2 days ago
Albanese staunch on under-16s social media ban and defence spending as possible Trump meeting looms
Anthony Albanese has pledged not to back down on plans to ban under-16s from social media and force online giants to pay for Australian news – two key policies opposed by big tech companies with the ear of Donald Trump – ahead of his expected meeting with the US president next week.
The prime minister also declared that 'Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defence', shrugging off demands from the Trump administration to rapidly increase military spending, even as he kept open the option of budgeting more for new assets.
In a Tuesday speech setting out his second-term agenda, Albanese repeatedly pushed back on concerns raised by the US over Australian policy positions. The prime minister said the 3 May election – which delivered Labor a thumping majority – was an endorsement of 'a progressive patriotism where we are proud to do things our own way', adding that Australians had voted against 'importing ideologies' and 'policies copied from overseas'.
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'We certainly support the news bargaining code, and we've made it very clear, for example to the US, and we made it clear publicly, that that is not on the table [for negotiating] any more than the social media ban for under-16s is,' Albanese told the National Press Club.
'We respect the role of particularly local papers, as a local here in Canberra. It plays a vital role, and it is of critical importance that those media organisations are able to survive.'
The government outlined its plans for a news media bargaining incentive in December, after outlets flagged that existing deals were expiring and might not be renegotiated. It updates the existing code, after concerns that tech giants were sidestepping mechanism would require large online platforms – including Google, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, and Bytedance's TikTok – to pay a fixed charge or enter direct deals with Australian media outlets to recognise the value of news content on those platforms.
The new plan was met with strong opposition by social media platforms, who urged the Trump administration to target 'coercive and discriminatory' Australian media laws.
The Australian government has not spoken much about the incentive recently, raising fears it would be watered down. But on Tuesday, Albanese said the government remained committed to the policy, and the under-16s ban.
'This is about government creating a community standard, as well as a legal one. Making it clear that social media companies have a social responsibility … This matters, and we won't be taking a backward step on it,.'
Noted the changing media landscape, the prime minister said: 'Legacy media isn't everything, but it is important.'
Albanese travels to Canada for the G7 meeting this week, and may meet Trump during that trip, but a meeting has not yet been locked in.
Australia has meanwhile been pushing for exemptions to US tariffs, with the trade minister, Don Farrell, conceding this weekend that the final decision on any exemptions would be made by Trump himself.
Asked about his potential meeting with Trump, and what a trade deal could include, Albanese said he would 'only sign up to things that are in Australia's national interest'.
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'Things like the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the media bargaining code, our biosecurity in agriculture – they're not on the table as far as we're concerned,' he said.
'But are there areas in which Australia and the United States can have win-wins? Yes, I believe that there are.'
The US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, met Australia's defence minister, Richard Marles last weekend in Singapore. Hegseth said Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP 'as soon as possible', a figure Albanese and other senior Labor members have downplayed, saying Australia does not set such arbitrary spending targets for any other area of government.
The prime minister repeated that position on Tuesday, though did not rule out raising defence spending if needed.
'There is no reason why defence should be governed by anything other than one factor: what do we need? What is the capability we need to keep us safe … Of course, we'll always provide for capability that's needed,' Albanese said.
'I think that Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defence … Arbitrary figures lead to a cul-de-sac, and we want to make sure as well that every single dollar that defence spends results in actual assets.'
