Category: Australian News

The Greens will move to get big money out of politics this week by introducing a bill to cap donations to political parties at  $1000 per year and to ban all party political donations from dirty industries buying influence: the mining, banking, gambling, alcohol and property industries.
Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said the Greens bill could once and for all remove the influence of big money and start restoring integrity into our parliament.
“The community wants its democracy back. They’re sick of their interests being sold out to the highest bidder,” she said.
“Opposition leader Anthony Albanese yesterday for the first time showed support for the long-held Greens policy of capping political donations.
“Perhaps Albo realised the corrosive impact of big money on politics now Clive Palmer lost the election for Labor.
“Nonetheless, we welcome his support but donations caps must be meaningful and low.
“Democracy needs a meaningful donations cap of $1000 a year for all donors – individuals, unions and corporates – and a complete ban on donations from industries with a history of buying policy outcomes, like the mining, banking, gambling, alcohol and property industries.
“Massive donations to the old political parties have sold out community interests.
“The major parties have taken at least $1 million from the fossil fuel industry in the past year alone, making a total of $9.3 million that the fossil fuel giants have donated to the Labor and Liberal/National parties since 2012.
“Trust in politics is at an all time low and the best way to fix this is to stop selling our democracy to the highest bidder.
“With support from Labor and the crossbench, this bill could pass the Senate and pressure the Government to finally act,” she said.

Senator for South Australia and Greens Environment Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“This is a huge win for the community, the environment and SA’s tourism and fishing industries. It is good for the planet and jobs.
“The community who cherish our pristine coastline, the tourism industry that depends on it, and the fishing industry that relies on clean waters have all fought so hard against these environment-destroying plans. Congratulations goes to them.
“They have proven there was no social licence for an international oil giant to drill in our waters, and that people power can win.
“South Australians love our gorgeous Bight and we want it protected for future generations and the rest of the world to come and experience.
“What we need now is World Heritage protection. The Greens’ Bill for World Heritage Listing would give the Bight the protection it needs and deserves from any other oil and gas companies proposing to put it at risk. I call on all other Members of Parliament to back it.
“This decision also shows this is the beginning of the end of fossil fuels. Opening a new fossil fuel basin in the middle of our ocean was always madness. Moving to net zero emissions by 2050 means we must reduce pollution now, not give the green light to new polluting projects.”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt has introduced a Bill into the House of Representatives – Liability for Climate Change Damage (Make the Polluters Pay) Bill 2020 – which will make fossil fuel companies liable for damage from the climate crisis, granting climate victims such as recent bushfire survivors or tourism businesses affected by fires or reef bleaching the right to sue thermal coal, oil and gas companies for damages. Governments would also have the right to bring actions in their own right or on behalf of affected persons.
In Australia, regulators and lawyers have already advised that directors and companies may have climate-related liabilities, and in other countries actions have been commenced against fossil fuel companies for climate damage. This Bill will clarify the situation under Australian law.
Major fossil fuel producers and the owners and operators of coal-fired power stations will be liable for climate change damage. They will be liable in respect of all emissions since 1990 (when the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was released and after which all emitters should have known the consequences of their pollution), or from any earlier time that the company had actual knowledge itself off the effect of its pollution. Companies will be liable in respect of the total emissions from their products, including Scope 3 emissions. Survivors of climate crisis events from 1 July 2019 will be eligible to sue polluters for damages.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:
“The world’s biggest polluters have known for decades that their products would harm life and threaten other businesses, yet they kept on selling them.
“Coal, oil and gas companies are decimating agriculture and tourism and wiping out homes and communities.
“The law made asbestos companies pay and now it’s coal, oil and gas’ turn.
“Fossil fuel companies are a direct threat to other Australian businesses and they should start to pay for the damage they have knowingly helped cause.
“The burning of coal, oil and gas has fuelled this summer’s devastating bushfires and floods, and worse is yet to come.
“When you do the wrong thing, especially when you knowingly do the wrong thing, there must be consequences.
“Coal, oil and gas are the tobacco and asbestos of our time.
“It shouldn’t be left to individuals, governments and other businesses to cover the costs of the damage fossil fuel companies have caused.”

Greens Senate Leader Senator Larissa Waters has today introduced a bill in the Senate to ban thermal coal mines in the Galilee Basin, effectively outlawing the Adani mine and Clive Palmer’s proposed coal mine.
She said opening up the Galilee Basin for thermal coal mining was a carbon bomb that would push global warming to unsafe levels and kill off the Great Barrier Reef.
“The Galilee Basin is a carbon bomb and in reality the science demands we don’t open up a single new coal mine,” Senator Waters said.
“We need to keep that Galilee coal in the ground and today I have a bill that will do just that.
“If the Galilee Basin were to be mined and it was a country, it would be the seventh largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.
“Australia’s emissions continue to rise and millions of hectares of the country were burnt over Summer due to climate-fuelled bushfires. We desperately need a climate plan and that climate plan means getting out of thermal coal.
“We cannot afford to open up a new coal basin right when the rest of the world is embracing renewable energy and is transitioning towards an economy that can support workers and keep the planet liveable.
“It’s time we had a real jobs plan for Queenslanders, not fake promises of coal mines that we hope will never eventuate otherwise our climate is cooked.
“We need a genuine transition plan that supports coal-affected communities, re-trains them where that’s necessary and oft times it won’t be as those skills are transferable to other industries, especially clean energy or mine rehabilitation.
“Big coal is very generous in their donations to both the old parties, holding back action on climate change and renewable energy in this country for years.
“We must transition out of dirty polluting fossil fuels and towards the clean, jobs-generating export market future of renewable energy,” she said.

The Morrison Government is investing $1.6 billion to ensure the Australian Defence Force (ADF) can continue to deliver a potent air combat capability from the Northern Territory.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government had approved a further $1.1 billion program of works at the RAAF Base Tindal, on top of the $495 million already invested in New Air Combat Capability infrastructure.
“This investment is all about keeping Australians safe and putting Australians in jobs,” the Prime Minister said.
“Over 300 jobs will be created in the construction phase alone. The investment is part of the $8 billion we are spending over the coming decade on Defence facilities in the Top End, as part of the Defence White Paper and under our Developing Northern Australia initiatives.
“It will be integral to our Alliance with the United States, and increase the reach of Air Force capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
“As part of these upgrades, RAAF Base Tindal will be able to deliver enhanced air-to-air refuelling and air support capabilities, ensuring we can support critical ADF operations – everything from air combat missions through to responding to natural disasters both at home and throughout our region.”
Under the redevelopment projects, $737 million will go towards upgrading the airfield including extending the runway, building a new air movements terminal, parking apron and extra fuel storage facilities.
An additional $437 million will provide critical base infrastructure upgrades, particularly engineering services on the base including power, water and sewage, as well as 108 new live-in units for Australian Defence Force personnel.
Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC said RAAF Base Tindal is one of our most important Defence bases.
“The 2016 Defence White Paper identified Northern Australia as strategically important, both for national defence and as a forward base for regional engagement,” Minister Reynolds said.
Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon. Melissa Price MP said Defence’s managing contractor will be required to maximise the involvement of local industry from the Katherine region and wider Northern Territory.
“Hundreds of locals will be employed to deliver these projects, with many more set to benefit from subcontract packages and supply chain work,” Minister Price said.
Public information sessions are scheduled for 27 February 2020 in Katherine and the following week in Darwin.
Subject to Parliamentary approval, construction is expected to commence from mid-2020, with completion expected by the end of 2027.
The Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Industry will open the recently completed $495 million New Air Combat Capability facility.
The completion of this facility will support the arrival of Australia’s cutting-edge F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft at RAAF Base Tindal in the years ahead.
“Under this project 64 percent of the total work packages were awarded to Northern Territory businesses, representing some $242 million being injected into the Territory’s economy,” Minister Price said.
“These completed works also contributed to local Indigenous employment, with an eight percent Indigenous workforce participation rate and three sub-contracts, valued at $27 million, awarded to Indigenous companies.”
Further detail on the proposed works can be found at https://www.defence.gov.au/id/RAAF-Tindal/Default.asp.

The Australian Greens have responded to reports that India will stop importing thermal coal within 4 years, saying that it is the death knell for the Adani project and the beginning of the end of Australia’s thermal coal industry.
India’s Minister of Coal and Mines on Tuesday reportedly said as part of a planning meeting for the future of the coal industry that the country would stop importing coal by financial year 2023/24.
Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said:
“If this is true, it’s the death knell for the Adani coal mine and will hasten the end of thermal coal in Australia.
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison needs to end his ideological obsession with coal and instead transition Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.
“Thermal coal is on its last legs. Coal workers and communities deserve the support of the government to transition to the jobs and industries of the future, like renewables mining. With a Green New Deal we can create new jobs by turning Australia into a clean energy superpower, while making sure no one is left behind.”
Australian Greens Co-Deputy Leader and Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters said:
“For years, the coal lobby and their Coalition mates have been spinning lies that selling our coal to India will deliver Australia riches and jobs into the future. Today’s report tells a different story.
“India’s import reduction plan highlights the country’s shift away from coal to renewable energy, and its growing disinterest in buying Australia’s dirty coal.
“The Adani coal mine has been a sham for years. This announcement today makes the project even more untenable.
“It’s time for Labor and Liberal to join the Greens in ruling out any new coal mines and instead plan for a phase out of coal and a transition to the jobs and industries of the future.”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said today’s jobs figures reveal a jobs crisis in Australia, especially amongst young people, and underscore the need for urgent government intervention to provide meaningful, secure work in a climate-challenged economy.
“These figures reveal a government with no plan to create meaningful work for young people in a climate-challenged economy,” said Mr Bandt.
“Nearly one in three young people either doesn’t have a job or doesn’t have enough hours of work. It’s a national scandal.”
“The climate crisis is smashing agriculture and tourism, but the government is continuing to back coal and wreck important parts of the economy.”
“Australia needs a Green New Deal to tackle the jobs crisis and the climate crisis. Government must help create new jobs and industries so that everyone who wants a decent job can get one.”

The Greens are calling for an urgent crisis response to the number of women killed by violence and greater accuracy in media reporting following the murder of a Brisbane-based mother and three children by their father yesterday.
“There have now been eight women killed by violence in 2020, after 61 were murdered last year, yet there was more response from the Prime Minister to the needles-in-strawberry incident,” said Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson for women, Senator Larissa Waters.
Senator Waters will next week move a motion in parliament for the Senate to urge all media outlets to comply with the Press Council Advisory Guidelines and Commercial Radio Guidelines on reporting family violence.
“Yesterday a man murdered his young children and his ex-wife – and some media reported it as if the father was also a victim, and noted his sporting history. This is disgusting and such reporting contributes to the culture of violence by downplaying it,” she said.
“The minimising of this man’s actions in some of the passive media reporting of this murder is appalling, and while perpetrators are portrayed as ‘just good men who are hurting’ the culture of violence and entitlement will never end.
“Too many media outlets have shown themselves incapable of reporting the reality of violence against women so next week I will move for the Senate to remind all media outlets of the Guidelines on reporting family violence.
“Every sitting fortnight I move a motion in the federal parliament counting the number of women killed by violence.
“Every time it begs for the government to properly fund frontline domestic violence services, to fund prevention programs, and to keep and publicise a national toll of women killed like the road toll – to keep this issue in the public eye and contribute to changing the culture that allows it to continue.
“Every time it passes without a vote, and every time the government continues to do nothing.
“I have twice written to Minister for Women Marise Payne about establishing a national and publicised toll of women killed by violence, much like the road toll serves to increase awareness of the need for road safety, but have had no response.
“This government needs to treat the epidemic of violence against women and their children as a national crisis and urgently take meaningful action to keep it citizens safe.
“We will never forget these precious little lives lost and their dear mother Hannah Baxter, nor all the other women and children killed by men,” Senator Waters said.
Background
Relevant extracts of the Press Council Advisory Guidelines:
Responsibility
Reporting of family violence should try not to blame a person affected by the violence or suggest that the person somehow enabled the violence or could have avoided it. Publications should also avoid placing undue emphasis on the characteristics or surroundings of the victim, or implying that such things contributed to the family violence, unless doing so is essential to the narrative and sufficiently in the public interest. Use of the active voice in relation to the perpetrator will help avoid placing undue emphasis on the person affected by family violence. For example: “Police charged a 38-year-old Melbourne man with the murder of a 36-year-old woman”, as opposed to, e.g. “A 36- year-old woman was murdered and a 38-year-old Melbourne man has been charged”.
Context and content
…
Words matter. Publications should be mindful of the language they use and try to avoid terms that tend to trivialise, demean or inadvertently excuse family violence, such as “a domestic”, “a domestic dispute” or “a troubled marriage”. Where it is lawful to do so, the relationships of the people involved should be described as accurately and precisely as possible. In addition to reporting particular incidents, journalists can play a critical role in deepening readers’ understanding about family violence by referring to resources such as official statistics, peerreviewed research, and experts, such as domestic violence counsellors and survivors. Publications should also be aware of the potential impact of story layout, headlines and surrounding material (such as advertisements) that may be insensitive or jarring in the circumstances.
Relevant extracts of the Commercial Radio guidelines:
Violence is never acceptable
The perpetrator is always solely responsible for a violent situation. Avoid using language or framing the story in a way that suggests the survivor of violence was in any way to blame for what happened to him or her.
Acknowledge that this crime has both a victim and a perpetrator
Domestic violence is sometimes reported with headlines like ‘Woman assaulted’, or with stories that focus only on what happened to the survivor. This can suggest that violence is something that ‘just happens’ to women. Emphasise that someone perpetrated this violence, and that it was a crime.