Category: Australian News

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and Spokesperson for Tertiary Education, has responded to NTEU’s report “Ending bad governance for good.” 

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“The shocking extent and impacts of the ‘corporate university’ are laid bare by this report. It is obscene that staff have been robbed of hundreds of millions in stolen wages, yet VCs and executives walk away with hefty pay packets.

“The harsh reality is that staff and students have become expendable cogs in the machine of a corporate campus where staff and students are suffering, while the executive class is splurging on consultants and largesse. 

“Decades of neoliberal policies by governments and universities have made a mockery of universities as democratic institutions of public good.

“We need an overhaul of university governance to shift the balance of power away from the managerial class and corporate executives back to staff and students. 

“We need to reimagine better universities that are well-funded, accountable, democratic and transparent. Universities must be places of public good where staff have secure jobs and the best pay and working conditions, and students have fee-free access to quality education. 

“It is high time to fix these systemic problems, and the Greens support NTEUs calls for a parliamentary inquiry.” 

Following a lengthy Senate inquiry, the Greens have today announced their opposition to the Government’s mis and disinformation bill and have called for the bill to be withdrawn. The Greens have heard evidence from experts, lawyers and the community that the Government’s approach doesn’t get to the heart of tackling the harms of mis and disinformation. There are serious concerns that handing responsibility over to tech platforms to self-regulate what is true or false will likely have unintended consequences that undermine the policy intent.

Greens’ opposition means the bill cannot pass the Senate. The Government has failed to address the significant concerns that have been raised by many in the community, and the Greens are today calling on the Government to withdraw the bill.

Greens spokesperson for communications and Senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Greens understand that mis and disinformation is a growing danger to democracy, public discourse, health and safety both in Australia and around the world and needs to be tackled. 

“However we are concerned this bill doesn’t actually do what it needs to do when it comes to stopping the deliberate mass distribution of false and harmful information.

“It gives media moguls like Murdoch an exemption and hands over responsibility to tech companies and billionaires like Elon Musk to determine what is true or false under ambiguous definitions. It does little to stop non-human actors like bots flooding social media and boosting dangerous algorithms.

“There has been strong community opposition to this bill, and experts have also raised serious concerns. The Government has failed to address these.

“As such, the Greens will be opposing the bill. The Government should listen to community concern and withdraw this legislation.

“Instead, the Government needs to focus on comprehensive reforms that tackle the business models and dangerous algorithms that fuel division and damage democracy, and legislate a duty of care so these platforms prevent harm in the first place.”

The People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port has been under sustained attack by the NSW Government. 2020 Newcastle Young Citizen, Alexa Stuart, is today taking the NSW Minns Labor Government to the Supreme Court in a bid to find their 97 hour exclusion order for the Hunter River mouth and beaches unlawful.

Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice and public interest lawyer Sue Higginson said “This is a very important case, at this time. This case is about the rule of law and questioning whether the Government has unlawfully stepped above it. The Court will be asked to determine if this is a lawful use of power and for a proper purpose,”

“The question is, has the notice excluded the public from the water beyond the power that the Marine Safety Act provides. The powers under the law to exclude vessels and people are to facilitate special events such as swim events, regattas and events involving vessels, they are not unfettered powers for the Government to do as they want, when they want, to control people and infringe upon the ordinary rights of people wanting to play in the waters of NSW,”

“We know the NSW Labor Government does not want the people to protest against their current climate change and coal policies that are allowing the continued export of coal through the port of Newcastle,”

“The Government continues to say that its exercise of power against the people is all about safety, but we know if it was about safety – they would be working with the people, to ensure safety, not criminalising ordinary behaviour such as swimming, exercising, paddling, playing and cooling down in the public waters of the state.”

“Keeping people safe means working with people, not trying to squash, hurt and criminalise them. When a Government is at war with the people, it doesn’t go well for anyone, we do see excesses of power and it offends our democracy,” Ms Higginson said

It’s good to see the Treasurer’s move to direct the Future Fund to invest in things we all need like housing and renewable energy but the Government also needs to make clear what the fund should stop investing in.

Senator Barbara Pocock, Greens spokesperson on Finance:

“Any new mandate should make clear that the fund should not invest in coal, oil and gas. We can’t keep putting our foot on the accelerator and the brake at the same time. We’re in a climate crisis and Australians don’t want to see us investing in the very things that will make this crisis worse.

“I’ve been campaigning for two years to have the investment mandate updated to reflect Australians wishes to transition to a clean energy economy. The overwhelming majority of us want this.

“This $230 billion belongs to all Australians and is there to benefit future generations. What sort of future will we leave them if we continue to using our investments to prolong the energy transition and risk climate catastrophe.

“Years ago, the Future Fund was directed not to invest in tobacco. Well, here’s the news, fossil fuels are the new tobacco.

“The Government has a responsibility to direct investments away from coal, oil and gas and contribute to a clean, green and safe future for our children.”

The Greens have criticised Labor and Liberal for ignoring expert evidence and ramming laws through Parliament to ban young people from social media without genuine scrutiny.

The Greens have called on the Government to protect children with a ban on the targeting, harvesting, and selling of their data, a Digital Duty of Care, and a range of other measures supported by the Joint Select Committee into Social Media.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Spokesperson for Communications, Senator for South Australia:

“The Government’s deal with Dutton to ram through a social media age ban in under a week is rushed, reckless and goes against the evidence. We can’t let the tech giants off the hook.

“As parents, we are rightly worried about the safety of our kids. This is why the Greens and experts have been calling for measures to reduce the damage being done by poisonous algorithms that fuel division, damage democracy and target our kids with extreme content.

“The recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media heard time and time again that an age-ban will not make social media safer for anyone. It is complicated to implement and will have unintended consequences for young people. Yet the Government and Coalition have chosen to ignore the evidence and ram this bill through in the final week of sitting.

“Whether you’re a 14-year-old or a 64-year-old – these companies have a responsibility to provide a safe product to the community and that’s why a Digital Duty of Care should be the priority.

“If the Government can rush these laws through, why can’t they implement the legislated duty of care they promised, or take measures that actually make platforms safer for everyone, like banning platforms from collecting, selling and exploiting Australians’ data?

“You don’t make platforms safer by just locking young people out. The Greens do not support a blunt age ban and will keep pushing for stronger action backed by evidence to tackle the toxic algorithms and insidious business model of these giant corporations.”

The Greens have also called for:

• A ban on the targeting, harvesting and selling of young people’s data
• A Digital Duty of Care on tech platforms
• EU-style guardrails to limit the toxicity of algorithms and extreme content
• The ability for users to turn down and opt-out of unwanted content
• The full release of the Online Safety Act review.
• Investment in education for young people and their families to help develop digital literacy and online safety skills, and equip them with the tools and resources they need for positive and responsible online use.

Responding to the Government and Opposition blocking the Greens move to refer the electoral reform bills to a Senate inquiry Greens Senate leader and democracy spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:

“Today in the Senate the government and the opposition teamed up to block an inquiry into the electoral reform bills. This is bad for democracy.

“There are some straightforward transparency measures in this bill, like lowering the disclosure threshold to $1,000 and real-time disclosure, which we have long called for. 

“The Greens are ready to pass transparency measures.

“However, we want an inquiry to ensure that the proposed funding reforms to get big money out of politics don’t entrench the two party system and make it harder for diversity and new entrants.

“It is the job of the Senate to scrutinise proposed legislation and that is what we have called for today.

“Any reform which limits donations to anyone who challenges Liberal and Labor, while protecting the establishment parties’ sources of income, will be seen for what it is – a complete stitch up, undermining our democracy, and the public’s expectation of fair play.

“Both the big parties continue to accept huge sums of money from dirty industries like coal and gas with a track record of trying to buy favourable policy outcomes. 

“The Greens have been calling for reform for decades.

“The Greens are ready, with a bill, that provides real electoral reform, but we’re very suspicious that the two big parties will gang up to rig the system to benefit themselves and lock out smaller parties and new entrants.”

The Greens will vote against Labor’s new aged care reforms after Labor joined forces with the Coalition to block Greens amendments that would have created criminal penalties for bad providers and stopped older people being slugged more for their care.

Earlier in the Senate, Labor and the Coalition rejected a Greens amendment to the Aged Care Bill 2024 to establish criminal penalties for crooked providers which – despite promising them before the election – Labor removed in a dodgy deal with the Coalition. Labor and the Coalition also joined forces to vote against a Greens amendment to remove  the chapter 4 funding provisions that will force most older people to pay increased co-contributions.

Greens spokesperson on Older People, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Once again Australians are left wondering, ‘What is the point of Labor?’

“Presented with a blueprint from the Royal Commission to reform a broken aged care system by putting the rights of older people at its heart, Labor has instead capitulated to the Coalition and the for-profit aged care industry with new laws that will bolster the bottom lines of providers at the expense of older Australians.

“Older people and advocates say that older people must have rights that are unequivocally clear and enforceable, and the Greens have long supported a shift to a rights-based framework.

“Yet under laws that seem likely to pass through parliament today, many older Australians will now be required to pay more without any enforceable rights to quality care.

“The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that there was an urgent need to improve care, quality and enforcement in the sector. This was never meant to be about so-called ‘budget repair’ or provider profitability.

“Despite all of the shocking witness testimony about the appalling treatment many have suffered in this broken market-based system, Labor is simply doubling down.

“If greater reliance on a user-pays model is the answer, then we’re asking the wrong questions. Older people aren’t commodities. It should be an obligation of any moral society for the Government to guarantee high-quality care for all. 

“The Greens will continue to push for a phasing out of for-profit providers and for an aged care system that puts the rights of older people first.”

Labor’s energy plan has been exposed as a $642 billion disaster in the making, with costs that are five times higher than what Labor has claimed.

Australians deserve to know the truth behind Labor’s hidden costs and the impact it will have on energy bills and the economy.

The Coalition asked Frontier Economics to independently assess and compare the cost of Labor’s ‘renewables-only’ plan and an alternative plan which includes nuclear energy.

For years, Labor has cited a $122 billion price tag for its plan to achieve a net-zero National Electricity Market by 2050.

The truth, however, is that Labor’s ‘renewables-only’ strategy will actually cost Australians at least $642 billion.

This staggering figure – based on AEMO’s preferred Step Change scenario – represents the true cost of utility-scale generation, storage, and transmission, and it’s a burden that will ultimately fall on taxpayers and households.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Labor promised Australians energy savings of $275 on annual electricity bills, yet prices have soared – increasing by up by $1,000 more than Labor promised.

With Frontier Economics now confirming the skyrocketing costs of Labor’s plan, this situation is set to worsen.

Australians are facing higher bills, growing debt, and an energy system at risk of instability.

KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE REPORT

• A FORK IN THE ROAD – The Albanese Government’s “renewables-only” policy is a high-risk, high-cost path.

Australia faces a critical choice: Labor’s costly ‘renewables only’ agenda or the Coalition’s affordable, balanced energy mix to achieve a net-zero electricity grid by 2050.

• LABOR’S $642 BILLION PLAN – Labor’s plan carries a price tag of $642 billion – a fivefold increase over their public estimate.
• HIDDEN COSTS – Labor’s analysis fails to account for critical expenses. Frontier Economics uncovered an additional $62 billion in unanticipated transmission costs, revealing the vast underestimation in Labor’s estimates.
• A CARBON PRICE BY STEALTH – Labor has quietly imposed a shadow carbon price – the Value of Emissions Reduction (VER) – driving up costs for consumers. Starting at $70 per tonne, the VER will rise to $420 per tonne by 2050, a hidden tax impacting every household.
• A HUGE OVERBUILD – Labor’s plan overestimates demand, leading to unnecessary, costly overbuilds.

Unrealistic targets for EV uptake, green hydrogen, and renewables are leading governments and the private sector to over-capitalise on building out a new grid, and everyday Australians will pay the price.

• COVERT COST BLOWOUTS – Projects like VNI West, Humelink and the Gladstone Grid have seen major cost blowouts, marking a stark warning about the escalating costs of Labor’s ‘renewables-only’ agenda.
• EXTEND & PRETEND ON COAL – Labor has promised to shut down 90% of coal-fired power by 2034, yet coal plant owners say 10.8 GW of the coal Labor claims will be gone will still be operating.

This exposes Labor’s tricky “extend and pretend” strategy, where it extends coal in the real world but pretends it’s closing coal to keep the Greens happy.

Now that the real cost of Labor’s plan has been revealed, the Coalition will finalise and release costings by the end of the year for an alternative plan including nuclear energy.

This will give Australians a side-by-side comparison of the true costs and benefits of both approaches.

With bipartisan commitment to net zero by 2050, the real question is which plan will deliver for Australia: Labor’s all-eggs-in-one-basket renewables-only scheme or the Coalition’s plan for a balanced energy mix, which includes renewables, gas, and nuclear.

The truth about Labor’s plan is out, and the Prime Minister and Minister Bowen have been caught deceiving Australians.

Please find a summary of Labor’s costly plan and a full copy of the Frontier Economics Report here.

Today the Government has introduced world-leading legislation to enforce a minimum age of 16 years for social media.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 will deliver greater protections for young Australians during critical stages of their development.

It will require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent under 16s from having accounts.

The law places the onus on social media platforms – not parents or young people – to take reasonable steps to ensure these protections are in place.

The Bill and the associated rules will ensure young Australians have continued access to messaging and online gaming, as well as access to services which are health and education related, like Headspace, Kids Helpline, and Google Classroom, and YouTube. 

The Government will introduce stronger penalties for online safety breaches, which will see digital platforms face fines of up to $49.5 million for systemic breaches.

The Bill creates a new definition of ‘age-restricted social media platforms. This will include Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and X, amongst others.

It will contain robust privacy provisions, including requiring platforms to ringfence and destroy any information collected to safeguard the personal information of all Australians.

The law is designed to be responsive to changes in technology and services.

The Bill has been designed following extensive feedback from young Australians, parents, experts, industry, community organisations and state and territory governments.

It builds on broader efforts by the Australian Government to hold platforms accountable for ensuring the safety of their users.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese:

“We know social media is doing social harm

“We want Australian children to have a childhood, and we want parents to know the Government is in their corner

“This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we’re sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act.”

Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland:

“The Albanese Government is continuing to act on its commitment to keep children safe online

“This legislation will go a long way to providing that support and creating a new normal in the community around what age is okay to use social media

“Platforms have a responsibility to provide safe products and look after the mental health of young Australians

“We need to create a strong incentive for compliance and increasing the maximum penalties for online safety breaches to up to $49.5 million brings our penalty framework into line with other laws. 

“Keeping children safe – wherever they are – is a collective responsibility, and the Albanese Government is stepping up to play our role

“I want to thank our state and territory colleagues and everyone who has made a contribution to bring this important Bill to life.”

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and spokesperson for Higher Education, has responded to the defeat of the Labor government’s disastrous bill to cap international students.

Senator Faruqi: 

“This is a win for the tertiary sector. This is a win for staff in the tertiary sector. This is a win for international students who have been unfairly scapegoated and targeted by the Labor government.

“Labor’s reckless and chaotic international student caps are finally dead in the water as they should be. This was the very definition of how not to make policy.”

“From day one, we have been vocal in our opposition to these student caps which was just dog whistling that shamefully scapegoated international students for the housing crisis they did not cause.

“Literally everyone except Labor was opposed to international student caps because they would decimate the sector, harm international students and our reputation and result in massive job and economic losses.

“This was always a migration bill disguised as education policy in Labor’s bid to win a race to the bottom with the Coalition on migration. 

“We pushed back hard, and now with the Coalition opposing it as well, this flawed policy will hopefully never see the light of day.

“I hope Labor has learnt their lesson. They must go back to the drawing board and come back with a plan that fully funds universities for research, learning and teaching, to tackle insecure work and casualisation, wipe student debt and make Uni and TAFE free.”