Category: Australian News

Labor is clearly a medi-fraud with their latest claims today.
Labor started the freeze and we ended it. Labor stopped listing medicines whereas we have guaranteed the listing of medicines.
Embarrassingly for Mr Shorten we ended the Medicare freeze which Labor introduced. Labor introduced the Medicare indexation freeze in 2013; the Liberal National Government ended it in the 2017 Budget.
This indexation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule, which the Government reintroduced in the 2017-18 Budget, is delivering an additional $1.7 billion (including 90% of diagnostic imaging items) for Medicare services through to 2021-22.
Labor entirely refused to index a single diagnostic imaging item. By contrast we are the first Government to have indexed imaging including x-rays ultrasounds, CT Scans and mammography among other items.
Medicare funding is up from $19 billion per year under Labor to $25 billion in 18-19, $26 billion in 19-20, $27 billion in 2020-21 and $29 billion in 2021-22 under the Coalition Government.
Our stronger economy has enabled the Coalition Government to deliver record federal funding for public hospital services, increasing from $13.3 billion in 2012-13 when Labor left office to a record $21.1 billion this year (a 54 percent increase).
Under a new national hospitals agreement, the Government has committed an extra $30 billion in public hospital funding from 2020-21 to 2024-25, taking overall funding during this period to $130 billion.
Bulk billing is up nearly 4% from 82.2% under Labor to a record 86.1% under the Coalition Government. This means more patients are visiting their local GP without having to pay an out of pocket cost.
The simple fact is Labor and Shorten cannot be trusted. They can’t manage the economy and they can’t manage health.
Three questions for Mr Shorten:

• Why did Mr Shorten stop listing medicines in his 2011 Budget as Assistant Treasurer and will he now apologise?
• Why did he not index one single X-ray, ultrasound or diagnostic imaging item in Labor’s six years in Government?
• Why is he ripping the Private Health Insurance Rebate away from 65,000 mostly regional and older Australians?

These questions must be answered.

Greens Defence spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, commented on the release of the Auditor-General’s report into Defence’s Management of its Projects of Concern.
“The Auditor-General’s finding that Defence no longer has an appropriate framework to manage projects of concern comes as no surprise.
“Defence is basically given a blank cheque.
“For example, the White Paper lists the cost of 12 new submarines at simply “>$50bn”.
“With this sort of indifference to cost it is no surprise that Defence is not properly managing projects of concern.
“Both the major parties are responsible with their joint support for the arbitrary target of Defence spending equalling 2% of GDP, absent of any escalation in the overall threat to the nation.
“This is pouring public money into the pockets of weapon manufacturers and entering us into a regional arms race.
“Neither of these things are making us safer.”

Greens Co-Deputy Leader and industrial relations spokesperson, Adam Bandt MP, today welcomed Labor’s move towards the Greens’ position on the minimum wage, but said his party would amend Labor’s laws in the Senate to ensure a ‘hard floor’ under the minimum wage of 60% of the adult median wage.
“It’s good that Labor is moving towards the Greens’ position on the minimum wage, but there are some problems with the ALP’s approach,” said Mr Bandt.
“If we can turf the conservatives out we’ll work with Labor to lift the minimum wage, but we’ll amend the law in the Senate to ensure a ‘hard floor’ of 60% of the adult median wage, a recognised poverty level.
“When 1 in 4 people in poverty is working full-time, our labour laws are broken.
“The penalty rates decision from the Fair Work Commission shows that guidelines aren’t enough. Without a ‘hard floor’ in legislation, wages can still go backwards.
“The Liberals have threatened the Fair Work Commission’s independence by stacking it with their mates, which is all the more reason for a hard minimum wage floor in the new industrial relations laws.”

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today reacted to the Coalition’s so-called ‘shortlist’ of underwriting projects that include coal, re-iterating his intention to stop the Commonwealth from using taxpayer dollars on coal-fired power.
“Any ‘shortlist’ that includes coal is a shortcut to worse droughts and more bushfires,” said Mr Bandt.
“Spending taxpayer money on coal is like giving money from the health budget to a tobacco company.
“The government shouldn’t be upgrading coal, it should be shutting it down.
“The Greens have legislation before Parliament that would stop this misuse of public money, as well as an amendment to the so-called ‘big stick’ legislation. It’s clear that Parliament needs to save the government from their own madness on climate change.
“When Parliament resumes, we’ll seek to stop the government pouring precious taxpayer dollars into coal when it should be going into schools and hospitals.”

Barnaby Joyce should be blaming his party’s consistent backing of corporate cotton for his electoral woes, not water flowing into South Australia, the Greens say.
“Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals will defend their corporate cotton grower mates to the bitter end. They only have themselves to blame for their NSW election blowout, as much as they want to pin it on South Australia,” Greens water and environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“This isn’t the first time Barnaby Joyce has tried to blame South Australia for the state of the river. The fact is if he wasn’t doing favours for corporate cotton, the Nationals wouldn’t be bleeding votes in river seats.
“A healthy river must be the priority. When the river is healthy, our river communities have clean drinking water, we don’t have mass fish deaths, and there is water for our nation’s food bowl.
“This latest attack from Barnaby Joyce is simply malicious from a member of a party that has continuously done the wrong thing by their constituents, our nation’s most important river system and the people who rely on it. If we are serious about restoring the river and cleaning up the corruption and rorting the Nationals turn a blind eye to, we need a Royal Commission.
“South Australia is at the bottom end of the river, we bear the brunt of bad decisions upstream and we’re not going to cop attacks from a man who boasted about taking water from the environment to hand to big corporate irrigators. The Nationals should be stripped of any responsibility over water policy before it is too late for our river.”

The Australian Greens media reform package turns the blow torch on the big corporate media giants and places quality, public interest journalism front and centre. With an inquiry to break up media concentration, a review of the social media giants and a series of tax changes and transparency measures we’ll be making sure the public interest is prioritised ahead of profits.
“Australians from all walks of life are concerned about the role the news and social media are playing in people’s lives. In an era of ‘fake news’, tragedies like we saw in Christchurch, and countless examples like the treatment of Tayla Harris, it’s easy to see why,” Greens media spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“We know we need media policy that keeps pace with the times, and reflects the public interest if we want to keep this pillar of our democracy strong.
“We have one of the most concentrated media markets in the democratic world. Whether it’s traditional media or new social media, for too long the rules have put profits ahead of the public interest.
“These policies will reorient our priorities to allow public interest journalism and the public good to be put ahead of the profits of news media organisations and digital advertisers.
“We are going to shine a light on the concentration of our news media with a Productivity Commission Inquiry. And we’ll turn the microscope on the digital giants as well with a full review of social media.
“Our transparency measures will shine a light on the dodgy digital advertising practices that are taking dollars for journalism away from publishers.
“We can strengthen our democracy by halting the slide toward more and more concentrated news ownership and put public interest front and centre.”

Australian Greens Gun Control Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has commented on reports that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party has been meeting the National Rifle Assocation and offering to weaken Australia’s gun laws in exchange for political donations.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Reports showing that One Nation was trying to get political donations and support from the National Rifle Association in exchange for weakening gun laws is a dire warning for Australia.
“This just shows how craven the One Nation party is, in their pursuit of power they are willing to make us less safe by weakening our strong gun laws.
“This is particularly concerning in the wake of the recent horrific massacre of 50 innocent people in Christchurch.
“If the Liberal Party has any regard for the safety of Australians they must commit to putting Pauline Hanson’s One Nation last on their ticket.
“This is not a new problem, we know political parties have received hundreds of thousands of dollars gun lobbyists and manufacturers.
“We have become a little complacent about gun control in Australia.and there are people and political parties like One Nation who are trying to take advantage of that.
“We need to strengthen gun laws as a priority and ban all political donations from the gun industry” she concluded.

Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Senator for NSW, has congratulated and thanked Greens candidates, members and supporters for a strong Greens result in the NSW state election but has also warned of the challenges for the Federal election with the far right’s re-introduction in NSW parliament. The Greens have retained all their lower house seats with increased margins and are on track to electing two members to Upper House.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:
“The Greens campaigned for a bold vision for our future, for tackling climate change, to build a 100% renewable energy revolution and to end the influence of big money in politics. These messages have resonated with the community who have placed their confidence in the Greens in NSW by returning seats in Ballina, Newtown and Balmain with increased margins.
“A massive thank you to Greens members, candidates and volunteers who worked hard over many months building our collective movement to change the political agenda. We will continue to hold the Liberal-National Government to account and stand against their destructive agenda.
“The NSW election result also brings a warning that hate politics are back on the scene. The re-introduction of One Nation with their openly racist views and policies is a challenge that has to be addressed head on at the Federal election.
“There must be no tolerance of racism in our country. There is no room for division in our society.
“Only the Greens will stave off the far-right and fearlessly stand up against bigotry and xenophobia,” she concluded.

The Australian Greens are renewing calls for a federal Royal Commission into the Murray Darling Basin following the conviction of a NSW cotton grower who stole water from the river.
“The conviction of Anthony Barlow, who has admitted to stealing water from the river, should send shock waves through big corporate irrigators throughout the Murray Darling Basin. The river is in crisis, a Royal Commission is sorely needed to clean out the rot and hold those responsible to account,” Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“It has been almost two years since allegations of Anthony Barlow’s water theft were exposed on ABC’s Four Corners, and five months since he pleaded guilty to charges. We know the scandals plaguing our river run much deeper than one cotton farmer doing wrong by his neighbours and the environment.
“The Greens push for a federal Royal Commission has a groundswell of support across the country. Particularly from those on the frontline in affected river communities – people who have no clean water to drink or bathe in, or have been victims of neighbours stealing water from the River. The message must be clear: if you steal water from the environment and your neighbours, there will be consequences.
“The Murray Darling Basin Plan is in tatters, thanks to water theft, meter tampering, and special treatment from the Nationals for their big corporate irrigator mates. River communities will not sit by while corporate greed kills our environment and drains our water supply.
“We urgently need a Royal Commission into the mismanagement and over-extraction of water in the Murray Darling Basin.  Australians deserve better, we need a healthy river – it is the lifeblood of our country.”

The Greens will move to protect Australia’s precious groundwater by extending the ‘water trigger’ to all types of unconventional gas mining as part of the their plan to ban fracking across Australia, mining and resources spokesperson Larissa Waters will announce today.
Senator Waters said while working on the ultimate goal of a complete ban, amending the ‘water trigger’ to ensure the Environment Minister must fully consider any negative impacts on water or groundwater of an unconventional gas mining project before deciding whether to approve it, would go a long way to protecting our water.
“Fracking is a disaster for our farmland, groundwater, environment and climate, with dangerous methane pollution leaking from wells and pipes as ‘fugitive’ emissions,” Senator Waters said.
“We’re on the driest inhabited continent on the planet, which is experiencing unprecedented drought, protection of our precious groundwater must come before the profits of gas companies.
“It’s time for Australia to join the global movement against fracking.  Bans or moratoriums are already in place in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Wales, Scotland, New York State in the USA and Quebec in Canada.
“States and Territories like Tasmania, Victoria, south-eastern South Australia and parts of NSW have already responded to the community and taken the first steps towards phasing out this dangerous industry – but sadly, fracking is still legal in Queensland, Western Australia and the NT.
“The Greens have been campaigning against the polluting unconventional gas industry since 2010 but Labor and the LNP continue to champion gas because they take political donations from the gas companies.
“Landholders, including traditional owners, cannot say no to unconventional gas because the major parties keep saying yes to their mining donor mates.
“We have energy alternatives which don’t threaten our climate, health, land, and that will create new jobs for workers and communities – CSG can frack off, for the sake of a better future for all of us.”
Stop Fracking and Unconventional Gas policy here: https://greens.org.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/Greens%20Election%202019-Stop%20Fracking.pdf