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Cabinet never discussed refugee cuts, says Plibersek

Tanya Plibersek has said cabinet never discussed cutting Australia’s refugee intake after debate and confusion within Labor came into public view this week.

The Financial Review on Thursday reported the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, was planning to cut intake of 20,000 arrivals to 13,750 in 2027-28.

The prime minister declared the figure would stay at 20,000 after Labor MPs and refugee advocates reacted angrily.

Asked on the ABC’s Insiders if the government had considered a cut to the refugee intake, Plibersek said:

No, I don’t really know where this story came from. We reconfirmed our number as recently as a month ago at the National Conference. There was certainly no discussion in cabinet.

She said the 20,000 a year figure was a “permanent commitment”.

The party’s most recent national conference voted to approve a statement that read:

Labor will seek, in the short term, to maintain Australia’s government funded humanitarian intake numbers at 20,000 places per year while also continuing to aspire to achieving 27,000 places per year.

Smartglasses could face government regulation, says Plibersek

Tanya Plibersek says the government is reviewing the import of smartglasses, dubbed by some as “pervert glasses”.

She said she “absolutely” had a problem with the devices, speaking on Insiders.

I think it is really concerning when tech companies just, come up with these products and release them without thought of how they can be misused. …

I don’t think it’s right to be able to walk up to someone and film an interaction without them knowing that the interactions being filmed.

Plibersek said the government was “considering very closely” limits on importing the glasses but did not specify what action was planned. She said:

The attorney general has asked the privacy commissioner to look specifically at these glasses, and the attorney general will have more to say about the import of the glasses soon.

Schools scared parents will object to sex education, says Plibersek

Tanya Plibersek has said some schools are scared to give young people “frank” education about sex and respectful relationships.

Speaking on Insiders, the social services minister said:

I think there’s a lot of schools out there who don’t want to have frank conversations with young people, because they’re worried that parents will object to their children and young people being spoken to directly. I think we are well beyond that. We know that children, as young as 10, are seeing pornography before they’ve had their first kiss. They’re getting their sex education from pornography.

We have to stop that … but we also need to be honest with young people, and talk to them about what healthy and respectful relationships look like, in an age appropriate way, from preschool, all the way through school, through Tafe and university.

Plibersek said the government should be “looking at very seriously” a UK-style ban on depictions of strangulation in pornography. She pushed back at criticism from Zali Steggall and others that this week’s national cabinet agreement on gender-based violence was “piecemeal”.

Well, I’m never going to say there’s enough [being done], while a single woman is killed in a year or a single child. I’m never going to say it’s enough, but no government has done more than ours.

Plibersek blames social media companies for ‘deliberate’ misogyny in feeds

Tanya Plibersek has accused social media companies of deliberately pushing violent misogynistic content to young boys.

The federal social services minister told ABC’s Insiders the tech platforms were playing a “huge role’ in sexual violence among teenagers. She said:

If you set up a social media account as a young boy in Australia today, it takes an average of 23 minutes for you to be fed misogynistic, violent misogynistic content online. That is a deliberate decision of the social media companies, that is wrecking our young boys, giving them all of the wrong ideas about what healthy relationships look like. …

It is no coincidence that 60% of young people now report that they’ve experienced strangulation during a sexual encounter.

Plibersek said the government was looking at options to regulate algorithms, including in its bill to establish a digital duty of care, expected by the end of the year. She acknowledged that platforms would fight back against the regulation.

We’ve seen from the big tech companies in the past is they technically comply with what they’re required to do legally, but they make the app so unpleasant or unwieldy to use, that people default back to the old version.

She said the government was looking at the terms of a recent settlement made by Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, in a US trial over teenage addiction.

Cara Severino speaks after being found safe

Cara Severino has paid tribute to the people in Nepal who helped her reach safety during “devastating” floods after she was found safe.

In a statement released by the foreign affairs minister’s office, Severino said:

I’m so grateful for the crew we formed on that first day when we entered the national park on the tractor. Sudha, Lucas, Samir and Saugat. It’s thanks to these amazing people I got out safely.

My heart goes out to all the Nepalese families who are grieving loved ones. We passed a guy hiking up to Thulu Safru who lost his whole family when their whole town was destroyed. It’s just so devastating and undeserving.

I feel for the families of those still missing, I know how much my family and friends went through.

Blessed to be from Australia and have the Embassy and Australian Government giving so much support.

You can read more about her story here:

Missing Australian woman Cara Severino found after Nepal floods

Good morning

Luca Ittimani