Month: October 2021

The Greens says today’s second interim report from the Select Committee on Job Security shows that the Morrison Government’s ideological mission to outsource the public sector has seriously undermined the Australian Public Service’s ability to deliver services and provide effective policy advice.
Greens deputy leader and public sector spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Under the Morrison Government we’ve seen the public service gutted and billions handed out to massive multinational consultancy firms and labour hire companies.
“This rampant outsourcing has produced more expensive, lower quality and less transparent service delivery, while seriously damaging the public sector’s ability to provide effective and impartial policy advice to government.
“Unsurprisingly, the big consultancy firms profiting from this systematic undermining of the public service – EY, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG – are massive political donors, stuffing a combined $4.7 million into the pockets of the major parties over the past decade.
“Australia needs a strong, independent public service capable of meeting the education, housing, health, social security, environmental protection and infrastructure needs of the country. But this PM, true to form, is more interested in delivering corporate handouts than he is in delivering good policy outcomes.
“The Greens support the report’s recommendations to rebuild public service staffing levels, strengthen job security, reduce our reliance on contractors and consultants and improve public oversight of outsourced advice.”
Greens candidate for Canberra Tim Hollo said:
“The outsourcing of ever more essential government functions to private corporations has serious negative impacts on both the Canberra community and the state of our democracy.
“People go into the Public Service because they want to contribute to its vital work, but they’re finding it devastatingly under-funded, with more and more of its work being contracted out to for-profit corporations like the Big 4 consultancy firms.
“Talking to people across the city, from junior public servants to senior ranks, I hear deep frustration that the federal government is constantly undermining their capacity to do their important work through under-funding, contract work, and outsourcing.
“I also speak to countless Canberrans who share our concern about the ties the major parties have to these consultancy firms. People rightly make the connection between the huge amounts of political donations the Labor and Liberal parties receive from these firms, and the loss of job security and capacity within Canberra’s biggest employer.
“But what should worry everyone in this country is that what we’re seeing through this process of corporatising the basic functions of democracy is a shift from governing for the public good to government by for-profit corporations.”

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has welcomed the publication of the Senate Select Committee on Job Security’s second interim report, and called for its recommendations to be implemented.
Senator Faruqi, who is a Committee Member, said:
“Wage theft at our universities is out of control. What’s worse, most universities are continuing to wipe their hands of it and dismiss the systemic and serious nature of the underpayments.
“Casual workers, and particularly women who are overrepresented as casuals, are bearing the brunt of this wage theft that has been allowed to flourish, almost completely unchecked until now. Casualisation and wage theft are inextricably linked. We heard from so many university staff during this inquiry about their horrific experiences.
“An entire generation of casual academics have been hung out to dry.
“Our universities are in desperate need of a massive investment of public funding after the devastation of Covid-19 and the abandonment of the sector by the Commonwealth. But we also need an overhaul of university governance. The corporate university has been built by corporate, neoliberal university management.
“The report provides some very useful recommendations. There should be much clearer reporting requirements with respect to employment statistics. The government should require universities set publicly-available targets for increasing permanent employment, and link this to funding. There should be improved rights of entry for trade unions. All very useful initiatives, and some the Greens have proposed strengthening.”

The Covid outbreak at the Park Hotel detention facility was a preventable crisis that is a direct result of Government negligence, the Greens say.
“The Liberals were warned repeatedly that this would happen, but because of their cruel indifference they left people in cramped and unsafe conditions,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“These are people who have been locked up for over eight years and were in Australia for medical treatment. It is a complete failure of duty of care at every possible level.”
“The Australian Government has manifestly failed to deliver the protection it owes these men.”
“With more cases every day, it is incumbent on the Minister to give these people freedom and safety in the Australian community, with appropriate medical care and precautions to ensure that they and the broader community are safe from Covid.”

The Greens have today tabled legislation to extend and reinstate the temporary visas of people who were stranded overseas because of international border closures.
“Tens of thousands of temporary visa holders, including people with established homes, jobs and in some cases partners in Australia, were overseas when Australia’s international borders closed due to Covid-19,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“Many more had spent thousands of dollars on their visas, had packed up their homes, quit their jobs and were about to move to Australia when the borders closed.”
“Despite their best efforts to return, many have been left languishing overseas watching their visas run down and expire through no fault of their own.”
“The pain and trauma this situation has caused is immeasurable, and there is still no end in sight after more than 18 months.”
“At no point in the pandemic has the Government addressed the pain that the border closure has caused to temporary visa holders stranded overseas.
“They have no plan, no timetable and no pathway for how people on temporary visas will be able to return to their homes, jobs, lives and partners in Australia.”
“The Greens Legislation provides this pathway, by extending visas by the amount of time people have been stranded overseas or reinstate visas that have expired while a person was stranded overseas.”
“The legislation will apply to all temporary visa classes that have been affected by the international border closure.”
“We urge all Members of Parliament to support this Bill.”

The Morrison Government is boosting Australian led stem cell research through $25 million in grants, to help find and develop innovative, safe and effective treatments for devastating diseases and injuries.
Through the Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), the Stem Cell Therapies Mission is investing $150 million over 10 years to support world-leading stem cell research, which will improve health outcomes, in partnership with patients and carers.
Up to $25 million is available over five years from 2021-22 through two funding streams –

• Stream 1 – up to $15m: to support the development of novel stem-cell based treatments by disease-focused large-scale multidisciplinary teams.
• Stream 2 up to $10m: to support large-scale projects that will focus on pre-clinical evaluation and screening of new treatments using human tissues made from stem cells involving large-scale multi-disciplinary teams.

To receive grants, projects must be working towards a final product or therapy, have a feasible pathway to market, and consider the ethical, legal and social issues associated with the treatment.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said previous projects funded by the Mission are already starting to show promising results.
“These early, yet promising findings, show that our Mission is on track to develop and deliver safe and effective stem cell medicines and treatments that will benefit all Australians who need them,” Minister Hunt said.
“Australia is taking a lead role in stem cell research, and I encourage all stem cell researchers to consider applying for these grants, which will help improve and save lives.”
Previous projects funding through the MRFF Stem Cell Therapies Grant include Professor Peter Currie and his team at Monash University, who have identified a new function for a molecule to activate the body’s own muscle stem cells to repair injury or disease. This finding could change treatment options for tens of thousands of Australians who experience the debilitating effects of muscle injuries and wasting diseases.
Also recipients of previous grant funding, the Council of Queensland Institute of Medical Research researchers have found that inflammation is likely the primary driver of cardiac injury in COVID-19 patients. They have identified a class of drugs that could prevent this and will shortly begin a Phase II clinical study to determine safety and efficacy.
The grants are being offered in line with the Morrison Government’s recently released Stem Cell Therapies Mission Roadmap and Implementation Plan.
These key strategic documents will ensure the Mission remains focused on the priorities determined by an expert advisory panel, led by co-chairs Professor Melissa Little and Professor Mark Kendall.
Applications for the 2021 Stem Cell Therapies Grant Opportunity are now open, with funding available over five years from 2021–22. More information on the grant round can be found at www.grants.gov.au and on the MRFF at www.health.gov.au/mrff.
The Morrison Government’s $20 billion MRFF, is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research, helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system.