6 September 2026
News live: parents of Australian surfers killed in Mexico fly in for trial; Labor pressured to toughen lobbying rules

Follow the day’s news live The communications minister, Anika Wells , has challenged the Coalition and the Greens to pass legislation strengthening powers for the eSafety Commissioner related to the social media ban for under 16s. Labor will try to secure passage of the legislation in parliament this week. It would toughen information-gathering powers to investigate non-compliance by social media platforms related to the ban, and double the maximum penalty for breaches to nearly $110m. It’s been more than two months since the Albanese government introduced an urgent law to strengthen eSafety’s powers to enforce the social media minimum age law. Australian kids and parents needed these laws eight weeks ago, but the Coalition and Greens teamed up to send our four-page bill to an eight-week inquiry.
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