Category: Australian News

The debate on establishing a Royal Commission into the Murray-Darling will begin today in the Senate, with a Greens Bill to establish a commission of inquiry.
“This Parliament has a chance to get to the bottom of the Murray-Darling’s woes and ensure those responsible for its ill-health are held to account,” Greens water spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“Like the Banking Royal Commission, the Senate’s support for a bill to establish a commission is an essential step in cleaning up the management of the Murray-Darling and stopping the rorts.
“Farmers, communities and ecosystems throughout the Basin are suffering. We know there are problems with the way it is being managed, and Australians deserve answers.
“Most of the money allocated for the Plan has been spent and the River is still in deep trouble. The only way to ensure we get the answers we need, and those responsible are held to account, is with a comprehensive Royal Commission.
“The South Australia Royal Commission began this important work but was hampered by the refusal of the federal government and other Basin States to participate. A million fish dead and revelations of ongoing mismanagement mean we must have answers.
“Our Bill will be before the Parliament today and I urge every Senator to do the right thing by the River, River communities and the environment and support a Royal Commission.”
Link to Bill: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s1187
Terms of reference
(1)    The Commission must inquire and advise the Parliament in relation to the following matters:
(a)   any misconduct relating to, or affecting, the management of the Basin water resources;
(b)   the legislative and administrative framework for implementing, managing and enforcing the Basin Plan;
(c)    the impact that the implementation, management and enforcement of the Basin Plan has had on the environment, agriculture and communities that rely on the Basin water resources;
(d)   the suitability and effectiveness of the existing legislative and administrative framework for the management of the Basin water resources, including any adverse effects that framework has had on the management of the Basin water resources (whether or not those effects are the result of misconduct);
(e)   the allocation of funds by the Commonwealth and the Basin States to implement the Basin Plan, and the impact of funded projects (including water buybacks and efficiency measures) in facilitating environmental watering in the Murray-Darling Basin;
(f)     the likely impact of climate change to the Basin water resources, and any appropriate measures to take to adapt those resources in light of that impact;
(g)   any matter reasonably incidental to a matter mentioned in the above paragraphs.
(2)    Without limiting paragraph (1)(a), misconduct includes any conduct of a person or body (whether or not a public agency):
(a)   that adversely affects, or that could adversely affect, either directly or indirectly, the honest or impartial performance or exercise of a public agency’s functions or powers; or
(b)   that constitutes or involves an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or a law of the State; or
(c)    that constitutes or involves a contravention of a civil penalty provision under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(d)   that would attract any other penalty under a law of the Commonwealth or a State, including a breach of a standard or licence condition; or
(e)   that constitutes or involves breach of trust, fraud in office, nonfeasance, misfeasance, malfeasance, oppression, extortion or imposition.
(3)    The Commission is not required to inquire, or to continue to inquire, into a particular matter to the extent that it is satisfied that the matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by:
(a)   another inquiry or investigation; or
(b)   a criminal or civil proceeding.
(4)    In inquiring and advising in accordance with subsection (1), the Commission may give priority to matters which, in the Commission’s opinion, have greater potential for harm.

Australian Greens Senator and Spokesperson for Education, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that new TAFE data released today shows the continued decline of TAFE and must be a wake up call to save TAFE.
A new report by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research has shown that for government funded vocational education: student numbers have dropped 1.9%, subject enrolments have dropped 5.7%, and training hours have dropped 6.4%.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This new data once again proves what communities have been saying for some time, TAFE is being slowly destroyed by government neglect and a lack of funding.
“TAFE is an essential part of our public education system but has been deliberately decimated by state and federal governments. We want to see private for-profit providers removed entirely from federal funding of vocational training and TAFE given as close to 100% of funding as possible.
“The Greens have a plan to rebuild TAFE as the vocational training provider of choice for students. We will remove the Gillard-era contestable funding requirements and make TAFE and uni free for all,” she concluded.

Australian Greens Immigration Spokesperson Nick McKim has been ordered to leave Manus Island on the sixth anniversary of the commencement of indefinite offshore detention.
“The veil of secrecy continues to surround Australia’s detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru,” Senator McKim said.
“As a member of the Australian Parliament it is my duty to examine the conditions in which Australia’s detainees are being kept.”
“This has been six long years of cruelty and deprivation.”
“The mental health of detainees is at an all-time low.”
“The deliberate cruelty of the Labor and Liberal parties has removed all hope that these men had for the future.”
“The Australian Greens will continue fighting to ensure all refugees and people seeking asylum are given the freedom and safety they so desperately need.”
Senator McKim was ordered to leave Papua New Guinea on Friday despite having an official passport and multiple entry visa.
“In my six visits to Papua New Guinea I have always followed local laws and been respectful to everyone.”
“It is the Labor and Liberal parties who wear the shame of this bloody chapter, not the people of Papua New Guinea.”

Australian Greens Senator and Spokesperson for International Development, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that climate justice must be central to Australia’s development assistance program following reports that the Foreign Minister, Senator Marise Payne, received the climate change strategy six months ago but is yet to release it.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Climate change is an existential threat to our neighbours and must be front and centre of our foreign aid program. The poorest, who contribute the least to climate change, are often the hardest hit by rising sea levels, extreme weather events and environmental damage.
“Given our dirty hands in producing climate changing emissions, we have a special responsibility to deliver climate justice.
“I urge Senator Payne to urgently release the climate strategy and provide funding to support action on climate change, particularly for our neighbours in the Pacific and South-East Asia.
“The reality is Australia exports climate change. Once our coal exports are counted, we are the world’s sixth largest contributor to climate change. Every tonne of coal we ship out brings us and our neighbours one step closer to the climate precipice,” she concluded.

Australian Greens Senator and Spokesperson for Housing, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to today’s Australian Institute of Health and Research report which shows Australia has lost 20,000 public housing units in the last decade. She welcomed the increase in community housing, but said public housing must be a bigger part of the housing mix.
Senator Faruqi said:
“It is time for the Federal Government to step in and show leadership on the housing crisis. We know that social housing in general has not kept pace with demand.
“It is a national shame that 140,000 people are still on public housing waiting lists.
“The reality is that Government-owned public housing is an essential part of the housing mix, but State Governments have increasingly been shirking their responsibility to build it. Public housing is a crucial part of our social safety net that has been eroded over time. We need to reverse this.
“I am particularly disturbed to see waiting times for people classified as being in the greatest need increasing, rather than decreasing. The most vulnerable in our society shouldn’t be forced to wait over a year for the basic right of a roof over their heads.
“The Greens have a plan to build 500,000 new public and community homes through a Federal Housing Trust. Everyone has the right to a safe, secure and permanent home,” she concluded.

The government must rule out drilling in the Great Australian Bight rather than passing the buck to the regulator, Greens say.
“Pressure from the overwhelming majority of South Australian’s to protect the Bight must be acted on by the government,” Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“South Australians and increasing numbers of Australians around the country want a ban on drilling in the Bight.
“The Morrison government is grossly mistaken if they think a tick and flick ‘audit of the regulator’ will satisfy community concerns. It is the role of the government to represent the people and the people have made their wishes clear.
“This ‘audit is nothing more than a box ticking exercise. The terms of reference are so narrow that it makes a mockery of the real concerns of tens of thousands of South Australians who remain opposed to drilling in the Bight.
“All MPs have the opportunity to protect the Bight by supporting my Bill to ban drilling in the Great Australian Bight. They should think long and hard about what their constituents expect of them.
“The Bight is home to many threatened species, and responsible for thousands and thousands of fishing and tourism jobs. It must be protected, not exploited for more dangerous fossil fuels. Anything less is not good enough.”

Following Four Corners last night, which showed families being torn apart by the Chinese Government’s mass incarceration of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, leader of the Australian Greens Richard Di Natale called for the Australian Government to take urgent action.
Di Natale said: “We are seeing the Chinese Government commit cultural genocide against the Uighur people.  More than one million people have been rounded up and put in massive internment camps.  The mass surveillance in Xinjiang is frightening, as is the forced labour and restrictions on free movement.
“The Australian Government must call this out for what it is, and impose targeted sanctions such as travel bans against Chinese Government officials and entities credibly alleged to be responsible for these serious human rights violations.”
“It’s devastating to hear the stories of Australians and their families, like Sadam Abudusalamu, who have been victims of these human rights abuses. Those who spoke out on Four Corners last night showed incredible bravery. The Australian Government must demand the release of Australian citizens, and any relatives of Australian citizens, who are in arbitrary detention.”
“The Greens welcome the fact that last week Australia added its name to a joint statement urging China to end its mass arbitrary detentions in Xinjiang and allow access for UN and independent international observers, but more must be done.”

About 1 million Australians will benefit from a $600 million boost across the next four years following the Morrison Government’s decision to cut deeming rates.
Minister for Families and Social Services Senator Anne Ruston said the changes would benefit about 630,000 age pensioners and almost 350,000 people receiving other payments.
“The lower deeming rate will decrease from 1.75 per cent to 1.0 per cent for financial investments up to $51,800 for single pensioners and $86,200 for pensioner couples. The upper deeming rate will be cut from 3.25 per cent to 3.0 per cent for balances over these amounts,” Minister Ruston said.
“It will mean more money in the pockets of older Australians. Under the new rates age pensioners whose income is assessed using deeming will receive up to $40.50 a fortnight for couples, $1053 extra a year, and $31 a fortnight for singles, $804 a year.”
The extra money will start flowing through into peoples bank accounts from the end of September in line with the regular indexation of the pension and will be backdated to July 1.
“The decision shows the Morrison Government has listened to and acted on the concerns expressed by older Australians who receive a part pension,” Minister Ruston said.
“While 75 per cent of aged pensioners are not affected by deeming this decision recognises that it is an important issue for those who are.”
“Changes to the deeming rate will also benefit people receiving other income tested payments including the Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment, and income support allowances and supplements such as the Parenting Payment and Newstart.”
“As Minister I made it a priority to be thoroughly informed on this issue to make sure that any decision made on deeming rates was appropriate and reflected the current returns on financial investments.”

The Morrison Government’s renewed commitment to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector will make it central to shaping Australia’s workforce for the future.
Speaking at the 28th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference today, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator Michaelia Cash, said she would lift the profile of Australia’s VET sector and aim to make it the first choice in post-school learning for millions of Australians.
“It is a valuable career choice for many Australians and should not be seen as being something less important than a university degree,” Minister Cash said
More than 4 million people undertook vocational education and training in 2017. At the end of last year, there were more than a quarter of a million apprentices and trainees.
“We know that people with VET qualifications are highly regarded and sought after by employers, but we need more people to choose VET as their path to success,” Minister Cash said.
“The Morrison Government already has in place a number of programs and tools designed to increase the profile of the sector and encourage more Australians to choose a VET qualification.
“These programs will be especially important because, as our economy evolves and our workforce changes, VET will be the way we train and re-train the workforce of the future.
Minister Cash also delivered a message to education providers of the VET sector that more cooperation with industry was required to create better outcomes for students.
“Employers look to vocationally trained workers because of their suitability in skills and experience. Australia’s VET system must better connect with industry, respond to community needs, and have clear, consistent funding.
And with the growth in the VET sector, Minister Cash said there was always room for improvements.
“The sector still bears some of the scars of Labor’s mismanagement of bad student loans, underfunded courses, quality issues and the diminishing of TAFE.
“It is this Government’s promise to continue the hard work of reforming the sector, providing better quality courses, and better outcomes for trainees and employers.”
The Australian Government’s $525 million Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow package announced in the April Budget will also ensure that the sector can help supply Australia’s future workforce.
The package provides every Australian with the opportunity to grow the skills needed to succeed in an evolving workforce and, concurrently offers employers a pipeline of qualified workers they need to grow and prosper.
Minister Cash said the package reflects the Morrison Government’s commitment to growing the number of new apprenticeships.
“Under our landmark skills package, up to 80,000 additional apprenticeships will be created over the next five years in priority skill shortage areas, assisted by new apprenticeship incentives. Youth unemployment will be targeted with an offering of 400 scholarships in regional Australia to the value of $8 million.
“The Government is committed to creating more than 1.25 million jobs over the next five years and I’m confident that more and more of the people filling these positions will be coming to employers through the VET system,” Minister Cash said.

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson and Acting Leader, Adam Bandt MP, today said that Angus Taylor’s apparent refusal to convene the COAG energy council is more evidence that this government does not care about climate action whatsoever.
“The Minister for Emissions Reduction doesn’t want to reduce emissions,” said Mr Bandt.
“The government has no energy policy and no climate policy because it doesn’t actually care about climate change.
“Instead of trying to work constructively through COAG last year, the Minister used procedure to delay and scuttle any kind of progress.
“Once the Renewable Energy Target runs out next year, we won’t have a single, useful climate policy left at a federal level and meanwhile, pollution continues to rise under the Minister’s watch.
“How many people will die from heatwaves, bushfires and cyclones before this government realises we need to reduce pollution?
“I hope that without Tony Abbott in Canberra, the government eventually comes to its senses and works across parliament and with the states to implement proper policy, but they’ve given no indication that they care whether emissions go up or down.”