Australia news LIVE: Coalition pushes compulsory age limits for social media; Australians hit by tax surge

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has been called an “enemy of the people of Australia” by billionaire and X owner Elon Musk.

Yesterday, Lambie told Sky News she would be switching off X and suggested the other 226 members of parliament do the same.

“That bloke should not have a right to be out there on his own ideology platform and creating hatred, showing all this stuff out there to our kids,” she said on Sky News yesterday.

Musk responded to two separate clips of the Tasmanian senator, criticising Lambie’s position.

“This woman has utter contempt for the Australian people,” he said in one post.

“She is an enemy of the people of Australia,” he said in another.

Turning to Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, who is speaking about the eSafety commissioner taking X to court over violent video content of the alleged terror attack at a western Sydney church.

Lawyers for the social media giant claimed the platform geo-blocked the video so users in Australia could not see it unless they were using a VPN service allowing them to see overseas content.

But the Australian watchdog pushed back by arguing the videos should not be allowed to remain online and possibly be used to radicalise.

Rowland said the commissioner and X will be back in court today, but said the removal notice needed to be complied with.

“This removal notice required X to take all reasonable steps to ensure the removal of in this case, what is extreme violent video content of the alleged terrorist attack in Western Sydney,” she told RN Breakfast this morning.

“I think the important thing here is to be clear that eSafety commission is exercising its powers under Australian law. There is an expectation by government, and I believe across Australia, that all platforms, anyone who operates in Australia will comply with those laws and that is exactly what has been prosecuted in this instance,” she said.

Federal Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher says it has been a “really tough year” and Australia was facing a crisis when it came to violence against women.

The NSW government has ordered a review into a court decision that was made before the killing of Molly Ticehurst, following revelations her alleged murderer was released on bail weeks ago after being accused of sexually assaulting her.

Gallagher said she was devastated by Ticehurst’s death, and the prevalence and extent of violence against women in Australia.

“It’s been a really tough year. And this year is a tough year but so is last year and the year before that.

“This is a crisis in this country. And women don’t feel safe.”

She said women often felt it was still unsafe to go for a run, to go shopping and, even when women did “all the right things”, there were still cases where women were attacked.

“And I don’t think there’s one easy answer, there’s not one government that can solve it.”

She said the problem required systematic change, and a conversation with men about relationships.

“We must look at all [the] ways we can support and keep women safe in this country. Laws are part of it. But as I said … it goes much deeper than that.”

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Coalition spokeswoman for finance Jane Hume say more needs to be done to solve the problem of violence against women after the killing of 28-year-old Forbes mother Molly Ticehurst.

The alleged murderer Daniel Billings was released on bail just weeks ago after being accused of sexually assaulting Ticehurst, prompting the NSW government to order a review into court decisions.

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise, Hume said good work had been achieved through the national action plan to eliminate violence against women and their children, but everyone needed to step up.

“There’s some good work that’s being done right around the country co-ordinating that through a bipartisan action plan,” Hume said.

“It’s fundamentally important, but we can, and we must do better. Not just for young women like the one we’ve seen in NSW in the last couple of days but for all women around Australia because thousands are living in fear every single day and that’s unacceptable in a country like ours.”

O’Neil agreed, saying the alleged murder of Ticehurst coming off the back of the Bondi attacks was devastating.

“It is exhausting as a woman just having to watch this, and for every woman out there getting up and reading about this in the papers every day, we can’t let this continue,” she said.

“One thing that I’m starting to see a little bit more of is that conversation starting amongst men. This is not a women’s issue that we can fix by fixing women. It’s men and their behaviour that has to change here, and we need men to be stepping up.”

The Coalition says young children should be blocked from social media to protect them from violent content, and age verification made compulsory, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese feuds with billionaire Elon Musk over his refusal to take down footage of the Sydney church stabbing.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess and federal police chief Reece Kershaw will on Wednesday vow to protect “children and other vulnerable people” from “being bewitched online by a cauldron of extremist poison”. Both are calling on platforms such as X and Facebook to do better.

As Musk attracted worldwide attention with his fight against the Australian take-down order, the Coalition revealed it was in favour of barring young children from digital platforms.

“We urgently need to back the eSafety commissioner and get moving on age verification for children on social media,” opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said in an interview.

Continue reading about this here.

Inflation is expected to fall to its lowest levels since the third wave of COVID-19 swept through the country but Australians struggling with cost-of-living pressures have been hit by a surge in state and federal government taxes.

Figures compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed a 10 per cent, or $2100, jump in the tax take per person collected by the federal government through 2022-23.

It followed a near-$2600 increase in the average Commonwealth tax per person the previous financial year, with per capita tax now at an all-time high of $23,495.

The bureau noted the increase was driven by a 15 per cent, or $36.2 billion, jump in personal tax collections, caused by both a rise in the total number of Australians in work and increased wages growth.

Company tax receipts, up 21 per cent over the same period, were pushed up by higher prices for key commodities.

Here’s the full story.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr’s bid to have to a charge of alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer thrown out of court has hit a further delay, with a British court giving the prosecution extra time to build its case against her.

A judge approved a revised timeline by which the prosecution must now lodge its response to the defence skeleton arguments by May 15, ahead of the new revised court hearing of May 20.

Kerr’s legal team was due to argue at Kingston Crown Court on April 26 that the case was subject to abuse of process after it took a year for her to be charged.

One of the biggest stars in women’s football, Kerr is alleged to have called a police officer “stupid” and “white” during a dispute over a taxi fare last year.

The Chelsea striker, who has pleaded not guilty, was reported to have been sick in the cab after a night out and is alleged to have made the slur when taken inside a police station.

Good morning, and thanks for your company.

It’s Wednesday, April 24. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be steering our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s what’s making news this morning:

• Australia’s former top diplomat in India warns that singling out nationalities when rejecting student visas could harm bilateral relations.
• The Coalition says young children should be blocked from social media to protect them from violent content, and age verification made compulsory as the government battles Elon Musk over violent content.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in the 2022 election campaign that his government would “rule out” an offshore gas project but it has not acted on the issue since coming to power.
• Inflation is forecast to have fallen to its lowest level since 2021 as price pressures ease across the economy, but taxes are now weighing on Australians.
• Months of conflict in the Middle East are being felt in Australia as many people say the country is suffering more racism and religious intolerance.
• And overseas, an elite Fijian police unit working with Australia and New Zealand to fight surging drug trafficking in the Pacific may have been compromised by a powerful criminal syndicate.