September 2023 – Page 17

Government response fails Iranian-Australian community

The Iranian-Australian community will be devastated at the Government’s refusal to accept or implement the majority of the 12 recommendations of the Senate inquiry on human rights implications of recent violence in Iran.

The diaspora community has waited more than 7 months for the Government response to this urgent report. Confirmation today that the Government will only accept 2 of the 12 recommendations in full and one in part is staggering.

While we appreciate the additional sanctions announced by the Government today, they do not go far enough with the Foreign Minister acknowledging that “women and girls in Iran still face systemic persecution”.

Many Iranian-Australians have taken great personal risk to speak out, protest and urge the Government to take stronger action. Iranian-Australian community groups have written to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on multiple occasions throughout the year urging swift implementation of the Committee’s recommendations.

Incredibly, among the recommendations not accepted by the Albanese Government include that any Iranian officials in Australia considered to be involved in intimidation, threats or monitoring of Australians be expelled. This comes despite the Government acknowledging that Australians are being threatened and harassed on Australian soil.

Despite acknowledging that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) is involved in terrorism, the Government has also rejected the recommendation that necessary steps be taken to enable the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist group.

The Government has even refused to accept a recommendation to increase transparency and better inform the Australian public about the status of our diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) regime and our security concerns about its wide-range of threatening and dangerous behaviour.

This Government response and rejection of the majority of the report recommendations will be devastating for many in the Iranian-Australian community who have worked so hard to try and get this Albanese Labor Government to take stronger action and hold the regime to account.

This response comes not only during the week of the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death, but at a time when the IRI regime is growing its influence in the region, exporting terror around the world, and gaining leverage and financial benefit from its appalling tactics.

Once again, we join with the diaspora community in urging the Government to take stronger action and reiterate our bipartisan support for doing so. Australia’s position should reflect the bravery and courage of the women and girls fighting for basic human rights.

This is a Bill that needs to be thrown into the bin now

Unlike people in many parts of the world, Australians are allowed to say what they think. This democratic freedom is a big part of our success as a nation. We should always fight to protect it.

The Albanese Government has released a new Misinformation Bill that would have a huge negative impact on our freedom of speech. It needs to be stopped because no government should tell us what we can and cannot say. Disagreeing about things, even arguing about them, is how we move forward in a democracy. If we all agreed on everything, then nothing would ever change. And we would be a much weaker country.

Labor’s Bill would see huge fines issued to tech companies if the Government thinks they are not doing enough to reduce misinformation online. To avoid those fines, these companies will remove the free speech of Australians. And there’s going to be a lot of deleting going on because the Bill will capture thousands of statements made by Australians every day.

Under the Government’s Bill, something can be misinformation even if you hold that view in good faith and believe it is true. It could be a strongly held belief on politics or social issues or religion. To be misinformation, all that’s required is that the statement is “misleading” and that it’s capable of contributing to “serious harm”. Harm includes things like harm to the economy or to the environment, so would capture a lot of discussions that Australians are involved in online.

Who decides if something is misinformation? It’s the Government. While the tech companies decide which pieces of content get taken down, the Government decides whether the tech companies are deleting enough material. And to form that view, the Government — through its regulator ACMA — will need to have an opinion on how much misinformation there is on a particular web site. So the Government will decide whether material about politics and other things can and cannot be said by Australians. It’s very obvious that this is a really bad idea.

Incredibly, the Albanese Government has excluded itself from this law. Under the Bill, anything the Government authorises can’t be misinformation. But if you criticise the Government, that can be misinformation. This is outrageous and impossible for the Government to defend. The Government has also excluded some other groups from the Bill, like university academics. But they haven’t excluded an average person expressing their views online. This means that the same thing could be misinformation if it’s said by an ordinary Australian but not misinformation if it’s said by an academic. How can that be fair?

And the Bill has another sting in the tail. It gives Government officials the power to require anybody to appear before them to answer questions about allegations of misinformation. If you are called, you must appear before the officials. And if you don’t attend, you can be fined more than $8000 per day. This power is clearly over the top and will have a chilling impact on free speech.

Because the Bill is so bad, it has come in for heavy criticism. Everyone from the Human Rights Commission to the media union to key civil liberties groups have pointed to the massive problems with the proposal. But the Government is still saying that they want to press ahead. Instead of trying to impose this new law on Australia, the Government should bin the Bill. They should rip it up into little pieces and apologise for proposing it in the first place.

Coalition Bill introduced to boost airline transparency and drive lower prices

Australians are in the grip of a cost of living crisis, and few sectors are impacting households and businesses harder than passenger aviation.

Which is why Senators Bridget McKenzie and Dean Smith have today introduced a Private Senator’s Bill that would restore oversight of the domestic aviation market by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The monitoring would track prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of domestic air passenger transport services, and of related goods and services, for three years.

The aviation sector remains one of the most concentrated in the Australian economy, with the Qantas and Virgin Australia duopoly controlling 95% of the domestic market.

Meanwhile, recent dealings between the Albanese Government and Qantas regarding the blocking of additional Qatar Airways flights into Australia have reignited concerns about sector competition and transparency.

The ACCC would be required to publish a report of its findings at least once every quarter.

This Bill replicates the monitoring regime begun under the previous Coalition Government, which ran from June 2020 to June 2023.

In its final report in June, the ACCC found that “a lack of effective competition is a key reason why the industry has generally underperformed in terms of meeting the needs of both the travelling public and the parts of the economy that rely on domestic air travel.”

Despite its obvious benefit to the travelling public and boosting competition, the Albanese Government chose not to continue the monitoring.

Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Senator Dean Smith said Labor’s decision ignored advice from the ACCC that sector oversight should continue.

“The watchdog clearly said that ongoing monitoring would boost transparency and scrutiny of an industry in which new or growing airlines are trying to get established,” Senator Smith said.

“This is totally at odds with the Albanese Government’s supposed commitment to both transparency and making life cheaper for Australians.”

After days of public criticism, the Albanese Government has now confirmed the aviation sector will be included in its upcoming competition review, but it has not provided any details as to when the review will assess the industry, nor how it will be prioritised against other sectors.

Shadow Minister for Transport, Senator Bridget McKenzie said the Albanese Government is running a protection racket for Qantas, which has been highlighted by the Government’s recent decision to block Qatar Airways’ request for additional flights.

“After the monitoring ended, I wrote to the Treasurer asking him to instruct the ACCC to investigate airline competition and pricing, and provide recommendations to government and industry to improve the competitiveness of airfares and enhance service reliability,” Senator McKenzie said.

“And if he won’t act on this, we will.”

“This is what this Bill is all about.”

“The Prime Minister and his ministers have provided 9, often conflicting, reasons as to why they blocked Qatar Airways’ request.”

“The question remains, why don’t the Albanese Government want to provide cheaper airfares for the travelling public in a cost-of-living crisis?”

Senator McKenzie also highlighted the Labor Government’s Aviation Green Paper, which called Australia’s aviation sector “highly concentrated”, a direct contradiction to the Prime Minister’s earlier statements where he stated, “we have the most competitive aviation market in the world, bar none.”

A new playspace for Gregson Park

City of Newcastle is moving ahead with the creation of a new inclusive playspace at Hamilton’s historic Gregson Park, with the contract for construction now open to tender.

One of the concept designs for the new playspace at Gregson Park.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the project was identified as a high priority action as part of the adopted Masterplan for the much-loved park.

“We know our community values Gregson Park’s rich history and what it offers as a recreational space,” Cr Nelmes said.

“Extensive community engagement was undertaken in preparing the Gregson Park Masterplan 2021, with feedback into the concept design for a new playspace and upgraded amenities, and consultation with First Nations Australians to appropriately capture Indigenous elements in the design.

“The construction of this playground will be a significant step in delivering our shared vision for Gregson Park, which will ensure it remains a much-loved and well utilised space now and into the future.”

Alongside a variety of traditional play equipment, the playground will feature a range of accessible, sensory and nature-based play options, with traditional Indigenous elements, including a yarning circle to encourage knowledge sharing and a bush tucker garden to enrich learning of native edible plants.

Additional shade, a water feature, formal and informal seating, and footbridges will also feature, complemented by an upgraded, accessible amenities building and new covered picnic area to ensure the park is an inclusive place for all.

Councillor Carol Duncan said it was exciting to see this project move forward, with construction expected to begin early next year.

“Hamilton is a unique, diverse and iconic Newcastle suburb with Gregson Park the green space at its heart,” Cr Duncan said.

“I look forward to seeing work get underway on the reimagined playspace and upgraded amenities, which will enhance the future enjoyment of the park for the next generation.”

Local business owner and Hamilton Business Improvement Association (BIA) Chair Reece Hignell said the new playspace will provide plenty of benefits for the suburb.

“Gregson Park is a popular destination that attracts visitors from Hamilton and the wider Newcastle community,” Mr Hignell said.

“This new playground will provide a drawcard for more families and that will hopefully create increased foot traffic for all of our wonderful businesses in and around Beaumont Street.”

Tender submissions can now be made via www.tenderlink.com/newcastle

Riverwall repairs provide rock solid future for popular running route

A shared pathway home to one of the largest parkrun events in Australia will be preserved into the future as part of City of Newcastle’s $350,000 investment into the Throsby Creek riverwall.

The project will repair a 200m-long section of the rock riverwall at Wickham, ensuring the ongoing stability of the heavily used pathway that runs adjacent to the western bank of Throsby Creek.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen with representatives from parkrun, City of Newcastle and Soil Conservation Services checking in on the progress of the Throsby Creek riverwall repairs.

The shared pathway provides a key link in the inner-city cycleway and forms part of the 5km-long Newy parkrun course, which is traversed by more than 400 runners and walkers every Saturday morning.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said these important repairs will ensure the riverwall continues to be an environmental, recreational and visual asset valued by all members of our community.

“Moving across the city with ease is important to the liveability of Newcastle, which is why City of Newcastle is investing in pedestrian safety, enhanced accessibility and linked movement within local neighbourhoods,” Cr Clausen said.

“Repairs to the Throsby Creek riverwall will provide stability to the nearby shared pathway, which has been utilised more than 224,000 times by Newy parkrun participants alongside countless cyclists, walkers and café lovers who live and work in the surrounding Wickham, Maryville and Carrington communities.”

The repair work will involve the recovery and reinstallation of the original igneous pink rocks displaced from the wall into the creek waters over time, supplemented by around 210 tonnes of newly sourced rock, which will be used to repair and stablise the riverwall where it had degraded over time.

The project will also provide formalised pedestrian recreation access to the artificial beach on the southern and northern end of the work area.

Works are being delivered for City of Newcastle by Soil Conservation Services. City of Newcastle has worked with local suppliers to gain access to appropriate rock resources, which have been in short supply, delaying the commencement of permanent restoration works.

The original rock wall was delivered more than 20 years ago by a private developer on behalf of the NSW Government. The reconstructed wall will be built to a higher standard, to reduce the likelihood of future councils needing to undertake further restoration.

Newy parkrun Co Event Director, Penny Redhead said the Throsby Creek loop is a fantastic resource, with one of the best flat scenic routes Newcastle’s inner-city has to offer.

“Over the past 10 years, Newcastle has experienced a running movement. This is highlighted by the continued growth in participation not only at Newy parkrun but across the 13 parkruns in the Greater Hunter Region,” Ms Redhead said.

“The focus of parkrun is getting people of all ages, shapes, and abilities together as a community to move continuously, at their pace, for 5km. With the riverwall repairs, the shared pathway will be safer and more accessible for everyone including parkrun.

“Even on non-parkrun days it’s great to see the volume and variety of people enjoying the path, demonstrating real respect and courtesy amongst all users.”

The project is being delivered as part of City of Newcastle’s citywide creek rehabilitation program, which is designed to improve our blue green grid, through revegetating riparian vegetation, stabilising creek beds, reducing bank erosion, improving water quality, and enhancing amenity for our local communities.

City of Newcastle will invest more than $1.25 million into the program during the 2023/24 financial year, with repairs and rehabilitation projects also planned for the Claremont Reserve creek line at Adamstown, Ironbark Creek at Elermore Vale, Wilai Creek at Elermore Vale, and Dark Creek at North Lambton.

Families to benefit from $500 of preschool fee relief

Families of up to 64,000 NSW children will benefit from $500 in fee relief under the Minns Labor government’s push to boost preschool education and provide cost of living relief.

This is part of a more than $100 million package of initiatives to invest in early learning and enhance the sector’s workforce, after opportunities in this important sector were missed by the Liberals and the Nationals.

Investment in quality early childhood education and care has lifelong benefits for NSW’s youngest learners and is a key to enabling parental workforce participation.

The initiatives include:

Fee relief: $64 million over 2 years to provide $500 in fee relief per child, per year for parents of 3-year-olds in long day care preschool programs.
Flexibility for families: $20 million for the Flexible Initiatives trial to expand access to early childhood education and care, extended hours and assist parents re-entering the workforce.
New services: $20 million in capital funds to support new not-for-profit services in high-growth and regional communities.
Workforce: $22 million over 5 years to recruit and retain essential early childhood workers including providing professional development and scholarships for tertiary education of early childhood workers.

Premier of NSW Chris Minns said:

“We were elected with a mandate to reinvest in essential services – and that includes giving children the best possible start in life, and a great education.

“Today’s announcement is an important step towards ensuring all children in NSW have access to early education.

“We know how important early education is to a child’s development. These are big reforms that will impact the way we deliver early education in NSW.”

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“This government is committed to making sure all children in NSW get the best start in life.

“Achieving that goal includes making the investments necessary to make preschool more affordable and accessible for all families.

“We also need to usher in a strong and reliable pipeline of early childhood workers, so our system is supported now and into the future.

“Attending preschool is so important for young children’s development, and the investments we make today will make a world of difference for these children’s futures.”

Milestone success heralds new era of competitive eConveyancing

A major milestone has been reached which will allow for competition in eConveyancing, with Commonwealth and state ministers today welcoming the first successful property transactions taking place between Electronic Lodgement Network Operators (ELNOs).

Currently all lawyers, conveyancers and banks involved in electronic conveyancing (eConveyancing) property settlement transactions must use the same ELNO.

Interoperability will allow for competition and is the next stage in eConveyancing reform, bringing together industry and government stakeholders to deliver a competitive market of ELNO operators.

This week, Day 1 Transactions were successfully completed allowing for 2 properties to be refinanced in Queensland, testing the interoperability technical solution developed by ELNOs over several years.

The 2 ELNOs, Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA) and Sympli Australia Pty Ltd (Sympli), along with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Titles Queensland, participated in the transactions and ensured they were successfully completed.

The transactions pave the way for the next stage of the reform, which is to deliver interoperability functionality into the market that will eventually be rolled out Australia-wide. ELNOs have until July 2025 to reach this milestone and are expected to develop all functionality by December 2025.

More information on the Day 1 Transactions are available on the Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) websitelaunch.

NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:

“I’m very pleased the Day 1 Transactions have been a success, as a first step towards competition in the electronic conveyancing market to ensure competitive prices and enable more innovation for customers.

“The Minns Government is fully committed to this critical reform and achieving this milestone is the result of significant work and collaboration over several years across jurisdictions.”

Federal Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh said:

“This milestone represents a significant step towards unlocking much needed competition in the eConveyancing market. A move away from a monopoly service provider to robust competition is great news for consumers, who will likely see the benefits of cheaper and more innovative services.

“I would like to thank all stakeholders for their ongoing dedication to the reform which could not have been achieved without considerable contributions from industry and governments, working together through the Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council.”

Wyangala Dam project not viable and not going ahead

The NSW Government will not proceed with the Wyangala Dam Wall Raising Project because of the billions of dollars in construction costs and the potential catastrophic environmental impacts.

Minister for Water Rose Jackson said both the project’s final business case and an extensive independent review by Infrastructure NSW have recommended not raising the dam wall because it doesn’t stack up financially or environmentally.

“Robust investigations show that while raising the wall by 10m is technically feasible, it could cause substantial and irreversible environmental impacts,” Ms Jackson said.

“Hydrological modelling also found raising the wall, with a 5m flood mitigation zone, was also likely to have devasting impacts on the internationally significant downstream environment, resulting in excessive biodiversity offset costs.

“The other major issue is the billions of dollars to build the dam wall. We have a responsibility to taxpayers to only fund infrastructure projects that provide maximum bang for the buck and, in this case, the capital costs are too high, and the benefits are too low.

“While Wyangala is not viable, I recognise the challenges of water security, reliability and flood mitigation for Lachlan communities do not go away. We know there’s a drought knocking on our door threatening the water security of towns across NSW which is why we are reviewing our strategies as a priority.

“The former government wasted time and money on business cases instead of undertaking any real drought preparedness work. The NSW Government is now taking action because we know the region needs a multi-faceted approach to protect against uncertainties and balance the competing needs of our environment, towns, and farmers.”

The NSW Government will be seeking feedback on how it plans to address these issues in the draft Lachlan Regional Water Strategy, which will go on public exhibition before the end of September.

It will allow people to have their say on water security and will put forward a shortlist of proposed actions to help support local communities, so they’re in the strongest position to manage a more variable climate over the coming decades.

Minister Jackson said the decisions are made about the future of water in the Lachlan region will be based on evidence and state-of-the-art climate modelling.

“We want to support economic growth and balance different water needs, ensuring there’s the right amount of water for the right purpose at the right time,” she said.

“I encourage everyone across the Lachlan region to provide their input when the draft strategy goes on exhibition, because feedback from councils, industry and the community will play a vital role in helping us determine the best way forward.”

Minns government budget rescues NSW child protection system from looming funding crisis

The Minns Labor government will commit $200 million to ensure thousands of vulnerable kids are kept safe.

The state’s out-of-home care (OOHC) system supports approximately 15,000 vulnerable children who are unable to live safely at home, through foster care, kinship care, and residential care arrangements.

Following the election, the Minns Labor government discovered a significant budget shortfall within the OOHC system – part of the former government’s $7 billion in unfunded programs.

The Liberals and Nationals left behind an out-of-home-care budget due to run out next April– more than 2 months before the end of the 2023–2024 financial year, which would leave the NSW Government failing to meet its statutory obligations to vulnerable children.

The NSW Labor Government’s budget will deliver a $200 million rescue package to sustain out-of-home care throughout 2023–2024.

The NSW Government is also committing to fixing the broken child protection system in NSW.

Despite the number of children in the OOHC system remaining relatively stable, a series of policy failures by the former government created a spiralling OOHC budget crisis combined with worsening outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.

A recent review into the child protection system found vulnerable children were holed up in motel rooms without enough food or clothing, despite non-government providers being paid more than a million dollars for their care.

Over the 3 years from 30 June 2020 to 30 June 2023 there has been a tripling in the number of children in expensive emergency arrangements, including hotels and motels, and an increase in the average length of stay for all placement types.

The Minns Labor Government is setting out long-term plans to reform the child protection system and repair the budget, as part of its plan to rebuild essential services we all rely on – and looking after vulnerable kids is an essential service.

And it will be done without privatising essential public assets or imposing an unfair cap on the wages of our essential service workers.

Minister for Families and Communities Kate Washington said:

“The Minns Labor government inherited a broken child protection system and a massive black hole in the out-of-home care budget.

“It’s shocking that the former government managed to make a mess of the child protection system so badly for young vulnerable children, and for taxpayers too.

“This $200 million rescue package means the state’s most vulnerable kids will be kept safe through foster care, kinship care, and residential care arrangements.

“We are committed to repairing the budget and reforming the child protection system to give children and young people the best chance of a brighter future.”

Fairer democratic elections to return for City of Sydney

The NSW Government is returning democracy and fairness to the City of Sydney by removing rules that favour the votes of businesses over residents in local government elections.

The City of Sydney Amendment Bill 2023 introduced by the Government seeks to reinstate the voting rules for non-residential electors that apply in all other LGAs across NSW.

In 2014, the City of Sydney Act 1988 was amended to give eligible businesses two votes in council elections, compared to one each for residents.

As a result, businesses that own, lease, or occupy rateable land in the City of Sydney can currently nominate two people to vote on their behalf in council elections.

The Government’s new bill will remove this unfair weighting and bring balance back to the system.

The changes will also remove the automatic enrolment of non-residential electors, which does not exist anywhere else in the state, and currently applies regardless of whether these electors wish to vote in City of Sydney elections or not.

Eligible people will still be able to apply to become non-residential electors, however, only one person will be entitled to be enrolled on behalf of corporations or multiple owners, lessees or occupiers.

The 2014 amendment being reversed by this bill cost City of Sydney ratepayers $9.7 million to establish and approximately $1 million per year to maintain.

It also resulted in an increase in the number of fines issued by the NSW Electoral Commission.

Following the 2021 council elections, 18,501 failure to vote notices and fines were issued by the Electoral Commission to non-residential electors. This equates to 39 per cent of all non-residential electors for the area.

If passed, this bill will:

ensure the same rules that govern voting by non-residential electors in all other LGAs in NSW will apply to the City of Sydney
make the preparation of non-residential elector rolls much less onerous and costly and relieve the City of Sydney of a significant administrative burden
deliver cost savings for the City of Sydney that can be redirected towards services and infrastructure for the local community

Quotes attributable to Minister for Local Government, Ron Hoenig:

“The current City of Sydney Act gives businesses two votes in local government elections in a deliberate decision orchestrated by the former government to suit its political agenda.

“The amendments were made by the Liberals in a brazen attempt to oust Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore from office and give the party an electoral advantage in controlling the Sydney Town Hall.

“As expected, the amendments have clearly missed their target with thousands of non-resident ratepayers being slugged with fines for not voting instead.

“For nearly a decade, City of Sydney ratepayers have also been forced to foot an annual bill of approximately $1 million to maintain the non-residential electoral roll.

“Nowhere else in this state do we see one group of voters favoured in this way. It erodes the democratic process and undermines the vital importance of giving residents and ratepayers a balanced voice in local council elections.

“The Labor Government is proud to return the balance to the City of Sydney democratic process, and plan to have the new laws passed and implemented for the September 2024 council elections.”