Month: August 2024

The Australian Greens have said Labor and the Liberals have teamed up to ram through rushed CFMEU legislation in an unprecedented attack on the rule of law.

The Greens say that by doing a rushed deal to pass the flawed legislation, Labor and Liberal have ensured Michaelia Cash will be able to appoint a new administrator of the CFMEU if there is a change of government. 

Over the weekend the NSW Council for Civil Liberties said the powers set out in Labor’s bill were “far-reaching” and established a dangerous precedent for the trade union movement and the rights of individuals to “natural justice and procedural fairness”.

Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP:

“The Greens will always oppose sexism, corruption, thuggery and bullying, but Labor and the Liberals have just cut a deal to ram through flawed and draconian laws that threaten fundamental rights. 

“Civil liberties groups have rightly said this bill is a threat to freedom of association and the rights of all unions and membership based organisations.

“This bill means that if there is a change of government, Michaelia Cash could appoint Tony Abbott to be administrator of one of Australia’s most significant unions.

“The Greens told the government we were prepared to negotiate on the legislation and seek to address some of the serious concerns in the bill, but instead Labor has worked with the anti-union, anti-worker Liberals.”

The announcement today that the Australian Conservation Foundation will drop its legal action against Woodside’s mammoth gas project at Scarborough is evidence Australia’s environment laws are “too weak” say the Greens, who are pushing for a climate trigger as part of Labor’s Nature Positive legislation.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Greens spokesperson for Environment, Manager of Business in the Senate:

“ACF dropping this legal action is proof positive that our environment laws are weak and broken because they fail to tackle climate change.

“The fact that there is no obligation for the Environment Minister to consider climate damage when approving another massive gas field for Woodside shows just how broken our environment laws are.

“We could fix the climate holes in the laws with a Climate Trigger that would stop new coal and gas, but the Albanese Government is talking out both sides of their mouth on the environment. 

“The Government will have to decide: do a dirty deal with Peter Dutton to further weaken our environment laws, or work with the Greens to actually protect nature.

“The Greens won’t rubber stamp laws that fast-track destruction & pollution. We need to end native forest logging and to stop new fossil fuels.

“I urge the Labor Government to do right by our kids and by threatened species, instead of pandering to vested interests in the logging and fossil fuel lobby.”

Former Cabinet Minister Matt Kean knew that contaminated recycled waste products were being distributed across the environment and communities, but did not act to stop the practice. A Ministerial Briefing note, obtained under freedom of information laws, has revealed that in December 2021 the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) told the Government that recovered waste products, known as recovered fines, were “not fit for purpose” and “should not be reused broadly in the community”.

Between December 2021 and May 2022, the EPA halted planned changes to the recovered waste industry after pressure from commercial interests. No further regulatory action was taken by the EPA or Government to prevent asbestos, glass, plastics and heavy metals from being sold and distributed in consumer products across NSW.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “Something happened between the end of 2021 and mid 2022 that allowed hazardous materials to continue to be sold and distributed by producers of recovered fines from waste,”

“This briefing note, signed by the then Environment Minister, recommended changes to the regulatory system for these products, recognised the harm that the materials could cause, and pushed back on the financial consequences for commercial interests. The EPA specifically recognised the potential financial impacts, but asserted that it’s primary function is protection of the environment and communities,”

“It is baffling, that by May 2022, the EPA cancelled any changes to the industry, and the Coalition Government did not act to make changes to protect the environment or communities from contaminated recovered fines,”

“The current Leader of the Opposition, Mark Speakman, made representations in 2021 on behalf of one of the companies that produced recovered fines that indicated the EPA’s evidence was flawed and out of date. But 3 years later there is still asbestos and other contaminants being sold at garden supply stores and being spread over playgrounds,”

“There is a case to be answered here, whether there has been undue political interference or plain incompetence, why was this industry not fixed at any of the times it was highlighted as a risk. The reviews in 2013, 2019 and 2020 all proved that the product was dangerous – but no one acted to stop it. This is a toxic legacy that needs to be explained and fixed. ” Ms Higginson said.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has blocked approval for a $1 billion mining project at Regis McPhillamy’s goldmine near Blayney NSW by making a declaration under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (Cth). It has been reported that the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council responsible for the area in question did not oppose the project and believed any possible impacts on heritage items would have been manageable.

Despite Minister Plibersek’s claim that the declaration would not stop the project, according to a statement released by Regis Resources today, the project is now unviable due to the declaration. The statement further claims that Minister Plibersek was well aware that this would be the outcome of any section 10 declaration she might make.

Shadow Environment Minister and Tasmanian Senator Jono Duniam said “the Albanese Government is the most anti-jobs, anti-development government Australia has ever had.”

“In a cost of living crisis, the last thing we need is for a government to ignore clear advice and unilaterally scrap a project like this, sabotaging hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the State Government.”

“In making this decision, Ms Plibersek is continuing her outrageous approach of stalling and rejecting multiple projects that have already passed stringent state laws. What’s the use in state laws when a Federal Government Minister can continually override them on a whim?”

“People wonder why you can’t get anything approved in Australia. Well, this is the exact reason. It’s green tape gone mad because of the Labor Government.”

Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald said Labor’s decision encouraged anti-mining activists to use cultural considerations for their own purposes.

“Genuine cultural concerns are being weaponised to further anti-mining interests which does nothing to help Aboriginal people, depriving them of royalties and involvement in the decision-making process,” she said.

“We’ve seen this with Santos’s Barossa gas pipeline and the Jabiluka uranium lease in the Northern Territory.”

“Activists are doing Labor’s dirty work of stopping mining and this is being noticed around the world as mining companies look to invest in other countries. The current approvals process is broken and has been hijacked by interests seeking to secure inner-city Greens preferences.”

“A Coalition Government will halve approval times for new projects and defund the Environmental Defenders Office.”

“This is a ‘death by stealth’ approach, where the Government can claim they aren’t targeting mining directly.”

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Nampijinpa Price believed the decision was ironic in light of Anthony Albanese’s push for Indigenous economic development at the recent Garma festival.

“This is a perfect example of Indigenous Australians wanting to develop their land and utilise all that it has to offer, but the Albanese government explicitly stopping them from doing so. Far too regularly we are seeing the desire of traditional owners to become economically independent on their land being stymied in the name of activist ideology.”

Senator Nampijinpa Price also said the decision also illustrates the long-standing issue of the unreliable nature of the scheme governing Indigenous land in Australia which hinders local and international investment in projects that could bring significant employment and economic benefits to Indigenous people.

“We cannot hope to encourage Indigenous economic independence while at the same time allowing a Minister to block projects at the eleventh hour which have otherwise been through due process on the basis of a small number of objections. To do so poses a serious threat to economic development for Indigenous Australians,” said Senator Nampijinpa Price.

The Albanese Labor Government continues to duck accountability for keeping Australians safe.

Why can’t the Prime Minister, or his ministers, give a straight answer about the security checks that were conducted, or are being conducted, on the 1300 people from the Gaza war zone who were issued a tourist visa to come to Australia?

The Australian people deserve an answer to each of these questions:

• Was security advice sought from ASIO before the government made the unprecedented decision to grant tourist visas to people from the Gaza war zone?
• Is the Minister for Immigration aware of any concerns from security or intelligence agencies about any of the 1300 people who have arrived in Australia from the Gaza war zone?
• Has any visa, of any of the 1300 people who are in Australia from the Gaza war zone on tourist visas, been cancelled?
• Is it true no other government in Australia’s history issued people from a war zone, led by a terrorist organisation, a tourist visa without the checks that would normally be conducted for a refugee / humanitarian visa?

It is disingenuous for the new Immigration Minister to refuse to answer questions by claiming a national security interest when information about visa cancellations is regularly published by the Department of Home Affairs.

Labor’s failed Immigration Minister Andrew Giles granted tourist visas to 3000 Gazans. That is an entirely inappropriate visa for people coming to Australia from a war zone and territory controlled by a terrorist organisation.

Any government that was serious about protecting the safety of its people would conduct a rigorous vetting process on all people coming to Australia from a war zone controlled by a terrorist organisation. The Albanese Labor Government is doing no such thing.

The Albanese Labor Government has a terrible record on immigration and national security:

• Labor botched the release of 178 detainees, including seven murderers, 37 sex offenders, and 72 violent offenders, following the NZYQ High Court decision.
• Labor told the Parliament, and the public, those detainees were released on visas with strict conditions but FOI documents have proven that claim was false.
• Labor issued a Ministerial Direction that allowed violent criminals and sex offenders to remain in Australia when they should have been deported.