Key events
Labor challenges Coalition and the Greens over social media fines
Tom McIlroy
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 and 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 $110 million.
A Senate committee recommended the bill be passed in August.
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,” Wells said.
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.
This is the kind of dawdling and delay that has enabled social media companies to get away with harming our kids for so long.
More Australians head to Nepal to help
Two more Australians will join humanitarian and rescue efforts in the devastating Nepal-Tibet floods.
Two social workers have joined a total of 49 Australian personnel assisting in the disaster.
Monday has been declared a National Day of Mourning in Nepal, with the death toll reaching nearly 1,400.
Some 36 Australians are among the nearly 5,000 people who remain unaccounted for.
Bipartisan ‘Dads Caucus’ to launch in Canberra
Tom McIlroy
A cross-party group of dad MPs in federal Parliament will champion new data showing the importance of fathers spending quality time with their kids, as they push for new progress on parental leave.
A new “Dads Caucus” will launch on Monday in Canberra, including Labor’s special envoy for men’s health, Dan Repacholi, assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite, and MPs including Josh Burns, Jerome Laxale, Peter Khalil and Aaron Violi.
Supported by Movember, the launch event will include appearances by Wiggle Lachlan Gillespie, Jebediah frontman Kevin Mitchell, Joel Phillips from the Eastern Rosellas song and author and Movember ambassador Zach Perez.
Movember’s More Time With Dad Report shows 70% of fathers who take parental leave said it was good for their mental health, 83% said it helped them bond with their child, and 78% said it was beneficial for their relationship with their partner.
But currently almost a third of fathers take no parental leave at all, and of those who did take leave a majority (56%) said it wasn’t enough.
Movember wants to work with the Albanese government to establish a cross-departmental working group and to lead a review of the next phase of Paid Parental Leave rules in Australia.
Labor under pressure to toughen lobbying rules
Tom McIlroy
A coalition of 75 charities, social service organisations and transparency campaigners have called on the federal government to introduce a national lobbying act, to better control efforts to influence decision-makers in Canberra.
Representing millions of members, the groups span advocates for the environment, human rights, regional communities, faith organisations and online campaigners. Together, they argue the federal lobbying register and controls from the attorney-general’s department and Parliament House are badly insufficient for the public interest.
Australian Democracy Network chief executive Saffron Zomer said the breadth of support showed that lobbying reform was no longer a specialist integrity issue.
“Organisations working on very different issues share the same experience: well-resourced interests have greater access to government, while much of that influence remains hidden from public view,” she said.
“If the same professional lobbying activity is taking place, the same rules should apply. We have a crisis of public trust in government, and we can’t rebuild this trust without transparency.”
Parents of Australian surfers killed in Mexico fly in for trial
The parents of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson, who were killed in Mexico in 2024, will fly to Ensenada to attend their aggravated homicide trial.
The two surfers, aged 33 and 30, and their friend, US citizen Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, had been camping in a remote beachside area when they were killed in what investigators believe was an attempt to steal their vehicle.
Writing on Facebook, Debra and Martin Robinson said attending the trial felt “overwhelmingly difficult” but that “being in that courtroom is one of the last things we can do for Callum and Jake”.
We are going because we need to be there , not only for ourselves, but to represent the immense love, heartbreak and unimaginable loss felt by their families, friends and everyone who loved these three extraordinary young men.
We want to hear the truth. We want to understand what happened. And most importantly, we want to be their voices, because they can no longer speak for themselves.
In 2025, a Mexican court sentenced a woman to 20 years in prison for her involvement in the incident.
Good morning
Welcome to Monday’s live coverage. Nick Visser will be with you shortly for the day’s news.
Let’s begin.
