Month: May 2020

The Australian Greens condemn the Chinese Government’s plans to enact sweeping new national security laws in Hong Kong, with Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt today offering solidarity to protesters who have resisted months of recriminations.
“As Hong Kong activists have said, this is a dangerous prospect for Hong Kong and if implemented could be a knockout blow for Hong Kong’s one country, two systems arrangement.  It is an attempt to silence Hong Kong and its brave and vocal pro-democracy activists,” Mr Bandt said.
“The people of Hong Kong have stood firm over months and months in the face of Chinese Government and Hong Kong authorities’ crackdown.  They have withstood things like a fearsome build-up of force on the border, an overpowering and violent police presence unleashing teargas and rubber bullets, and arrests and reprisals.
“The Chinese Government should remember that the people power of Hong Kong led to the withdrawal of the damaging Extradition Bill, as well as similar national security laws back in 2003.
“This is another disappointing escalation from the Chinese Government following the recent arrest by Hong Kong police of 15 pro-democracy activists.  Their decision to try to quietly arrest them under cover of a global pandemic was a new low.  The global community will continue to watch Hong Kong closely, as will we.  The people of Hong Kong have a right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.  The Chinese Government must not interfere with these rights or meddle in Hong Kong’s affairs.“

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that up to 30,000 university jobs will be lost if the federal government does not provide a new funding package for universities and extend the JobKeeper payment to university workers.
The Greens support the National Tertiary Education Union’s National Day of Action (NDA), taking place today, which calls on Education Minister Dan Tehan to step up on university funding and save thousands of jobs.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Universities around the country are already cutting staff and courses in response to this crisis. As semester two approaches, this will only get worse.
“Job and course cuts will have generational impacts on the quality and excellence of university teaching and research in our country.
“University workers are being left high and dry by a government that has not only resisted providing them support, but put up extra barriers every step of the way during this crisis. It seems this government simply doesn’t care.
“With tens of thousands of jobs on the line, it is outrageous that the government won’t lift a finger to help save livelihoods and the future of higher education.
“It’s time Minister Tehan provided a new funding package for universities and scrapped the unfair rules which have excluded every single university from qualifying for the JobKeeper payment.
“Universities are some of the most casualised workplaces in the country. This leaves uni workers incredibly vulnerable to downturns in revenue.
“Universities with large reserves must prioritise staff jobs in spending what money they have. Keeping university staff, including casuals, on payroll should be top of every Vice-Chancellor’s agenda in managing this crisis,” she said.

Australian Greens Industry spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to a leaked report of the COVID Commission’s Manufacturing Taskforce, which prioritises gas expansion as the way to rebuild manufacturing and create jobs.
Senator Faruqi said:
“We must revive Australian manufacturing, and this can and must be done with renewable energy. Choosing gas over renewables is completely intentional and a consequence of the government’s cosy relationship with the fossil fuel industry.
“The government is using the COVID-19 crisis as cover to double down on their agenda of expanding fossil fuel extraction, while we’re also in the midst of a climate breakdown. This is shameful politics to appease their mates in the gas industry.
“As an engineer, I know that Australian manufacturing can have a clean, jobs-rich future. But we have to make the right choices now to ensure the investment flows towards industries that also tackle the climate crisis.
“This is the time to set on a course to become a renewables powerhouse and attract 21st century industries like data centres, battery and carbon fibre manufacturing to Australia, all running on clean, green energy.
“The Greens have this week proposed investing $12 billion to establish a Manufacturing Australia Fund. This would modernise and expand Australian manufacturing, including green steel hubs in Queensland and NSW as well as the advanced manufacturing processes of the future.
“The government is bending over backwards to please the fossil fuel lobby. It’s no coincidence these are the businesses and players who have donated enormous amounts of money to both the major parties over decades,” she said.

Greens Leader and MP for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, said that Minister for Government Services, Stuart Robert, had potentially lied to him in writing over the Minister’s closure of a Centrelink office in the electorate of Melbourne, and that in the absence of an explanation, Bandt would be moving a censure motion when the Parliament resumes.
Robert wrote to Bandt on 19 May 2020 advising he would be closing the Abbotsford Centrelink office on 21 May 2020, saying “the landlord advised they will not retain Services Australia as a short-term or long=term tenant and will not permit any occupancy by the Agency at the premises after the lease expires”.
However, in comments reported by the Guardian, a representative of the landlord said it was offering a “lease extension on existing terms and was awaiting a formal reply” and that “This morning it reached out again to Centrelink to confirm the premises remain available and it is welcome to stay.”
“In the absence of an explanation from the Minister, if the landlord’s comments are accurate, the Minister has lied to me in writing and has unnecessarily hurt thousands of people reliant on the Abbotsford Centrelink ,” said Mr Bandt.
“The Minister must immediately reach out to the landlord and ensure Abbotsford Centrelink remains where it is.
“Stuart Robert has been caught out before saying things that are untrue, like that Centrelink services collapsed under an attack from hackers, and he may well have done it again.”
“Unless the Minister can clarify the matter and explain what looks like a straight out lie, I’ll be moving to censure the Minister when Parliament resumes, not only for closing a much-needed Centrelink but for apparently lying about it too.”
“If there’s an explanation, I’m waiting to hear it. On 20 May 2020, I asked the Minister in writing to meet about this important matter and to date have received no answer. I can only assume he has been caught out yet again and has nothing to say in his defence.”
Greens Community Services Spokesperson Rachel Siewert said the Minister had questions to answer.
“I received advice through a Senate Estimates Question on Notice  on May 8th that as of March 19 there are no further Centrelink Service Centres approved for closure,” Senator Siewert said.
“Minister Robert needs to come clean about this process and release the time line for when this decision was made.
“We now know that Salta Properties have offered to extend the lease to Services Australia and there does not appear to be a reason why the Minister should not accept this offer.
“We are in a health and economic crisis with millions more people needing access to services. It is outrageous for the Government to close down such a vital service at a time like this”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt has pledged to fight the government’s gas push laid out in the Technology Road Map Discussion Paper released by the government today.
Mr Bandt also said the leaked COVID Commission push for a gas-rush shows the corruption of process the government is using to develop a plan for manufacturing.
“We need to be ending Australia’s addiction to toxic methane gas not feeding it,” Mr Bandt said.
“Coal, oil and gas are the primary cause of the climate crisis. We can’t solve the climate emergency and economic crisis by pouring gas on the fire.”
“The energy race has been won and it is time for the Morrison government to back the winners of solar, wind, pumped hydro, battery storage and demand management.”
“We should be helping industry electrify with renewables and fuel switching from gas to green hydrogen, not feed their expensive and dangerous addiction to gas. The amount of gas genuinely needed as a feedstock by industry is tiny compared to the country’s exports. We don’t need more gas mining and drilling.”
“The leaked COVID commission gas plan shows the corrupt process at the heart of the government’s policy. This idea of a Technology Roadmap is just a cover for the government driving a gas rush that will benefit its fossil fuel corporate mates.”
“The trans-Australian gas pipeline is as ill thought out as the Bradfield Scheme and the Greens will fight it tooth and nail.
“The Greens’ ‘Invest to Recover’ plan sets out a plan for hundreds of thousands of new jobs in an economy powered by hydrogen and programs enabling industry to electrify instead of burning gas.
“Australia shouldn’t just join the hydrogen manufacturing renaissance, it should lead it. We’ve got vast resources that would mean Western Australia could power not only its manufacturing industry with green hydrogen, but ship the clean energy off to the rest of the world.
“Yet, with the Morrison government under the thumb of the methane mafia, we’re set to spend these crucial years wasting time pushing the wrong type of gas.”
The Greens policies for industry to fuel switch away from gas including a $12 Billion Manufacturing Australia fund and reviving the Clean Technology Programs scrapped by Tony Abbott that were designed to support industry innovate with clean energy and become more efficient.
Greens Democracy Spokesperson Larissa Waters said the Liberal Government’s appointments stacked the commission to only one possible outcome.
“The fossil fuel lobby has paid for and bought this government,” Senator Waters said.
“It’s no surprise that a gas-stacked Commission with minimal conflict of interest rules has recommended more water- and farm-wrecking gas.
“Fracked gas wrecks groundwater, farmland and our climate, and has trebled the price of gas which has imperilled domestic manufacturing, all  while lining the pockets of multinational companies.
“The Greens have had a bill to ban fracking and give landholders their right to say no to predator gas since 2011 but the big parties keep siding with their gas donors to block it.”

Given that the government now has $60 billion unspent in the JobKeeper program, Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called for JobKeeper to be extended to university staff and international students, a new funding package provided for higher education, and for free childcare to made permanent.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This ‘mistake’ by the government must be used to provide a lifeline to the many sectors and workers who have been left high and dry during this pandemic.
“With $60 billion of allocated JobKeeper money unspent, the government can save higher education and provide massive relief for tens of thousands of staff and international students.
“The higher education sector is shedding jobs and crying out for support. It’s time to scrap the unfair rules excluding university staff from JobKeeper.
“Desperate international students, who have been going hungry and falling into destitution, should urgently be given access to JobKeeper and provided with income support.
“The government must also do the right thing and provide a brand new funding package for universities that would ensure their long term viability and success.
“There is a real opportunity here for the government to recognise childcare as an essential service and make free childcare permanent.
“For more ideas on how to spend the money, I recommend the Treasurer and Prime Minister read the Greens’ Invest to Recover post-pandemic recovery plan, which can be found on our website,” she said.

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is calling on Treasurer Frydenberg to immediately extend JobKeeper to workers who have so far been left out.
“The massive revision on JobKeeper numbers today leaves the Government with no excuse not to extend the program to casuals, migrant workers and workers in the arts and entertainment industry who have been excluded from the program,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“There is now $60billion already budgeted for JobKeeper that can go to saving more jobs.
“The arts and entertainment industry has been one of the hardest hit by coronavirus restrictions and will be one of the last to recover, yet the government has left many artists and creatives without support due to the nature of the work.
“The arts and entertainment industry needs a tailored package to save it and the government clearly has the financial capacity to do it.
“The Greens have pitched a $2.3billion package to help the arts and entertainment industry recover. The Creative Australia policy includes funding to get our artists, musicians, writers, creators, and crews back producing content for our screens, theatres, live music venues, festivals and galleries.
“This isn’t just an investment in arts and entertainment but our tourism and hospitality industries too. It’s good for jobs and our social fabric.
“We know the Government has the money to do it, there’s absolutely no excuse now not to.”