Category: Australian News

The Morrison Government is providing $700,000 for the Bundaberg Community Diabetes Service – a new approach to complex diabetes care that will address a significant service gap for patients living with the condition.
Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt welcomed today’s announcement which has been funded through the Community Hospitals and Health Program and will be commissioned by the Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN.
“More than 7000 people (6.7 percent) are registered with the National Diabetes Support Scheme in Bundaberg, which is above the state average of 4.8 percent. However it is likely there are more people with diabetes who are undiagnosed,” Mr Pitt said.
“As someone with a family history of late onset diabetes I know that this is a disease which doesn’t discriminate.
“This is not an election commitment, it is a fully funded program which has been identified as needed in this community, which will target high complexity and high-risk patients with diabetes,” Mr Pitt said.
“Our strong economic management means we can provide record investment in these initiatives, Medicare, public hospitals and medicines, delivering more doctors, more nurses and more services to people in Queensland” said Minister for Health Greg Hunt MP.
Without dedicated diabetes services in Bundaberg, high complexity and high risk patients, who make up 20 per cent of people with diabetes, are missing out on specialist care, or having to wait too long for it. This means they are developing complications that might otherwise be prevented.
The new Community Diabetes Service will be delivered by advanced skill GPs, supported by an endocrinologist and multidisciplinary care team. Patients who would otherwise be referred to a specialist are instead referred to the Community Diabetes Service.
A diabetes educator/care coordinator will conduct a comprehensive screening assessment. This includes a review of medications, diabetic history, retinal photographs, foot assessment, depression screening and appropriate blood and urine testing.
Patients are then booked for their diabetes clinic, which is a four-hour session involving the endocrinologist, advanced skill GP and diabetes educator. A management plan is developed, appointments made with allied health services, and the GP kept closely informed of the care and management the patient is receiving. Patients are discharged back to their usual GP once targets have been achieved.
Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN CEO Pattie Hudson said that providing diabetes care in a community setting is an important step to empowering people take a more active role in managing their condition.
“By working with patients who have complex health needs, and providing them with a support network of health care providers in a community clinic setting, we can provide treatment to more people, reducing waiting lists and making specialist care more accessible.”
“The PHN is pleased to be partnering with Diabetes Queensland, the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, GPs and allied health providers in Bundaberg to deliver this innovative service” Mrs Hudson said.
The Government is aware of the significant impact that diabetes has on people and their families and is committed to working towards the prevention of the disease in the Australian community.
We are supporting people living with diabetes on several fronts. This includes cheaper access to products that help them manage their diabetes following improvements to the National Diabetes Services Scheme.
We have expanded free access to glucose monitoring devices for pregnant women, children and more adults with type 1 diabetes, saving Australians up to $7,000 a year. Our investment over the next four years will ensure that free glucose monitoring devices are available to over 37,000 eligible Australians with type 1 diabetes.
We will also invest $54.5 million for research that will give new hope and support for Australian children and adults living with type 1 diabetes.
All of these initiatives are part of our plan to strengthen Australia’s world class health system.
We can deliver this record investment in health without raising taxes for hard-working Queenslanders.

The Liberal National Government will funding 10 highly promising research projects that aim to tackle medical conditions such as epilepsy, dementia, antibiotic resistance, cerebral palsy and stroke.
The projects, funded under Stage One of the bold Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Frontiers initiative, will receive funding of up to $1 million each over one year to develop detailed planning for their cutting-edge research projects.
Each of the selected 10, like Transform Emergency Stroke Care project, will be able to apply for Frontiers Stage Two with the opportunity to secure up to $50 million or more to realise their ground-breaking research plan.
The projects include:

• $999,956 for a world first research project to harness next generation brain imaging technology for diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological disorder of children, and one of the major neurological conditions affecting the Australian population. More than 200,000 Australians currently live with epilepsy. For people with epilepsy, finding the right medication is a matter of ‘try it and see. For one third of patients, no medication is successful and often surgery is also problematic. New advanced brain imaging methods can help. The Precision Medicine for Epilepsy project will use advanced neuroimaging with artificial-intelligence prediction to transform management of epilepsy, reducing clinical uncertainty and leading to earlier decisions and better selection of effective treatments. Professor Jackson and the Florey will collaborate with Australian and international leaders in epilepsy, neuropsychological testing and genetic testing in working groups to dramatically improve epilepsy care and patient experiences.
• $924,100 for research to develop a new interface between the brain and a machine, to help people regain eyesight, movement or other nerve functions. The Cortical Frontiers: Commercialising Brain Machine Interfaces project is headed by Professor Arthur Lowery, Professor of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University. The device was originally developed to restore vision, but can be repurposed to provide stimulation of many neural functions. The Cortical Frontiers project will work with doctors and patients to identify the two most promising applications of the technology for development.
• $998,731 for research towards a national database of antibiotic resistance, to allow resistant strains to be traced, isolated and treated.. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents the greatest health challenge facing humanity. Without a solution, it is forecast to cause 50 million deaths a year worldwide by 2050. The Trace, Track and Tackle project will use sensor technologies, data, knowledge, and artificial intelligence to develop a nationwide system, called OUTBREAK, help in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria. OUTBREAK will allow researchers to study how resistant bacteria spread and how to treat them. Its goal is to protect Australians from AMR infections, and reduce hospital admissions and health care costs. The project is headed by Professor Steven Djordjevic of the Proteomics Core Facility at the University of Technology Sydney.
• $964,700 for research into large scale use of an Australian method for controlling the spread of Zika virus, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases. The Innovative Public Health Program Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases is headed by Professor Scott O’Neill, of the Institute of Vector-Borne Disease at Monash University. Professor O’Neill and his team pioneered the use of a naturally occurring bacterium called Wolbachia to reduce the ability of mosquitoes to transmit certain viruses. The method has been successfully tested in small field trials and a larger field site in Townsville in Queensland
• $895,346 for multidisciplinary research to develop new technologies to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health. The EVE-M — Enhancing the Vaginal Environment and Microbiome—Initiative is headed by Professor Gilda Tachedjian of the Burnet Institute. The EVE-M initiative will develop and commercialise a series of pioneering technologies to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health. It will use innovative materials to harness beneficial genital microbiota to potentially deliver other drugs, including contraceptives. The ultimate goal is to reduce the health burden and cost of bacterial vaginosis and sexually transmitted infections in Australia and around the world. As well as the Burnet Institute, the EVE-M Initiative includes Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds Campus, and Family Planning NSW.
• $960,000 for intensive research into new 4D diagnostic technology to allow accurate assessment of lung function in people of all ages, including the very young and old. The Australian Lung Health Initiative aims to deliver an original technology that is rapid, easy to use and safe, with less than 10 per cent of the radiation used by x-rays. Patients would not have to remain still or follow instructions, making it suitable for infants, children, older people and the very sick who are difficult to assess with current technology.The five-year project will build on Australian company 4Dx Limited’s patented XV Technology™, a four-dimensional lung function imaging analysis, and new lose-dose imaging science. Professor Andreas Fouras is founder, chairman, and chief executive of 4Dx.The Australian Lung Health Initiative was formed to bring together world-leading Australian scientists, engineers, manufacturers and medical researchers to revolutionise lung screening and treatment.
• $1 million for a world first Australian research project using the latest genome editing technology to rapidly detect and identify infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance. The c-FIND: CRISPR Frontier Infection Diagnostics to Detect Infection project is led by Professor Marc Pellegrini of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. There is an urgent, unmet need around the world for rapid and accurate identification of infectious disease in patients, to combat antimicrobial resistance and mitigate the devastating consequences of epidemics and pandemics. Breakthrough CRISPR technology (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) provides scientists with the prospect of new, accurate and fast point-of-care diagnostics. Work by the c-FIND team has the potential to dramatically change the way infectious diseases are diagnosed, providing clinically relevant answers in real time, and speeding time to treatment.
• $1 million for a world first Australian research project using therapeutic ultrasound to treat brain disorders, including dementia. The Therapeutic Ultrasound for the Treatment of Brain Disorders project is headed by Professor Juergen Goetz, Director of the Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Queensland Brain Institute. Last year, around 450,000 Australians were living with dementia. Without a medical breakthrough, this number is expected to rise to more than a million by 2028. The multidisciplinary therapeutic ultrasound program will build on the UQ’s successful use of ultrasound to improve the effectiveness of drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. It will aim to deliver an innovative technological platform combining ultrasound and essential auxiliary technology to effectively treat Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.
• $747,596 for a world first Australian research project to test a new biomedical technology to deliver spinal cord stimulation as a treatment for cerebral palsy. The Cerebral Palsy Treatment by Closed Loop Electrical Stimulation project is headed by Professor John Parker, founder and chief executive officer of Saluda Medical Pty Ltd and Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Cerebral palsy is an incurable disease characterised by spasticity. There is no current cure although various treatments can provide some relief from symptoms. Currently more than 34,000 Australians are affected by cerebral palsy. Every 15 hours, a child is born with cerebral palsy in Australia, making it the most common form of childhood physical disability. Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord may have therapeutic benefits, but has not been adopted in clinical practice due to the limitations of current implants. Saluda Medical is a medical device company at the cutting edge of bioelectronics medicines. It has developed a closed loop feedback technology that measures neural activity controlling muscles and applies electrical stimulation to the spinal cord that self-adjusts to remain within the therapeutic range.
• $1 million to identified the development of new technologies to care for stroke victims before they reach hospital as one of the first funded projects. The multidisciplinary research alliance on pre-hospital care for stroke is headed by Professor Geoffrey Donnan of the University of Melbourne and includes stroke experts, engineers, computer scientists, paramedics, healthcare providers and non-government organisations. The Alliance will spend a year creating a detailed research plan to develop new, lightweight brain imaging equipment to transform diagnosis and care for stroke victims in the so-called ‘golden hour’— the first hour after a stroke occurs. Coupled with real-time data transmission capability, this will allow images to be sent from specialised road and air ambulances to stroke specialists in major hospitals. More than 56,000 Australians have strokes every year and around half a million people are living with the effects of stroke.

Frontiers is an initiative under the $1.3 billion National Health and Medical Industry Growth Plan And the 2019-20 Budget MRFF 10 year Investment Plan extends Frontiers to 2027-28 and increases funding from $240 million to a total allocation of $570 million.
Frontiers provides endless possibilities for Australia’s talented researchers.
These projects have the potential to save and protect millions of lives.
This investment has the potential to transform healthcare and stimulate growth in the Australian medical technologies, biomedical and pharmaceutical sector, a vital part of the innovation economy.
The Coalition Government’s strong economic management ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding into ground-breaking medical research, Medicare, mental health, life-saving medicines, and hospitals.
All applications were assessed by an International Scientific Peer Review Panel to ensure those recommended for funding would deliver new to world ideas and opportunities.

Australian Greens leader Dr Richard Di Natale has paid tribute to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
“Bob Hawke will be remembered as a giant among Prime Ministers. He was a champion for the environment, he stood against racism and he gave voice to workers. He showed an unparalleled ability to connect with people across the country, regardless of status or political affiliation.
“Bob Hawke’s leadership on environmental issues showed tremendous courage. He took action to save the Franklin River, despite suffering a political backlash in Tasmania, and he delivered world heritage listing of Kakadu National Park and the Daintree Wet Tropics. Thanks to him some of our most precious places are now protected forever and he has inspired many of us to follow in his footsteps.
“At a time when the world faced the menace of apartheid, of the Tiananmen Square massacre and human rights abuses, Bob did not back away from speaking with honesty and strength on the global stage.
“His legacy, including Medicare, legislation to end gender discrimination in the workplace and our strengthened relationship with our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific, have become cornerstones of our nation.
“Farewell Silver Bodgie, you were a Labor Legend and you’ll be missed.”

The future of Australia depends up on a long overdue reckoning with our past. We need to be brutally honest about the complex facts of contemporary indigenous Australia. Most critically, the time has come for indigenous Australia to have a stake in power.
Together supports the Uluru Statement From the Heart. A physical presence and an advisory body, the Voice to Parliament – at federal and state levels, would be a practical and symbolic reminder of our past and an investment in a shared future. A Voice to Parliament must be written into our constitution and can also lead the process of working through treaties with the myriad First Nations of Australia.
Together advocates an Indigenous Future Fun supported by federal government taxation; levies, duties, royalties and taxed from the states; donations from the public and investments from superannuation funds and other institutions.
The Fund would be run by First Nations leaders from business and government, communities and the professions. Its would direct spending on key projects across housing, health, education, economic development, the arts and criminal justice. By consolidating and aggregating expenditure across these overlapping projects it would aim to maximise the economic and social returns.
“Housing is fundamental to a future for indigenous Australia,” Together founder and candidate for the Senate for NSW Mark Swivel said. “We must acknowledge the failure and waste of recent ‘mainstreamed’ government projects.
Indigenous leadership is required to roll out housing for remote and regional, suburban and inner-city indigenous people. Designing these communities must be led by the communities not Canberra. Property buying tax incentives must be shifted from private property into community housing, including indigenous housing.”
Health and Education
Indigenous health remains poor despite years of effort and funding. Infant mortality, life expectancy and incidence of disease is at odds with the prosperity and health of our general population. Our indigenous health budget is under a $1billion, this needs to be at least doubled, an investment that would be offset by savings in other programs that currently mop-up the consequences of this underinvestment.
Massive strides have been made in the inclusion of real indigenous history but curricula still need an overhaul to incorporate indigenous Australian culture and history – and education across the board to adapt to the needs of First Nations communities. Pathways for indigenous students into the professions, supported by industry placements and mentoring are key to maximising investments.
Business and the Arts
The starting point for business development is acknowledging that change is underway but it needs to be fostered to flourish – like business anywhere. This must be led by indigenous enterprises that are emerging all over Australia. The Indigenous Future Fund can provide seed capital and bridging finance to scale up existing businesses, connecting them with national and international markets, delivering tailored support from initiatives such as grants to micro-finance.
The arts lie at the centre of the identity and culture of indigenous Australia but they are also a key economic activity. At present too much value is extracted by non-indigenous Australia. Government must develop strategies to keep value in communities for artists and their families, for instance by strengthening community owned co-operatives
“Government needs to cooperate closely with the arts sector to access its supply chain and distribution networks both locally and internationally – with the overriding objective of ensuring financial dividend from the arts is retained to build First Nations communities” Swivel said.
Justice
The starting point to deliver genuine justice into the future. need to acknowledge that Australia has failed its First Nations people in criminal justice.
Criminal justice for our indigenous people remains a national and unacknowledged disgrace. Outrageous incarceration levels, continuing deaths in custody and police harassment in daily life are problems that must be tackled head-on. We need a program to ensure there are indigenous magistrates across our entire local court system together with more indigenous community policing, the mainstreaming of community justice conferencing and critical cross-cultural education for police and magistrates.
Northern Territory and Native Title
The paternalistic; Northern Territory Intervention must be stopped. It is a relic of an earlier, colonial time. Solutions must be developed in partnership with each community, not imposed as generic solutions. The Voices to Parliament and Indigenous Future Fund would lead the development of new approaches in the NT and other remote communities.
The Indigenous Future Fund would also lead solutions in the development of Native Title responses and compensation. The watershed Timber Creek decision is the first of many claims across Australia that should be engaged with proactively. Australia owes its First Nations communities and the approach should be orchestrated and future-focused rather than reactive and piecemeal. The IFF board would lead strategies for housing, health, education, economic development, the arts and criminal justice.
Indigenous Australia needs its say in power. Together supports putting a stake in the ground and offers to participate in the conversations to help make that happen.

A parliamentary inquiry will be established by a Morrison Government to investigate community concerns of a possible cancer cluster in Barwon Heads.
Member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson, said “I have been meeting with local residents and hearing their concerns about the number of people with cancer in this area”.
“They want answers as to why it appears there is an unusual number of cancer cases and to understand if there are local environmental contributing factors.”
“Residents deserve to be heard and so far they don’t feel they have been given all the information or there has been sufficient investigation of the claims. I have written to Premier Daniel Andrews requesting that an independent judicial inquiry be conducted but have not had a response.”
“We again call on the Victorian Government to respond comprehensively to these community concerns.”
Health Minister, Greg Hunt, said “Sarah has been a strong advocate for the community and ensuring their voice is heard. In response to her representations, I have agreed to establish a parliamentary inquiry to investigate the health concerns of residents.”
The Victorian Government has issued a statement denying there is evidence of higher rates of cancer. The City of Greater Geelong has also denied that its mosquito spraying program is in anyway connected with these rates of cancer.
This parliamentary inquiry will provide residents with an important avenue to have their concerns raised, make submissions and have the issues investigated.

The Morrison Government is a jobs Government.
Jobs figures released by the ABS today reinforce the importance of a strong economy to the jobs prospects of all Australians.
There are over 1.3 million more people in work than there were in 2013, with over 320,000 jobs created last year and almost 30,000 jobs in the last month.
Participation in the jobs market is the highest it has ever been and female participation is the highest it has ever been.
More than three quarters of the jobs created over the last year were full-time and more women are in full-time work than ever before.
Last year, over 100,000 new jobs were created for young people, the first time this has ever been achieved.
Welfare dependency is at its lowest level in 30 years.
Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations and Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, said the Coalition’s economic plan is working.
“Our plan for a strong and secure economy is working. There are 1.3 million more people in work than when we came to office, and a record number of Australians participating in the jobs market,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“The Morrison Government is committed to creating a further 1.25 million jobs over the next five years, including 250,000 jobs for young Australians.”
“A weaker economy under Bill Shorten risks jobs and livelihoods. When Labor was last in Government more than 205,000 Australians joined the unemployment queue. The number of unemployed women in Australia increased by more than 80,000 under Labor. The total unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent and 12.7 per cent for young Australians.”
The only way to deliver more jobs is through a stronger economy under a Liberal-National Government.

A re-elected Liberal National government will commission an independent audit of NOPSEMA’s current consideration of exploration in the Great Australian Bight.
The Liberal National Government recognises that the Great Australian Bight and the surrounding region are important to local communities, and the fishing and tourism industries. The region is known for its unique environment and deserves strong protection.
Australia has one of the safest regimes for offshore oil and gas in the world. There are very strict safety and environmental standards and the industry is overseen by Australia’s independent regulator NOPSEMA (National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority).
The Liberal National Government recognises community concerns around drilling in the Great Australian Bight and community groups are seeking further assurance of environmental protection.
The Liberal National Government will commission an independent audit, to be conducted by the Chief Scientist, to provide this additional level of assurance to the community
The independent audit will be jointly commissioned by the Minister for Resources and the Minister for the Environment. The Chief Scientist will be asked to work with NOPSEMA to assure all environmental considerations are thoroughly considered as part of the assessment process and decision making of the independent regulator. The audit will be conducted in tandem with the assessment process.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) is Australia’s independent regulator for health and safety, well integrity and environmental management for offshore oil and gas activities in Commonwealth waters and in coastal waters where regulatory powers and functions have been conferred. NOPSEMA was established on 1 January 2012.
Exploratory drilling proposals will continue to be assessed by NOPSEMA, which has an independent assessment process underway under Australian law.

The Morrison Government has maintained its commitment to responsible Budget management during this election campaign and will continue to deliver a budget surplus this coming year and every year over the forward estimates and the medium term.
Additional spending on election commitments by the Coalition, beyond what was already factored into the 2019-20 Budget, has been modest and has been more than offset by additional savings.
Since the Budget delivered on 2 April 2019, the Coalition has made $1.4 billion in new spending commitments over the forward estimates, building to $3.8 billion over the medium term.
This is more than offset by a reduction in departmental funding of $1.5 billion over the forward estimates, building to $5 billion over the medium term.
This means a re-elected Coalition Government will reduce departmental funding by $600 million less than Labor, who have announced a $2.1 billion cut to departmental funding.
That means that over the forward estimates departmental funding will reduce from $288.6 billion to $287.1 billion over the forward estimates, whereas under Labor it would reduce further to $286.5 billion.
Unlike Labor the Coalition will leave it to the judgement of departmental secretaries where those efficiencies are best found.
If departmental secretaries assess that these efficiencies can best be secured through reductions in expenditure on contractors, consultants and travel, because that makes sense from a value-for-money point of view, then of course that is what the Coalition would expect them to do.
Efficiency outcomes will be better and more sensible by letting departmental secretaries make those judgements based on value-for-money considerations.
The net effect of all our policy commitments announced since the Budget during the election campaign is a slight improvement to the budget surplus in each year of the current forward estimates period, without increasing taxes.
This leads to a slight overall increase in the cumulative surplus, now expected to be $45.1 billion over the next four years.
In contrast Labor has abandoned any pretence of budget responsibility.
Labor’s own costings reveal a massive $35 billion in additional spending on its promises over the forward estimates, and $112 billion over the medium term.
However, its spending goes well beyond this. Just one day after Labor released its costings, Bill Shorten promised a further $10 billion in spending.
Labor’s costings do not account for a series of expensive spending promises they have made costing more than $40 billion over the forward estimates and more than $240 billion over the next decade.
The Coalition has made a lot of progress in rebuilding our economy and repairing the Budget. There is more to do. This is not the time to turn back to Labor’s fiscal mismanagement. The Coalition has the right plan to build our economy and secure Australia’s future.
Our plan to deliver Budget surpluses without increasing taxes.

Only Labor will be in a position to improve aged care and adequately respond to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
By contrast, the Liberals have still not answered what other programs and services they will cut to deliver their promise of at least $77 billion in tax cuts for very high income earners, and that’s before they make further cuts that would be needed to pay for any new aged care spending commitments.
We know the Liberals called the Royal Commission because they failed to drive reform across the aged care sector over the past six years:

• There are 128,000 older Australians waiting for their approved level of home care package.
• The Liberals cut almost $2 billion from residential aged care.
• The Liberals sat on dozens of reports, reviews and inquiries about how to improve aged care but instead called a Royal Commission.

A Shorten Labor Government will work with the sector, including all unions, to improve aged care and respond to the Royal Commission’s recommendations once they are handed down.
To further improve the quality of care and support a future aged care workforce, an elected Shorten Labor Government will:

• Immediately investigate interventions to ensure older Australians most at need are prioritised for home care.
• Provide opportunities through TAFE so that up to 20,000 aged care workers can obtain or improve their qualifications.
• Immediately speed up implementation of the Matter of Care workforce strategy to address inadequate staffing in aged care.
• Ensure that for residential aged care facilities there is a registered nurse present, on site, 24 hours a day.
• Publish the skill mix of the workforce employed at every residential aged care facility to ensure the appropriate skills mix of properly trained staff is present at all times.
• Look at how best to improve access to home care packages and increasing staffing levels and skills.
• Further address the number of GPs working in aged care to provide proper incentives for GPs to do home visits and provide services in residential aged care.

Consistent with Labor’s commitment to support Australians with dementia and their families and carers, a Shorten Labor Government will:

• Make improving the care of Australians with dementia a national priority.
• Remove the complexity of multiple interactions between the Department of Health and Ageing, Centrelink, aged care providers, and the broader health care system for Australians with dementia and their families.
• Improve the training of aged care staff to improve the workforce’s understanding of dementia, including scholarships for nurses and carers to undertake specialist dementia care training.

Labor also recognises the unique requirements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and LGBTIQ communities, and will prioritise establishing programs that focus on improved support for these groups.