Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories - Shadow Minister for Regional Communications - Transcript - Interview Melissa Clarke, ABC Radio National Breakfast - 10 December 2025

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TRANSCRIPT

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TOPICS: Social media ban for children under 16, Triple Zero inquiry hearing, regional connectivity, Bulahdelah NSW fires, electricity outage, mobile connectivity, domestic roaming

CLARKE

Right now, it is 6 minutes past 8 and we're going to continue to talk federal politics today with the federal government's social media media ban beginning with age verification introduced on various popular social media platforms. The Opposition has supported the move, it supported it when it passed through Parliament, but more recently has voiced concerns over the ban's implementation and the impact on regional communities. Anne Webster is the shadow minister for Regional Communications - Anne Webster, welcome to Radio National Breakfast.

WEBSTER

Thank you, Melissa. Nice to talk to you.

CLARKE

Is today a good day for Australian parents?

WEBSTER

Well, I would like to think so as a parent, sometimes when the culture around your children is so prevalent, so strong, and in their - in your children's - face, it is difficult to manage some of the threats that come their way and social media certainly has proven over time to well … it, let's face it, it's taken lives and that is completely unacceptable and in a way, it's a new frontier, if you like … not that new now, maybe 10 years, but something that I think it is appropriate that government steps in to be able to provide those guard rails like we do with gambling or pornography or alcohol or you know … if there are laws in place and the question here is whether the big tech are going to come alongside or whether they're going to find loopholes and new platforms to encourage our young to engage in.

CLARKE

So, the government has focused on putting strong penalties on social media platforms if they don't have reasonable systems of age verification that they put in place and the focus is very much on their responsibility, not that of children. For parents, do you think that is enough motivation for the tech companies to get on board with this system?

WEBSTER

Oh look, the global tech companies that are engaged in this space make a lot of money from Australia, $50 million sounds a lot to you and me, I assume, and most people, as a fine but for the big tech you know is it more than a slap on the wrist? I don't know. I guess time will tell. It concerns me that TikTok allegedly has started Lemon8 as another platform, Yope, other ones like Roblox have not been incorporated. Apparently, Roblox are going to be putting measures in place where age verification, so that some components of the game are then ..

CLARKE

... Roblox - Roblox isn't included because it's primarily a - a gaming platform.  That was an exclusion that's been part of the legislation that the Coalition supported. So what's the problem there?

WEBSTER

Well, it's known to be a site where predators are present and I … if Roblox have separated out age verification now so that kids are playing with kids because there's a lot of communication that goes … are in place on Roblox. You know, I personally I've got grandkids who use Roblox. I don't love the fact that there could, well, be predators who are observing … I don't even know how the platform works. To be truthful to you, it's a game. I know that much, but there's a lot of interaction by outsiders as well. And you know, there's a responsibility for those platforms to ensure that our young people are safe.

CLARKE

Do you think there needs to be more federal government legislation to target platforms that are involved in gaming, like Roblox, and do you think it should be a broader remit than what is currently in play?

WEBSTER

Look, I think it's going to be a moving feast, is my view. I think that, you know, as time goes on, we will see whether Yope and Lemon8 and Roblox, for example, are doing the right thing by young people or whether they too need to be caught into this net with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, et cetera that are now banned. But I think the greater issue Melissa, is around age verification and how that can be accurately measured. Five years ago, I was on the Standing Committee for Social and Legal Affairs and we were looking at age verification with regard to pornography and gambling in particular and talking with our counterparts in Britain was part of that inquiry. Back then, they said, well, the age verification biometrics is only accurate five years either side of the age of a young person. So, a 12-year-old could look 17, et cetera. So that apparently has not changed. The biometrics have still not improved. And I've certainly got a couple of staff members who have teen kids who are able to be verified now as 20 year olds when they're 15.

CLARKE

You're listening to Radio National Breakfast, and my guest is the Shadow Minister for Regional Communications Anne Webster. I just want to ask you on some other matters that relate to your portfolio area. Yesterday, telco TPG told a parliamentary inquiry a second death may be linked to a customer being unable to contact Triple Zero on their Samsung mobile phone. Do you have confidence in the Triple Zero system?

WEBSTER

I have. I think what people need to understand is that the Triple Zero system is actually quite complex. A person has to be able to connect to the Triple Zero Telstra in Sydney, who then send on those calls. The initial contact is the problem at this stage.  From what I can see, I think Telstra … and managing the Triple Zero, I was in the Triple Zero Call Centre only a month ago and the professional and accurate and efficient way they manage that part I think is very, very good. I haven't heard of any complaints about that, but I think the - this connection issue, connectivity, particularly in the regions, is an ongoing serious problem where people can't make a call. It's just not good enough. And yes, we've got old phones that need to be updated. I think the 3G rollout - or 3G shutdown, I should say – was not successful and that has created problems as well. So people in the bush, in particular, are really in trouble.

CLARKE

Yeah. Can I ask you more broadly about this issue because this morning one of our colleagues in the ABC Mid North Coast has heard from residents in the Bulahdelah area where those bushfires have been unfortunately causing a lot of damage around housing and he has said that there was a planned power outage that impacted their bushfire response on Friday. One of the residents, Nassim, said he lost power. He couldn't even pump water from his tanks and he also lost some of his communications because of this planned power outage - just briefly take a listen.

BULAHDELAH RESIDENT, ‘NASSIM’

Everything was just smoke and then I could look outside here and I just .. everything was on fire and just thought … I loaded the dogs into the trailer. Didn't think much of it. Grabbed the bugout bag, left everything open and just basically bolted. By the time I got to the top of the street, my phone was pinging and notifications were coming through. So, you know, we got about 10 or 12 messages even from emergency services, but we couldn't get them while we were here without power. So, if we had power. I probably would have left earlier that morning.

CLARKE

Now Essential Energy says there wasn't any active weather or bushfire warnings at the location at the time and the power was restored. When a fire warning was issued for the area, is this concerning to you? As we're heading into summer, more families are going to be facing these kind of moments.

WEBSTER

Absolutely. How can we not be concerned about that if we've got threats around us and we don't know, you know, how can we make good decisions to make our families safe? I think it's a huge problem. And the fact is that some people are also relying on being able to make calls through their NBN. If you've got a power outage, then that's going to be a problem as well. We've got to find solutions to these problems, but as I said, you know, the hefty weight of these problems are in the regions and we don't have enough mobile towers. I personally believe -  and I'm certainly working on this in terms of policy is - that domestic roaming should be mandatory at all times. So, if there is an Optus tower and you’re Telstra, you should be able to access that tower as you are driving past or as you are in that region. I think there are serious flaws in the way that we have structured domestic roaming and that needs to be addressed.

CLARKE

Anne Webster, I really appreciate your thoughts this morning. Thanks very much for joining us on Radio National Breakfast.

WEBSTER

Very welcome. Thanks, Melissa.

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