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Speaker 1: This is the Fitting in Whip with Kate Richie podcast

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Speaker 1: last night.

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Speaker 2: That was an exciting update from our Prime minister. The

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Speaker 2: statement was made we will legislate for a minimum age

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Speaker 2: on social media to keep our children safe. Here's part

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Speaker 2: of the story so far. Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton.

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Speaker 1: I signed the petition this morning. We need to have

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Speaker 1: just a sensible, moderate approach. Nobody's saying ban the Internet

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Speaker 1: or any of that sort of nonsense.

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Speaker 2: The Prime Minister and our joins us on this topic.

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Speaker 1: It is having a devastating impact on the mental health

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Speaker 1: of too many of our young Australians. I would put

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Speaker 1: it at the top of my list for the first

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Speaker 1: one hundred days in government. It's a really positive example

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Speaker 1: of what the media can do that creates that positive space.

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Speaker 2: The announcement last night is a huge step forward and

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Speaker 2: we thank and welcome the Prime Minister. Mister Albanezy welcome

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Speaker 2: o Gey, good with you money. Fantastic encouragement overnight. This

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Speaker 2: is terrific news. You were one of the first people

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Speaker 2: to encourage everybody to go to the petition and sign

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Speaker 2: at thirty six months dot com. Thank you for your

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Speaker 2: support and your understanding of how serious and devastating this

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Speaker 2: influence of social media has been on our kids.

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Speaker 1: Well, congrats to you for the campaign that you've been

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Speaker 1: very much leading. But this is about letting children have

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Speaker 1: a childhood. There's nothing social about some social media taking

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Speaker 1: our young Australians away from real friends and real experiences.

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Speaker 1: And it's pretty simple. We want to get young Australians

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Speaker 1: off their devices and onto the footy field or the

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Speaker 1: netball court, or the swimming foold or the tennis court

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Speaker 1: and engaging with each other. And we know that social

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Speaker 1: media is causing social harm. That's why we've committed through

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Speaker 1: the Cabinet meeting we held yesterday to ensure that we

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Speaker 1: introduced legislation by the end of the year that will

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Speaker 1: enable us to have this age verification trial that we

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Speaker 1: put funding for in the budget in May. Australians deserve

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Speaker 1: better and we know that this is of such concern

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Speaker 1: for Australian parents. They want to protect their kids and

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Speaker 1: the safety and mental and physical health of our young

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Speaker 1: people is on the line.

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Speaker 3: Here can we talk about the age Prime Minister, because

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Speaker 3: the initiative is thirty six months and we has been

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Speaker 3: campaigning for this for the three years are so important.

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Speaker 3: I know down in South Australia, the Premier down there,

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Speaker 3: Peter Malanaskis, has brought in laws now that you have

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Speaker 3: to be at the age of fourteen. I mean, I

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Speaker 3: mean that's a start PM, but we would love to

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Speaker 3: get it. Yeah, it's too young. Can we get it

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Speaker 3: out to sixteen or where are where are we with that?

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Speaker 1: Well? One of the things that we wanted to do

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Speaker 1: is to make sure that when I had the discussion

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Speaker 1: at National Cabinet last week with all the premiers and

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Speaker 1: Chief Ministers, that we don't end up having a different systems.

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Speaker 1: So the right age is between fourteen and sixteen. I

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Speaker 1: have a personal view. I on the side of a

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Speaker 1: higher next day. That's where I'm at. But I want

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Speaker 1: to make sure that we don't end up with different

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Speaker 1: systems in different states. We want a national approach to

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Speaker 1: an issue which is a national issue. So that's one

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Speaker 1: of the reasons why we've got out there and made

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Speaker 1: this announcement, perhaps earlier than we would have. We were

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Speaker 1: going to wait for the trial and then make an announcement,

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Speaker 1: but we wanted to make it clear of where we

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Speaker 1: were headed that we will have legislation by the end

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Speaker 1: of the year. And one of the things that the

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Speaker 1: age verification trial will do is to look at through

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Speaker 1: real experience. And we've done a lot of work, like

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Speaker 1: it's at the final stage now of then going out

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Speaker 1: and undertaking this trial, but some pre work has been

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Speaker 1: done to make sure that we get it right here. Look,

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Speaker 1: it's not simple, that's the truth, and we all know

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Speaker 1: that because governments around the world are grappling with this challenge.

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Speaker 1: But if you don't try, you won't succeed, and we

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Speaker 1: want to make sure that we get it right.

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Speaker 2: I mean, what I've loved here is the leadership that

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Speaker 2: you have shown because when you encourage everybody to go

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Speaker 2: and sign the petition, one hundred and sixteen thousand people

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Speaker 2: stood up and said, this is what we want, this

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Speaker 2: is what we need, and thirty six months represents common

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Speaker 2: sense and that's what it is. So what we're so

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Speaker 2: passionate about is obviously removing the mind field that is

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Speaker 2: social media, but it is a mental health issue of

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Speaker 2: what is going on with our teenagers. And I want

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Speaker 2: to ask also, what changed your mind what made you

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Speaker 2: jump on board and have this conversation sooner than later

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Speaker 2: about what we could possibly do.

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Speaker 1: I haven't changed my mind. I've been determined to make

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Speaker 1: sure this happened. That's why we put money in the

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Speaker 1: budget for the age verification troll back in May, and

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Speaker 1: we've been working each and every day for that. I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you what the world's smallest petition would be, the

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Speaker 1: petition that said, let it rip give our youngest Australians

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Speaker 1: access to anything that they want online. That would be

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Speaker 1: the world's smallest petition because it would be a blank

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Speaker 1: sheet of paper. Every parent knows that this is an issue.

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Speaker 1: I mean, my young fellow, who I think you've all met,

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Speaker 1: is now twenty three. This is an issue when he

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Speaker 1: was young, you know, when he was twelve thirteen, a teenager.

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Speaker 1: It's more of an issue now. When I stood on

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Speaker 1: the sideline of Newtown Swan's games all those years ago,

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Speaker 1: it was something that we were talking about with other

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Speaker 1: parents and it's got worse. There's no question that's why

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Speaker 1: governments are looking at acting. But my government is prepared

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Speaker 1: to lead globally if need be, on this issue, to

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Speaker 1: have a crack at getting this right, which is why

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Speaker 1: we are undertaking the trial and why we've committed to

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Speaker 1: letting people know that the legislation will be in the

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Speaker 1: Parliament in November, because we do want to let parents

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Speaker 1: know as well that we've got you back, we understand,

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Speaker 1: and let young people know as well. I think from

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Speaker 1: talking with some younger people about this, and as I

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Speaker 1: go out and about I've had discussed this with them.

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Speaker 1: What do you think? And for many of them, some

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Speaker 1: of them say no, I should be allowed to do

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Speaker 1: whatever I want. But many of them as well certainly

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Speaker 1: recognize that this is a problem. They recognize that many

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Speaker 1: of their friends have suffered from some mental health issues

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Speaker 1: as a result of social media.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's much more than mental health issues. I

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Speaker 4: think that there are so many parents that would have

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Speaker 4: woken up this morning to this news, as you said,

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Speaker 4: finally listening to the parents and the people that are

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Speaker 4: living at home with their kids, and it is it's

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Speaker 4: much more than taking the kids away from footy fields

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Speaker 4: and social activities. You know, young people are dying at

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Speaker 4: the hands of misinformation, and that's why I think that

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Speaker 4: this is so valuable. So I know that there's a

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Speaker 4: long way to go, but surely there is a sigh

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Speaker 4: of relief and a lovely feeling of being listened to

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Speaker 4: by many many parents out there across the country this morning.

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Speaker 1: That's right. Well, the other thing is is that the

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Speaker 1: experts in the health sector tell us that young people's

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Speaker 1: brains been more time to develop before they're using some

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Speaker 1: of these apps. And that's why this is an issue

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Speaker 1: which is a national issue. We want to have national

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Speaker 1: response to it and we want to continue to engage

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Speaker 1: with parents. That's why we'll have the legislation released well

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Speaker 1: introduced into Parliament. Then I'm sure there'll be a process

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Speaker 1: in which people will participate. I should imagine this is

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Speaker 1: the sort of thing that will usually be subject to

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Speaker 1: a Senate inquiry and that will be another opportunity for

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Speaker 1: people to have their say on what we are doing here,

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Speaker 1: because well.

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister, what we need to act. What's great. There's

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Speaker 2: two things here. There's the technology and that's part of

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Speaker 2: your trial, which I believe is sort of slow to

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Speaker 2: get going. So I want to put the trial to

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Speaker 2: a side and I want to focus on the parent

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Speaker 2: side of things and the desperation. As we mentioned, kids

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Speaker 2: are on the edge. So the Opposition leader Peter Dutt

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Speaker 2: was in here. He said, if my government gets into power,

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Speaker 2: put at the top of my list to change the age.

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Speaker 2: Put at the top of my list for the first

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Speaker 2: one hundred days of power to change the age to

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Speaker 2: sixteen of kids joining social media. So this morning, and

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Speaker 2: I know it's a long runway, but you've called it November,

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Speaker 2: legislation will change. I want you to match it. I

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Speaker 2: want you to match sixteen because that's what the people

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Speaker 2: are calling for. You ask them to sign the petition.

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Speaker 2: They did and they need you.

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Speaker 1: Now, well, we're going to act. We're doing the trial.

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Speaker 1: We want to get it right. What we don't want

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Speaker 1: is I'm the government opposition leaders. I've been in that position.

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Speaker 1: They say things. We're acting, so we will have the legislation,

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Speaker 1: We'll do the age verification trial. That's important.

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Speaker 2: It is. But you know what, that's the technical side

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Speaker 2: of it.

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Speaker 1: Now we want that's the real side of it.

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Speaker 2: We need clear every amester that's.

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Speaker 1: The real side of it. Yes, is getting it right,

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Speaker 1: and that is what we are determined.

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Speaker 2: To do because the parents also need to be able

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Speaker 2: to say to the kids and to the other parents

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Speaker 2: at a grassroot level, it is now a legal you

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Speaker 2: can you can't rob a bank, you can't steal a car,

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Speaker 2: you can't be on social media under the age of

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Speaker 2: sixteen because it's illegal. The Prime Minister has said, so.

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Speaker 3: You can get the technological side of things right, but

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Speaker 3: if you still stay, if you stay at fourteen, Prime Minister,

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Speaker 3: it's not making a distant.

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Speaker 1: Saying we're going to stay at fourteen. Yeah, be very clear,

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying that at all. I've told you what

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Speaker 1: my preferred position is. But we're doing the age verification

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Speaker 1: trial to get it right.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is a great step forward, Prime Minister. Thank you.

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Speaker 2: And at the same time, you know you mentioned it before.

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Speaker 2: We can lead the world on this right now, Prime Minister,

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Speaker 2: through your.

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Speaker 1: Leadership, absolutely, and that is something that we're prepared to do.

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Speaker 1: I mean there's social media companies think they're above everyone. Well,

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Speaker 1: they have a social responsibility and at the moment they're

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Speaker 1: not exercising it, and we're determined to make sure that

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Speaker 1: they do. The French report done by the former Justice

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Speaker 1: Chief Justice of the High Court to Peter Mallanawskas in

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Speaker 1: South Australia is points a way forward as well. We'll

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Speaker 1: take that into account as we go forward. But as

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Speaker 1: I said, we do want a national response to this,

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Speaker 1: a national solution, and we're determined to get.

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Speaker 2: One fantastic Let's get it to sixteen. Thank you, Prime Minister, Thank.

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Speaker 1: You very much.

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Speaker 2: Sinzen Whipper with Kate Ritchie is a Nova podcast to

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Speaker 2: walk great shows like this. Download the Nova player, find

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Speaker 2: the app

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Speaker 1: Store or Google Player the player