Who is Michelle Rowland, Labors enigmatic minister? [Video]

Michelle Rowland once confessed she had a vice. It was “excessive online clothes shopping”, Rowland told this masthead in 2021, when she was Labor’s communications spokeswoman. “I blame Instagram.”

Now the communications minister with responsibility for regulating social media, Rowland is doing something to curb its influence. The politician known for having such a lawyerly, cautious approach that she reads from notes even in private meetings has taken the audacious step of banning under 16s from social media.

The move has outraged technology giants and generated headlines around the world. “We would like that something very similar could be put in place, enforced in Europe,” French Education Minister Anne Genetet said. “We absolutely urgently need something to be put in place.”