Month: November 2023

The Minns Labor Government is turning their back on Macquarie Park as a world-class innovation precinct and delivering a major blow to our state’s future economic prosperity.

Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and Shadow Minister for Housing Scott Farlow said the Government’s housing agenda needs to cater for homes, jobs and recreation, and that today’s announcement is a short-sighted attempt to address Sydney’s housing crisis. 

“The Macquarie Park master plan was building a world-class innovation precinct with tens of thousands of new jobs, more than 7,000 homes, schools and open space,” Mr Farlow said.

“Today the Government is ripping that up and turning their back on Sydney’s Silicon Valley, which already supports more than 72,000 high value jobs.”

“The Government don’t want employment and housing to co-exist, with Chris Minns proposing a choice between 23,000 jobs and 5,000 build-to-rent apartments.”

“Macquarie Park is home to the Australian Headquarters for 9 of the 100 largest companies in the world. It is Australia’s original innovation district and plans for the area need to complement housing and jobs, not pit them against each other.”

“This is what we can expect when Chris Minns signs up to a national housing target with no consultation or advice from the Department of Planning,” Mr Farlow said.

Shadow Minister for Jobs, Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, Mark Coure, said this is the latest slap in the face to the New South Wales innovation industry from a Government that continues to show it is not interested in innovation.

“The innovation industry has already been subjected to significantly cut grants and subsidies by the Minns Labor Government, and now they’ve decided to go after the state’s innovation precincts” Mr Coure said.

“Startups and founders were already starting to look interstate due to the policy uncertainty coming from Chris Minns and his out of depth Ministers. The removal of essential commercial real estate that they need to operate and innovate is going to unfortunately result in more businesses deciding to go elsewhere.” Mr Coure said.

Member for Ryde Jordan Lane said that Macquarie Park is an integral centre for the Northern Sydney community that is already creating a vibrant innovation precinct of the future which delivers both housing and jobs. 

“The Ryde Local Government area already has 23 State Significant Development Applications planned for Macquarie Park with 20,000 apartments. Allowing Built-to-Rent to replace commercial will destroy job opportunities for our local Northern Sydney community,” Mr Lane said.

“The Minns Labor Government has not delivered any infrastructure to support this growth. There is no Catherine Hamlin Park, no bus interchange, no intersection upgrades.”

“The latest masterplan that this Government is releasing has insufficient realistic, achievable infrastructure to be delivered in the foreseeable future,” Mr Lane said.

Under questioning today at Budget Estimates, NSW Roads Minister John Graham refused to commit to every driver in NSW benefiting from the Government’s $60 Toll Cap.
 
Following a $400m budget blow-out for the policy within the first six months of coming to office, the Minister responsible is now refusing to even guarantee every driver will be eligible for the toll cap.
 
During the election campaign, the former Coalition Government raised significant concerns on the total cost of such a scheme, which have now been proven correct.
 
However, today under oath the Roads Minister is now refusing to guarantee that every driver in NSW will benefit from the scheme.
 
In February on announcing the policy, John Graham said:
 
“An elected Labor Government would cap tolls at $60 per week”
 
Now, he is refusing to answer if it will apply to every driver.
 
Shadow Minister for Roads Natalie Ward commented “Labor blew the budget on this policy, and now they are walking back their promise.”
 
“It is a simple question, will every driver benefit from the scheme or is this another broken promise from Labor?”
 
“Under Labor, tolls are up, Opal fares are up, car rego is up and now they can’t guarantee if every driver gets a $60 toll cap.”

Extraordinarily in Budget Estimates today, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Anoulack Chanthivong revealed that innovation and the start-up sector is not a priority for the Minns Labor Government.
 
Shadow Minister for Innovation, Mark Coure said since coming to power in March, the Minns Labor Government has failed the innovation sector, who have suffered from uncertainty, budget cuts and a lack interest from Minister Chanthivong in the issues affecting startups.
 
“Minister Chanthivong’s performance in Budget Estimates today confirmed he is a Minister who does not see value in the innovation portfolio, blaming the former government for his lack of advocacy to ensure there was a budget that appropriately supported founders in the innovation sector.” Mr Coure said.
 
“The Minister’s unwillingness to answer legitimate and important questions, including why he reduced the budget of the nation leading MVP Ventures Program from $10 million to $3 million, speaks volumes about his knowledge of the programs he is responsible for.” 
  
“In eight months since becoming Minister, Minister Chanthivong has also failed to meet with significant innovation sector stakeholders, instead, choosing pollsters and unions over innovators and entrepreneurs like Fishburners, an anchor tenant of the Sydney Startup Hub.”
 
“NSW based innovators and entrepreneurs make an enormous contribution to our economy, and reputation as a nation-leader in this space – they deserve a Minister who actually values this work.”
 
Liberal MLC Jacqui Munro said founders who had originally set up in NSW because of the strong support on offer were now looking interstate due to policy uncertainty from the Minns Labor Government.
 
“We no longer have a government in NSW that is willing to provide stability and reliability for a thriving innovation sector. Minister Chanthivong had an opportunity to correct the record today, but instead dodged legitimate policy and process questions, refusing to give certainty to founders who have been seeking information for months.” Ms Munro said.
 
“The NSW Liberals and Nationals will continue to call out the Minns Government and Minister Chanthivong for abandoning the innovation sector and will fight to keep NSW as the innovation capital of Australia.”

There was some controversy in the Senate Wednesday that resulted in Pauline Hanson’s right to speak in the chamber being temporarily revoked by the Labor Government, with the support of the Greens. This happened due to comments she made during a debate where she criticised the Greens for their apologist stance toward Islamic extremist terrorism. 

Consequently, she could not deliver a prepared speech, which called for an end to the excessive use of acknowledgments and welcomes to country. 

Fortunately, One Nation and Pauline Hanson has a strong backup in Senator Malcolm Roberts, who was able to deliver the speech and instigate this debate on her behalf. 

Even when they attempt to silence one voice, they cannot silence all of us. The will of the people will always find a way to be heard. 

Here are the prepared remarks had intended to deliver: 

I would like to congratulate the Australian people for their overwhelming rejection of the divisive voice to Parliament at the October referendum. 

However, it was more than a rejection of the voice. 

It was a rejection of the entire Uluru Statement—all 26 pages of it. 

It was a rejection of a treaty and truth-telling – or more accurately, a re-write of history with an eye on financial settlements funded by non-indigenous taxpayers. 

It was a rejection of identity politics, grievance politics and the activist cult of victimhood. 

And primarily, it was a rejection of racial division. 

And one of the most racially divisive features of modern discourse in Australia is welcome to country ceremonies, along with acknowledgements of country. 

Australians – including many indigenous people – are sick and tired of them. 

They are sick of being told Australia is not their country, which is what these things effectively do. 

Welcomes and acknowledgements deny the citizenship and sovereignty held equally by all Australians. 

They perpetuate the falsehood that prior to 1788, nations existed on this continent. 

They didn’t. 

This is a foreign notion, an activist device imported from Canada that does not reflect the reality of Australian history. 

I remind the Senate of the promise made by leading voice campaigner Marcia Langton who promised no more ‘welcomes to country’ if the voice was rejected. 

We can only hope this promise is lived up to. 

Federal taxpayers forked out at least 45,000 dollars for these rituals the previous financial year, although I understand the figure could be much higher as not every government department has come clean on what they spend. 

It’s not even an genuine pre-settlement ritual for most aborigines. 

It was invented in 1976 by Ernie Dingo and Richard Walley. 

I acknowledge Narungga elder Kerry White from South Australia, a great contributor to the ‘no’ campaign, who said these rituals are not even being used correctly. 

She said last year that it should be reserved for indigenous people welcoming other indigenous people to local country, and that its use by non-indigenous Australians was just virtue-signalling. 

She wasn’t wrong about the virtue-signalling, that’s for sure. 

Ms White said: 

“…they’ve taken our ceremonial process and demeaned it by throwing it out there every day in every aspect of what Australian people do. And I think that is culturally wrong.” 

She even said ‘welcomes to country’ were an attack on indigenous culture. 

I also acknowledge another indigenous leader of the ‘no’ campaign, Senator Naminjimpa Price, who said recently that ‘welcomes to country’ were “definitely divisive”. 

I’m confident I speak for the majority of Australians in saying I wish Professor Langton had included acknowledgements of country too. 

They’re recited at the beginning of every parliamentary sitting day, every council meeting, and every zoom meeting held by public servants. 

We hear them at the conclusion of every domestic flight – you can hear the groans in the cabin every time. 

They have effectively lost all meaning for their constant repetition. 

To foster national unity, and to help put an end to racial division in this country, it’s time to leave indigenous rituals to indigenous Australians. 

One Nation is supremely confident we speak for the majority of all Australians regardless of race when we call for an end to welcomes and acknowledgements of country. 

We know that for many, the promise of an end to them motivated their no vote at the referendum. 

We call on this Parliament, all other Australian parliaments, all government departments, and every local government in this nation, to stop signalling virtue you don’t possess and stop dividing this country by abusing these indigenous rituals. 

Australians don’t want them. 

Australians don’t want racial division, and they said that most emphatically on 14 October at the referendum. 

Let’s move forward together as one people, one nation under one flag. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Pacific Leaders at the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum from 7–9 November in Cook Islands.

The Prime Minister’s attendance at the Leaders’ Meeting demonstrates Australia’s commitment to deepening its engagement in the Pacific and addressing the shared challenges facing us all, including shaping a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific, and the impacts of climate change.

The Prime Minister briefed Leaders on the Government’s action to reduce Australia’s emissions and build our clean energy industries.

Pacific leaders were unified in emphasising the need for Pacific-led and Pacific-focussed solutions to their particular vulnerabilities in relation to climate change.

Recognising that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific, the Prime Minister announced that Australia will make further investments to build the resilience of our Pacific partners.

Australia will contribute at least $350 million in climate infrastructure for the region, including $75 million for a program for off-grid and community scale renewable energy in remote and rural parts of the Pacific.

Prime Minister Albanese also announced that Australia will contribute to the new Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF), a Pacific-built trust fund that will be established to invest in small-scale climate and disaster resilient projects.

Australia will also make a contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the most prominent global climate finance fund, and will be active in advocating to prioritise GCF financing for the Pacific.

While attending the PIF Leaders Meeting, Prime Minister Albanese and the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, The Hon. Kausea Natano, announced a major new bilateral agreement in response to a request from Tuvalu, the Australia –Tuvalu Falepili Union.

The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union comprises a bilateral treaty between Tuvalu and Australia, as well as a commitment articulated in a joint leaders’ statement to uplift our broader bilateral partnership.

“Falepili” is a Tuvaluan word for the traditional values of good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect.

The Treaty covers three main areas of cooperation: climate change, human mobility and security.

Under the new Treaty:

• Australia commits to provide assistance to Tuvalu in response to a major natural disaster, health pandemics and military aggression.
• To allow for effective operation of Australia’s security guarantee, both countries commit to mutually agree any partnership, arrangement or engagement with any other State or entity on security and defence-related matters in Tuvalu.
• And Australia will establish a dedicated intake – known as a special mobility pathway – to allow Tuvaluans to come to Australia to live, work and study. There will be an initial cap of 280 Tuvaluans eligible per year. With a population of just over 11,000 people, Tuvalu is extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change, especially rising sea levels, and is trying to preserve its culture, traditions and land.

As part of the uplift in our broader bilateral relationship, Australia will support Tuvalu’s climate adaptation interests, including additional funding for the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project which will expand Funafuti’s land by around 6 per cent, to help Tuvaluans live and thrive at home and preserve their culture.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“I am honoured to have attended the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting.

“Australia deeply values our membership of the Pacific Islands Forum, and I thank Cook Islands and Prime Minister the Hon. Mark Brown for being such generous and welcoming hosts.

“We recognise the climate crisis is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of people in the Pacific.

“Australia is committed to enduring partnerships in the region.

“We have listened to the needs of our Pacific neighbours and are committed to addressing shared challenges in partnership with Forum members.

“I was honoured to sign the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union with Prime Minister Natano, in response to Tuvalu’s request for a closer relationship between our countries.”

The Greens condemn Labor for abandoning its environmental agenda and prioritising the Sea Dumping Amendment Bill – legislation specifically designed to facilitate dirty fossil fuel projects by falsely legitimising carbon capture and storage (CSS) as a commercially viable and effective climate solution. 

It comes as the Climate Council today releases its first oceans report, urging the Government to show commitment to protecting our precious ocean, starting with the urgent phase out of coal, oil and gas.

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said:

“Burying carbon emissions in geological formations beneath the seabed hasn’t worked at scale anywhere in the world – it is a fallacy. 

“CCS is a unicorn technology that the Sea Dumping Bill attempts to legitimise while giving political cover to rip open new fossil fuel projects. 

“By passing this sham of a Bill, Labor will prove it is no different to the Coalition when it comes to the despicable steps it is willing to take to satisfy the fossil fuel industry. 

“The Climate Council today released its first oceans report, which urges the Government to show commitment to protecting our precious ocean starting with the urgent phase out of coal, oil and gas.

“Humans have largely been protected from the worst of climate change because more than 90 percent of the heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed by the ocean – but this sacrifice is not without cost. 

“Our oceans are at breaking point yet Labor is content with letting urgent reforms to the EPBC Act lay dormant while the needs of the fossil fuel industry leap to the front of the government’s legislative queue. 

“The Sea Dumping Bill is the strongest indication yet from the Albanese Government that it is content with abandoning its environmental agenda, and is shamelessly and indefensibly captured by the fossil fuel industry.” 

The Greens say new polling showing that two in five families are experiencing school refusal/school can’t reinforces the need for urgent action on the recent Senate inquiry’s recommendations, and adds pressure on Labor to deliver 100% minimum funding to all public schools at the start of the next National School Reform Agreement.

A Greens-commissioned Lonergan poll of 1003 Australian parents of public and private school children found that 39% of all parents of school-age students said their child had been unable to attend school in the past year because of anxiety or stress. The breakdown for public and private schools was 41% and 35% respectively.

Greens spokesperson on Education (Primary and Secondary), Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“This polling shows that school can’t is not simply a niche phenomenon experienced by a small minority of school students – it’s a major problem impacting hundreds of thousands of families across the country.

“It should be a wake-up call for governments and education departments that the school system is not capable of responding and adapting to the complex needs of our kids, and that it is increasingly not fit-for-purpose. 

“As the Senate inquiry heard, school can’t is an often misunderstood issue that is too readily blamed on disability or mental health challenges, or passed off as misbehaviour.

“But in reality it is the product of an extreme stress response which leaves a child simply incapable of attending school, even though they want to.

“This is a crisis of exclusion. Students are being forced to adjust to the needs of rigid, commodified educational systems and institutions, rather than the other way around – and massive school refusal rates are the result.

“The Greens call upon education ministers to act on the 14 recommendations of the Senate inquiry into school refusal, including establishing a funded peer support organisation for parents and developing a national action plan.

“And we must ensure all public schools are resourced to at least 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard, so that teachers and support staff are able to give every student the attention they need.”

The Greens celebrate the High Court’s landmark ruling against indefinite immigration detention, dismantling a two-decade-long bipartisan regime of cruelty.

“The High Court has struck a blow for liberty and decency,” Greens Immigration and Citizenship Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“This is a long-overdue rejection of a Labor/Liberal policy which has seen vulnerable people warehoused in detention with no end in sight.”

“For too long, Peter Dutton and his Labor replicas have acted unlawfully and contrary to the Constitution and foundational principles of a liberal democracy.”

“Courts should decide prison sentences. Politicians must not.”

“People who have been living in a state of perpetual uncertainty can now look forward to freedom and a life beyond the cruelty of indefinite immigration detention.”

“The cruelty of indefinite detention has always been a design feature of the immigration system. It is grossly inhumane and belongs in the dustbin of history.”

“Labor has consistently denied reality by arguing that no-one is being detained indefinitely in immigration detention.”

“This decision puts the lie to that claim and will force the ALP to overcome its political cowardice and finally act.”

“The Greens call on Labor to immediately release people affected by this ruling and to ensure they are supported as they transition into the community.”

“We also demand a commitment from Labor that the government will not attempt to legislate its way around this ruling.”

“Congratulations to everyone involved in the decades-long campaign against indefinite immigration detention and the recent high court challenge.”

After the Greens pushed the Labor government in estimates – revealing dismal Centrelink call wait times, congestion messages and claims processing – Centrelink will now gain 3000 new staff and a $228 million funding boost.

Senator Janet Rice will continue questioning Services Australia on Tuesday 7th November to investigate their appalling performance and advocate for a stronger, well-funded Centrelink.

Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for social services, said: 

“The state of Services Australia’s Centrelink is a disaster. The Greens called out the severe lack of staffing resources being allocated by the Labor government, and now they’ve been forced to address the issue.”

“These failures revealed in estimates aren’t a mere inconvenience for people on Centrelink; they are causing great suffering. When people can’t get help on the phone and aren’t having their claims processed on time, it means they can’t pay their bills or rent or afford to eat.”

“People on Centrelink are barely scraping by as it is, on payments below the poverty line. They don’t have savings to deal with not receiving their income on time.”

“Centrelink’s performance has worsened under Labor – it needed more funding and more staff, and that’s exactly what Greens pressure has achieved. This is a win for vulnerable Australians looking for support.”

“It’s a welcome announcement but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the investment that is actually required to fix our broken, punitive social safety net.”

“We still need to raise the rate of income support to at least $88 a day, abolish punitive and counterproductive mutual obligations, remove unfair restrictions on who can access payments and put an end to debt recovery.”

“This funding announcement highlights that poverty is a political choice, one that Labor makes time and time again unless pushed to do differently.”