Australia news LIVE: More parliamentarians embroiled in expenses scandal; Teens face day two of social media ban

Good morning and welcome to our national news blog for Thursday, December 11. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our live coverage for the first half of the day. Here’s what is making news today.

• Australia’s social media ban for teens officially came into effect yesterday, marking the first day that social media giants were required to implement “reasonable steps” to prevent children from having an account on their platforms, or risk being fined up to $49.5 million under the federal government’s new legislation. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday the legislation marked one of the “biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced”. Some teens took to their accounts to brag about evading banishment from platforms that had been listed as banned by the government. Take a look back at our coverage of day one of the social media ban.

• More parliamentarians have become entangled in the ongoing expenses scandal that has plagued Communications Minister Anika Wells in the last week, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese backed her use of the parliamentary entitlements while refusing to consider changes to family travel rules.

• Australian travellers will be forced to provide their social media details to US authorities to enter the country under the popular visa waiver program, as part of new Trump administration rules for “enhanced vetting” of foreigners. Applying for a visa waiver is also set to get more complicated, with authorities planning to collect far more detailed information including five years of phone numbers, 10 years of email addresses, IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos, biometrics, and information about family members.

• The Federal Reserve reduced its key interest rate for the third time in a row today but signalled that it may leave rates unchanged in the coming months, a move that could attract ire from President Donald Trump, who has demanded steep reductions to borrowing costs. The Fed’s rate-setting committee signalled that it may keep its rate unchanged in the coming months, and Fed officials signalled they expect to lower rates just once next year.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest live news updates from Australia and beyond throughout the day.

While politicians defend their travel expenses and more questions swirl over whether the entitlements are fit for purpose, it has been revealed senior politicians are granted unlimited spousal travel under the current rules.

Senior elected officials, including government ministers, the Senate president and House speaker, the opposition leader and their deputy have no cap on how much they can spend flying their partner around the country, Guardian Australia reports.

Communications Minister Anika Wells has been under fire for her parliamentary expenses. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Travel for senior office holders is “relevantly unlimited in respect of total expenses claimable each year”, an explanatory document reads.

The family reunion rules which state federal MPs are allowed up to three return business class flights a year for family members flying between the MPs’ home base and a city other than Canberra, and the value of nine business class flights to Canberra, apply to backbenchers.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has been asked to justify her own parliamentary expenses this morning, amid increased scrutiny on parliamentarians regarding their use of family travel entitlements.

Asked on Nine’s Today show about her own travel expenses in the period from 2019 to now racking up to a total of $30,000, McKenzie said, “I think it’s important for all MPs to not abuse the system, right? The fact is, for my own sporting events that I go to, you know... these are work events, whether I’m going to a shipping conference, the trucking round table, logistics, supply chain conferences, they’re not as exciting as going to some of these sporting events.

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“It’s because I am shadow minister for infrastructure, and we look after things like stadiums and the like… so I attend in those sort of capacities, so it’s in my role which is a great privilege.”

McKenzie was also pressed on whether the parliamentary entitlements system should be reviewed or overhauled.

“The main thing is, I think that it’s transparent, and so everything is declared and on the public record. And if you really hate that your local MP did that, you can vote them out at the next election.

“I note the PM said, you know, with respect to Anika Wells, he doesn’t write the rules. Well, the Prime Minister does write the rules. So if he thinks they need changing, then he should write to the independent authority and have a look,” she said.