Month: August 2021

The government must release documents relating to the awarding of a $21 million grant to Liberal Party-aligned fracking company Empire Energy, after the Senate this afternoon supported a Greens’ motion.
The order compels the government to produce by 9.30 am on Thursday, 12 August, all correspondence, lists of applicants and grant guidelines related to its Beetaloo Basin grant scheme, in addition to details of any meetings between Ministers Angus Taylor or Keith Pitt and Empire Energy.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on resources Senator Larissa Waters said:
“The Morrison government has handed over $21 million of public money to Empire Energy – a company whose chairman is a huge Liberal donor – to open up a massive climate bomb in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
“Last week, the Greens’ Senate inquiry into the government’s $50 million Beetaloo slush fund, from which this grant came, heard evidence that Empire Energy met with Energy Minister Angus Taylor in the months before the grants program was announced.
“The Department confirmed that the grants were issued not on merits, but on a ‘first come, first served’ basis… and Empire Energy just happened to be the first to apply!
“This government has serious questions to answer about its relationship to Empire Energy and its chairman Paul Espie, and why it’s throwing public money at its donor mates and thumbing its nose at Traditional Owners and future generations.
“Opening up a massive gas operation in the Northern Territory, when the IPCC has in the past 24 hours confirmed the sheer folly of continuing to burn fossil fuels, is condemning Australia and the world to irreversible climate catastrophe.
“The Greens won’t let them get away with it.”

The Greens say they are extremely disappointed that the disallowance to make ParentsNext voluntary did not succeed.
The Greens are now calling on the Government to withdraw the regulation making ParentsNext compulsory following the Joint Human Rights Committee finding that it is incompatible with the human rights of parents and their children.
“ParentsNext is a degrading, punitive and coercive program”, Senator Rachel Siewert said.
“I’m very disappointed and distressed for the parents stuck in this punitive program.
“I tried to disallow this program back in 2018 and it’s devastating to think of the harm this program has caused since then.
“The Government needs to reconsider, look at the very clear evidence and withdraw the regulation and make the program voluntary.
“This program punishes and stigmatises single mothers.
“Rather than being supported to raise their children women are being subjected to a mandatory program that is resulting in adverse outcomes such as having to give up work days and study to meet program requirements or lose their payments because their children’s medical appointments conflict with appointments with providers.
“This Government has an ideological approach to people on income support and it was heartbreaking to read the submissions to this inquiry, because the same issues we examined during the 2018 Senate inquiry are happening over and over again.”
 

The Senate Community Affairs References Committee has tabled its fourth interim report into the Government’s robodebt scheme.
“The Committee does not accept the Government’s ongoing claim of public interest immunity in regards to the legal advice on the illegal robodebt scheme”, Senator Rachel Siewert said.
It is very clearly in the public interest for the Government to release this legal advice and Government Ministers are simply avoiding accountability by hiding behind this claim.
The court case is over. There is no longer an excuse to hide this information.
People in the community want justice, people lost their lives and many more were ruined because of this illegal program and they deserve to know who knew what and when.
The information the Committee is seeking is vital to the conduct of this inquiry as it goes to the legal foundation of the Income Compliance Program and its administration and the Minister has shown a blatant disregard for the Senate as well as the Committee process.
The Senate supported the Committee’s resolution for a number of documents related to legal advice be laid on the table by August 25th 2021.
The Committee will continue to pursue this matter with hearings scheduled for later this month.
The report can be found here.

Kids and teenagers must be included in the government’s national vaccine targets, Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said today. Young people deserve protection and without high rates of vaccination of the whole population, we will never get out of rolling lockdowns.
The Prime Minister’s current targets exclude children and most teenagers. The PM’s 80% target is really a 65% target of the whole population.
There are reports that kids and teenagers make  up a third of cases in NSW and outbreaks in schools are happening across the country. Over 5000 children and teenagers have contracted the virus since the pandemic began in Australia, with the numbers of children contracting the delta strain growing.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:
“I am again calling on the National Cabinet to include children and teenagers in the vaccine targets and rollouts.”
“The Prime Minister might want to exclude kids and teenagers so that his vaccination targets are easier to meet, but National Cabinet should not let him.”
“National Cabinet can’t let Scott Morrison fudge the numbers by excluding children from vaccine targets.”
“These current outbreaks are a pandemic of the unvaccinated, but if we leave kids out of the national targets it will become a pandemic of children.”

To respond to the current outbreak in Far North New South Wales, the Australian Government will provide an additional 7,680 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses immediately for use in the eight affected local government areas, including Walgett.
Expected to arrive in regional communities tomorrow, the delivery includes 4,800 vaccines for use across general practices and Commonwealth Vaccination Clinics (CVCs) and 2,880 for use in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS). This includes activating three additional general practices and an additional Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) in Bourke.
In line with the ‘New South Wales COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Plan’, the Government is working directly with the New South Wales Government, ACCHS, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (NACCHO), local stakeholders and the local community to provide immediate support to outbreak impacted communities. These areas include Bogan Shire, Bourke Shire, Brewarrina Shire, Coonamble Shire, Gilgandra Shire, Narromine Shire, Walgett Shire and Warren Shire.
The Australian Government has also activated an Incident Management Team to respond to this situation, providing additional support to the remote communities in the area.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the additional doses will help provide protection to those living in the area, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“This is a whole-of-government effort to support these communities and ensure that people can be protected through vaccination, while also having access to additional health support and testing services,” Minister Hunt said.
“We are also ready to provide additional AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for general community vaccinations.”
The National COVID Vaccine Taskforce has also engaged the Royal Flying Doctors Services (RFDS) for emergency response and evacuation, Personal Protective Equipment drop offs and additional vaccine capacity where needed.
As part of the Commonwealth’s Point of Care Testing Program the Government has expedited more cartridges and another testing machine to the Walgett ACCHS to meet testing demand in Walgett and surrounding regions.
In addition, NSW Health has advised they are committed to a whole-of-community vaccine blitz in Walgett.

WA Labor has announced high profile City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts will contest the electorate of Pearce at the upcoming federal election.
Since being elected to Council in 2003, Tracey has been a local champion for almost 20 years. She sits on a number of school boards and is patron and committee member of dozens of community organisations.
Tracey is a strong advocate for Western Australia as President of the Western Australian Local Government Association and Vice President of the Australian Local Government Association.
In the mid-1980’s, Tracey emigrated to Australia from the UK like many people in Perth’s northern suburbs. She lives in Mindarie with her husband, Pete, and has two sons.
In 2008, Tracey was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the Wanneroo community who got her through these challenging times, and that support has driven her to give back.
Tracey has a proven track record of delivering for the City of Wanneroo, and has worked side by side with Premier Mark McGowan to deliver key infrastructure projects for Perth’s northern suburbs.
In 2020, Tracey was appointed by the State Government to the State Recovery Advisory Group to drive the economic recovery from COVID-19.
Voters in Pearce have not forgotten that Scott Morrison and Christian Porter attacked Mark McGowan and sided with Clive Palmer to open our borders at the height of the pandemic.
Tracey will be a part of an Albanese Labor Government that will work with Mark McGowan – not against him – to stand up for WA.
 

Anthony Albanese MP

“I’ve known Tracey for years – she’s a fierce advocate for her community, who knows how to work with the Federal and State Governments to get things done.
“Tracey will be an important member of my team in WA – standing up for WA, and working with the McGowan Labor Government to create new jobs and protect your health.
“Scott Morrison and Christian Porter have let down Pearce and WA. They sided with Clive Palmer against Mark McGowan on the borders, and they failed to deliver quarantine facilities and to effectively roll out the vaccine.”

Labor Candidate for Pearce Tracey Roberts

“I have represented my community as the Mayor of Wanneroo for 10 years. In that time, I have secured more than $1 billion in investment for the City.
“For too long, Scott Morrison and the Christian Porter have neglected WA.
“We need ambitious, job-creating infrastructure projects from the Federal Government. I will stand up for Pearce in Canberra to make sure we see that investment right here in our community.”

The Morrison Government has today passed legislation that will provide more affordable child care for around 250,000 Australian families, and allow more parents to return to work or pick up more hours.
The Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Subsidy) Bill 2021 will increase the child care subsidy to a maximum of 95 per cent for families with more than one child aged under six in child care.
The $10,655 cap on the Child Care Subsidy has also been removed, benefitting around 18,000 families.
The measures will mean the equivalent of 40,000 people are able to work an extra day per week and will boost the economy by up to $1.5 billion per year.
A family on $110,000 with two children in child care four days a week will be $95 per week better off.
A single parent earning $80,000 with two kids in fulltime care would now pay just $5 per day for their second child.
Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge said the changes would see families with two children benefit by up to $185 a week.
“This legislation is good for families and good for the economy,” Minister Tudge said.
“It is targeted, it is measured, and it is geared towards those families who really need it – those who are managing the increased costs of having two or more children in child care.
“The Morrison Government supports choice for Australian families, and that’s why our policies are designed to be fair for those who use the child care system and taxpayers who don’t.”
Minister for Women’s Economic Security Jane Hume said the package would provide further economic opportunities for Australian parents, particularly women.
“We are supporting working parents, especially women who represent the majority of primary carers, by reducing child care costs and giving them more flexibility if they chose to return to work or want to work more hours,” Minister Hume said.
“Under this Government, women’s workforce participation is at a near record high of 61.6 per cent and this policy will help more Australian women to increase their incomes and secure their economic futures.”
The measures build on the Morrison Government’s $10 billion annual investment in child care, and the Child Care Package introduced in 2018 that is still keeping out-of-pocket costs low for Australian families.

The Liberals and Nationals Government has confirmed eligible workers in the Commonwealth declared pandemic hotspot of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) can soon apply for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said there will be many people eligible if their work or income will be impacted.
“Claims for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment for people in the ACT affected by the lockdown will open on 20 August,” Minister McKenzie said.
“Those eligible will receive $750 per week if they have lost 20 or more hours of work, and $450 per week if they have lost between eight and less than 20 hours of work, or a full day of work.”
People currently receiving an income support payment can also claim an extra payment of $200 if they have lost eight hours or more of work and meet the other eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Minister for Government Services Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the quickest and easiest way to claim is online through myGov.
“The fastest and easiest way to claim is online via myGov. Canberrans can get ready to claim now by creating a myGov account if they don’t already have one,” Minister Reynolds said.
“There’s no need to contact Services Australia right now. When claims open on 20 August, you’ll be able to claim financial support back to the start of the lockdown.”
Senator for the ACT Zed Seselja said supporting Canberrans that may be impacted by this latest lockdown was a high priority for the Liberals and Nationals Government.
“If we want to beat this outbreak as soon as possible then ACT residents will need to stay home and observe all of the local health advice, which I know will cause disruption to all of our lives,” Senator Seselja said.
“This support provides certainty for Canberrans who can’t work from home, so that they can safely observe the lockdown without worrying about their job or their income during this challenging time.”
More information about the COVID-19 Disaster Payment, and how to claim, is online at: servicesaustralia.gov.au/covid19disasterpayment

The Liberals and Nationals Government has confirmed eligible workers in the Commonwealth declared pandemic hotspot of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) can soon apply for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said there will be many people eligible if their work or income will be impacted.
“Claims for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment for people in the ACT affected by the lockdown will open on 20 August,” Minister McKenzie said.
“Those eligible will receive $750 per week if they have lost 20 or more hours of work, and $450 per week if they have lost between eight and less than 20 hours of work, or a full day of work.”
People currently receiving an income support payment can also claim an extra payment of $200 if they have lost eight hours or more of work and meet the other eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Minister for Government Services Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the quickest and easiest way to claim is online through myGov.
“The fastest and easiest way to claim is online via myGov. Canberrans can get ready to claim now by creating a myGov account if they don’t already have one,” Minister Reynolds said.
“There’s no need to contact Services Australia right now. When claims open on 20 August, you’ll be able to claim financial support back to the start of the lockdown.”
Senator for the ACT Zed Seselja said supporting Canberrans that may be impacted by this latest lockdown was a high priority for the Liberals and Nationals Government.
“If we want to beat this outbreak as soon as possible then ACT residents will need to stay home and observe all of the local health advice, which I know will cause disruption to all of our lives,” Senator Seselja said.
“This support provides certainty for Canberrans who can’t work from home, so that they can safely observe the lockdown without worrying about their job or their income during this challenging time.”
More information about the COVID-19 Disaster Payment, and how to claim, is online at: servicesaustralia.gov.au/covid19disasterpayment