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Labor limps toward the finish line · The Front

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christinamio.
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  Speaker 1: It's Monday, November twenty five. One of Australia's most prominent
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  Speaker 1: rabbis has urged the Prime Minister to abandon his very
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  Speaker 1: mild approach to tackling antisemitism. Doctor Benjamin Elton of Sydney's
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  Speaker 1: Great Synagogue warned Anthony Albanese's failure to condemn antisemitism hasn't
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  Speaker 1: stemmed the problem. Three of the nation's top CEOs have
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  Speaker 1: warned Australia is on track to become the unlucky country.
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  Speaker 1: West Farmer's Chief Rob Scott, BP president Lucy Nation and
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  Speaker 1: Cochlear boss Dig Howard say increased to regulation and a
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  Speaker 1: stifling business environment are killing Australian's opportunities for prosperity. Those
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  Speaker 1: exclusive stories a live right now at the Australian dot
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  Speaker 1: com dot au. There are just four cities days before
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  Speaker 1: the end of the parliamentary year and the government is
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  Speaker 1: facing some big hurdles on key election issues. So where
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  Speaker 1: are they likely to have some success and when will
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  Speaker 1: they have to admit defeat. That's today's episode.
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  Speaker 2: The overwhelming majority of Australians are concerned about misinformation. Australians
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  Speaker 2: deserve to know more about what content is flagged, demoted
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  Speaker 2: or taken down.
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  Speaker 1: It was a key piece of legislation intended to combat
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  Speaker 1: the proliferation of harmful and misleading content online.
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  Speaker 2: It would empower the Australian Communications and Media Authority to
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  Speaker 2: look under the hood of the digital platforms and improve
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  Speaker 2: transparency about the systems and processes they have in place
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  Speaker 2: to protect Australians, including how they can apply with the
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  Speaker 2: voluntary code they signed up to.
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  Speaker 1: But the Government's Misinformation Bill, championed by Communications Minister Michelle Roland,
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  Speaker 1: has been up against it from the get go, with
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  Speaker 1: the Coalition and the Greens opposing it in Parliament.
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  Speaker 3: This bill is not about misinformation and disinformation. This bill
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  Speaker 3: is about the Albanezi government silencing the Australian people. Never
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  Speaker 3: in my life did I think that an Australian government
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  Speaker 3: would proceed down this path.
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  Speaker 1: An early version of the legislation attracted thousands of submissions
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  Speaker 1: when it was first released last year, and the government
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  Speaker 1: had hoped to have the revised bill passed by this Christmas,
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  Speaker 1: but on Sunday morning, Michelle Roland acknowledged the writing was
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  Speaker 1: on the wall announcing it the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill
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  Speaker 1: has been scrapped.
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  Speaker 4: A statement from Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was saying, quote,
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  Speaker 4: based on public statements and engagements with Senators, it is
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  Speaker 4: clear there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through
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  Speaker 4: the Senate. The Government will not proceed with the Communications
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  Speaker 4: Legislation Amendment Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 1: As the Parliament gears up for its final sitting week
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  Speaker 1: of the year. The scrapped Misinformation Bill isn't the only
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  Speaker 1: labor legislation that's in jeopardy. Before her death almost a
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  Speaker 1: year ago, the late labor Peter Murphy spearheaded a campaign
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  Speaker 1: to ban gambling advertising online.
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  Speaker 5: Online gambling has been deliberately and strategically marketed alongside sport.
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  Speaker 5: It's normalized gambling with sport as a fun, harmless and
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  Speaker 5: social activity. But we heard evidence about the way gambling
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  Speaker 5: advertising also grooms children and young people to gamble and
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  Speaker 5: encourages riskier behavior and the experience of parents that the
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  Speaker 5: torrent of advertising is inescapable.
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  Speaker 1: In August, former Prime Ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull,
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  Speaker 1: as well as a slew of former premiers added their
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  Speaker 1: voices to a growing chorus of people concerned about the
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  Speaker 1: impact of gambling ads on the community.
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  Speaker 6: Mister Howard saying gambling losses are responsible for enormous harm
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  Speaker 6: across the community.
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  Speaker 1: Labour did move forward with a plan to phase outwagering
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  Speaker 1: content on TV and a near immediate ban of online promotions,
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  Speaker 1: with a focus on reducing the saturation of gambling ads,
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  Speaker 1: the exposure of children, and advertising during sporting matches, but
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  Speaker 1: it ruled out establishing a national online gaming regulator, with
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  Speaker 1: Social Services Minister Amanda Brishworth saying the government was working
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  Speaker 1: with the states and territories to unify the approach to
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  Speaker 1: gaming regulation.
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  Speaker 7: I have been working very well with my state and
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  Speaker 7: territory counterparts. We have together brought in a number of reforms,
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  Speaker 7: really important reforms, and have worked really closely together.
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  Speaker 1: But the gambling reform too, who is dead in the water.
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  Speaker 6: And that's not all.
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  Speaker 1: Also on the chopping block this week are the government's
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  Speaker 1: housing affordability and superannuation schemes, its big net zero transition plan,
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  Speaker 1: Future Made in Australia, and plans to cap international student numbers.
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  Speaker 1: Labour introduced the legislation to limit the number of international
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  Speaker 1: students living and studying in Australia, saying massive immigration numbers
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  Speaker 1: were exacerbating the housing crisis and making it more difficult
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  Speaker 1: for Australians to find a home. The plan was slammed
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  Speaker 1: by the nation's university sector, with bosses saying they'd struggle
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  Speaker 1: if international student numbers were slashed.
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  Speaker 8: Using students as cannon fodder in a pole different battle
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  Speaker 8: over migration and housing simply doesn't add up the danger
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  Speaker 8: of using these talented people as scapegoats to blame the
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  Speaker 8: housing crisis on. Is what we stand to lose by
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  Speaker 8: telling them to stay home.
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  Speaker 1: The Green said that plan escapegoated international students, and the
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  Speaker 1: Opposition criticized the proposed caps for not going far enough.
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  Speaker 1: They say they'll introduce their own legislation that cuts even
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  Speaker 1: deeper if they get up at the next election.
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  Speaker 6: I think this was always coming to a head.
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  Speaker 1: Rosie Lewis is a political correspondent with The Australian.
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  Speaker 6: That being that the government had a lot on its
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  Speaker 6: plate and things weren't moving quickly in the Parliament, and
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  Speaker 6: now all of a sudden, we've got just four days
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  Speaker 6: left until Christmas, four days this week and they no surprise,
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  Speaker 6: want to get everything through, but they're already having to
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  Speaker 6: concede that will be impossible. Interestingly, there are seventy six
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  Speaker 6: government bills still before the Parliament. Some of the bills
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  Speaker 6: much more significant to Anthony Albanese's agenda than others, and
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  Speaker 6: it is a blow to the Prime Minister that on
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  Speaker 6: the day before Parliament resumes for its final week, he
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  Speaker 6: has had to concede that two significant bits of legislation,
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  Speaker 6: as you mentioned, the misinformation and disinformation laws as well
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  Speaker 6: as gambling reform won't be able to proceed because there
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  Speaker 6: are no deals possible. There are even more pieces of
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  Speaker 6: legislation than those where we just don't know where they're
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  Speaker 6: going to land, things like his housing agenda, which the
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  Speaker 6: government says is it's number one priority. It's helped to
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  Speaker 6: buy and build to rent scheme, things like the Future
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  Speaker 6: Made in Australia agenda, which Anthony Albanesi really wants to
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  Speaker 6: peg his re election campaign on. At this stage in
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  Speaker 6: the electoral cycle, months out from an election which could
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  Speaker 6: be as early as March, things are not looking good
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  Speaker 6: in terms of Anthony Albanesi having been able to persuade
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  Speaker 6: the Parliament to get his agenda.
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  Speaker 1: Through coming up where the government could still get some
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  Speaker 1: wins this week. Ever since the Australian government imposed a
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  Speaker 1: world first media bargaining code on tech platforms in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty one, legislators around the globe have been keeping one
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  Speaker 1: eye on what we do in the social media space.
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  Speaker 1: So when Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi announced plans to ban
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  Speaker 1: Aussie kids from social media, it made waves.
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  Speaker 9: This one's for the mums and dads. Social media is
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  Speaker 9: doing harm to our kids and I'm calling time on
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  Speaker 9: it and I want Australian parents and families to know
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  Speaker 9: that the opment has your back.
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  Speaker 1: The ban isn't without criticism, but it's poised to sail
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  Speaker 1: through Parliament with bipartisan support this week. It'll legislate a
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  Speaker 1: minimum age of sixteen years for social media use and
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  Speaker 1: put the owners on tech companies like a TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit,
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  Speaker 1: Instagram and x formerly known as Twitter to enforce the
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  Speaker 1: new rules. If they don't, they could face fines of
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  Speaker 1: up to fifty million dollars.
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  Speaker 6: It will be an important win, but it's one that
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  Speaker 6: we've seen coming for some months now because Peter Dutton
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  Speaker 6: has also really been championing this ban on under sixteen's
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  Speaker 6: using social media, having said that once it's legislated this week,
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  Speaker 6: the government's giving itself at least twelve months to figure
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  Speaker 6: out the ins and outs of how this ban would
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  Speaker 6: actually work. So we're not actually going to know what
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  Speaker 6: it looks like, what will be required of young Australia
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  Speaker 6: or Australians older than sixteen until at least end of
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  Speaker 6: next year, but more likely twenty twenty six. But of course,
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  Speaker 6: in a week where there's going to be a lot
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  Speaker 6: of legislation blocked or rejected or not put up at all,
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  Speaker 6: any win is a win and Anthony Albanesi will certainly
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  Speaker 6: be talking about it in parliament.
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  Speaker 1: The coalition is also set to back the government's proposed
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  Speaker 1: electoral reforms, which caps how much candidates can spend in
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  Speaker 1: a single electorate at eight hundred thousand dollars. It would
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  Speaker 1: also limit donations by unions and individuals to twenty thousand
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  Speaker 1: and six hundred thousand dollars, respectively, and require donations over
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  Speaker 1: one thousand dollars to be disclosed.
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  Speaker 9: What we want to put in place is electoral reform
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  Speaker 9: that lasts over a period of time, that doesn't seek
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  Speaker 9: to secure a political advantage for any particular side of
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  Speaker 9: politics or indeed for and it's running as well.
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  Speaker 1: Just lastly, Rosie, the government is also likely to pass
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  Speaker 1: its proposed new aged Care framework, which will overhaul the
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  Speaker 1: way the sector is regulated in hopes of providing high
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  Speaker 1: quality care for older Australians. Plus the education reforms like
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  Speaker 1: fear free take places will get up. So where does
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  Speaker 1: that leave us at the end of the final sitting
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  Speaker 1: week of the year.
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  Speaker 6: There's still a lot on the government's books, but the
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  Speaker 6: outstanding question is will they actually be able to do
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  Speaker 6: anything in the new year. And while many think that
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  Speaker 6: the election will be in May, that would give Anthony
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  Speaker 6: Albanezi some sitting weeks in February and March, there is
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  Speaker 6: a real possibility that he could call in an election early,
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  Speaker 6: say in February four March, and we have no sitting
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  Speaker 6: weeks left, so there will be a lot of his
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  Speaker 6: agenda held over, so to speak. And then the next
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  Speaker 6: question will be what does he take to his reelection
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  Speaker 6: campaign or what does he decide is just in the
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  Speaker 6: too hard basket, Even things like his religious discrimination reforms,
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  Speaker 6: which he quietly dropped some months ago. Now, which we
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  Speaker 6: assume we'll never see the light of day again. So
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  Speaker 6: there's a lot to watch in this space, but only
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  Speaker 6: the Prime Minister has the answer at this point, and
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  Speaker 6: he probably hasn't even made the decision on many of
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  Speaker 6: those bits of legislation.
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  Speaker 1: Rosie Lewis is a political correspondent with The Australian. You
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  Speaker 1: can read all our recording and analysis of this final
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  Speaker 1: Parliamentary sitting week anytime at the Australian dot com dot
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  Speaker 1: au