Category: Australian News

The Government is using the final Parliamentary sitting week of this year to push through legislation to make the current Cashless Debit Card trial sites permanent and extend the card to the Northern Territory and Cape York to replace the BasicsCard, despite no evidence it works.
“We’ve had 13 years of this discriminatory punitive policy. 13 years of targeting First Nations peoples and those on low incomes with income management, Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens Spokesperson on Family and Community Services said.
Supporting this bill essentially entrenches one of the most paternalistic measures of the Northern Territory Intervention.
This is not a bill for the crossbench to make deals over. This is about vulnerable people’s lives.
People have been subjected to this social experiment for far too long and it’s impacting on their dignity, quality of life, and mental health.
Income management does not meet its stated objectives and is making people’s lives worse.
This card has been imposed on communities without proper consultation and constantly extended on an ad-hoc basis year after year.
We can and should do better.
No card, no deals.

There is now a serious question as to whether the Prime Minister has led Parliament, said Greens Leader, Adam Bandt.
Mr Bandt was today gagged by the Government while seeking to compel the Prime Minister to confirm Australia’s attendance at the UN Climate Ambition Summit. Last week, Adam Bandt asked the PM in question time about Australia’s attendance status and Scott Morrison told the Parliament that he would attend and speak, but reports emerged today that Australia is not invited to this weekend’s UN Climate Ambition Summit.
Labor supported the Liberals’ move to gag the Greens in the Senate when Greens Senate Leader, Larissa Waters, sought to compel an answer from the government.
“First Scott Morrison lied about Kevin Rudd, and now he may have misled Parliament about climate action as well,” Mr Bandt said.
“Last week, the Prime Minister said that he was going to the Climate Ambition Summit and that he’d have a lot to say. Now it looks like his attendance was never confirmed and that he may have misled Parliament.
“You’re only invited to the Climate Ambition Summit if you’re promising to do more and lift your climate ambition. It appears Scott Morrison’s vow to not cheat by using ‘carryover credits’ isn’t enough to earn him an invitation, especially when countries like the UK are bringing plans to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030.
“Today, we moved in the House and the Senate to compel the Prime Minister to outline whether he will be attending, and table any documents he’s received from the event organisers. The government gagged us in the House and Labor voted with the Liberals in the Senate.
“This is embarrassing. Everyone else is going to the party this weekend, Scott Morrison may have failed to score an invite, and instead of admitting it, it seems he’s misleading parliament.
“We need the Prime Minister to fess up: are you speaking at the summit not?”

The Government’s Recycling and Waste Reduction Bill 2020 has today been passed un-amended by the Senate, despite staunch support for substantial amendments from the recycling industry, local governments and NGO’s.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “It beggars belief that we could have once-in-a-generation legislation before us that doesn’t include any measures on reducing single-use plastics or meeting plastic packaging recycling targets.
“This legislation has been called the “recycling and waste reduction bill” but, ironically, it includes no direct measures to reduce plastic packaging waste or give the recycling industry the policy certainty it needs to upgrade and invest our way out of this waste crisis.
“Greens amendments would have done exactly this but they have been rejected by the Senate.
“This will come as a shock and surprise to so many Australians who have been following this debate, hoping for change, expecting that such simple measures would be a no-brainer for our Federal Parliament.
“The PM clearly hasn’t lived up to his promise to the UN last year that he would show global leadership on tackling marine plastic pollution and the waste crisis in Australia.
“The Greens will hold the PM and this government to account and will make this an election issue.
“The community and industry stakeholders want action, not spin.
“The recycling industry has made it clear they want federal laws to make the circular economy work, to create jobs and boost investment – but they didn’t get this from today’s legislation.
“The Greens have the support of Labor who voted for mandatory packaging targets and backed in the recycling industry.
“The plastics crisis can be found in the ice cores of Antarctica, in deep sea trenches and mountain peaks, right through our food chain and in our atmosphere.”

Australians in regional, rural and remote areas now have access to advice and assistance on telecommunications issues, thanks to the Regional Tech Hub launched today by Regional Communications Minister, Mark Coulton MP.
Minister Coulton said the Regional Tech Hub will help rural Australians understand the telecommunications options available to them, decide which option best suits their needs, and resolve problems they experience with their phone and internet connections.
Also attending the launch today at Parliament House were National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) President, Fiona Simson and Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) CEO, Teresa Corbin.
The NFF was selected to develop and run the Hub following a tender process earlier this year.  The NFF is working closely with ACCAN to ensure the information provided through the Hub is practical, relevant and easily accessible.
“The Regional Tech Hub delivers on the Government’s commitment to help improve the digital literacy of Australians in regional, rural and remote areas by providing a one-stop source of independent, practical advice,” Minister Coulton said.
“The Federal Coalition is committed to improving digital connectivity and access to the internet for all Australians, and the Regional Tech Hub is an important part of our approach to ensuring people understand all the options available to them, from mobile networks to the NBN Sky Muster Plus.”
NFF President Fiona Simson said the Hub includes an easy-to-use online portal, an enquiry Hotline staffed by tech support experts located in regional Australia, and dedicated social media platforms.
“The Tech Hub builds on the outstanding work pioneered by the volunteer organisation Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia,” Ms Simson said.
The Regional Tech Hub has been funded as part of the Government’s $220 million Stronger Regional Digital Connectivity Program, which was announced in March 2019 in response to the recommendations of the 2018 Regional Telecommunications Review.
The NFF has been contracted to deliver the Tech Hub for an initial 12 months with an option for a further two year extension.
Australians rural areas needing practical advice on their telecommunications options and issues can visit the Regional Tech Hub website at regionaltechhub.org.au or contact the Hub’s hotline on 1300 081 029.

The human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015 is set to be extended by an additional three months.
The human biosecurity emergency declaration ensures the Government has the powers to take any necessary measures to prevent and control COVID-19, and protect the health of all Australians. These powers have been used on a limited basis following expert medical advice.
The emergency period, which has been in place since 18 March 2020, is now set to cease on 17 March 2021.
The recommendation from Government to the Governor General to extend the emergency period was informed by specialist medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer.
The AHPPC has advised the international COVID-19 situation continues to pose an unacceptable public health risk. The extension of the emergency period for a further three months is an appropriate response to that risk.
The proposed extension will be considered and formalised by the Governor General this week.
The existing restrictions that sit under this emergency declaration would remain in place to minimise the risk of introducing and spreading COVID-19 in our community. These include:

• Limitations on the movement of cruise vessels.
• Limitations on outbound international travel.
• Restrictions on the operation of retail stores at international airports.

These restrictions are reviewed regularly and take into account the latest expert medical advice. They can be amended or removed at any time based on the expert medical advice.
The Australian Government is working closely with state and territory agencies and the cruise industry, to develop a framework for the staged resumption of cruise ships in a manner that is proportionate to the public health risk.

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said the Greens will move a series of amendments to the government’s industrial relations reforms to outlaw insecure work, by introducing a legal presumption that all employment is permanent and ongoing unless there are compelling, exceptional business reasons to the contrary.
The amendments will also give effect to the Greens’ Fair Work Amendment (Making Australia More Equal) Bill 2018, which extends to gig economy workers the protections available to employees. Given Labor has also recently adopted a similar policy stance, the Greens’ amendments have a good chance of succeeding in the Senate.
“The Greens will move to outlaw insecure work,” Bandt said.
“Insecure work in Australia has got out of control.
“Casual, contract and gig economy workers are all getting a raw deal.
“The Greens will move to change the government’s bill so that every job is permanent and ongoing unless there are exceptional business reasons to the contrary.
“If our amendments pass, then insecure work will become a thing of the past, and casual, contract and gig economy workers could go to the Fair Work Commission to get their jobs converted to ongoing employment.”
“The government’s IR reforms will entrench the insecure work crisis, rather than address it, so the Greens will bring on amendments to ensure that every worker gets the rights they deserve.
“The recent deaths of five delivery riders has highlighted the lack of protections and entitlements for gig economy workers. The Greens’ will move amendments that will also give the Fair Work Commission the power to extend minimum wages, terms and conditions from the Fair Work Act 2009, modern awards or enterprise agreements to gig economy workers.”
“We’re also deeply concerned that the Attorney General, the highest law officer in the country, is undermining the Federal Court’s decision on casual workers and is working with big business to not only reverse the hard-fought win for casual workers rights, but is introducing legislation to prevent any future court ruling from providing full compensation to casual workers,” Bandt said.

The Australian Greens have warned that the government’s climate inaction is pouring fuel on fires incinerating our country’s iconic animals, landscapes, and flora, amid news that tens of thousands of koalas died during last season’s bushfires, and as an uncontrolled bushfire tears through an untouched world heritage rainforest.
Greens Environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will this week move a ‘Save the Koala Bill’ to protect the habitat of Australia’s most iconic tree-hugger, in a bid to stave off extinction.
“Today Australia is watching one of our national treasures burn. The Fraser Island fire comes on the back of record-breaking temperatures and is a further harbinger of the climate emergency that we face,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt said.
“Scott Morrison should be ashamed of the coal-fuelled destruction being wreaked on his watch. While the nation was burning last year he left for Hawaii, and now that it’s happening again, the best he can do is vow not to cheat on his climate commitments.
“In just five days Australia will have to front up to a UN hosted climate summit demanding greater ambition to reduce emissions. While other nations are doubling and tripling their ambition, all Scott Morrison is vowing is not to cook the books, and our nation’s precious wildlife is paying the price for his inaction.
“This constant cycle of destruction will become the norm unless Scott Morrison stops dragging his feet on climate action. If we don’t want to have billions of our animals burnt every summer, we need to rapidly transition off coal, oil and gas,” Bandt said.
Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Greens will this week move to introduce a Save the Koala Bill to prevent further decimation of precious habitat and to help ensure our wildlife have a place to call home.
“The Bill will legislate a moratorium on clearing of critical koala habitat which is absolutely vital to saving the species.
“After the devastation of the 2019-20 climate fires which burnt through 12 million hectares of primarily forest and woodland, the Morrison Government should not be approving any further land clearing.
“The WWF report released today confirms our worst fears about the incomprehensible number of wildlife killed in the 2019-20 climate fires.
“Included in the three billion native species impacted by the fires is more than 60,000 koalas, with some of the worst losses on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
“In NSW where koalas will be extinct by 2050 without urgent action to save them, 8,000 of our iconic species were killed or injured.
“Fires are now already burning across the country, including on Fraser Island a World Heritage Site.
“We are facing another devastating summer for our environment and wildlife, yet the Environment Minister is nowhere to be seen.
“The Minister is missing in action. Where is she? What is the plan for protecting our wildlife this summer?”

Today Labor has launched the Child Care Calculator so Australian families can find out how much cheaper child care will be under an Albanese Labor Government.
This new website is a useful tool for the over one million families that will be better off under Labor’s Cheaper  Child Care for Working Families plan.
Under this plan, Labor will:

• Scrap the $10,560 child care subsidy cap which often sees women losing money from an extra day’s work;
• Lift the maximum child care subsidy rate to 90 per cent; and
• Increase child care subsidy rates and taper them for every family earning less than $530,000.

Labor’s plan will make child care more affordable for 97 per cent of families in the system, and remove financial barriers that disincentivise second income earners, predominantly women, to work full-time.
Importantly, Labor will keep working to fix Australia’s broken child care system, which currently locks out more than 100,000 families because they just can’t afford it.
The Productivity Commission will conduct a comprehensive review of the sector with the aim of implementing a universal 90 per cent subsidy for all families.
The ACCC will design a price regulation mechanism to shed light on costs and fees and drive them down for good. The ACCC will examine the relationship between funding, fees, profits and educators’ salaries.
The Coalition’s child care system has failed parents – particularly women. It has created a financial disincentive for many second wage earners to work full time, or even increase their hours.
On top of that, since this Government was elected in 2013, child care fees have skyrocketed by 35.9 per cent.
Labor has put forward a plan for cheaper child care that is win, win, win – it is good for parents, good for children, and good for the economy.

The Australian Government’s early action to rapidly increase the number of Registered Nurses (RN) who have the necessary skills to treat people infected with COVID-19, has significantly strengthened our ability to respond to the pandemic.
The Government provided $6.6 million for the delivery of two nurse training programs in response to COVID-19 – one to refresh clinical skills, and the other to provide training in critical and high dependency care in response to the pandemic.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said more than 2,700 RNs completed the refresher training, and almost 16,500 completed critical care and/or high dependency care training to upskill to meet the forecasted need during the pandemic.
“The training programs ­– separately developed and delivered by the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and Medcast – significantly built up the skills and knowledge of Australian nurses and gave them greater confidence to redeploy to roles in response to COVID-19,” Minister Hunt said.
“Training outcomes showed the online delivery mechanisms used were cost efficient, supported rapid access, and provided consistent education across multiple health networks and hospitals nationwide.
“As Australia and the world continue to navigate the COVID-19 health emergency, nurses remain at the forefront of our health care.
“I would like to thank every nurse who stepped up during this challenging time, working hard to aid the recovery of Australians sick with COVID-19. They have saved lives and protected lives.”
Minister for Regional Health Mark Coulton said nurses continued to play an essential role in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in regional, rural and remote communities.
“Our highly skilled nurses, along with our doctors and allied health workers, have been the true heroes of the pandemic,” Minister Coulton said.
“This Nurse Practitioner Week, I thank every nurse across Australia, and pass on my gratitude to those who completed their refresher training or upskilled in order to support the nation through such challenging times.
“Nurses are the lifeblood of rural communities, responding to complex health needs away from major hospitals, and this year has exemplified the vital and necessary role they play.”
The Ministers said it was fitting nurses received special recognition in 2020, the World Health Organisation’s International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, given their immense contribution.
The Australian Government has committed more than $16 billion to the emergency health response to the pandemic.
The ACN and Medcast evaluation reports on the outcomes of the COVID-19 nurse training are available from the Department of Health website at health.gov.au/resources/publications.

Young deaf and hearing-impaired Australians will benefit from a $300,000 investment to support their mental health and well-being announced today.
The Australian Government will fund Hear For You to deliver online mentoring, collaborate with mainstream youth mental health services providers, and produce a campaign to reduce stigma and encourage deaf and hearing impaired young people to seek help for mental health issues.
Announcing the funding during a visit to Hear For You’s headquarters at the Australian Hearing Hub in Sydney, Regional Health Minister – whose responsibilities include hearing services – Mark Coulton said Government is committed to ensuring Australians who are hard of hearing get the services they need.
“The Government is committed to improving the health of all Australians, particularly the most vulnerable among us,” Minister Coulton said.
“We understand that for Australians who are hard of hearing, their health needs are not defined purely by their hearing challenges and can – just like the rest of us – benefit from support for their mental wellbeing.
“Life’s not easy when you’re a teenager and if you’re deaf or hard of hearing, it can be even trickier.
“Hear For You delivers a modern service, tailored to support improved mental wellbeing for young Australians with hearing challenges, and I am pleased to announce our support for the work they do.”
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said the Australian Government recognises the cumulative impact that COVID-19, bushfires, floods, and droughts had created for many Australians.
“This funding will address the additional mental health and communications challenges that deaf and hearing-impaired young people face, such as increased levels of social isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and depression,” Minister Hunt said.
“The Government is committed to supporting all young Australians with, or at risk of, poor mental health by improving access to early intervention services and preventative mental health support.”
This announcement follows $21.2 million invested in the recent Budget to deliver key initiatives from the Roadmap for Hearing Health and an additional $485 million for mental health services and supports.
For more information about Hear For You and their work, visit hearforyou.com.au.