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The opposition says the latest NAPLAN results aren’t a “cause for particular celebration” but there are positive signs.
Shadow education minister Jonno Duniam told ABC News Breakfast earlier that the gap between regional, remote and metro and other disadvantaged students including Indigenous children is “very concerning”.
Duniam says it might be time for a relook at the curriculum.
Under our federated system, where no-one should be worse off because of where they live or any other particular attribute, some are falling behind which needs addressing.
We are falling behind and we have been for a long period of time. This is not just a now problem, this has been for decades, we need to look at what it is we are teaching.
The government says there are encouraging signs from the latest NAPLAN school results.
Two thirds of students have achieved a “strong” or “exceeding” proficiency level, but for the first time since 2017, numeracy results improved across years five, seven and nine.
In a statement, education minister Jason Clare said there are still more improvements to be made:
The improvements in literacy and numeracy are good news, but there’s more work to do.
That’s what the new agreements we’ve now signed with every state and territory are all about.
Opposition frontbencher James Paterson says Australia shouldn’t join the UK in pushing to recognise the state of Palestine this year.
On RN Breakfast, Paterson says Australia recognising a Palestinian state before Hamas is dismantled would be “counterproductive”.
It’s not for me to comment on the foreign policy of other countries, but if the Australian government was to make a similar move, I wouldn’t agree with it.
Asked whether the images out of Gaza are evidence of starvation of its population, Paterson said there are “credible reports of that”.
Premature recognition of a Palestinian state before Hamas has been dismantled, before the Palestinian Authority recognises Israel’s right to exist before they give up their aims of using terrorism to abolish the Israeli state, I think would be extremely counterproductive…
There’s certainly credible reports of that [widespread starvation]. I’m not on the ground and I can’t independently assess it. But I think very clearly there is very serious suffering happening in Gaza.
He went further than his leader Sussan Ley yesterday who declined to say wouldn’t say there was evidence of starvation during a press conference yesterday.
But says he’s still “cautious” in not wanting to “endorse claims that are made by Hamas” while observing the “very serious humanitarian situation”.
Updated at 17.56 EDT
Asked about whether she’s concerned about potential legal action from Google, Wells says she’s got “sharp elbows”.
We have had threats come in. But look, know, I’ve got sharp elbows. This is too important for us not to have a crack. They are world leading laws.
While social media has a place persuasive and predatory algorithms do not. And that’s what we’re cracking down on.
Wells says the laws will not be set and forget, and the social media platforms will have to work with the eSafety commissioner to figure out how to put the new restrictions in place.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, says “parents, we have your backs” in announcing her decision to include YouTube in the social media ban.
Wells told the Today Show the laws “aren’t infallible” but it’ll be up to the platforms to take reasonable steps to stop children being on them.
When they find their way around this, because we know that kids will, god bless them, the platforms [need to] take reasonable steps to mitigate that from happening and to correct errors.
These laws aren’t infallible, none are but this is about the chilling effect [of social media]. And there’s a study that asked kids who are 16, 17, 18, ‘do they wish that they had not gotten on social media as early as 13?’ And they all said, yeah, they regret it.
Wells said that Google sent the Wiggles management team to try to “persuade” her on the decision.
This was Big Wiggle. This was Wiggles Inc, the management around the Wiggles …
The Wiggles are a treasured Australian institution. But like I said to them, you’re arguing that my four-year-old twins right to have a YouTube login is more important than the fact that four out of 10 of their peers will experience online harm on YouTube.
Updated at 18.05 EDT
Liberal frontbencher Paul Scarr says the decision to reverse YouTube’s exemption could amount to a “broken promise”, but won’t say whether or not including it in the ban is the right decision.
Over on Sunrise, Scarr and Greens leader Larissa Waters have also been reacting to the news overnight.
There is a lot of harmful content out there. But the fact of the matter is the legislation, when it was first passed by the parliament, specifically excluded YouTube, and now the government appears ready to change their position in that respect. And that’s a broken promise.
Scarr says the party will take a “careful” look at the regulations, and it’s important to “get the balance right” between protecting children and freedom of speech and privacy.
Waters says the bans aren’t going to work, and the social media giants should do better to make the content on their platforms safer.
Kids are so tech savvy, they’re going to find a way around these bans. These bans are not going to work. So what we actually need to do is to make those platforms safer and safer, not just for kids, but for anyone who’s accessing them. And I think that’s where the responsibility should be on the big tech companies. They’re getting off scot-free right now.
The opposition is critical of the government’s backflip, on including YouTube in social media ban, saying Labor has “questions to answer” over the decision.
Deputy opposition leader, Ted O’Brien, says his party will wait and see what rules the government puts forward for the ban, which are expected to be tabled to parliament today.
On Sky News, O’Brien says the government “failed” to flag that it would put the ban on YouTube, after the eSafety commissioner offered advice to do so.
They [the government] were silent on the possibility that it would be brought in… and so let’s wait and see what they table. The eSafety Commissioner’s advice needs to be scrutinised.
I make the point they failed to tell the Australian people about this before the election.
Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
The government will be discussing its decision this morning to include YouTube in its social media ban for under 16s – though the more tightly curated YouTube kids will be spared.
And this morning the UK has increased pressure on Israel, declaring it will recognise a Palestinian state later this year unless Israel takes urgent steps to commit to peace. We’ll be following all local reaction to that this morning.
Stay with us, it’s going to be another busy day!
ShareGoogle insists YouTube is ‘not social media’
Google has reacted to the government’s decision to include YouTube in the under-16s social media ban (though YouTube kids will be exempt).
The search engine giant says it will “consider next steps”, after it threatened to sue the government over the weekend if it was included in the ban, before the decision was announced.
A spokesperson for YouTube said in a statement that the platform is “not social media”.
We share the Government’s goal of addressing and reducing online harms. Our position remains clear: YouTube is a video sharing platform with a library of free, high-quality content, increasingly viewed on TV screens. It’s not social media.
The Government’s announcement today reverses a clear, public commitment to exclude YouTube from this ban. We will consider next steps and will continue to engage with the Government.
Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/REX/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 17.50 EDT
Bowen raises ‘sensible pathway for Australia to work towards the recognition of Palestine’
Jordyn Beazley
Chris Bowen was also asked on 7.30 for his reaction to the decision by the UK prime minister to recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis.
Asked if Australia, as a middle power, would join a joint effort to ensure more aid gets into Gaza, Bowen said:
I think the best thing I can do, Sarah, is very warmly and strongly and positively point you to the prime minister’s comments.
One, his abhorrence at what has been happening in Gaza in recent times, his condemnation of that action and his statements about Australia’s role in the pathway going forward. A sensible pathway for Australia to work towards the recognition of Palestine at the right time but also his abhorrence at the breaches of international law.
There is a high degree of coordination between Australia and like-minded countries, or middle powers, as you correctly put it. There is a very high degree of coordination there and you should expect that to continue. Now, I’m not going to comment on the details of what Keir Starmer may or may not be doing because that’s a matter for the United Kingdom. Obviously, we would respond in due course.
Chris Bowen says there is a ‘high degree of coordination between Australia and like-minded countries’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 17.31 EDT
Jordyn Beazley
Chris Bowen: ‘Anybody can set a high target with no plan to get there’
The minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, appeared on ABC’s 7.30 last night and was asked about calls by a top UN official for Australia to go “big” on its 2035 emissions reduction target.
Simon Stiell, who is visiting several countries ahead of the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil in November, said in a speech in Sydney on Monday the 2035 target would be a defining moment for Australia.
He urged the government to not pick a “bog-standard” number but to “go for what’s smart by going big”.
Bowen said:
We have a very rigorous process [and] world’s best practice for setting a climate target.
We agree a good, strong target is good economic policy and it also has to be achievable, a target we can set out and achieve. Anybody can set a high target with no plan to get there. That’s not the approach our government has taken and not the approach we’ll take in the future.
Updated at 17.22 EDT
Just one in seven Australians back Israel’s actions in Gaza, poll shows
Guardian Australia’s Essential poll is out this morning, and the top line is the public’s general scepticism over whether they will ever see the US deliver a nuclear submarine to the Australian navy.
But as always the poll asked a range of questions. Other interesting results include:
Only 15% of Australians believe Israel is justified in continuing its military action in Gaza. Some 41% of voters want Israel to permanently withdraw its military action, while 25% want a temporary ceasefire.
31% of voters say Australia should consider levelling our own tariffs on the US, while 45% say we should prioritise staying on good terms with Trump and keep negotiating for exemptions.
You can read the full story here:
Updated at 17.48 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
More from Sarah on last night’s Senate motion.
Liberal frontbencher, Maria Kovacic, stood to speak in support of the motion, saying that while it was important to protect children from online harm, “ensuring every adult logs into an account to browse the internet is taking the esafety commissioner’s power to a new level, which must be debated and scrutinised further”.
Corinne Mulholland, a newly elected Labor senator, questioned why senators would be against a law that “helps to prevent illegal content from spreading by restricting access to and the distribution of harmful content”.
To me, it all makes just common sense, so I’m not sure why it’s so controversial … The most ludicrous thing is wasting our time in the Senate when we can be getting on with the real business of debating legislation.
Read more here:
ShareSenate votes against search engine ID checks
Sarah Basford Canales
The Senate voted last night to pass an urgency motion against new rules requiring search engines, such as Google, to undertake user identity checks by the end of the year.
To refresh your memory, the previous parliament passed rules banning under-16s from many social media sites. As a result, a number of platforms are now required to verify a user’s age by the end of the year with a federal government trial of age assurance systems still underway.
Put forward by United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet on Tuesday night, the urgency motion read:
“The need to recognise that the internet search engine services online safety code, which requires age assurance measures for account holders of search engines, must be amended as it represents another layer of digital surveillance, dressed up as child protection and raises many privacy issues.”
It was supported by the Coalition, the Greens, One Nation and other crossbenchers – including David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Fatima Payman – with only Labor senators opposing it. The final vote was 38 ayes and 25 noes.
UAP senator Ralph Babet put forward the motion. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianShare
Updated at 17.21 EDT
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji picks it up.
There was some evening activity in the Senate last night as senators voted to pass an urgency motion against rules requiring search engines, such as Google, to undertake user identity checks by the end of the year. More details coming up.
Chris Bowen appeared on 7.30 last night when he was grilled about climate policy but also about the UK government’s decision to hold an emergency cabinet meeting about Gaza. The energy minister played that question with a straight bat but the fact that the UK has announced overnight that it will recognise Palestine unless Isrel agrees a truce will increase calls today for Australia to follow suit. More coming up.
Plus the latest Essential poll shows that barely one in seven Australians back Israel’s military action in Gaza. More on that soon too.