16 News

The Prime Minister will be on leave for five days from Monday 1 December 2025.

During most of this time, the Deputy Prime Minister will be Acting Prime Minister. 

The Deputy Prime Minister is expected to travel to Papua New Guinea from Tuesday morning to Wednesday afternoon. During this time Minister Wong will be Acting Prime Minister.

Starting this Wednesday, children under the age of 16 will be banned from having ­social media accounts.

This will be one of the ­biggest social and cultural changes our nation has faced. It is profound reform which will be a source of national pride in years to come.

The onus will be on social media companies to ensure no child under 16 is on their platforms. If they have not taken reasonable steps to remove them they will have broken Australian law and be subject to substantial fines. Social media companies have a social responsibility. That responsibility starts with the protection of Australian children.

This is a world-leading move by Australia and it is a change driven, overwhelmingly, by Australian parents. As Prime Minister, I’ve had the sombre experience of meeting with mums and dads who have seen their child’s wellbeing crushed by the worst of social media, many living with the devastating pain of losing a child. Yet these ­extraordinary Australians have found courage and selflessness to channel their grief into advocating for this reform because they are determined to do everything they can to spare other families the suffering they have known.

We’re doing this for those parents – and for every parent. Because this law is about making it easier for you to have a conversation with your child about the risks and harms of engaging online. It’s also about helping parents push back against peer pressure. You don’t have to worry that by stopping your child using ­social media, you’re somehow making them the odd one out. Now, instead of trying to set a “family rule”, you can point to a national ban.

The eSafety Commissioner will begin collecting the data from platforms to check how many under 16s are on, and off, and this information will be made public.

From the beginning, we’ve acknowledged this process won’t be 100 per cent perfect.

But the message this law sends will be 100 per cent clear. For example, Australia sets the legal drinking age at 18 because our society recognises the ­benefits to the individual and the community of such an ­approach. The fact that teenagers occasionally find a way to have a drink doesn’t diminish the value of having a clear, ­national standard.

Our social media ban is about providing greater peace of mind for Australian parents. It’s also about making sure that Australian children have a childhood.

This will be a significant change, and change can be difficult, but Australians work best when we work together. It was parents who worked ­together to make this reform a reality, it will be all Australians working together to make this a moment of national pride.

From December 10, Australian kids will have more time to be kids and Australian parents will have greater peace of mind. The courage of all those parents who have fought for this ban will change lives – and it will save lives.

Originally published as Social media firms face huge fines under new Australian ban (News.com.au).

Australia will start manufacturing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles this month after the opening of a new factory in Port Wakefield, South Australia.

As part of the Albanese Government’s commitment to establish a sovereign guided weapons industry and a future made in Australia, Lockheed Martin Australia and Defence will commence production of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles at the facility by the end of 2025.

The project will create around 20 new manufacturing jobs on-site and support hundreds more across the supply chain, driven by the Albanese Government’s investment.

The GMLRS missile is a precision strike weapon launched from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) recently acquired under the Australian Army’s long-range fires project.

The announcement today also marks a significant milestone in Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise plan, meeting the production schedule outlined by the government last year. The factory – designed and built by Intract Australia, an Indigenous-owned and -operated company – was completed in just under seven months.

The Port Wakefield factory will be only the second facility in the world to produce GMLRS outside Lockheed Martin’s facility in Camden, Arkansas. This achievement deepens Australia–United States defence ties and opens significant export opportunities.

The first cohort of Australian workers has successfully completed training at the Camden facility, accelerating knowledge transfer and strengthening Australia’s sovereign defence capability.

This project forms part of the Albanese Government’s investment of up to $21 billion over the decade to acquire more long-range strike systems and manufacture longer-range munitions in Australia.

Acting Prime Minister, Richard Marles:

“Starting missile production in Australia this year is a major step in building the industrial strength our nation needs. It’s about creating advanced manufacturing capability that will serve Australia for decades to come.

“This factory is part of a bigger picture – growing a high-tech industry that supports skilled jobs, drives innovation and strengthens Australia’s economy. It’s a clear example of what a future made in Australia looks like.

“Producing these missiles in Australia demonstrates both the strength of our alliance with the United States and the capability of Australian industry.”

Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy:

“The opening of this factory delivers on the Albanese Government’s commitment to establish a sovereign missile manufacturing industry. It’s about jobs for locals and a future made in Australia.

“This is a significant milestone and a proud moment for Australia. This will make us more self-reliant and strengthen our national security.

“It reaffirms our defence partnership with the United States, including our growing collaboration on guided weapons and explosive ordnance, and will equip our ADF with long-range strike capability that will help keep Australians safe.”

Mr Patrick Mason, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Defense Exports & Cooperation (DASA DE&C):

“The opening of this GMLRS manufacturing facility in Port Wakefield represents a transformative milestone in U.S.-Australia defence cooperation. 

This partnership not only strengthens our shared commitment to regional security but also demonstrates the power of allied innovation in building resilient defence supply chains. 

Our nations’ goal to collaborate on guided weapons manufacturing exemplifies the deep trust and interoperability that defines our alliance, while potentially creating new opportunities for both countries to support partners across the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Albanese Government has established an autonomous sanctions framework for Afghanistan, as part of our ongoing efforts to hold the Taliban to account.

The new framework enables Australia to directly impose its own sanctions and travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban, targeting the oppression of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls, as well as actions that undermine the rule of law and good governance in Afghanistan.

It builds on the 140 individuals and entities Australia currently sanctions under the United Nations Security Council’s Taliban framework.

The new framework also introduces an arms embargo, prohibiting Australians from supplying arms or related materials, and any related services or activities to Afghanistan.

In effect today, the Government has also announced its first listings under the new framework.

We have imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on three so-called Taliban ‘ministers’ and the so-called Taliban ‘Chief Justice’ for their involvement in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law. This includes restricting access to education, employment, freedom of movement and the ability to participate in public life.

The Australian Government remains deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban continues to demonstrate contempt for the rights, freedoms and welfare of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.

Our thoughts are with those suffering under the Taliban’s oppression, as well as the Afghan community in Australia.

Since the fall of Kabul, the Australian Government has provided over $260 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, with a strong focus on women and girls. A further $50 million is allocated for 2025/26. We have issued a humanitarian permit under the framework.

Australia is the first country to establish an autonomous sanctions framework for Afghanistan, strengthening our approach to the worsening situation. It adds to those we have in place for countries such as Iran, Russia and the DPRK.

Further information on the Afghanistan sanctions framework is available on the Department’s website: Legislation and Sanctions Frameworks.

Amid reports that Labor is considering using public money to keep Australian businesses dependent on gas, the Greens have warned they will not support any Labor response to the broken gas market that incentivises new gas mines.

The Greens warn that the government’s current approach risks massive new gas subsidies, failing to tackle the problem of excessive, untaxed exports.

The Greens are reiterating calls for an immediate 25 per cent tax on all LNG exports, a measure proposed by the ACTU and backed by experts.

This tax would replace the deeply flawed Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), which has failed to collect meaningful revenue from LNG exporters due to massive loopholes. The tax would also prioritise domestic gas supply without incentivising new fossil fuel projects.

Labor’s approach risks locking in decades of catastrophic emissions from climate bombs like Beetaloo and Narrabri, undermining our international climate commitments.

the Australian Greens spokesperson for resources Senator Steph Hodgins-May: 

“These reports are genuinely alarming. Labor must not use public money that should be going towards schools and hospitals to buy discounted gas for polluters. 

“If they move to cement the power of gas corporations, the ones pillaging our resources and tripling household prices, we will face this problem over and over again.

“Labor is actively pushing the industry’s faulty premise that new supply is needed when the reality is that we’ve already got enough gas to get us through the transition.

“Gas corporations are gouging Australian households and tripling bills, while escaping without paying their fair share. An export levy will help right this wrong and deliver cost-of-living relief that families desperately need.

“When Labor pursues new gas incentives, they are walking hand-in-hand with the Coalition and industry lobbyists.

“Labor needs to scrap the broken PRRT and properly tax exports, not continue padding the balance sheets of gas giants who have had a free ride for too long.

“The 25% on gas exports is the best solution to redirect existing supply to Australians, raise revenue to compensate households, and get us off of gas quickly and fairly.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Albanese Government to back Australia withdrawing from Eurovision 2026 following the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to compete despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Slovenia, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands have already announced boycotts. It’s time Australia showed the same moral courage.

In the face of apartheid and genocide, cultural boycotts have been proven to have power and be a force for justice and change. This history needs to be remembered now and applied to the struggle for a Free Palestine.

Greens Senator and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson David Shoebridge said: 

“Eurovision banned Russia for war crimes but rolls out the red carpet for Israel while Palestinian children are still starving, bombs are still falling and cities lay destroyed. 

“The International Court of Justice is investigating Israel for genocide, we should not be asking Australians to sing alongside a regime that has committed such appalling crimes.

“History shows us that cultural boycotts work. Artists and athletes refusing to perform in apartheid South Africa helped bring down that brutal regime. 

“It’s a simple fact that our participation in Eurovision 2026 legitimises Israel’s atrocities.

“Politically compromised voting in Eurovision 2025 almost delivered an Israeli victory at the song contest, will we really sit meekly by and watch that happen again?” Senator Shoebridge said