Category: Australian News

The Albanese Labor Government has passed legislation that will allow eligible Australians to apply for easier passage through US airports.

The United States’ Global Entry Program provides an avenue for eligible citizens of trusted partner countries to access expedited clearance processes on arrival in the US.

This is a mark of the closeness of the relationship and trust between Australia and the US and will be welcomed by Australian tourists, business leaders and corporate travellers who will be able to join faster entry lanes when they arrive in the US.

This program is voluntary, and only available for pre-approved, low-risk travellers who meet the strict eligibility criteria as set out by the US. Both Australia and the US will conduct background checks on Australian applicants.

The Global Entry Program membership also opens up eligibility to TSA Pre-Check program, making travel within the US a much simpler process.

A limited number of Australian citizens have been able to apply for Global Entry Program from January this year under phase one, which is now closed. The passage of this Bill will pave the way for the expansion of the program to all eligible Australians with phase two expected to commence in the second half of the year.

Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke MP

“The Albanese Government has done the work to ensure Australia’s entry into the United States’ Global Entry Program. It was first promised when Peter Dutton was Home Affairs Minister but was never delivered by the former government.

“This means shorter queues for Australian business travellers so they can spend their time working and building business links rather than waiting in line.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong

“Expansion of the Global Entry Program is a testament to the closeness and friendship between our people.

“I pay tribute to Ambassador Rudd who has been the driving force behind Australia’s entry into this program, six years after it was first announced by the former Government.

“This will make travel easier for eligible Australians and will continue to grow the strong commercial ties between Australia and the United States.”

Despite 9 women already killed by violence in Australia this year according to the Counting Dead Women Australia researchers of Destroy The Joint, Labor’s latest budget leaves frontline services underfunded.

Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women:

“We are still facing an epidemic of men’s violence against women, yet Government funding is not matching the urgency required.

“The pittance added to women’s safety in last night’s budget won’t rectify the massive funding shortfall for frontline services.

“Where was the serious investment to keep women safe?

“Frontline FDSV services simply do not have enough funding to cope with increasing demand and are still being forced to turn women away.

“Because of the funding shortfall, so many women escaping violence still can’t access crisis or long term affordable housing, legal advice or other supports, and can’t begin to recover.

“Last night’s budget was a missed opportunity for Labor to give full funding to frontline FDV services and properly fund specialist sexual violence services.

“Renewed national partnership agreements for funding to the states and territories are welcome, but the amount falls short of what is needed to meet demand.

“We can not keep letting women keep being turned away back to violence, or homelessness.

“More Greens in parliament means we can force Labor to act on ending the FDSV epidemic, and keep Dutton out. The LNP’s track record on women speaks for itself.”

A new report shows that logging the promised Great Koala National Park is set to destroy more than 12 thousand hectares of koala habitat since the election of the NSW Labor Government in 2023. 

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said:

“The failure of the Minns Labor Government to deliver the Great Koala National Park has been one of the greatest disappointments over the last two years. This disappointment has turned into white hot pain and anger because of the delay and how extensive the logging has been, and that more is planned over the next 6 months,”

“This will go down as one of the biggest environmental political failures of our time. Never before have we been in this situation, where the very natural environment that is subject to a public pledge of protection is systematically destroyed, it’s a disgrace,”

“Even in the National Party seat of Coffs Harbour, 70% of the community support the creation of the Great Koala National Park. There is absolutely no apparent reason for Labor to delay the announcement of the park, it’s just a political failure,”

“Premier Chris Minns has promised to protect the koalas of NSW from extinction, but right now he is effectively killing koalas with logging. The idea that he will announce the Great Koala National Park after the Forestry Corporation has smashed and grabbed so much koala habitat first is heinous,”

“The delay has caused so much anger and confusion, with renewed fear that the Park will now be further delayed until after the Federal Election. I asked the Minister this week whether that was the case, she denied this, but justified the continued destruction of the Park on the basis that it will be announced ‘soon’. We have been told soon, as we have to witness the destruction for months and months, it is just not good enough,” Ms Higginson said.

The Greens welcome the passage of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill 2024, but it could have done more.

Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women:

“The Greens welcome this legislation which finally requires the biggest companies to not just identify their gender pay gap, but actually take action to close it.

“Had the Greens amendments passed the bill could have supported far more women in the workforce. 

“Our amendments would have required companies with 100 employees, not just those with over 500, to take action to close their gender pay gap.

“Reporting obligations on the gender pay gap apply to companies that have 100 or more workers, so there was no good reason why this new obligation to act on that data shouldn’t apply to the same cohort.

“We also moved for employers to set actual numerical goals to shrink their gender pay gap rather than simply selecting more nebulous measures.

“Lastly, we moved for the government to stop giving contracts to companies that don’t fully comply with their WGEA obligations, instead of the weak situation where compliance is just one factor to consider in deciding whether to grant a government contract.

“It comes as no surprise that Dutton’s LNP voted against this bill. Their import of Trump’s war on DEI measures has just overlaid on their long history of opposing measures that support women. 

“This is exactly why this election a vote for the Greens has never been more powerful. In a minority government the Greens will force Labor to act on gender equity and to keep Dutton’s destructive policies for women out of our lives.

The Greens say a Dutton Government would result in cuts to public schools, a wound back Department of Education, and a Minister fixated on moulding the curriculum after her own image rather than supporting disadvantaged kids.

The comments come after reports that the Coalition is planning to cut 40,000 public servant roles across education, health and other departments.

Greens spokesperson for Primary and Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“A Dutton Government would be a disaster for public education.

“If Sarah Henderson gets the keys to the Education Minister’s office the first, second and third things on her to-do list will be cutting funding from public schools.

“She’s seen what Trump is doing to public education in America and would love nothing more than to import that ideology into Australia. This is seriously dangerous and weird stuff.

“This is a person who is so out of touch with the community that she’s more focused on interfering in the parts of the curriculum she doesn’t like than actually helping disadvantaged kids.

“Dutton and Henderson have never seen a public service they haven’t wanted to privatise.

“The Liberals are fundamentally opposed to public schools – they’d prefer all schools to be fee-charging private schools. They don’t get that education is a right.

“I think parents want fully funded public schools in their local area, with highly skilled teachers leading classrooms. The last thing you want to see is Peter Dutton standing at the whiteboard telling your kid what they can and can’t learn.

“Make no mistake, a Dutton Government would see public schools suffer.

“In seats like Brisbane and Ryan, the only thing standing in the way of a Dutton majority are local Greens MPs. We’re fighting hard to keep the LNP out and to push Labor to be better.”

I am pleased to announce the 22 recipients of the Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF) grant round for 2024-25.

The AJF advances Australia’s foreign and trade policy interests with Japan by supporting partnerships in areas of shared interest and increasing Australian engagement with Japan.

The grant recipients in 2024-25 include:

• The Australian Antarctic Program Partnership at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, to develop new pathways for Japanese and Australian scientific collaborations in Antarctic and Southern science.
• An Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) workshop to convene leading Pacific experts from Australia, Japan and the Pacific, focusing on improving Pacific resilience to new security challenges.
• The University of Queensland’s initiative to advance higher education on sustainable construction in Australia and Japan through teaching workshops, a public guest lecture series, and a presentation at Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai.
• A Drift Consulting project to bring together Australian and Japanese experts to exchange knowledge and progress the use of Australian seaweed in livestock feed to reduce emissions.

A full list of successful grant recipients is available on the AJF website.

The Australian Government is strengthening its efforts to increase awareness of alcohol related risks of overseas travel, launching a dedicated advertising push to reach young Australians.

Best friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles tragically died last year from drinking alcohol tainted with methanol while on holiday in Laos. No family should have to go through the pain of losing a child or a loved one in this way.

From next month, Smartraveller will roll out dedicated communications to raise awareness and educate Australians of the signs of methanol poisoning, how to protect themselves from drink spiking and broader alcohol safety – knowing the risks and watching out for your mates.

The campaign will ramp up across peak travel periods and school and university holidays, and include:

• Targeted advice and alerts to young travellers, including school leavers, and their parents through social media, text messages and messaging at Australia’s international airports.
• A new online safety hub on Smartraveller will be established by June 2025, which will host resources aimed at schools, universities and parents.
• Ahead of schoolies, a new advertising campaign will reach young people through the channels they use most including social media across multiple platforms and digital audio. Youth media engagement and partnerships will also be used to amplify these messages.
• Working closely with airlines and others in the travel industry to enhance the reach of these public service messages to young Australian travellers, focusing on certain destinations and regions.

The Australian Government will also work with education institutions and non-government organisations such as Red Frogs and the Nicole Fitzsimmons Foundation to deliver alcohol safety messaging through presentations to school students.

We want young Australians to watch their drinks and watch out for their mates overseas. We urge them to stay vigilant and check Smartraveller.gov.au for the latest updates.

The Australian Government has consistently called for a transparent and thorough investigation into the deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, and the Foreign Minister has made these expectations clear to the Lao Government.

We continue to press Lao authorities for progress on the investigation.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong:

“The families of Holly and Bianca are foremost in my mind today, and also the many families of other Australians who have lost loved ones.

“We want our children to be curious and explore the world – but above all else, we want them to be safe.

“These efforts will help young Australians travelling overseas to protect themselves from methanol poisoning, drinking spiking and other alcohol harms.”

Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts:

“Alcohol consumption can result in tragedy in Australia but there are additional and different risks overseas.

“The Australian Government’s increased messaging and targeted advice to young travellers, including school leavers and their parents through social media will help raise awareness of the serious and varied risks from alcohol consumption overseas.”

Background

The CLP Government’s public housing reforms will fast-track evictions for tenants with unpaid rent, property damage, or antisocial behaviour, while also barring long-term incarcerated tenants from retaining housing. With an eight to ten year waitlist, these policies risk exacerbating homelessness and driving up costs for Territorians by increasing reliance on emergency services and crisis accommodation.

Kat McNamara MLA – Member for Nightcliff

“The CLP is setting the Territory up for failure. Evicting vulnerable tenants instead of supporting them will fuel homelessness, overcrowding, and crime.”

“Housing someone in prison costs over $120,000 a year. Keeping them in stable public housing costs a fraction of that. This policy isn’t just cruel – it’s a financial disaster.”

“We need real solutions: stronger tenant support, more public housing, and a government that actually invests in long-term housing security. Instead, the CLP is full of bluster, passing laws that are all stick and no carrot. They’re setting us all up for failure.”

“Kicking people out of housing after prison will increase reoffending, not reduce it. How can we expect someone to reintegrate when they’re facing nearly a decade on the housing waitlist?”

“The solutions are clear: more public housing with more tenant support. The CLP is ignoring them, and we’ll all pay the price.”

“A fair housing system means supporting tenants to stay housed – whether that’s through financial counselling, noise mediation for disruptive neighbours, or case management for complex needs. The CLP is choosing punishment over investing in these solutions.”

“I agree that action is needed to protect public housing residents, however, this is not the right approach.”

“The Government’s rushed legislation to gut environment laws must be scrutinised properly.

“Murky legal questions about the environmental consequences must be answered before the Senate rushes this legislation through.

“The Greens will move to send the Government’s legislation to inquiry. While made with a specific industry in mind – one that poisons our waterways and drives ancient wildlife to extinction – it is broad, and likely to have far reaching consequences beyond the rotten salmon industry.

“Rushing these laws through under the cover of the Federal Budget, without proper scrutiny or consideration has the potential to impact many other cases.

“Environment laws are supposed to protect the environment, not green-light destruction and extinction. At its best, this proposed legislation sidelines science and sends our wildlife to extinction, and at worst it drastically undermines legal protections and has far reaching consequences for our community and planet. An inquiry is the least that is needed.”

The Land and Environment Court has fined Peabody Coal just $196,560 of the maximum penalty of $5 million for the spilling of coal sludge into the Royal National Park in 2022 and 2023. The judgement shows that the pollution caused by Peabody’s Metropolitan Colliery had significant environmental impacts and caused lasting damage to the aquatic environment downstream of the spill. Despite being found to be mid-range offending, the small penalty will do little to dissuade future offences from occurring. 

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said:

“The system of regulating polluters who harm communities and the environment is woefully inadequate, that is the only clear takeaway from this judgement,” 

“The American owner of the coal mine, Peabody Coal, responsible for this pollution makes billions of dollars in income from their Australian holdings. Despite taking our resources, and polluting our environment and climate, they pay no tax and even claim tens of millions of dollars in tax credits from the Australian people. This fine of less than $200 thousand isn’t even a drop in the bucket for this environment and climate vandal,” 

“As long as the profit motive for committing environment crimes is greater than the penalties our Governments are willing to impose on polluters, our communities and nature will be in the firing line for unethical business models that see pollution as a cost of doing business,” 

“This relatively small fine is a slap to the face for the environment, the community – and particularly those members of the community who uncovered this pollution in the first place. The coal mine knew they were polluting the beautiful waters of the Royal National Park, but it wasn’t until community members raised the alarm that an investigation started,”  

“This mine needs a closure plan, not permission to continue operating next to and polluting our oldest and most visited national park. What this investigation has shown is that the coal mine is simply unable to properly manage the flow of polluted water from their mine into our precious Royal National Park,” Ms Higginson said. 

Cooper Riach, Sutherland Shire Environment Centre:  

“It is clear that our environmental laws do not protect nature, and are instead protecting the profits of companies like Peabody.” 

“At some point we need to ask ourselves, which do we value more? The profits of American coal barons, or the protection of the oldest National Park in Australia.” 

“Ultimately this is not the right place for a coal mine, and until this mine is closed and completely cleaned up, it will continue to pollute the Royal National Park,”