Category: Australian News

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has responded to the Prime Minister’s bushfire Royal commission announcement.
“This Royal Commission looks like a climate whitewash.”
“I’m sure the Commissioners will do their best, but Scott Morrison’s terms of reference are designed to skate over the climate crisis and minimise the Prime Minister’s own contribution to these coal-fueled mega-fires.”
“Climate gets only some passing references, but it should be centre stage.
“The climate crisis isn’t just one ‘background’ factor in these unprecedented mega-fires, it is the driving force.”
“These terms of reference should have come to Parliament for approval.
“Scott Morrison has finally heard the public anger over his contribution to the fires, but he’s responding with little more than lip service.”

Coral bleaching in the far north of the Great Barrier Reef shows the Federal and Qld Governments are failing to deal with the impact of climate change on the natural icon and could see it listed on UNESCO’s ‘in danger’ list, according to the Greens.
Scientists have today reported significant coral bleaching at three locations in the Great Barrier Reef’s far north. There is a heightened alert for a potential mass bleaching event over the next two to four weeks.
Greens Senate Leader and Senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters, said it’s clear the old parties’ Reef policies are not dealing with the biggest threat facing the Reef – global warming caused by mining and burning of coal and other fossil fuels.
“If Australian governments don’t stop their addiction to coal, then UNESCO may place our Reef on the international shame list when it meets to evaluate reef management later this year. This would be devastating for reef-dependent communities and tourism operators who are already under pressure,” she said.
“Both old parties are championing mega coal mines, opening up the Galilee Basin and gas fracking to export out through the Great Barrier Reef that will worsen water quality through dredging and shipping.
“Both old parties are burying their heads in the sand on the real cause of coral bleaching – the mining and burning of coal that will exacerbate global warming and cook the Reef’s corals.
“The Greens have a plan to save the Reef from global warming with a Green New Deal including no new coal or gas, a $1 billion transition fund for workers, and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
“If we don’t increase the ambition of our action now, we may lose our precious reef and the 63,000 jobs that rely on it in our lifetime,” Senator Waters said.

A national Royal Commission into Australia’s devastating Black Summer bushfires will be established following agreement from the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd).
The Morrison Government has today released the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, informed by feedback from states and territories.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the scale of the Black Summer bushfires presented new challenges for all levels of government, which required a detailed national inquiry.
“My priority is to keep Australians safe and to do that, we need to learn from the Black Summer bushfires how nationally we can work better with the states and territories to better protect and equip Australians for living in hotter, drier and longer summers,” the Prime Minister said.
“In particular, we need to consider the need to establish new powers for the Federal Government to declare a national state of emergency to trigger direct Federal Government responses to national disasters, including the direct deployment of the Australian Defence Force. Currently, there are no such powers and Federal responses are supposed to only be undertaken in response to State requests and authorisations.
“During the Black Summer bushfires, we entered a constitutional grey zone by directly initiating defence force deployments, utilising the first ever compulsory call out of Reservists, with over 6,500 ADF personnel serving in support of state and territory response efforts. But we did that without clear rules.
“The inquiry acknowledges climate change, the broader impact of our summers getting longer, drier and hotter and is focussed on practical action that has a direct link to making Australians safer.
“That’s why we need to look at what actions should be taken to enhance our preparedness, resilience and recovery through the actions of all levels of government and the community, for the environment we are living in.
“The overwhelming majority of the actions to protect Australians from bushfires are undertaken at a State level. Everything from resourcing our fire services and hazard reduction, to land clearing and planning laws. Even the declaration of emergencies, the areas that are designated to receive payments and in most cases the assessment and delivery of those payments, even when they are funded by the Federal Government, are all undertaken by the States.
“I believe Australians are wanting us to look at ways we can work together to give Australians greater assurances at a national level that these important tasks are getting done.
“I want the Royal Commission to begin as soon as possible with the final report due back by August 31, so recommendations can be acted upon before our next bushfire season.
“I want to thank Premiers and Chief Ministers for their consultative and collaborative approach in drafting the Terms of Reference. We have listened, valued their input and made changes to take on board feedback where appropriate.
“The national response to these devastating Black Summer bushfires is a shared responsibility of the Commonwealth, states and territories. We all have one goal – to protect people, property and wildlife.”
The Royal Commission is not going to duplicate the work of other inquiries. It will work with other inquiries announced by the States and it will also review the work and recommendations of previous inquiries.
This inquiry has a national focus and will look at three key areas:

• Improving natural disaster management coordination across all levels of government;

• Improving Australia’s preparedness, resilience, and response to natural disasters, across all levels of government;
• The legal framework for the Commonwealth’s involvement in responding to national emergencies and how that works with state and territory legal frameworks.

The Royal Commission will be led by Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC (Retd), who will be joined by:

• The Hon Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC, former Federal Court Judge, and
• Professor Andrew Macintosh, a specialist in climate risk and impact management.

“The three Commissioners are respected leaders in their fields and they bring a mix of expertise to the inquiry, including judicial, military and environmental planning and management backgrounds,” the Prime Minister said.
“The Commonwealth Government is already acting, providing whatever support is needed to bushfire impacted communities.
“We will do what is necessary to ensure communities rebuild, recover and build up resilience to these bushfires. That’s why we set up the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and gave them a $2 billion fund for clean-up operations, tourism support, wildlife recovery, local government assistance, small business reconstruction, primary producers, farmers, graziers, and families, as well as vital mental health support.
“This is in addition to over $100 million already provided in emergency payments for impacted individuals and families and payments for volunteer firefighters.
“It’s a long road ahead and we will be with these communities every step of the way as they rebuild.”
The Prime Minister has written to all State Premiers inviting them to issue concurrent commissions under their respective legal frameworks for Royal Commissions.
The Terms of Reference are attached.

The Australian Space Agency has officially opened its headquarters in the centre of Adelaide today, reaching an exciting milestone in its mission to grow the economy and create new jobs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Space Agency had made outstanding progress since being established by the Coalition in July 2018 and was now ready to settle into its permanent home in the heart of the Lot Fourteen precinct in Adelaide.
“The Australian Space Agency is central to my Government’s vision to secure more jobs and a larger share of the growing space economy – forecast to be over $1 trillion in size around the globe by 2040,” the Prime Minister said.
“Space captures the imagination and inspires us all. It develops new technologies that improve life on Earth and it offers huge economic and job opportunities.
“That’s why we’re investing almost $700 million into the space sector, including $150 million into Australian businesses so they can pick up more work and support more jobs by partnering with NASA’s Moon to Mars initiative.”
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said South Australia was now at the forefront of the nation’s space endeavours.
“We are now, without a doubt, the space capital of the nation,” said the Premier.
“Young people from across the state have the opportunity to seize incredible jobs across the sector, right here in South Australia.
“We’ve secured the headquarters of the Australian Space Agency, SmartSat CRC, Mission Control and the Space Discovery Centre.
“There’s an ambition to triple the size of Australia’s space economy by 2030, and Adelaide is going to be right at the heart of this monumental project.
“Young South Australians can look up at the stars and genuinely find opportunities right here in this state to pursue their dreams.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the opening was another chance to highlight the great opportunities space presents to everyday Australians.
“Australia’s space sector has gone from strength to strength since we established the Agency and I’m confident we will continue to build on that momentum,” Minister Andrews said.
“Space is inspirational but it’s also big business. The Morrison Government is investing heavily in providing opportunity to Australians. We’ve set the goal of tripling the size of the sector in Australia to $12 billion and adding an extra 20,000 jobs by 2030.
“But beyond that space will create opportunities for core industries — from manufacturing to mining — to tap into new supply chains.”
Head of the Australian Space Agency, Dr Megan Clark AC said our national headquarters is a strong base for the Agency to grow and transform the Australian space industry.
“We’re delighted to have a new home in the centre of Adelaide, and we look forward to developing the Australian Space Discovery Centre and Mission Control, which will open next year,” said Dr Clark.
“I want to thank our team for all the hard work to establish our new facility, on time, and on budget.”
Lot Fourteen also houses other space industry participants including the SmartSat CRC and CSIRO.

A Media Freedom Act to protect the public’s right to know and whistleblowers who speak truth to power, will be introduced into the Senate, Greens Media Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young announced today.
Senator Hanson-Young who is Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Press Freedoms, said there had been a serious erosion of press freedoms in Australia which was deeply concerning and needing fixing.
“The court ruling on the ABC raids on Monday, which comes after the ABC Ultimo headquarters raid and the raid on the home of a NewsCorp journalist, shows our laws are broken,” she said.
“Journalism is not a crime. We must enshrine media freedoms in legislation which is why I will introduce a Media Freedom Act.
“It’s clear current laws have encroached on journalists’ freedom, not just their ability to write sensitive stories but also to receive information from sensitive sources.”
The Media Freedom Act that Senator Hanson-Young will introduce will:

• Ensure a contested warrants process, where law enforcement would need to apply to a judge to search a media outlet or access a journalist’s metadata;
• Protect whistleblowers by introducing a public interest defence;
• Put the onus on prosecutors to disprove public interest rather than journalists to prove it;
• Overall, enacts shield laws to protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources.

“We need contested warrants and protection of journalist’s sources. These are two key reforms witnesses have called for through the Senate Inquiry into Press Freedoms,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“A contested warrants process would mean police can’t just raid a news outlets premises or the home of a journalist like we saw with the ABC and News Corp raids. There would be checks and balance and consideration of what is in the public interest.
“In just two years there’s been about 22 pieces of legislation the Federal Government has rammed through the Parliament that increase secrecy in our democracy, under a guise of ‘national security’.
“The truth is, those in power don’t want the public to know what they’re up to and are shutting down transparency and accountability to serve their own interests.
“The campaign by the Right to Know coalition and evidence given at the Senate Inquiry has provided many examples of wrongdoing and misconduct that would never have had a spotlight on them without whistleblowers and the protection of journalists’ sources and media freedoms.
“What’s really at stake here is one of the pillars of our democracy. From the Afghan Files to Sports Rorts, the Morrison Government is more worried about covering its backside than national security.
“When trust in politics is already so low, a bill to protect public interest journalism is like an insurance policy for our democracy.”

The Australian Space Agency has officially opened its headquarters in the centre of Adelaide today, reaching an exciting milestone in its mission to grow the economy and create new jobs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Space Agency had made outstanding progress since being established by the Coalition in July 2018 and was now ready to settle into its permanent home in the heart of the Lot Fourteen precinct in Adelaide.
“The Australian Space Agency is central to my Government’s vision to secure more jobs and a larger share of the growing space economy – forecast to be over $1 trillion in size around the globe by 2040,” the Prime Minister said.
“Space captures the imagination and inspires us all. It develops new technologies that improve life on Earth and it offers huge economic and job opportunities.
“That’s why we’re investing almost $700 million into the space sector, including $150 million into Australian businesses so they can pick up more work and support more jobs by partnering with NASA’s Moon to Mars initiative.”
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said South Australia was now at the forefront of the nation’s space endeavours.
“We are now, without a doubt, the space capital of the nation,” said the Premier.
“Young people from across the state have the opportunity to seize incredible jobs across the sector, right here in South Australia.
“We’ve secured the headquarters of the Australian Space Agency, SmartSat CRC, Mission Control and the Space Discovery Centre.
“There’s an ambition to triple the size of Australia’s space economy by 2030, and Adelaide is going to be right at the heart of this monumental project.
“Young South Australians can look up at the stars and genuinely find opportunities right here in this state to pursue their dreams.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the opening was another chance to highlight the great opportunities space presents to everyday Australians.
“Australia’s space sector has gone from strength to strength since we established the Agency and I’m confident we will continue to build on that momentum,” Minister Andrews said.
“Space is inspirational but it’s also big business. The Morrison Government is investing heavily in providing opportunity to Australians. We’ve set the goal of tripling the size of the sector in Australia to $12 billion and adding an extra 20,000 jobs by 2030.
“But beyond that space will create opportunities for core industries — from manufacturing to mining — to tap into new supply chains.”
Head of the Australian Space Agency, Dr Megan Clark AC said our national headquarters is a strong base for the Agency to grow and transform the Australian space industry.
“We’re delighted to have a new home in the centre of Adelaide, and we look forward to developing the Australian Space Discovery Centre and Mission Control, which will open next year,” said Dr Clark.
“I want to thank our team for all the hard work to establish our new facility, on time, and on budget.”
Lot Fourteen also houses other space industry participants including the SmartSat CRC and CSIRO.

The Greens will refer the Environment Restoration Fund and the Communities Environment Program to the Auditor General for investigation, after The Saturday Paper reported today the $100m grants were used by the Coalition for pork-barrelling.
Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the Government’s use of the funding looks and stinks like ‘sports rorts’.
“A $100m grants program for environment restoration projects has reportedly been restricted to 25 preselected projects, most of them in key seats for the Coalition,” she said.
“Much like with sports rorts there’s been no transparency, no criteria to meet and surprise funding for grantees who didn’t even apply for a grant.
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck – or in this case, a rort.
“This is why I’m referring the Environment Restoration Fund and the Communities Environment program to the Auditor General for investigation.
“We need the same scrutiny from the Auditor General on this program, as he gave to the billions of taxpayer dollars handed out under the Community Sport Infrastructure grants program, exposing the rorting and bringing down a Government Minister.
“We need to hold this government accountable for their rorting of taxpayer money to keep themselves in power, but we also need to stand up for our environment which also bears the brunt of the Coalition’s incompetency.
“More money is desperately needed for environmental restoration but it needs to be going to projects that need it the most, not where the LNP is trying to hold seats at election time.”

Australian Greens Industry Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to news that General Motors will axe the Holden brand and 600 workers with it.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This should be a wakeup call to the Morrison Government. We need to urgently deliver a coherent, forward-looking clean and green industry policy, where value-adding in manufacturing takes centre stage. Hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs within weeks.
“Workers deserve decent jobs and a just transition from old industries to the work of the future. Without well-planned support and investment from Government workers will continue to be left high and dry by corporations.
“We must foster a manufacturing renaissance in Australia with big investment from the government in green and renewable industries of the future.
“Now is the time to ensure Australia is on the path to be a renewables powerhouse, that we have a just transition from polluting fossil fuels to long term, sustainable and life-making work. A resurgence of Australian industry and manufacturing is fundamental to this new future.
“As we face the twin crises of climate emergency and economic inequality, a Green New Deal can transform our society and build a more just future for all.”

Greens Spokesperson for Media and Chair of the Senate Inquiry into Press Freedoms Senator Sarah Hanson-Young responded to the Federal Court’s dismissal of the ABC’s legal challenge against the validity of police warrants used to raid its Ultimo headquarters last year:
“Today’s court ruling over the ABC raids shows our press freedom laws are broken. We need proper protection for whistleblowers and journalists so the public know what’s really happening in our names and with our taxes. We have a right to know what the Government is up to.
“The Government should come out today and rule out charging the ABC journalists, and the News Corp journalists involved in other raids. The Attorney-General should stop playing games and tell the public what’s going on and explain why they are spending taxpayers money chasing whistleblowers who simply tell the truth.
“From the Afghan Files to the Sports Rorts, it’s clear the Morrison Government is more worried about their own embarrassment than they are about our security.
“Journalism is not a crime. And speaking up when the Government is engaged in covering up wrongdoing should not make whistleblowers criminals.
“If the law won’t protect journalists then we must have legislated safeguards to guarantee the freedom of the press and whistleblower protections. These protections must be independent of the government.”