Month: October 2022

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Forests, Janet Rice, has lashed out at the Labor Government for failing to budget to protect native forests and their threatened animals, birds and plants.

$224 million has been allocated as part of the Labor Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan but it fails to protect native forests. 

Senator Rice said: 

“According to a parliamentary budget office costing, it will take $24.4 billion over the next decade to restore wildlife habitat and protect threatened species. $224 million is an insult. 

“In this Budget Labor has made their priorities on climate and the environment very clear, giving over $40billion in fossil fuel subsidies and not a cent to native forests and their threatened animals, birds and plants. 

“As long as the government continues to approve new coal and gas projects and support native forest logging, their zero extinction target remains a farce. 

“Species like the critically endangered wollert or leadbeaters possum and the endangered greater glider lost so much of their habitat in the black summer fires and their forest homes are still being destroyed by logging.

“If Labor were serious about saving threatened species, they would end native forest logging and meaningfully invest in environmental restoration and recovery plans.” 

Labor’s budget has failed the public schools test, committing even more to private schools than the Morrison Government pledged in its March budget, the Greens say.

The Albanese Government has promised private schools $70.2 billion over the forward estimates, $1.7 billion more than Scott Morrison guaranteed in his pre-election budget. The private school sector will now receive an even greater share of Commonwealth funding under Labor than it would have under the Coalition.

Greens spokesperson on schools, Queensland Senator Penny Allman-Payne, will today move a disallowance motion to block an increase in the size of the Capital Grants Program, a Commonwealth capital works fund exclusively available to private schools.

Greens spokesperson on schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“This is a schools budget the Liberal Party would have been proud of.

“As a proportion of total funding, private school funding is actually growing, moving public schools even further away from reaching 100% of the minimum Schooling Resource Standard.

“This budget indicates that the Albanese Government is either ignorant of growing school inequality, or it just doesn’t care. A stronger commitment to public school funding would have helped Labor tackle the cost of living crisis, teacher shortages and declining student performance.

“While elite schools are building extra boat sheds and plunge pools for their headmasters, public schools in my own region of Central Queensland, and across the country, are struggling to attract and retain teachers and meet the needs of their students.

“Labor had an opportunity to undo a decade of conservative damage to the education system by winding back government support for the private sector and investing in the public system. Instead we got the kind of budget you’d expect from Scott Morrison.

“With negotiations on the next National Schools Reform Agreement beginning soon the Greens will be pushing to ensure that all public schools receive at least 100% of their Schooling Resource Standard by the end of the agreement, and we’ll continue to fight for public money for public schools.”

Australian Greens Social Services spokesperson Senator Janet Rice has condemned Labor’s decision to give tax cuts to the wealthy while one third of Australian households are struggling to put food on the table. 

Senator Rice said: 

“Poverty is a political choice and Labor has chosen to give tax cuts to the wealthy instead of raising the rate of income support payments above the poverty line.

“While one third of Australian households are struggling to put food on the table and the cost of living continues to escalate, Labor is providing $9000 a year for the wealthy and doing nothing to raise the rate of income support.

“Last week at the first hearing of the Senate inquiry into the extent and nature of poverty, multiple community organisations and advocacy groups called for a permanent raise in the rate of income support.  

“The Labor Government has ignored these calls and in doing so has left millions of Australians having to choose between paying the rent, essential medicines or eating three meals a day.

“The Greens are calling on Labor to introduce a guaranteed liveable income which would see all income support payment rates raised above the poverty line to at least $88 a day, mutual obligations abolished and the removal of unfair restrictions on who can access payments, to ensure everyone has enough to cover their basic needs.”

Labor’s budget gives billionaires and politicians a $9,000 a year tax cut but fails to deliver for older Australians and the aged care sector. 

Senator Rice said: 

“The Greens welcome the $3.9billion in increased funding for the aged care sector but it falls short of the total funding recommended by the Royal Commission by more than $4billion a year. 

“Labor’s budget gives billionaires and politicians a $9,000 a year tax cut but fails to deliver for older Australians and the aged care sector. 

“This budget was a missed opportunity for the government to ensure that older people in this country have access to the level of care they need. The aged care sector is in crisis and one-off top ups won’t solve the structural problem.

“The Greens are calling for an overhaul of the aged system including phasing out for-profit providers, a human rights based approach to aged care, and ensuring no one needs to wait to access a home care package.”

Labor’s Women’s Budget Statement outlines the problems women face, but offers very little when it comes to delivering the solutions women need.

On top of waiting years for half-measures on PPL and childcare, women are offered partial indexation rather than a funding boost for frontline services, while billionaires and big corporations get massive handouts and tax cuts.  

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women, Larissa Waters said:

“After talking up their ‘women-centred’ budget for months now, the Albanese Government has offered up an incredibly underwhelming budget for women. 

“After 9 years of inaction under the Coalition, it was a low bar to clear, but redirecting existing funds and dangling the promise of better things in the future just isn’t going to cut it when it comes to women’s safety and economic security.

“Cheaper childcare is a welcome outcome for women, but it’s still not free and there is nothing to address the early childhood workforce crisis. And instead of raising the rate of income support payments above the poverty line, they’ve chosen to give tax cuts to the wealthy. 

On the National plan to end violence against women and children
“The new National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children was released last week with great fanfare and laudable goals. But ambitious aims need to be backed with funding.

“The women’s safety sector has repeatedly called for a $1B per year to ensure funding meets demand. And yet the government’s budget response was to re-badge and re-shuffle previous funding commitments, adding only partial indexation and a fraction of the workers needed. 

“Partial indexation is not a base funding increase. And the Albanese Government shouldn’t be trying to spin it as one.

On a standalone National plan to end violence against First Nations women and children
“A First Nations Action Plan and a standalone National Plan for First Nations women is a matter of national priority and needs to be treated that way, but the Budget failed to dedicate funding for consultation or development of the Plan.  

On Paid Parental Leave
“We support moves to strengthen Australia’s parental leave scheme, but Labor’s plan is too slow and doesn’t include superannuation or replacement wages. Families, and particularly women, have waited long enough for fairer leave and deserve action.

“If the Jobs summit convinced the Minister for Women to ‘step up’ on paid parental leave, why keep women waiting?.

“Fairer Paid Parental Leave is a no-brainer that benefits everyone – parents, children and the economy. If the Albanese government had axed the Stage 3 tax cuts, we could easily afford it.

On Respect @ Work

“Implementing all Respect @ Work recommendations is overdue and we welcome the government’s Bill and the funding commitments to support the Human Rights Commission and Fair Work Commission to take stronger action on workplace sexual harassment. 

“We are also pleased to see funding for Working Women’s Centres across Australia to provide independent, expert advice and support to workers who experience sexual harassment.  

On Reproductive Healthcare
“It is crystal clear that reproductive healthcare across Australia is a postcode lottery and too many women, especially in rural and regional areas, struggle to get access. There is nothing in this Budget to remove those barriers such as adding abortion care to Medicare, ensuring public hospitals provide abortion care, or resourcing the full suite of birthing options for women. 

On Birthing on Country
“We know that First Nations parents can experience trauma when forced to be away from Country when giving birth. 

The commitment to develop a Birthing on Country Centre for Excellence is a great first step, and must prompt the roll out of access to culturally-safe care for First Nation families across Australia.

The Greens welcome passage of the Bill to give employees access to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave. It is a long overdue reform that will save lives. 

But a lack of new funding in last night’s Budget means frontline response and prevention services will struggle to meet the expected increase in demand. 

Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women said:

“The Greens have championed paid family and domestic violence (FDV) leave for years. Paid leave will help victim-survivors, who are predominantly women, to escape abusive relationships, protect themselves and their children, and rebuild their lives.

“But paid FDV leave cannot succeed if advice and support services for victim-survivors and employers don’t have funding to meet demand. The long-awaited National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children has now been released, but without any new funding commitments.

“The women’s safety sector has repeatedly called for a $1B per year investment to ensure funding meets demand. And yet the government’s budget response was to re-badge and re-shuffle previous funding commitments, adding only partial indexation and a fraction of the workers needed, with the Labor government instead choosing tax cuts for the rich and subsidies for donor mates. 

“The Greens moved a number of amendments today to strengthen the FDV leave scheme and prevent discrimination against employees who disclose family and domestic violence to their employers. 

“We know it can take several attempts and over 140 hours to escape an abusive relationship. We have called for employees to be able to request extra unpaid leave when 10 days is not enough. This would provide the best possible chance for women to keep themselves and their children safe. 

“Experts made it clear that dedicated FDV leave is essential to cultural change and removing the stigma of disclosing. The shame is on the perpetrator alone, so we did not support Senator Tyrell’s proposal to rename it emergency leave. But we were pleased to support amendments preventing employers recording FDV Leave on pay slips and confirming that any information disclosed must be kept confidential. This has strengthened the Bill and we will keep working to remove barriers to accessing this life-saving leave.

“We also moved amendments to ensure the Bill recognises the full range of situations people experiencing FDV may need to navigate so victim-survivors are not denied leave because their safety relies on something not in the list of eligible activities. 

“While our amendments did not get support today, we will push for the important issues they raised to be revisited in the statutory review of the Bill. Victim-survivors deserve a scheme that provides protection and support when they need it most.”