Category: Australian News

The government’s response to temporary visa holders in Australia is cruel and callous, Greens Immigration and Citizenship spokesperson Nick McKim says.
“Temporary visa holders are guests in our country and many have lost jobs and income. They need genuine income support right now,” Senator McKim said.
“The government is turning its back on people in their hour of need, just as it has done to people seeking asylum for years.”
“Not all temporary visa holders have the financial capacity to simply leave. For them this is a sentence to poverty and hunger.”
“This decision will have serious public health implications. How can we ask people to self isolate without income and in some cases without a home?”
“We would expect other countries to look after Australians stuck there, and we should do the same for their people.”

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Education spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi has said that the federal government has abandoned international students to the risk of poverty and homelessness. Today the government confirmed it would provide no financial support for international student visa holders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Faruqi has called for income support for international students during the COVID-19 crisis.
Senator Faruqi said:
“In this pandemic, international students have lost their jobs, found themselves unable to pay rent or put food on the table, and face living in squalid conditions.
“Hundreds of international students have contacted me over the last few days to share their stories of unemployment, financial stress and precarious living situations.
“Now, the government has confirmed they will not lift a finger to support these hundreds of thousands of students who we welcomed into our country and whose fees and work we’ve all benefited from.
“International students contribute enormously to the Australian community. But the government has abandoned them completely.
“The government must extend the Coronavirus Supplement to international students and make JobKeeper payments available to them as well.
“Minister Tudge says students should look to family support to get them through this. But many of these students come from countries also severely impacted by the pandemic, where lockdowns and health crises have resulted in business closures and losses of income. Family support can no longer be relied upon.
“If we truly are all in this together, then the ‘all’ must include international students in strife.
“We are at risk of a serious humanitarian crisis if the government does not step in and support international students as a matter of urgency,” she said.

Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has labelled Health Minister Greg Hunt’s announcement of the establishment of a National Advisory Group to guide development and implementation of a response plan focusing on the unique health needs of disabled people a “huge win” for the community.
“This is what the Greens, Australia’s peak disability advocacy organisations and the community have been calling for for weeks. This National advisory group should have been started weeks ago but the reality is that now they’ll be forced to play catch up,” Steele-John said.
“We don’t have any more time to waste. Disabled people need a dedicated and natinonally coordinated stategy now to ensure that they have the information and support they need to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So far the government has failed to actively include us from the response to COVID-19 and this has caused significant anxiety and concern amongst our community.
“Today, more than 70 of Australia’s disability organisation and advocacy bodies released a statement calling for ten urgent actions to be taken to address the impacts of COVID-19 on disabled people, our families and our support networks.
“I’m calling on the National Advisory Group tomeet urgently and consider these ten action points to ensure that disabled people, our families and our support networks can have the information and support we need to get through this COVID-19 crisis.”

Australian governments met today as the National Cabinet to take further action to slow the spread of coronavirus to save lives, and to save livelihoods.
We will be living with this virus for at least six months, so social distancing measures to slow the spread of this virus must be sustainable for at least that long to protect Australian lives.
We need to ensure Australia keeps functioning, to keep Australians in jobs.
The Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy provided an update on the measures underway on the latest data and medical advice in relation to coronavirus.
There are more than 5,315 confirmed cases in Australia and sadly 27 people have died.
Testing keeps Australians safe. Australia has one of the most rigorous coronavirus testing systems in the world with more than 270,000 tests completed.
It is clear the epidemiology curve is beginning to flatten. But it is too early to determine whether such movements will be significant or sustained.
Leaders thanked all Australians who have acted responsibly towards their fellow Australians and have been undertaking social distancing and isolation measures.
These measures are helping to slow the spread of the virus, ensure the strength of our health system and save lives.
National Cabinet stressed the critical importance of continuing to adhere to self-isolation, social distancing and quarantine arrangements for returned travellers. Leaders also highlight the importance of people who are self-isolating registering on the COVID-19 app.
National Cabinet noted that Australia was now in the suppression phase of the response, which will last for some time. Restrictions will be reviewed regularly and planning for the medium to long-term has begun.
Governments are working together to increase supplies of personal protective equipment such as masks, hand sanitiser and gloves. New supplies for the National Medical Stockpile are continuing to be sourced from overseas suppliers and domestic manufacturers.
The Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasury also provided an overview of the economic outlook and the medium and longer term financial risks.
National Cabinet agreed to meet again on Tuesday 7 April 2020.
Religious Services
Churches and other places of worship, will be considered places of work so that services can be live streamed to the community. This will ensure that religious services, including Easter services, remain accessible to congregations. National Cabinet agreed that providing access to services is important for a sense of continuity and social connection.
Services may be conducted and live streamed providing only essential staff are present, the venue/facility remains closed to the public, and social distancing principles are adhered to.
Any church wishing to conduct religious services, including Easter services, must use the minimum number of participants required to deliver and live stream the service, which may include a priest, attendants, organist, videographer and sound recordist.
Easter Holidays
Social distancing is slowing the spread of the virus in Australia. These measures are saving lives and livelihoods. National Cabinet reminded Australians that social distancing must continue at Easter and agreed that Australians should stay at home this Easter and not undertake unnecessary holiday travel.
Commercial Tenancies
National Cabinet made further progress on the issue of commercial tenancies. They have agreed that a mandatory code of conduct guided by certain principles will be developed and subsequently legislated by State and Territory Governments to apply for tenancies where the tenant is eligible for the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper assistance and is a small- or medium-sized enterprise (less than $50 million turnover).
The principles that guide the code will be:
(a) Where it can, rent should continue to be paid, and where there is financial distress as a result of COVID-19 (for example, the tenant is eligible for assistance through the JobKeeper program), tenants and landlords should negotiate a mutually agreed outcome
(b) There will be a proportionality to rent reductions based on the decline in turnover to ensure that the burden is shared between landlords and tenants
(c) There will be a prohibition on termination of leases for non-payment of rent (lockouts and eviction)
(d) There will be a freeze on rent increases (except for turnover leases)
(e) There will be a prohibition on penalties for tenants who stop trading or reduce opening hours
(f) There will be a prohibition on landlords passing land tax to tenants (if not already legislated)
(g) There will be a prohibition on landlords charging interest on unpaid rent
(h) There will be a prohibition on landlords from making a claim to a bank guarantee or security deposit for non-payment of rent
(i) Ensure that any legislative barriers or administrative hurdles to lease extensions are removed (so that a tenant and landlord could agree a rent waiver in return for a lease extension)
For landlords and tenants that sign up to the code of conduct, States and Territories have agreed to look at providing the equivalent of at least a three month land tax waiver and three month land tax deferral on application for eligible landowners, with jurisdictions to continue to monitor the situation. Landlords must pass on the benefits of such moves to the tenants. In cases where parties have signed to the code of conduct, the ability for tenants to terminate leases as mentioned in the National Cabinet Statement on 29 March 2020 will not apply. Mediation will be provided as needed through existing State and Territory mechanisms.
The proposed code of conduct will be discussed at the next meeting of the National Cabinet on Tuesday 7 April.
Childcare and Education
National Cabinet welcomed the Australian Government’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) relief package, recognising that the sector is key to supporting essential workers and vulnerable children, while also underpinning economic recovery by allowing parents to work, study and volunteer. The relief package will provide families with free child care, while also offering certainty to ECEC services at a time where enrolments and attendance are highly unpredictable.
National Cabinet also supported the agreements made by Education Ministers on 2 April 2020 to reduce the regulatory burden on early childhood education and care. Amongst other things, it was agreed that ECEC services will remain open for all families who require care and any future decision regarding ECEC services will be consistent with advice of AHPPC (noting families who require care include all essential workers and vulnerable cohorts).
The current AHPPC advice is that ECEC centres are essential services and should continue at this time, but with risk mitigation measures in place. National Cabinet agreed with AHPPC advice that alternative care arrangements should be considered for those children who are highly vulnerable to adverse outcomes if infected with COVID-19 and that parents seek medical advice for these children.
The previous advice on schools has not changed. Education Ministers will work with medical experts to determine how the school year can be conducted.
Local Governments
National Cabinet agreed that states and territories were best placed to address issues related to the impacts of COVID19 and local governments.
Information on Coronavirus COVID-19 in Australia
To improve access to timely information on COVID19 National Cabinet agreed to the Commonwealth Department of Health releasing a national daily dashboard of data and key facts. The dashboard will shortly be available on www.health.gov.au.
National Cabinet will review up-dated health system capacity modelling on Tuesday 7 April 2020. This modelling will look at the trajectory of the outbreak in Australia, the capacity of our health care system and the measures put in place to suppress the spread of COVID19.

The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) announced a round of funding from the Australian Business Securitisation Fund (ABSF) to enable smaller lenders to continue supporting Australian small and medium sized businesses (SME’s).
The AOFM will invest $250 million of ABSF funding in securities issued by a warehouse facility to support lending to SME’s.
The investment will fund a portfolio of loans for a period of up to four years and will assist with deepening the market for SME asset backed securities.
Small lenders are critical to Australia’s lending markets in creating more competition, especially for SME’s, during the current coronavirus crisis.
This funding complements other initiatives undertaken by the Government and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to support lending to SME’s, including:

• $15 billion to allow AOFM to invest in wholesale funding markets used by small ADIs and non-ADI lenders. The AOFM made its first investment under this program on 27 March, purchasing residential mortgage‑backed securities valued at $189 million.
• The SME Guarantee Scheme to support up to $40 billion of lending to SMEs. Under the Scheme, the Government will guarantee 50 per cent of new loans issued by eligible lenders.
• The RBA’s $90 billion term funding facility for ADIs with a priority for SME lending.

The Government will continue to do what it takes to ensure that Australia bounces back stronger.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and International Development spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi has called on the Australian Government to act immediately and increase funding to Pacific countries for COVID-19 support, in response to reports that infection figures have more than doubled since last week. Another death was reported in Guam yesterday.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Australia must not forget its Pacific neighbours in this public health crisis. Health systems in the region are already at risk of stretching to breaking point, and a full-blown outbreak could cause a serious economic disaster. A targeted increase in funding is needed right now.
“We have a responsibility to ensure our neighbours have the means to stop the spread. Australia should release new targeted funding to add capacity to their health systems and quarantine facilities, and provide much needed equipment for medical staff.
“Where is the International Development Minister on this? The last media statement from the Minister came almost a month ago when there wasn’t a single reported case in the Pacific. We’re now looking at numbers doubling since last week, only to be met with silence from this Government.
“Stopping the spread should be a key focus in Australia’s work with the Pacific nations, as the health and economic consequences of an outbreak would be disastrous for already vulnerable nations,” she said.

The Australian Greens have called for a pause on health insurance premiums during the COVID-19 crisis, and for the government to redirect the private health insurance rebate into the public system to assist in delivering critical care.
“Australians should not be paying premiums for a product that can’t be used for its primary purpose, especially when millions of households are facing challenging financial circumstances,” Dr Richard Di Natale, Greens health spokesperson said today.
“Most people cannot use their cover at this time due to restrictions on non-urgent elective surgery. Private health insurers are charging their customers for a product that in most cases, can’t be used.
“Premiums must be paused to provide people with much-needed financial respite.
“Some companies are delaying premium increases, and others have announced some measures to suspend policies or access relief on premiums, but otherwise it is business as usual: insurers collecting premiums, along with the taxpayer-funded private health insurance rebate.
“The private health insurance rebate costs Australian around $7 billion annually.
“The need for a robust and well-funded public health system has never been more apparent than it is today. At a time when our public health system needs every resource it can get, the government should not be diverting funds into the pockets of private health insurers.
“The government must stop forking out millions of dollars of public money for private health insurance and reinvest it all in saving Australian lives in the public hospital system.
“The Greens have long advocated for the abolition of the private health insurance rebate, with that money to be directed back into the public health system to benefit everyone. The case for doing so has never been clearer,” Dr Di Natale concluded.

The Federal Government dropped the ball in its response to the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry and must implement urgent reforms if Australian media is to play on after the COVID-19 crisis, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Media Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said media reform was long overdue before the Coronavirus crisis which has now pushed regional and community media outlets to the brink, with some already shutting their doors.
“Big tech have gotten away with ripping off small players and individual journalists for too long. Now is the time to regulate them better and for sake of public interest journalism. They should pay for the content they use,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“The Federal Government acknowledged there was an issue but hung it’s hat on the ACCC review which took 18 months to complete. Yet once it was, they didn’t respond for almost half a year and then when they finally did, the response was lacklustre to say the least.
“Of the 23 recommendations from the ACCC, the Government only supported six in full and kicked the can down the road with plans for more reviews.
“It’s simply not good enough and I call on Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher to take another look and then get busy actioning what’s needed to save Australian media, Australian voices and Australian stories.
“Regional and community outlets are closing their doors and stopping print runs right now as they feel the extra pinch of lost advertising revenue because of COVID-19. The Government cannot allow these outlets to fold especially when good, local, accurate information is more important than ever.
“The Regional and Small Publishers Jobs and Innovation Package should immediately be used to support struggling regional media outlets, the tech giants must be regulated to level the playing field and funding cuts to the ABC must be reversed.
“Without action from the Government, we may just find that after this crisis is over, we have lost a key pillar of our democracy and we will all be worse off for it.”

Around one million families are set to receive free child care during the coronavirus pandemic under a plan from the Morrison Government that will help deliver hip pocket relief and help the early childhood education and care sector make it through to the other side of this crisis.
Under the plan, the Government will pay 50 per cent of the sector’s fee revenue up to the existing hourly rate cap based on a point in time before parents started withdrawing their children in large numbers, but only so long as services remain open and do not charge families for care. The funding will apply from 6 April based on the number of children who were in care during the fortnight leading into 2 March, whether or not they are attending services.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the plan supports families while also ensuring as many of the sector’s 13,000 child care and early learning services as possible could keep their doors open for workers and vulnerable families who need those services.
The plan provides funding certainty to early childhood education and care services at a time where enrolments and attendance are highly unpredictable. This, along with the JobKeeper payment, means services can offer free education and care.
“Relief is on its way for around a million Australian families and thousands of early learning educators and carers,” the Prime Minister said.
“These services are vital for so many parents so they can provide for their family, and children need as much familiarity and continuity as we can help provide at this unsettling time. Priority will be given to working parents, vulnerable and disadvantaged children that need early education more than ever and parents with pre-existing enrolments.
“This plan complements more than $1 billion we expect the sector to receive through our new JobKeeper payment to help ensure many of the 200,000 vital early education workforce can stay connected to services.
“It means building a bridge for these valuable services to the other side of this virus so they can continue to play their valuable role in our workforce and education systems and so Australia can bounce back strongly.”
The plan means the sector is expected to receive $1.6 billion over the coming three months from taxpayer subsidies because of the March 2 baseline that has been set, compared to an estimated $1.3 billion if current revenues and subsidies had continued based on the existing system and the significant reduction of enrolments the sector has seen.
The new system will see payments start flowing at the end of next week. The system will be reviewed after one month, with an extension to be considered after three months. The payments will be paid in lieu of the Child Care (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy payments.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the assistance package would ensure services remained open to serve families that needed to work and to support vulnerable children.
“The Federal Government is working with states and territories and the sector to minimise the impact of coronavirus,” Mr Tehan said.
“The states and territories are looking at how to reduce the regulatory burden on the child care services which will further help them to remain viable. The Education Council of the country’s education ministers as well as National Cabinet will address regulation this week.
“This package will help support families during these difficult times, particularly those who have lost their job and are doing it tough.
Until the payments arrive, we are allowing services to waive gap fees for families who keep their children home, and families will be able to use the 20 extra absence days the government has funded for coronavirus related reasons without giving up their place in a child care centre.
“If you have terminated your enrolment since 17 February, then I encourage you to get back in contact with your centre and re-start your arrangements. Re-starting your enrolment will not require you to send your child to child care and it certainly won’t require you to pay a gap fee. Re-starting your enrolment will, however, hold your place for that point in time when things start to normalise, and you are ready to take your child back to their centre.”
“We will also make payments of higher amounts available in exceptional circumstances, such as where greater funding is required to meet the needs of emergency workers or vulnerable children.
“The Government is also providing certainty to the preschool sector in recognition of its importance to a student’s formal education.”
The Morrison Government will also provide $453.2 million for preschools in 2021 to support almost 350,000 children to attend preschool. The funding injection comes on top of the $3.2 billion the government has delivered for preschool education since 2014.
There is a range of government assistance available to early learning and child care operators. Most services operate as small businesses, with 79.9 per cent of providers operating a single service, while 95.9 per cent operating fewer than five. The available assistance includes:

• The $130 billion JobKeeper payment
• A cash flow boost of at least $20,000 and up to $100,000 with payments equal to 100 per cent of businesses’ and not-for-profits’ salary and wages withheld
• Loan guarantees so businesses can get working capital

National Cabinet is also considering short-term intervention for commercial tenancy arrangements.
Child care services seeking health and situation information about COVID-19 should contact the 24/7 National Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080. Information is also available from https://www.dese.gov.au/news/coronavirus-covid-19