Digital duty of care
I voted for the Federal Government’s Digital Duty of Care Bill. The Bill makes online platforms and social media companies responsible for ensuring the safety of the online environment for all Australians.
While I did have significant concerns over the draft bill when it was introduced, including specifically about its impacts on freedom of speech, I welcomed changes to ensure it is the Parliament, not the Minister or Government of the day, which determines what harms are covered by the regime.
It’s well beyond time Australia better regulated social media companies, their algorithms and AI generative platforms. Gone are the early days of the internet where everything was equal, open and distributed. It’s now mostly controlled by a few large multinational corporations who use our attention as a commodity, and who seem to have no care for the harms they cause. Of course the onus should be on them to implement safety by design, but they don’t and the Digital Duty of Care Bill goes some way towards addressing this.
Government’s tax changes
The Government’s tax bills have now all passed the House of Representatives. I supported many of the changes, as I have long campaigned for comprehensive tax reform which more fairly addresses the distorted tax treatment of different types of income in Australia.
However I voted against the changes to trusts as I don’t believe they were well designed, drafted and consulted on. Moreover they will cause considerable negative impacts for some small businesses, and for people who’ve done their estate planning but, for reasons of incapacity or lack of resources, will be unable to adjust their affairs in light of the changes.
I’m not against cracking down on the use of trusts to avoid tax, but I am concerned for the many people and businesses who will have to deal with the significant restructuring costs, unintended consequences and gross tax rates which are now sometimes higher than personal income tax rates.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG)
The arts, cultural institutions and creative opportunities enrich, support and expand the lives of Australians. They help us explore and reflect who we are as a local community and as a nation, and can help build social cohesion and support health, education and the future economy.
That’s why it’s particularly alarming the Tasmanian Government is targeting the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) for cuts, including a loss of about one third of its workforce.
I spoke up in the Federal Parliament about this, calling on the Tasmanian Government to sort out its priorities and maintain funding to TMAG so it can continue to safeguard our State Collection. They also need to reprioritise funding for other arts and cultural institutions so they can continue to enrich the lives of Tasmanians.
Yours sincerely
