Month: November 2020

Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said there was no question now that Australian special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan that are the result of a toxic warrior culture, facilitated by failures within the chain of command.
“The crimes outlined in the Brereton report – even in the limited detail we’ve been given so far – are horrendous and shameful,” Steele-John said.
“Innocent people, including children, are dead, families have been torn apart and villages have been left in ruin. Compensation must be given to the families and to the communities affected by these disgusting crimes.
“For their role in these crimes, the perpetrators and their direct chain of command – the officers who sanctioned, and often ordered these unlawful killings – must be held to account.
“So too must the higher levels of command within the armed forces who served during the Afghanistan War who either failed to act when they should have, or turned a blind eye and allowed the sanitisation of reporting.
Senator Steele-John said there were significant questions that still remained unanswered after ADF Chief General Angus Campbell’s press conference.
“Both the Office of the Special Investigator and the Oversight Committee must be independent, without any personal or professional ties to the Australian Defence Force. So far, these assurances have not been given.
“General Campbell stated that the commanders who either didn’t know what was happening on the ground, or turned a blind eye to sanitised reporting, would be disciplined internally and not referred to the Special Investigator. When negligence results in an unlawful killing, there are pathways for prosecuting that as a criminal matter and these must be explored.
“Any deliberations between General Campbell, as Chief of the Defence Force, and Lt. General Burr, as the Chief of Army, about consequences for commanders who failed to act must be transparent so that the Australian public can be assured that this toxic warrior culture is being properly addressed.
“And finally, the public have a right to seriously question the involvement of both General Campbell and Lt. General Burr’s in the implementation of the report’s recommendations and in future disciplinary actions related to this investigation, given both played leadership roles in the Afghanistan War.
“General Campbell was the Commander of Joint Task Force 633 responsbile for all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, between January 2011 and January 2012. Lt. General Burr was a Commander of SASR on two separate deployments during the Afghanistan War.”
I and my team will be examining this report and its ramifications in detail, and consulting with experts and stakeholders to provide a more detailed response over the coming days.

Work has begun to construct a $7 million palliative care facility for terminally ill people in Hervey Bay.
The new purpose-built Fraser Coast Hospice will provide 24-hour home-like accommodation, professional and compassionate care to clients at the end of their life, and bereavement care to their families.
Federal Member for Hinkler and Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt, on behalf of the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, represented the Australian Government at a sod-turning event to commemorate the start of construction.
Minister Hunt said terminally ill patients would receive specialised end-of-life care in an alternative setting from their home or hospital.
“This is a place where people at the end of their life can receive the expert and compassionate care they need,” Minister Hunt said.
“Staff will support and guide patients and their families through the most difficult of times, and ensure each and every person is treated with dignity and grace.”
Minister Pitt said palliative care in the region had been a concern of his for some time.
“All Australians deserve to get the highest quality care in their own community. For the people of the Hervey Bay region, the new hospice means they can get the best care and support close to their family and loved ones,” Minister Pitt said.
“The hospice will also provide employment opportunities during construction and in operation. And through partnerships with the local education sector, allied health, nursing and personal carer students can do placements.”
Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories, Nola Marino, said the project was an important part of the Hinkler Regional Deal’s vision for Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and its surrounds.
“Ensuring we continue to build strong and cohesive local communities is an important focus of the Hinkler Regional Deal, and the Fraser Coast Hospice will ensure the region can continue to support the whole community locally,” Assistant Minister Marino said.
Mayor of Fraser Coast, George Seymour, said Council was pleased to bring this facility to the Fraser Coast and support the association through a peppercorn lease of land on Urraween Road.
“This is a really significant day for the Fraser Coast as we continue to ensure we have the range of medical and support services our region needs,” Mayor Seymour said.
“I am pleased that collectively, we have been able to make this important hospice facility a reality, and that Council was able to support the association through a peppercorn lease of land near our medical precinct.”
This project is part of the $260 million Hinkler Regional Deal between the Australian Government and Fraser Coast Regional Council and Bundaberg Regional Council.
The six-bed hospice is expected to open in mid-2021.

A new community-driven workforce solution for Wentworth was today launched by Federal Regional Health Minister Mark Coulton in conjunction with local health workers and community.
Minister Coulton, joined by Senator for New South Wales Perin Davey, said the new workforce solution will trial a collaborative health service to build high quality, sustainable health care for local patients.
“We recognise that a one-size-fits all approach to health care doesn’t meet the unique needs of small, rural communities and that’s why we’re funding new collaborative health care models which are developed and driven by local communities,” Minister Coulton said.
“We know that patients in Wentworth have faced difficulties in accessing health care and this community driven model is an important step in creating a viable local health workforce.
“I congratulate the people of Wentworth and stakeholders, including the Coomealla Aboriginal Service, for working together to get this model up and running.”
Minister Coulton said the trial will investigate if viable practices may be better achieved by having a group of GPs, nurses and allied health professionals deliver health services across the region.
Federal Member for Farrer, Sussan Ley said the Federal Government wants people living in Wentworth to benefit from continued access to essential health services as well as reduce the time it takes to travel for primary care.
“I know how important it is for the people of Wentworth to have sustainable local GP and health options in town, which will eventually make us less reliant on services on the NSW/Victorian border,” Ms Ley said.
“I want to acknowledge and commend the work of the Wentworth community in co-designing solutions to deliver continuity of care to patients and for progress addressing longstanding workforce challenges.”
Senator for New South Wales, Perin Davey said community was at the core of this approach and Government wants local communities to maximise their local health services, and workforce solutions that are tailored to meet the needs of their communities.
“Having now visited a number of these trial sites across NSW, I see the immense value they will deliver for their communities,” Senator Davey said.
“In addition, we want more health professionals to choose a career in the bush. The rollout of the new model is a good example of how we can improve the scope of practice for doctors and health professionals and provide rewarding lifestyle and career opportunities.”
NSW Rural Doctors Network CEO, Richard Colbran said there wasn’t a single model of care perfectly applicable to every remote and rural community.
“We are trialling a method that combines community development and health service planning methodology to respond to local need,” he said.
“A key enabler of success for this trial will be aligning community and health sector expectations and goals and building a local, team-based approach to workforce and service modelling.
“NSW Rural Doctors Network sees this Collaborative Care project as the start of a method that could hopefully be scaled-up to support similar sub-regional approaches in remote and rural areas across Australia. We look forward to starting work early in the new year.”
The Federal Government has invested $3.3 million in western and southern NSW communities to test new innovative primary care models.

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Stuart Robert, has confirmed NDIS participants in South Australia have access to a range of temporary measures to ensure they can receive their disability-related supports, in line with public health advice.
In addition, with a focus on the safety of NDIS participants during the COVID-19 restrictions period in South Australia, the NDIA is reaching out to connect and check-in with vulnerable participants, to ensure they continue to have supports in place and offering phone or online planning meetings during lockdown.
Minister Robert said the government recognises that the immediate restrictions are difficult for NDIS participants and it is our priority to ensure they receive the essential supports they require.
To assist with continuation of essential supports in a COVIDSafe manner, NDIS participants and providers in South Australia will temporarily be able to directly claim the costs of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including face masks.
Temporary measures in place to assist participants in South Australia, in light of the changing circumstances, include:

• eligible NDIS participants able to use plan funding to purchase low-cost Assistive Technology, including smart devices (up to $1500);
• greater plan flexibility to ensure access to supports;
• deep cleaning of residences in the event a support worker returns a positive COVID-19 test;
• additional support, including a deep cleaning service, for participants who test positive for COVID-19 or who are required to isolate who live in a Supported Independent Living (SIL) setting;
• NDIS participants in South Australia who rely on face-to-face supports and assistance with their daily living will be able to use an existing support item (Low Cost Disability-Related Health Consumables) to claim on the cost of PPE for their own use at times their worker is with them; and
• Providers in South Australia able to claim an allowance of $1.70 per hour of support delivered in the Activities of Daily Life Support Category, to cover the cost of PPE for workers, directly from the NDIA, ensuring participant plan funds are not impacted by the use of PPE by their providers and workers.

Minister Robert said as the pandemic evolves, the NDIA and the Government will continue to review the temporary measures to ensure the health and wellbeing of participants.
‘The Commonwealth has a clear plan and will continue to respond to changing circumstances across the entire country to ensure all NDIS participants are supported and are safe during the pandemic,’ Mr Robert said.
‘In March, as the threat of COVID-19 emerged, the Morrison Government outlined a number of temporary measures to ensure every NDIS participant could continue to receive the everyday supports and services they need.
‘These temporary measures have proven effective and reflect our need to live our lives in a COVIDSafe society, knowing additional measures can be easily accessed if an infection, or outbreak occurs, without delay.’
The NDIS Call Centre has a dedicated referral line for COVID related queries. NDIS participants who have questions or whose circumstances may have changed are encouraged to contact the NDIA on 1800 800 110 to discuss their needs or to seek further information.
NDIS providers who have questions about delivering quality and safe supports and services to NDIS participants during the coronavirus pandemic should contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission on 1800 035 544.
Temporary measures, with the exception of direct claim of PPE, were announced earlier this year and are in place nationally until February 2021.
Further information on NDIS coronavirus support can be found at www.ndis.gov.au.

The Greens have welcomed the Productivity Commission report into Mental Health and say that it has provided a clear way forward for the Government in reforming Australia’s mental health system.
“It is a great shame that this report has not been released earlier and that the Government didn’t take the opportunity in the recent budget to start the process of reform that is so urgently needed.
As Australians we pride ourselves on having an accessible health care and Medicare system, but at the moment people who need treatment for their mental health are not getting the access or the standard of care they need.
We currently have a fragmented system and thousands of Australians are falling through the cracks.
The ad-hoc approaches need to stop.
Three quarters of mental health issues begin before the age of 25, it is critical that we support the mental health of children and young people.
This report makes a clear case for addressing the social determinants of health which is so often ignored by this Government.
A housing first approach is essential for treating mental health.
Living in poverty is a clear contributor to poor mental health and anxiety.
The Productivity Commission has made some recommendations on the income support system and the mutual obligations system and their negative impacts.
Not only does living in poverty make access to treatments difficult the system itself exacerbates mental health conditions and creates stress and anxiety.
This is a long-term roadmap for reform and the Government needs to start now.
Our health system will not be truly universal until people can get access to a mental health treatment in exactly the same way they would for a broken leg.

The Greens say that it is imperative that the Commonwealth learn the hard lesson from the Victorian aged care COVID outbreak and take leadership before it is too late.
“All providers must be focused on preventing the entry and spread of Covid-19 in aged care facilities”, Greens spokesperson on Ageing Senator Rachel Siewert said.
What we learnt from the Victorian experience is that aged care providers cannot wait to act once an outbreak occurs.
Prevention is key to stopping older Australians from experiencing another disastrous outbreak of Covid-19.
The Commonwealth must support the South Australian agencies to:

• Support all aged care workers to transition to working at a single site to reduce infections between facilities
• Ensure all aged care providers have at least one trained infection control officer working at each facility effective immediately
• Ensure infection prevention and control experts are deployed to aged care facilities to ensure staff training in infection prevention is up to date and best practice effective immediately
• Ensure all staff are wearing PPE
• Ensure adequate PPE is provided to facilities as soon as they need it
• Have a clear guide in place for visitors to residential aged care facilities

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission must start re-assessing South Australian aged care facilities for their readiness for Covid-19 outbreaks and continue with unannounced visits.
The Government has no excuse not to urgently act on the recommendations of the Aged care and COVID-19: a special report. 
Given that the Royal Commissioners have made the unusual step of releasing a special report so close to when the final report is due indicates how serious the failures of the system to deal with Covid-19 are.
These failures cannot be repeated in South Australia.

The Greens have tabled a dissenting report to the inquiry into the Government’s Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020 saying that there isn’t evidence to justify the use of the card, that in fact the process adversely impacts people and should be abandoned.
“Through this inquiry process and over many years, the Government and supporters of this card have failed to provide any quantitative evidence that the card has met any of its objectives”, Greens Spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said.
The Government has also failed to commit to releasing the next evaluation before the legislation is voted on and the Committee has not had access during its determination. Just today a University of South Australia researcher said she was surprised by how little evidence there is to support the introduction of a Cashless Debit Card.
In the final sitting weeks of 2020, the Senate will again be forced to vote on a complex and divisive piece of legislation in a short time-frame while many questions remain unanswered.
One such question is whether the Government will choose to place new income support recipients in the four trial sites onto the Cashless Debit Card.
The Minister paused new entrants being placed on the Cashless Debit Card in March, it is unclear whether this pause will remain in place once the card becomes permanent. People have a right to know whether they will be placed onto the Cashless Debit Card before the scheme becomes permanent.
The Greens reject any proposition that genuine, two-way consultation has occurred with First Nations communities or anyone currently on the Cashless Debit Card about the proposal to make the scheme permanent.
Many submitters highlighted that the absence of any real consultation with First Nations communities goes against the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap which has been founded on the principles of shared decision-making and self-determination.
There has been little to no transparency around the cost of implementing and rolling out the Cashless Debit Card. The future outputs for the scheme are shrouded in secrecy and ‘commercial in confidence’ agreements with the cardholder, Indue. The community only ever discovers the cost of the scheme after the fact.
This Bill is no different. We have no understanding of how much it will cost to permanently entrench the Cashless Debit Card, lift the cap on the number of participants who enter the scheme, and roll it out to the Northern Territory.
This scheme goes to the broader question of a private company, in this case Indue, profiting from our social security system.
There is no evidence to support the entrenchment of this punitive scheme and the Senate crossbench must reject it.
In the middle of a global pandemic and Australia’s first recession in 30 years, the Government has chosen this moment as the right time to make the Cashless Debit Card permanent.
It is astounding that the Government refuses to make any decisions about the base rate of the Jobseeker payment due to the changing economic conditions but is happy to try and entrench compulsory income management.
The Greens dissenting report can be found here.