you about this? What's their interest?
PRIME MINISTER: It sure is, and this is world leading, but the world is following Australia. We've seen countries like Denmark, New Zealand announce that they're moving in this direction.
RILEY: Malaysia, now
PRIME MINISTER: Malaysia, right around Asia, North America, South America, Europe, all following this example. The President of South Africa raised it with me when we had the meeting as well at the G20. Countries are looking at this because this is a universal problem and it has having an effect on a child in France, in Denmark, in Malaysia, in Australia and New Zealand the same. And so, governments are responding to the feelings that are coming through from children, from parents, from community-based organisations, from health experts as well. The great thing, if we allow kids to be kids and get out there on the sporting fields, which is what we want to see happen and get out there engaging with each other, is that they'll get those social skills that you only get from this face-to-face discussion is better than us texting each other. That's how you learn and mature into an adult as well. So, this will have benefits for our economy because people will learn those skills. When you are a young person growing up, part of your development is reading and learning the skills, arithmetic, English skills, all of that science, but it's also about human interaction is so important.
RILEY: Not all countries are happy with this, though. We've seen the messages coming from the Congress in the US about it being censorship. There's a sense that Donald Trump isn't a big supporter. What do you say to the US?
PRIME MINISTER: What we say is that we're a sovereign nation and we have made this decision as a country and it has overwhelming support. And standing up for parents, children, families, and the national interest is what my job is.
RILEY: We are in a big way the canary in the coal mine though, aren't we, for the world? You feel that pressure?
PRIME MINISTER: I feel that honour. I'm really proud of what we're doing here and all Australians should be proud. This is us taking back control.
RILEY: Well, we hope it works. Prime Minister, good luck. It will. Thanks very much for your time.
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
