Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, , 40:00 to 48:15
Discussion regarding the Secretary's Board submission on social media use and funding concerns for Creative Australia following the Bondi attack.
Topics: Online safety, Antisemitism
Speakers: Senator The Hon Sarah Henderson, Mr Jim Betts
Public domain, but there is no other guidance that I'm aware of relating to social media and there is no change in the policy of the Secretary's Board. We are simply asking that Parliament comply with the spirit and intent of its existing resolutions in relation to the use of broadcast material.
Did you inform or consult your Minister or the Minister's Office before the submission was lodged?
No.
Is it possible if you could provide on notice the draft that you contributed to to that board secretaries?
Well, the draft that we contributed to is a draft which was produced by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. I'm not sure how useful it is for us to provide initial draft material which was subsequently superseded or subject to factual correction or whatever, but that will be a matter for Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Mr Betts, I'm going to ask if you could provide on notice your draft comments to that Secretary Secretary's board correspondence, because the ability for the Senate to do its job in Senate estimates, including this committee, is very important. And being able to highlight on social media and using the vision which is made available through the Parliament is a fundamental function of this committee, I would put to you.
Well, the Senate has.
Mr. Betts, can I just put on the record that in all the time that I have been a senator? I have never once been approached by a Secretary of Department in relation to a comment published on any of my social media accounts. Well, so I think it is I think it is incumbent. If you've got an issue about a reflection that's inappropriate, defamatory and the like, you should contact the relevant Senator.
We have.
So can I just put on record that I have never been contacted in relation to any comment?
I don't think I suggested you had been.
No, no, no. I'm just putting it on the record because you made a general statement.
Yep.
And I and certainly I think it's appropriate that if there is any comment published on anyone's social media account that's out of bounds, then the department should contact the relevant Senator.
Thank you.
Look, there's been a one of the issues that was raised was the video that I posted with Mr. Collette. Now Mr. Collette, I properly questioned Mr. Collette over a decision he made to fund someone who is a known anti-Semite, Mr. Matt Chun, who wrote an essay following Bondi, the massacre at Bondi, saying we don't mourn fascists. And I simply asked him to express or disavow the conduct of someone that Creative Australia had funded. It was one of the most horrific things anyone could write following Bondi. And Mr. Collette took exception with me posting that video. That's completely inappropriate that he cannot see that to fund someone like that, Mr. Now I if he wants to take a different view, that is up to him. But as a Senator, I'm entitled to raise serious concerns because we have seen systemic funding of people who prosecute hate in this country through media grants, through Creative Australia, and through various other multicultural grants. And it's a critically, and if Mr. Collette has a problem with the way that I have highlighted his failure to disavow the decision that Creative Australian made, can I say to you that perhaps he's in the wrong job?
Okay, so I thought we were talking about the Secretary's Board's submission to Parliamentary Inquiry about respectful behaviour and Senate estimates. There will be opportunities, no doubt, with Creative Australia to discuss these issues later on. I'm I there is nothing in the Secretary's Board submission, nothing that I've signed off on, which cites the particular passage of play that you're referring to or the particular evidence. You and I have had a number of discussions, Senator, which have been respectful discussions around the need to tackle anti-Semitism in this country and some of the often difficult public policy judgments that need to be made about on the one hand protecting the Jewish community in this country from anti-Semitic hatred, and on the other hand, the need to protect freedom of speech. And these are trade-offs and difficult decisions which we all wrestle with. But there is nothing in the Secretary's Board submission which goes to the specifics of what you've just discussed.
So I'm just referring to an article in the Australian entitled Coalition Creative Australia Criticism in part, sparked bureaucrats' crackdown demand by knowing him, and I'll table that. And this is a story which reports that bureaucrats told MPs to stop posting social media clips of them from parliamentary testimony in part because the coalition said a public servant should resign for refusing to denounce an artist for attacking victims of the Bondi terrorist attack. So that's been reported. I appreciate the advantage of the Mr.
That's the Australian. I don't I'm not sure. No, I appreciate the evidence. I'm a member of the Secretary's Board, and I stand behind the Secretary's Board's submission, but I'm not going to I can't provide commentary on speculative reporting in the media.
No, no, I'm not sure.
If I have a problem with your line of questioning for me, Senator, I will ask the Chair to intervene and he will make a judgment on that. We have never had to do that, you and I. So I can't really comment on other matters.
Yeah. So I'm just putting on on the record why I'm referring particularly to the Mr. Collette social media video. And so this is based on not on not suggesting it's in the letter, just based on the report in the Australian. Apparently the Australian has got hold of some internal documents. Chair, there might be inappropriate. Oh, look, before sorry, I'll just move to one quick issue and then there might be an appropriate time to share the call. Can I just ask about the credit card surcharge ban?