Category: Australian News

The Greens are today announcing a commitment to bring the voice of the people into politics through trials of Citizens Juries and participatory budgeting, and requiring a parliamentary debate on petitions which receive over 100,000 signatures.
Senator Larissa Waters, Greens co-Deputy Leader and democracy spokesperson, said “Confidence in Australia’s democratic systems is at an all time low, and no wonder when governments are working for their corporate donor mates and and ignoring the people who elect them. It’s critically important that we work to earn back trust, and giving people a real voice in decision-making is central to that.”
“The Greens have been leading the political debate for many years on getting the influence of big money from corporate donations out of politics, closing the revolving door of lobbyists and MPs and setting up a federal anti-corruption commission,” Senator Waters said.
“This election, we are taking that commitment further, with plans to not just get corporate money out of politics but also create paths to bring the people back in.
“We’ve just seen an enormous petition with 1.4 million signatures calling for Fraser Anning to be booted from the parliament which was tabled by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, but what many people don’t realise is the petition is never actually debated by federal politicians. We think that’s wrong and petitions that reach a threshold of 100,000 people – the equivalent size of a lower house electorate – should be allocated time during parliamentary sittings for debate and to be voted on so the signatories know where their representatives stand.”
Greens candidate for the new seat of Canberra, Tim Hollo, who has been running a series of participatory democracy meetings across the electorate, said “On climate change, refugees, planning, and so much more, our politics has been failing us, because governments are listening to their corporate backers instead of the people. We absolutely have to turn that around, and fast.”
“Involving a broad range of people in decision-making, and giving them space and support to discuss the ideas, consistently leads to better decisions,” he said.
“What’s even better is that people love the opportunity to get involved. At our community meetings, people have been having a great time, and really appreciate that their views and ideas are being taken seriously.
“We need our politics to work for people and planet, not just profits, and to do that we have to get corporate money out and bring the people back in.
The Greens policy will:

• legislate to require a formal and meaningful parliamentary debate on issues for which a petition reaches a threshold of 100,000 signatures;
• work with the government to select a mutually agreed key issue on which to run a national Citizens’ Jury and a trial of participatory budgeting; and
• legislate to ensure that government decision-making bodies include citizens in a meaningful way.

The Coalition Government will help even more young people improve their work-readiness and get a job by expanding eligibility for the successful Transition to Work employment service.
Transition to Work provides intensive pre-employment support for young people aged 15–21 years to improve their work-readiness and help them into work (including apprenticeships and traineeships) or education.
The expansion of the eligibility age for Transition to Work will allow disadvantaged young people aged 22–24 to also benefit from the service.
Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, said expanding eligibility for Transition to Work will give even more young Australians the opportunity to get a job.
“Under the Coalition we have seen more than 1.2 million new jobs created, but we want to see even more Australians in work,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“Whilst we have made progress, youth unemployment remains too high and some young people need targeted and intensive assistance to help them move into work or education.”
“Over the three years it has been operating, more than 79,000 young people aged 15–21 have commenced in Transition to Work, achieving over 32,300 employment and education outcomes. We want to see more disadvantaged young people benefit from the intensive support offered by the service.”
Transition to Work will remain voluntary, with young people able to choose to participate in jobactive instead. The eligibility change is expected to benefit more than 2,000 young people aged 22-24 annually and will better align the service with the Government’s broader suite of youth-specific programs, including Youth Jobs PaTH.
“Importantly, this new measure does not change other aspects of Transition to Work eligibility, which will ensure the service remains targeted to young people who will benefit from the intensive service provided,” Minister O’Dwyer concluded.
Funding for this measure was included in the New Employment Services pilot and transitional arrangements measure announced in the 2019–20 Budget. It will commence from 1 January 2020.
For more information about Transition to Work, visit www.jobs.gov.au/transition-work

Bill Shorten has been caught lying on hospital funding.
Despite the desperate attempts from Bill Shorten to run another Medi-hospital scare campaign, the facts on hospital funding are clear and show record funding each year, every year under the Coalition.
At the same time as Mr Shorten refuses to address why he stopped the listing of new medicines as Assistant Treasurer.
Federal funding has increased for public hospitals by from $13.3 billion in 2012–13, to $23 billion, $24 billion, $25 billion and $26 billion over the course of this Budget.
By 2024-25, funding will have more than doubled to $29.1 billion per annum under the new national hospitals agreement with the states and territories.
The new national hospitals agreement will provide an additional $31 billion in public hospital funding from 2020-21 to 2024-25, taking overall funding during this period to $131 billion.
Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales have all signed the new agreement.
Bill Shorten’s hospital proposal does not mean more money for hospitals.
As we’ve seen over the last 3 years, the extra Commonwealth funding has meant the states and territories have reduced their funding to hospitals.
An independent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed Commonwealth funding growing by 6.2% and state and territories 0.1% in 2016-17 compared with the previous year.
The Coalition has also delivered record bulk billing for people visiting their GP, rising from 82 per cent under Labor to 86 per cent under the Coalition.
In addition the Liberal National Government is providing $1.3 billion to fund projects and services in every state and territory, supporting patient care while reducing pressure on community and hospital services.
We have also invested $1.6 billion in primary care services.
When it comes to health, you can’t trust Bill Shorten, whose track record shows he stopped listing medicines on the PBS as a direct result of his financial mismanagement.
It is a strong economy, delivered by a Morrison Government which is guaranteeing the essential health services Australians need.

The Morrison Government will invest more than $58 million in 10 Industry Training Hubs in key locations across regional Australia to create more jobs for young people.
The investment will also include 400 Vocational Education and Training (VET) scholarships and is part of our plan to address youth unemployment in key parts of the country.
“Our plan will ensure more young people have the skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” the Prime Minister said.
“In the last financial year alone more than 100,000 jobs were created for young Australians under our government.
“These Training Hubs and scholarships are about setting up even more young Australians on a long-term quality career path, and giving them the skills to be more than competitive into the future.”
Ten locations of elevated youth unemployment across Australia have been selected to host an Industry Training Hub, which will strengthen partnerships between local schools, employers and industries, and ensure that vocational education programs are tailored to meet local workforce needs and skills demands. The selected locations are:

Young people, aged 15-24, in these 10 areas will also be eligible to apply for a scholarship to undertake an eligible VET Approved Program of Study.
Four hundred scholarships, valued at up to $17,500 each, will be made available from Certificate III to Advanced Diploma level.
“These Industry Training Hubs and the scholarships will provide a pathway for young Australians, in regions with persistent youth unemployment, to gain the skills they need for a successful and rewarding career” the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education Michaelia Cash said.
“Our youth training plan is part of our plan for a stronger economy and builds on the 1.2 million jobs that have been created since we were elected.
“Only the Morrison Government can be trusted to build our economy and secure your future without increasing taxes.”

The Coalition Government is helping even more young Australians to secure a job by boosting the Youth Jobs PaTH program.
Starting from 1 January 2020, $10 million will be available for industry organisations to work with employment service providers to create new pathways for young people to gain work experience and employment in their industry.
Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, said PaTH, which has so far assisted over 43,000 young people get a job, will be expanded so growth industries can directly engage with young job seekers, giving them opportunities to access industry-led pre-vocational training and work experience.
“While the jobs figures show us that more Australians are in work than ever before – and a record 100,000 young job seekers found work last year, we want to see even more young Australians in work,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“The evidence shows us that employability skills training and work experience help disadvantaged young people gain the skills employers’ value. PaTH is giving young job seekers the assistance and encouragement they need to learn new skills, become job ready and find, and keep, a job.”
“The PaTH Industry Pilots will build on the success of PaTH by directly connecting job seekers with industries experiencing high labour demand, such as the disability and aged care sectors.”
The Pilots will directly address the barriers that hold young people back from entering the workforce, including lower skillsets compared to more experienced job seekers and lack of work experience.
“Youth Jobs PaTH is giving young people the employability skills and real work experience they need to get a job. It has already helped thousands move from welfare to work,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
PaTH Industry Pilot providers will facilitate training and work experience opportunities and support job seekers through a flexible, tailored pathway towards employment.
The PaTH Industry Pilot builds on the Government’s MYEFO 2018–19 decision to reduce waiting times so that young people have earlier access to internship opportunities.
Funding for this measure was included in the New Employment Services pilot and transitional arrangements measure announced in the 2019–20 Budget.
An open tender will be conducted in the second half of 2019. For more information about Youth Jobs PaTH, visit: www.jobs.gov.au/youth-jobs-path

The Morrison Government’s plan for a stronger economy will create 250,000 extra jobs for young Australians.
We will back young Australians to secure a great job by giving them the chance to gain the right skills.
With a stronger economy we are headed in the right direction. Last financial year, for the first time in history, more than 100,000 young Australians got a job. Youth unemployment is falling and is lower than it was under Labor, who left office with almost 55,000 fewer young people in work.
Our plan builds on our track record by ensuring more young people get the skills and experience employers need.
A re-elected Morrison Government will pledge to create 250,000 additional jobs for young people over the next five years to get them started in a fulfilling career. This means that one in five of the jobs we pledge to create over the next five years will be jobs for young people, including those living in rural and regional areas.
This will be supported by our $525 million commitment to improving skills training, including through creating up to 80,000 new apprenticeships in areas of skills shortages.
We will also provide additional support to school-leavers and job-seekers in regional areas by establishing 10 industry training hubs in regional areas with high youth employment. The training hubs will provide greater job opportunities for young people and strengthen local economies. This will be supported by 400 VET scholarships in those regions.
We will also help more young people move from welfare to work. We know that if a person gets into a job and off welfare at a young age, the chances of them returning to welfare reduce dramatically.
Already our Youth Jobs PaTH program has helped over 43,000 young people into jobs, and our Transition to Work program has helped over 32,000 young people into a job or training.
We will strengthen Youth Jobs PaTH with up to ten new industry partnerships. From 1 January 2020, industry parties who successfully tender will work with employment services providers to develop and pilot PaTH programs tailored to the particular needs of jobseekers and employers, particularly in industries with high forecast jobs growth.
We will also expand the Transition to Work service eligibility by two years, so that it captures young people up to the age of 24, from 1 January 2020. This will extend access to pre-employment intensive support services for more than 2,000 additional young people each year.
The choice is clear. A re-elected Morrison Government will help create an extra 250,000 more jobs for young Australians.
Labor and Bill Shorten’s $387 billion in higher taxes will weaken our economy, meaning less jobs and opportunity.
Only the Morrison Government has a plan for a stronger economy, an economy that will create jobs and guarantee essential services Australians rely on.
The costs for these measures are accounted for in the 2019-20 Budget.

The Morrison Government is increasing funding for ground-breaking research and new services to prevent Indigenous youth suicide under a $503.1 million Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan.
The high rates of mental health and suicide amongst young Australians – especially among young Indigenous Australians – are one of the most significant health concerns our nation faces. Almost half of all Australians will experience a common mental health difficulty in their lifetime, and suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 – 44 years. Three quarters of mental illness begins before the age of 25.
Our Government’s historic Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan announced in the 2019-20 Budget is the most significant youth mental health and suicide prevention plan in our country’s history. It will provide the vital support and strong national leadership needed to tackle the challenges of mental illness and suicide.
Today we are further backing that plan with an additional $22.5 million for our country’s best and brightest medical researchers to help find new solutions and better treatments for young and Indigenous Australians facing mental health challenges. We’re also providing $19.6 million for new services through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy to prevent Indigenous youth suicide, particularly in the Kimberley.
This new funding brings the Government’s commitment to the Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan to $503.1 million.
“I want every young person in Australia to know that they are not alone and that we are committed to doing everything we can to support their mental health and wellbeing,” the Prime Minister said.
“Not just as a Prime Minister, but as a parent, I am going to do whatever it takes and whatever we can to break the curse of youth suicide in our country and ensure young people get the support they need.”
Of the funding, $10 million will go to two research projects focussed on child and youth mental health. These projects will deliver digital tools for common issues faced by young people – including anxiety, depression, substance use, sleep problems, suicide and relationship difficulties – and will improve the treatment and experiences of young people presenting to emergency departments with mental health crises.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said “This work has the potential to accelerate the progress we are making in achieving better mental health outcomes for young Australians. It will help protect the lives of young people, and reduce the impacts of mental illness on individuals, their families and their communities.”
The largest part of the new funding – $12.5 million – will support three projects which aim to provide the knowledge and understanding to make health programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people more effective.
These projects will determine how best to bring social and cultural awareness to mental health services for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. They will help support mainstream services to work better for Indigenous Australians and will bring together multidisciplinary teams to integrate mental health, alcohol and drug, and social and cultural supports.
Minister for Indigenous Health, Ken Wyatt AM said “Young Indigenous people face many barriers to accessing health care, one of which is finding and engaging services that are safe and tailored to meet their needs. This work will help change the way we deliver general mental health services so that they draw on the value of culture, community, and country to enrich the care provided to our First Nations people.”
The five projects funded through this investment are the first successful initiatives of the Government’s $125 million Million Minds Mission, which aims to enrol a million additional people in new trials and programs focussed on protecting the mental wellbeing of Australians.
Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion said the Morrison Government is also making a new $19.6 million investment through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy to prevent Indigenous youth suicide, particularly in the Kimberley.
“Every single suicide is a tragedy that hits tight-knit Indigenous communities particularly hard and as Coroner Fogliani’s inquest into 13 youth suicides in the Kimberley found, these are the result of long-term and often intergenerational factors,” Minister Scullion said.
“This new $19.6 million investment will help build resilience and leadership skills in at-risk communities and provide new pathways for engagement, including some which the Kimberley Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Forum told us are needed to support fellow young people.
The Government is prioritising better mental health for all Australians with an estimated $4.8 billion expected to be spent on mental health in 2018-19 and an additional $736.6 million for mental health announced as part of the 2019-20 Budget.
Our strong economic management means that we can continue to invest record funding into vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare, and hospitals.
For more information, please visit https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan-youth-mental-health-and-suicide-prevention

Bill Shorten and the Labor Party are refusing to own up to their $387 billion tax bill, dodging questions about the cost of their policies and casting aspersions on Treasury officials and their work.
In a desperate attempt to distract attention from their $387 billion tax bill, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen is clutching at straws by claiming Treasury costings of alternative policies are not legitimate.
It is an inconvenient truth for Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen that one of his predecessors and now ALP President, Wayne Swan, said as Treasurer in 2012:
“Treasury regularly gives us information on policies or particular proposals which may come from a number of groups … Because it’s very important to have an informed debate about the costs of various alternatives.” ABC News Online, 7 November 2012
These costings include $230 billion in higher personal income tax, which Chris Bowen himself admitted at the National Press Club just this week:
“Factoring in the cost of Labor’s enhanced Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, the difference between Labor and the Liberals is $226 billion.” National Press Club, 10 April 2019
These costings also include $57 billion for the retiree tax, to which Chris Bowen and Labor themselves admit.
The total of Labor’s new taxes is $387 billion over the decade, taking tax as a share of the economy under Labor to 25.9 per cent, making a potential Shorten government the highest-taxing in Australian history.
Despite Chris Bowen’s desperate attempts at distraction, none of his frontbench colleagues have disputed that Labor’s new taxes total $387 billion, the equivalent of an extra yearly tax bill of $5,400 per household.
Chris Bowen is welcome to come out of witness protection and explain the costings behind his big new tax experiment on the Australian economy, including the negative gearing policy which he has bungled.
As he himself has admitted, Labor’s new taxes would start in only 12 weeks’ time on 1 July. A vote for the Labor Party is a vote for $387 billion of additional taxes, but as Chris Bowen has told voters, if you don’t like them, don’t vote for them.
Labor can’t manage money and would weaken the economy. Only the Coalition can be trusted to deliver lower taxes, more jobs and a stronger economy which underpins record spending on essential services.

The Federal Court has today again condemned the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU.
The Court granted an ABCC appeal to increase penalties to $668,000 against the union and seven of its officials for shutting down work at nine construction sites in Brisbane in 2016. The union had been attempting to force the projects to employ its favoured subcontractors.
The Court found that “senior officers of the union orchestrated the campaign” and that:
“the overall conduct involved a deliberate, premeditated and sustained campaign of unlawful industrial behaviour orchestrated by the union, including elements of intimidation, threat and coercion.”
The Court also observed the undisputed fact that the CFMMEU’s history of prior contraventions was ‘extensive’ and ‘vast’.
The conduct threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of subcontractors, whose employees were forced to walk off the job at the behest of militant union bosses. It has increased pressure on the affordability of thousands of residential apartments in central Brisbane.
The CFMMEU and its representatives have now racked up over $16 million in penalties for their unlawful conduct as a result of cases brought by the ABCC and its predecessors.
The CFMMEU has donated over $4.2 million to the Labor Party since Bill Shorten became Leader.
Bill Shorten and the Labor Party must today join the Morrison Government in condemning the lawless behaviour of the CFMMEU that is risking jobs and costing households.
Labor’s promise to abolish the ABCC – and not replace it with any watchdog at all – would give the CFMMEU free reign over construction projects across the country.
Last time Labor was in office, they abolished the ABCC and days lost to industrial action in the construction industry – our third largest industry – increased by nearly seven times.
Labor is a risk to jobs, subbies and the economy.