Family Matters - Colm Gannon on the terrible reality of child exploitation

Family Matters - Colm Gannon on the terrible reality of child exploitation

In this important episode of Family Matters, Simon O'Connor interviews Colm Gannon, CEO of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children , on the escalating problem of child sexual exploitation and abuse, driven by the digital age. They both discuss how this is not a frequently discussed topic, and yet one that needs to be bought out into the open. Colm cites Australia’s 2023 Child Maltreatment Survey finding one in four children experienced unlawful sexual contact, and says similar research is needed in New Zealand. Colm describes cyber tip reports from the US National Center for Missing & Exploited (NCMEC) Children rising by over 20 million year-on-year for four years. Simon notes that New Zealand’s own Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) have just reported a 29% increase in the last year, with over 20,000 reports about New Zealanders via NCMEC. He also notes that there has been almost 700,000 blocked attempts to access known abuse sites. In their discussion, they outline abuse types including sextortion and self-generated images, recorded abuse shared or stored online, enticement and grooming using gaming currencies like Roblox, and emerging “sadistic” exploitation involving coercion into self-harm or suicide, alongside concerns about AI companion chatbots. Colm says NZ’s Digital Safety Directorate is a small, overstretched team, arguing for smarter workflows using technology (including AI triage and ethical facial recognition) plus strong guardrails and accountability for tech built with criminal intent. Simon and Colm then discuss the whole question of internet bans for young people. Colm critiques Australia’s social media minimum age approach as ineffective and potentially giving platforms a “get out” from investing in child safety, favouring device-level age assurance signals and removing “co-mingling” so under-16s can communicate without adults contacting them directly. He explains app-store age gates can be bypassed via sideloading, so protections must hit multiple layers (“safety stack”) and be backed by regulation. The conversation also highlights ICMEC Australia’s origin after a financial institution was fined $1.3B for facilitating monies related to exploitation, and that as part of this fine, a $25M donation launched the centre. Colm talks of his ambition to replicate ICMEC’s work in New Zealand. Simon and Colm end by discussing suggestions for parents - prioritising face-to-face conversations with your kids, be ready for disclosures, respond calmly, and understand that risks extend beyond social media to messaging apps and gaming platforms.

Daybreak – 1 July 2026

In this episode of Daybreak – U.S. Supreme Court hands down a landmark victory for girls and women’s sports; latest Roy Morgan poll; media get the chance to slam school lunches again – but is it warranted; Opportunity Party is (finally) being exposed as a left wing party; media story unintentionally reveals the inherent dangers of euthanasia; is Brian Tamaki being targeted rightly or wrongly; & King Charles downgrades “Defender of the Faith’ for a ‘Multi-Faith Monarchy’.

Solid Ground 30 June – Moroccan Special!

Join Simon for this special episode of Solid Ground, from a rooftop in Marrakech, Morocco. Simon updates us on his current travels with his wife, Rachel, following their attendance at two major conservative and free-speech conferences in London. Topics include: The ARC Conference (London): Attending the 3-day Alliance of Responsible Citizens (ARC) event, which focused on preserving and celebrating Western civilisation and Judeo-Christian values. Conference speakers addressed topics like traditional family structures, political reform, education, and Western energy policy gridlock. Notable Figures were podcast host Konstantin Kisin, women’s rights activist Sall Grover, NASA Artemis II pilot Victor Glover, and Focus on the Family head Jim Daly. The Spiked Online Conference (London): A full-day event dedicated to discussing unrestricted free speech and political issues in the United Kingdom. Notable Figures were Sarah McLaughlin from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), author Lionel Shriver, and UK headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh. Charity Regulations: Recommendation to watch a new Family Matters podcast episode featuring Dr Juliet Chevalier-Watts, highlighting worrying government trends impacting religious charities in New Zealand. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL5Q_Gm6YSc Note – upcoming Solid Ground episodes will be intermittent due to Simon’s travel constraints and varying time zones.

McBlog: Opportunity Knocks... To The Left

Commentator & StraightTalk panelist Ashley Church argues that a vote for The Opportunities Party is simply a vote for the Greens and Labour, and that TOP is not the centrist party it presents itself to be. It is a strongly left-wing party wearing centrist clothing, a Trojan horse designed to deliver centrist votes to the left. Ashley argues that TOP has been deliberately re-engineered as a political vehicle capable of attracting voters who care about environmental protection, housing affordability and political reform, but who would hesitate to vote Labour or Green. It is also strongly socially liberal.

StraightTalk - 29 June 2026

In this episode of StraightTalk, we discuss: the latest political polls and media coverage of the weekend conferences; we ask the panellists whether we really need a bill in Parliament to solve gender ideology & how we define women – or is there a better way to deal with the madness; last week we discussed Pauline Hanson and Brian Tamaki’s comments about multiculturalism – we put the same question to this week’s panel; do the panellists agree with the tipping culture in the US – it seems FIFA world cup fans and even Americans are souring on it; and speaking of FIFA World Cup, who are the panellists predicting will win – and do they even know what I’m talking about when I say FIFA World Cup.