Transcript - ABC Afternoon Briefing - 4 September 2025

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

4 September 2025

Interview

ABC Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas

Topic: eSafety self-assessment tool; social media age minimum; Let them be kids campaign; AI; deepfake apps; social media age minimum; Indian-Australian community; Australia flag marches.

Patricia Karvelas

Today, the eSafety Commission has published a self-assessment tool to help online services determine if they are likely to be an age-restricted social media platform, and therefore required to stop under 16s from holding accounts. Now, earlier this week, the government released a landmark report on the status of the technology that will assess whether a user is under 16. Melissa McIntosh is the Shadow Communications Minister and a regular here on Afternoon Briefing. Welcome to the program.

Melissa McIntosh

Thank you and lucky you, you've escaped Canberra.

Patricia Karvelas

I love Canberra, but I also love Melbourne. Are you confident in the age assurance technology after this report?

Melissa McIntosh

It's encouraging. There's still some questions to be honest around, what the technology will be. So, if it is going to be even digital - in needing digital ID, I know the Minister said not, but in the report there's one aspect that says if you can't guarantee a age - of a person's age, you may need some form of digital ID and we are completely against that. So there are still questions around the technology, whether it is going to be ready. There's questions as well around what constitutes reasonable steps by platforms, even though the eSafety Commissioner did put out that release today. We want this to work for Australian children. I met with families this week who came into Parliament and they're really concerned. They had a meeting with the Prime Minister. They walked out of that meeting unsure whether the government is actually going to be ready. There seems to be no education campaign in place to get parents ready. It's going to be over the Christmas holidays - December 10th to get kids ready. I met with school kids, and I asked them if they knew what was coming. And one kid has 900 followers on TikTok; he came from my community and they don't know. Schools aren't ready either. So, the government needs to be prepared. They need to have a public education campaign and the let's let kids be kids campaign, that came to Parliament were pretty distressed after leaving the me meeting with the Prime Minister.

Patricia Karvelas

Now the law actually does say that there has to be, that's the law. It's already passed. There has to be an alternative to a digital ID.

Melissa McIntosh

Correct.

Patricia Karvelas

So that is kind of settled, isn't it?

Melissa McIntosh

The, the paragraph I'm referring to in the report is there's other technology that'll be in place, but if that doesn't work, digital ID may need to be used, such as a healthcare card. So, it's just the questions, the uncertainty. And speaking to stakeholders, again today, the platforms, they are still feeling a bit uncertain, and they need to get it right. The pressure is on them to get this right for Australian kids. So now we're at crunch point. We are approaching towards the end of the year. We don't know what constitutes reasonable measures. We don't know what the technology is going to be, and families don't know how people are going to be educated that this is even coming.

Patricia Karvelas

Do you welcome the government's moves to crack down on deepfake apps? This week, the Minister outlined an approach to trying to get all of those companies to deal with this.

Melissa McIntosh

It is so concerning what is going on in the AI space when it comes to children and their interaction with AI. And I'm separating this completely from the opportunities that AI brings or adults that you can make up your own decision when you're an adult. But when you hear that children have been directed to conduct self-harm in the most atrocious ways by an AI bot or their AI best friend, which is just mind blowing that this is happening. We do have a responsibility to look after them and to do something about it and quite quickly. AI is emerging so fast and it's not going to go away. So, I do welcome the news that the government is trying to get on top of this as fast as they can. I've said publicly we are willing to help. But again, there's no information. There's a lot of talking about it. We don't know the details.

Patricia Karvelas

Now the other big story, of course, is the fallout from these big, well, you know, big implies that they, you know, they were rallies across the country, the anti-immigration rallies. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price spoke to me yesterday. She made comments about the Indian community that caused lots of controversy. Were you concerned about those comments? 

Melissa McIntosh

First up, I want to say there's people in my community that went to those rallies, and they weren't marching against the Indian community at all. They are very passionate about our country and our values and our flag. And I know because I have a strong Indian community that they are very passionate about our country and our values, and they share our values. They're Australians. I come from - my dad migrated here on a ship in the 1950s. I'm from a migrant family. Many of us are. Most of us are. I can't speak for the senator. It is no way, shape, or form my views and I believe it’s no way, shape or form the views of the Liberal Party.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah.

Melissa McIntosh

And I want to let any Indian person of Indian descent, Australians of any background, not just only the Indian community - you're Australian and you love our country as equally as anyone else. And I really hope that people do know that, that we support them.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah, but some people don't, right. Because right now this is - comments that have been shared in the Indian community, the Indian community have been expressing their concern around this. So it does - it is a problem, isn't it, for the Liberal Party as you try and rebuild in communities like the Indian community.

Melissa McIntosh

Well, that's a question to Jacinta, I think. And all I can say to you - I'm not going to stick up for something that she may have said. I believe she retracted what she said, but even saying that in the first place is not my view. I've got a very strong Indian community. They get behind our community. They step up in times of need. So even talking about, it's not even a reflection - I wouldn't even think about that being something that I would believe in. I know this is a time where we do have issues with social cohesion and we do have to be careful about what we say. Overall, the majority of Australians want to do the right thing and we love our country. Going to citizenship ceremonies, welcoming new Australians into my community is one of the things I love about this job.

Patricia Karvelas

Yeah, those ceremonies are often very, very special. People look forward to them immensely, that's for sure. Thank you so much for joining us, Melissa.

Melissa McIntosh

Thanks, PK.