Labor and the Greens are preparing to collaborate to pass the government’s Digital Duty of Care legislation, despite lack of support from the Coalition, which has raised ongoing concerns about potential censorship powers. Communications Minister Anika Wells on Sunday indicated a willingness to amend the proposed law by transferring authority to determine what constitutes seriously harmful content from the minister to parliament, in an effort to address Coalition objections.

Wells also declined to dismiss the possibility of reviving the government’s misinformation and disinformation bill, avoiding direct answers when questioned extensively on the topic. Labor has maintained its intention to secure cross-party backing for the digital reforms, even after the Coalition confirmed it would oppose the current version of the legislation due to unresolved issues related to freedom of expression and censorship.

The Greens, however, have expressed readiness to support the government’s efforts, with Communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young emphasizing that parliamentary powers overseeing harmful online content must be explicitly included in the legislation rather than left purely to regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, the Greens are calling for an opt-in model for algorithmic content controls to be embedded in the bill.

Hanson-Young criticized the Coalition’s stance, suggesting it is influenced by major technology companies, and reiterated the importance of strong legal safeguards and parliamentary oversight to ensure online protections are effective. “To make these laws as strong as possible, they need to be in the law, and that means parliament needs to be the ultimate arbiter and oversight,” she said.

Outside the digital policy debate, Queensland’s credit rating was downgraded by S&P from AA+ to AA, the first such reduction since 2009, although the outlook remains stable. In response, Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to its current fiscal strategy, which has seen operating expenses increase by approximately 10 percent annually over the last three years amid declining coal royalties and GST revenues.

Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli criticized the government’s response to the downgrade as “concerning,” accusing it of displaying a dismissive attitude and failing to take sufficient action to address the fiscal challenges identified by rating agencies.