We are joined by the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese. Good morning to you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, good to be with you.
TAYLOR: It's great to have you back on the show, Prime Minister.
KAZ MCMULLEN, HOST: Good morning, Prime Minister.
PRIME MINISTER: How are you all?
MCMULLEN: Oh look we're great. It's great to speak to you. Now of course the world leading social media ban, well we've been getting used to slowly. I've got a 10-year-old in my house, but I also have Roblox in my house. Some disturbing news coming through about that platform. What's it going to take to shut Roblox down do you think?
PRIME MINISTER: Well this is disturbing news and the Minister has written to them seeking an urgent meeting on what they're doing to keep their users safe from online predators. We also have the eSafety Commissioner is seeking her advice on what powers and tools can be ramped up to protect kids on this platform. This is world leading legislation that we have passed and are implementing for the social media ban. And Roblox made some commitments, they said they would be keeping people safe and quite clearly there is an issue here, because the safety of children online is non-negotiable. We want kids to be able to be kids, we don't want kids being exposed to graphic content on Roblox or anything else.
MCMULLEN: So, the fines are really not enough, are they? Do you have anything else in place? You can't just fine them because that's just pocket money. Are there any other options to stop the badness of these games?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll look at doing whatever we need to, and to take the advice of the eSafety Commissioner. I think we've shown quite clearly that we're prepared to lead the world. Our social media age ban is being taken up in the last week in Spain, but right around the world there's action. In Indonesia, in our own region, in Malaysia, Spain, Denmark, the UK are looking at it, New Zealand have moved as well. And so we know that social media has a social responsibility. This is a game platform that clearly is causing a real issue when we have reports that predators are actively using the platform to groom young people. It's just horrendous.
TAYLOR: How would you rate the success of this social media ban for our young people, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well look, it's exceeded our expectations. In the first week we had 4.7 million different accounts either frozen or shut down and action taken. Since then, what is happening is that the eSafety Commissioner is going to report every month on how many accounts have been acted upon. And we have, in general, we've seen cooperation from the platforms and so I think it not only has been successful here, but the fact it's being replicated around the world has as well taken some pressure off. We're not one out now. We did lead, but others are following and that shows that it has been successful.
TAYLOR: The time since the Bondi attack, Prime Minister, has been particularly difficult for a number of parts of our community, particularly the Jewish community. The President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has been invited here to share the grief with some of that community. Was he the right man to invite to help share that grief?
PRIME MINISTER: He was because he's the Head of State. He's the equivalent of the Governor-General. And when the Jewish community asked for their Head of State to visit, I think it is appropriate that people be allowed to mourn and to do so respectfully. Now, people will have different views about the Middle East and we have been critical and have received some criticism of the Israeli government. But we do need to be able to have people express any views peacefully in an appropriate way. And this visit is an important opportunity for President Herzog to stand with Jewish Australians and remember those innocent lives lost on December 14th. Later this afternoon I will be with President Herzog visiting families who've lost loved ones and people surely should be able to respect that whilst maintaining whatever position it is that they have on the Middle East. I think that Australians want two things, they don't want conflict brought here, they want killing to stop, whether it's Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here.
TAYLOR: How does it make you feel to see law enforcement and protesters clashing on the streets like they did in Sydney yesterday?
PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, I'm devastated by it. These are really scenes that I think shouldn't be taking place. People should be able to express their views peacefully. But the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march, to go a particular route, and to ensure that this was done peacefully. But the causes are not advanced by these sort of scenes. Indeed, they're undermined.
TAYLOR: Prime Minister, it feels like Australia is on the cusp of tipping point with world events happening around. We see it in the US, the violent protests that we've seen over there, ICE agents, things like that. Are we heading down that path too?
PRIME MINISTER: We live in a really turbulent world, and we live in society that increasingly there's a number of reasons for it. There's increased polarisation, there is increased shouting rather than talking and discussing respectfully and in a reasonable way. And there's got to be less capitals and exclamation marks behind every statement and more reasoned discussion. Social media, of course, pushes people with the algorithms towards more extreme positions. There are people who say things online who would never say it to your face, ever. And this is something that we need to have a discussion of. My government is an orderly, considered government. We have proper processes in place and often there are demands for us to do things yesterday and too much anger and not enough reason.
TAYLOR: Prime Minister, there's a lot of texts coming through about the changing of gun laws. We've got a lot of people that live in rural communities that listen to us all throughout the regional areas around Hobart. How do you fix this? How do you find the balance?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, you find it by taking the action that we have. Gun laws, of course, are the prerogative of state and territory governments. What we have done is to provide an incentive for a gun buyback. And there in Tasmania, of course, we know the consequences that can occur with the Port Arthur massacre, of course. And this will not have any impact on law abiding people who need their guns, be it for their properties or for sporting shooters and recreational use. This is just about making sure that the government takes action to keep people safe. And I know that that's overwhelmingly what my motivation is, and I know that that's the motivation of Premier Rockliff as well.
MCMULLEN: Now, Prime Minister, you did make some, you've made some very, very bad decisions in the past. And that decision I'm referring to is you did honeymoon in a place that wasn't Tasmania. I think it was South Australia, from what I'm reading. Are there plans -
PRIME MINISTER: Kangaroo Island.
MCMULLEN: Well, we have -
PRIME MINISTER: It's a pretty nice place.
MCMULLEN: Yeah well, we have Tassie devils. So, do you have plans to rectify that and maybe a second honeymoon in Tasmania this year?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we, we had a whole four days for our honeymoon as it was. But it was wonderful that we were able to get married and it was a lovely time, I've got to say, there in Kangaroo Island, which was very remote where we were. But I always love going to Tasmania -
MCMULLEN: We're quite remote as well. So, just -
PRIME MINISTER: Well, could I make this point, that the first holiday that Jodie and I ever had, which was very early in our relationship, was we walked Three Capes.
TAYLOR: Oh, what a treat.
PRIME MINISTER: The bold decision to say, 'hi darling, do you want to come on a 50 kilometre walk with me?' is, I think, pretty brave.
TAYLOR: Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, we really appreciate your time. Thanks for joining us on Triple M Breakfast with Kaz and Tubes.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much, guys.
TAYLOR: We hope to see you here in Tassie again soon.
PRIME MINISTER: We'll be there soon.
TAYLOR: We love it.
