Interview with David Campbell, The Today Show, Channel Nine

DAVID CAMPBELL, HOST:    Welcome back. Well, acting PM Richard Marles has confirmed the ADF are closely monitoring Chinese warships lurking in the Philippine Sea. Joining us to discuss today's headlines is the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, and Shadow Minister for Small Business, Tim Wilson. Good morning to both of you. Amanda, I'll go to you first. This is just eight months after another Chinese flotilla conducted those live fire drills that was off our coast. Clearly, Beijing didn't get the message then that we weren't happy.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS:    Look, obviously Australia is monitoring this activity, as you would expect. This is some way from Australia, but of course, our defence forces will continue to monitor as needed.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    OK, well, while this unfolds, the government's announced the biggest overhaul of Defence in 50 years, Tim. We were talking about this this morning. Marles was promising a bigger bang for our buck. Is this the right approach when we have these flotillas now. We’ve seen two of these happen in this last year.

TIM WILSON, SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS:    What we need is a program that's focused on delivery, getting bang for buck, as well as getting Australia's defence capability delivered. This, so far as we've seen, is only a plan for more bureaucracy, which isn't the pathway to getting more outcomes for the Australian Defence Force and our capability. And we don't want to use inflammatory language, but we're mindful of the fact that it's a contested region. We need to be ready for all things that may come at us.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    What do you say to that, Amanda? I mean, China is certainly escalating and showing that they've got the capabilities of doing a lot of stuff in this region. Is this the right time to be doing something like this?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    We are absolutely focused on the defence of this country and deterrence is part of that. That is why we have committed $70 billion over the next decade. But we need to make sure that Defence is getting value for money, that it's effective and efficient spending. And that's what this new group is all about. This announcement that the Deputy Prime Minister has made is about focusing on delivery and making sure that the money we're committing to Defence is actually delivering the assets we need for some of the strategic challenges we have into the future.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    In the meantime, we're still nine days away from the government’s social media ban taking effect, but the kids out there, they're already finding their way around it. Amanda, they're jumping on these new photo apps like Yope, which is a great name. That sounds just like something kids would discover. This didn't take long, though, right? You know, you're only two weeks away. Is this concerning for the government?

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Well, firstly, I would say I don't know what Yope is, so I'm not an expert on it.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    The kids know all about it. They'll always find something.

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    That's right. They always do. But, of course, it's a timely reminder from the eSafety Commissioner that any app that meets the definition has the obligation to actually deactivate and not sign up users. The obligation is on the social media apps and they will get fines if they do not comply. I mean, there's no silver bullet to this. Of course, there will always be people that try and get a way around it. But this is a really important framework and message that's about supporting parents and supporting young people, really get off their phones and out into enjoying life.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    But, Tim, I mean, what's the government going to do here? Should they try and umbrella into these apps too or are more just going to keep popping up like whack-a-mole?

TIM WILSON:    I'm not surprised Yope has discovered the government are dopes.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    Wow.

TIM WILSON:    It's not really a surprise at all that there'd be other platforms that would be developed to circumvent these laws. The government likes to talk big, but the reality is a very different thing when it comes to technology. The government went to the last election saying they wouldn't include YouTube under their social media ban. They've then included it. All we're going to see is a proliferation of companies that are going to try and circumvent ...

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    You supported these laws, Tim.

TIM WILSON:    But that’s not the point. The point is your implementation of these things, Amanda.

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    So you don’t support them now?

TIM WILSON:    Amanda, the problem is your implementation of these laws by your government is enormously problematic and you’re going to continue to struggle to be able to get on with implementing them. We support making sure that kids are protected from nefarious activity online, but we know full well that you haven't managed this and now we're seeing it played out real time on these platforms.

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    That is absolutely not true.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    Quickly before you go, because we're running out of time. The PM has just left for a five-day honeymoon. Amanda, does the PM deserve this time off? People are going, well, no, come on, he's had a holiday. He deserves a bit of a break.

AMANDA RISHWORTH:    Look, I think most Australians are very happy for our Prime Minister and Jodie. He's having a very short honeymoon. Most of us had a little bit longer. But I wish them absolutely well. Hope they have a lovely little break. Because as we know, our Prime Minister will be back to business in no time.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    Tim, love is love. Where would you like the Prime Minister to go for his honeymoon? What’s your recommendation?

TIM WILSON:    Well, of course, I'd recommend somewhere nice and warm, which, unfortunately, isn't Melbourne at the moment. So, maybe somewhere like Broome is nice, but I do wish the Prime Minister well on his marriage, not on any other things, but on his marriage I do with Jodie. I genuinely do because marriage is a wonderful institution. It's wonderful to be able to make bonds of commitment to somebody you love and I really do wish them all the best.

DAVID CAMPBELL:    Head north, PM, head north. All right, you two, thank you so much for your time this morning.

ENDS