Category: Australian News

The Australian Greens have called on Scott Morrison to lift his climate ambition to save Australian lives, as the NSW climate bushfires leave Sydney air quality as unhealthy as smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes a day.
Quotes attributable to New South Wales Senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi:
“Sydney has been choking under heavy smoke for days now.  We know particle pollution kills and people are suffering. We are in a health and climate emergency.
“What we are experiencing is completely unprecedented and this is only going to get worse if we don’t take climate action now.
Quotes attributable to Greens spokesperson for the climate crisis, Adam Bandt MP:
“Scott Morrison must lift his climate ambition now to save people’s lives.
“As COP25 launched in Madrid overnight, Australia was once again awarded ‘Fossil of the Day’ for our climate denialism and pollution failures. Australia should be global leaders on climate, but instead we’re climate laggards.
“Decisions made over the next few weeks as part of global climate negotiations could determine whether we’ll be sweltering through 50 degree days in Sydney and Melbourne. Decisions now will determine whether the record breaking drought Australians are living through becomes the new normal.

The epidemic of scandals involving Liberal parliamentarians continues with Liberal MP Gladys Liu linked to a donor at the centre of a money laundering probe by Australian authorities.
Greens co-deputy leader Larissa Waters said, “It’s time to end cash-for-access and get the influence of big money and dodgy donors out of politics.
“Prime Minister Morrison should stop the protection racket for Ms Liu and his embattled Ministers and stop the rot by capping political donations and election spending.
“Both the Coalition and the Labor Party say they want to tackle undue foreign influence on politics but they won’t clean up political donations, because they are addicted to the money.
“If Australia capped political donations and election spending, we could address all those seeking to interfere in our democracy, whether they are foreign powers, corporate interests or donors with an agenda.
“The Greens want to cap all political donations at $1,000 per year and ban outright political donations from the mining, property development and gambling industries.
“Every member of parliament should act in the best interests of the community, not for their own self-interest and profit.
“It’s time Australia removed the corrupting influence of money in politics and give democracy back to the people,” she said.

Australian Greens International Aid and Development spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to revelations that the Morrison government will cease all bilateral aid to Pakistan as funds for development assistance are diverted to the Pacific. Nepal will also have its budget almost halved.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Raiding the aid budget of one country so Australia can further its national interest in the Pacific is a shameless pursuit of self interest by Australia.
“The reality is that we could be providing sufficient overseas development assistance to both South Asia and the Pacific if the Coalition hadn’t cut the aid budget consistently since they came to power.
“Australia is already in an embarrassing position globally, with our aid budget well behind the OECD average. Australia can and should be a global leader in foreign aid.
“Pakistan is already bearing a huge burden of the climate emergency, with rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather events like floods and storms. Coal is the biggest contributor to climate breakdown and Australia is the biggest exporter of coal. We have a special obligation to assist countries with climate change mitigation and adaptation.
“The brutal impact of aid budget cuts to vital programs in Pakistan and South Asia will be borne by the people most in need – women and children. This is unacceptable. The Australian Government must reverse cuts and reinstate aid programs.” she concluded.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said Labor and the Coalition have betrayed the Central Coast and Newcastle Community by voting down a Greens motion calling for genuine community consultation on Asset Energy’s plan to conduct seismic testing for gas.
The motion (below) expressed community concern that Asset Energy and its partners would lodge their environmental plan over the holiday period, restricting genuine community participation. It called on the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority to extend the consultation period to sixty days if a plan is lodged over the holidays.
Senator Faruqi said:
“It is pretty clear that Labor and the Coalition have betrayed the Central Coast and Newcastle communities by voting down this very reasonable request to give the community a genuine say on  this environmentally devastating project.
“Labor says they stand with the community, but every time the issue has come in the Federal Parliament, they buckle and sit with the Liberals and Nationals. The community won’t tolerate politicians who say one thing and then do another.
“The local community is firmly against this proposal and is deeply concerned that the Environmental Plan will be sneakily lodged during the holiday period, denying the time to properly scrutinise it. I cannot fathom how Labor and the Coalition could argue with the premise that the community should be given a fair go to have their say on the plan.
“It is just further evidence of how fossil fuel companies call the shots for Labor and the Coalition while the community is always put last.
“Seismic testing poses a huge risk to marine animals and the environment. The Greens will continue to stand with the community and against the fossil fuel lobby’s offshore drilling proposals which will accelerate the climate crisis.
The Motion
I give notice that on the next day of sitting, I shall move—That the Senate:
1. Notes that:
a.     Asset Energy and their project partners are planning to conduct further seismic testing for gas off the coast of Newcastle and the Central Coast in New South Wales;
b.     The Environmental Plan for the seismic testing is currently being developed and once submitted, the community will have only 28 days to respond to the regulator;
c.      The community is concerned that the Environmental Plan may be lodged with National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) during the holiday period, limiting opportunities for genuine community consultation and feedback.
2. Calls on NOPSEMA to:
a)     ensure that if any Environmental Plan is exhibited for community consultation during December 2019 or January 2020, that the community consultation period is extended to at least sixty days;
b)    conduct extensive public hearings in the affected communities of the Central Coast, Northern Beaches and Newcastle and to advertise the hearings extensively in local media.

The Greens have backed the call by civil society organisations today for the Morrison Government to drop their plans to outlaw environmental and consumer boycotts.
Their call follows the PM’s announcement to the coal lobby last month that he would introduce new laws crack down on environmental boycott campaigns.
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the PM’s plan was an attack on basic democratic rights.
“Australians of all political persuasions value their rights and freedoms to support products, services and companies that align with their values. More and more Australians are using their consumer power to make good environmental choices and their right to do so should be protected,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“Australians should have the right to choose whether they back the palm-oil free campaign run by Australian zoos, boycott banks that fund fossil fuel projects, or support businesses that have pledged to only purchase ethical paper to save our forests.
“In Scott Morrison’s dictatorship, campaigns that have pushed companies to make better choices for our environment won’t be possible.
“This coal-hugging government is again backing big polluters and their corporate donors over the rights of everyday Australians to choose to support and fund products and services that are good, not bad, for the environment.
“Even the PM’s ‘quiet Australians’ want their freedoms protected, it’s time he ruled out this attack.”

The Morrison Government is making things up as they go along, while the Murray-Darling is in deeper and deeper crisis and communities and the environment are suffering, the Greens say.
Greens Senator for South Australia and Spokesperson for the Environment and Water Sarah Hanson-Young said the Murray-Darling Basin Plan debate is not about farmers versus the environment, it’s big corporates versus everyone else.
“The water sharing arrangements are supposed to stop communities being pitted against each other and to avoid water wars in times of crisis,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“Corporate greed is the real enemy, not the environment. It is deceitful of the Liberal Nationals to blame environmental flows that are crucial for the River’s survival, for the lack of water available to river communities and farmers.
“This Government has turned a blind eye to six years of mismanagement, water theft and corruption while big corporate irrigators drain the River. It is the over-allocations and floodwater-harvesting of big corporate irrigators and water barons that must be reined in.
“Greed and corruption are killing the River and leaving River communities to suffer.
“It’s unacceptable that the Government’s own Inspector General will have no powers to act until mid-next year.  We should’ve been dealing with the legislation this week before the summer break.”
Senator Hanson-Young said NSW was again calling for the 450GL SA was promised to be written out of the plan, and called on the SA Water Minister David Speirs to stand up for his state.
“Failing to deliver the remaining 450GL will condemn the Lower Murray to death. The SA Liberal Government must stand up for our state and protect the water the River needs to survive,”  she said.
“There’s no jobs on a dead river.”

Greens Senator for South Australia and Spokesperson for Water and the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young responded to Minister Littleproud’s announcement today relating to the Murray-Darling Basin:
“Any review of the Murray-Darling Basin must be based on science, not politics.
“The review into the management of the Murray-Darling Basin must investigate the corporate greed and corruption that has eroded the effectiveness and delivery of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
“Big corporate irrigators have drained the Murray-Darling at the expense of everyone else – small farmers, the community and the environment.
“Mr Keelty must consider the allegations of mismanagement and maladministration found by the SA Royal Commission. We need a plan for the Murray-Darling that is focussed on delivering sustainable water use throughout the Basin, one that is fair, based on science and takes into account climate change.
“There’s two days left of the parliamentary year; the Government must outline in parliament before we rise, the powers that Mr Keelty will have to conduct this inquiry and the terms by which it will be conducted.”

Labor has announced today it will support a Royal Commission into veteran suicide.
Official figures released last week showed a disturbingly high rate of suicide among current and ex-service men and women – with more than 400 deaths since 2001.
This Australian Institute of Health and Welfare research indicated that suicide rates for current and former Defence personnel compared to the rest of the Australian population are higher than ever.
Australia can no longer tolerate this senseless loss of life.
This is nothing less than a crisis and as a nation, we need to do all we can to tackle this.
Labor believes the best way to do this is through a thorough and comprehensive Royal Commission.
We are calling on the Morrison Government to do the right thing by our ex-service men and women, and establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicide as soon as possible.
This will help to shine a light on the issue, investigate why so many of our veterans are taking their own lives, and determine what measures are needed to stop these tragic deaths.
The terms of reference should include serving men and women, their transition from active service back to civilian life, and their ongoing circumstances.
The men and women who serve our country deserve our gratitude and respect, and we owe it to them to have a comprehensive examination of how we can reduce, and hopefully eliminate, these tragic numbers.
Their deaths are heartbreaking and cause immeasurable loss and grief for their loved ones left behind, their local communities, and indeed the nation.
We know many veterans and veterans’ families have been calling for this for some time now – they want to prevent future suicides and other families from suffering in the way they have.
And we have listened to courageous advocates like Julie-Ann Finney, whose son David took his own life in February this year after a battle with PTSD.
Labor Members of Parliament have met with Ms Finney and she has made a strong case for a Royal Commission.
We want this to be a bipartisan effort – we want to work with the Government, the Parliament and the veteran community and do all we can to address the scourge of veteran suicide.

The Greens urge the Government to use the parliamentary break to amend the serious problems in the proposed religious discrimination laws.

“This is a chance for the Prime Minister to fix the obvious flaws in the Bill which allow for harmful discrimination,” Greens Justice spokesperson Nick McKim said.
“But it’s no secret that some church groups want to be allowed to discriminate even more than they were already being offered.”
“As drafted, the Bill undermined state and Commonwealth discrimination protections for women, people with disability, senior Australians and LGBTIQ+ people.
“We will be watching this very closely because the danger here is that the bill will come back worse than it already was.”
Greens LGBTIQ+ spokesperson Janet Rice said:

“I’m relieved the Bill won’t be introduced to Parliament this coming week. The current draft is a Trojan horse for hate, designed to make discriminating against LGBTIQ+ people legal.”

“The Greens support legislation that protects the rights of people to hold and practice their religious beliefs, but this must not come at the expense of LGBTIQ+ people and other minorities.”

Our Government is strengthening Australia’s response to the threat of foreign interference with a new taskforce to disrupt and deter anyone attempting to undermine our national interests.
The number one priority of our Government is to keep Australians safe which is why we’re investing $87.8 million for a new Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce. It highlights our focus on stepping up our efforts as the threats to Australia evolve.
The Taskforce will work in to the National Counter Foreign Interference Coordinator that we established last year in the Department of Home Affairs and expand the resources the Coordinator has at their fingertips. It will be led by a senior ASIO officer and bring together a new team of Australian Federal Police investigators and representatives from AUSTRAC, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Australian Geospatial Intelligence Organisation. The Office of National Intelligence will also support the Taskforce.
This is a boost to our ability to discover, track and disrupt foreign interference in Australia.
The increase in intelligence collection, assessment and law enforcement capabilities will help turn more intelligence assessments into operational disruptions to better protect Australians from foreign interference.
The new dedicated capability of the Taskforce will also increase the collaboration and streamline the decision-making between agencies, and strengthen Australia’s analysis of the sophisticated disinformation activities happening across the world, particularly against democratic processes and elections.
Importantly, this investment will deliver a new capability without detracting from agencies’ continued and necessary efforts on other security challenges.
Today’s announcement builds on the $38.8 million we’ve invested since 2018‑19 to counter foreign interference, which includes establishing a Foreign Interference Threat Assessment Centre in ASIO and funding to support criminal prosecutions under new foreign interference offences.
We have already taken significant steps to strengthen Australia’s capacity to defend against foreign interference, including through the package of legislation introduced in 2018.
We will continue to take strong action to deter acts of foreign interference as the threat evolves, defend against them when they occur, and uphold our laws.