Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (17:08): I am delighted to make a contribution to this public interest debate. I thank the Leader of the Opposition, and member for Cronulla for moving the motion in the House. It is a matter of public interest because it is in all our interests to look after our kids. Ultimately, that is what is set to be achieved by addressing this matter. It is of a serious nature. I do not just say that as a parent; I say that as someone who gets around the community, and who has friends with children who have had issues and continue to have issues, particularly around the outlandish behaviours we sometimes see on social media.

We are all adults here, but let us be real: It affects our kids in a very different way and we must protect them. The Government supports the motion in principle and gives it all regard. We have not determined the minimum age as yet; that is under review. I am advised that that is part of the work of the Government and a determination is imminent. For the benefit of those in the Speaker's gallery, who I welcome to the New South Wales Parliament, I say that members work together in this place because that is how best outcomes are achieved. This is one of those serious issues on which we must work together. A number of steps will be put in place to address it. One of them is a social media summit that will be co-hosted by New South Wales and South Australia. The summit will inform the design and delivery of a range of policies, programs and resources to address the challenges posed by social media.

The key areas of focus include the impacts of social media on children and young people, online safety and social media's role in disinformation and misinformation, addressing online hate and extremism, and how social media is changing the way government delivers services. I return to what I said initially: We must put in place measures and provisions to protect our children because social media poses a danger to their health. The member for Cronulla rightly stated that it is a health issue. I would suggest that this it one of the most serious social challenges that parents face in society. I often see the commentary on social media and I have heard terrible stories through my electorate office, as I am sure many colleagues have, irrespective of which side of the political aisle they are on.

All members are well connected with their communities. We are listening to them and we have heard a lot about this problem, but it is getting worse. Thugs are out there using social media platforms to do wrong. Members use social media because we must tell people what we do. The reality is that if we do not tell them what we do, they will think we are doing nothing. But we follow each other's social media pages and, by and large, everyone is very respectful. There is politics, of course—one would expect that—but nothing along personality lines or personal views or anything like that. That is appropriate because we must set the standard. Adults must set the standard. We must put protective measures in place, but members of this great Parliament—the oldest Parliament in the country—must set the example and ensure that whatever we do is consistent with what we would expect our children and young people to do.

Children follow our example. Politicians behaving badly—I am not suggesting anyone in this Chamber behaves badly because, as I said, we are well behaved and pretty respectful—indicates that such behaviour is okay. But we know it is not okay. The summit will be a very good step. It is the first summit of its kind. I commend the Premier for consulting with his counterpart in South Australia and putting the steps in place to hold the summit. Ultimately, it is designed to provide opportunities to address social media harms within educational settings. The Government has already taken the very important step of banning mobile phones at school, but there is much more to do. We have not determined the ages that will apply. But I believe the main priority is that, while a lot of matters should be discussed, nothing should be discussed more than the provisions that we must introduce to protect our kids.