16 News

The Australian Greens today condemned US President Donald Trump’s blatantly unfair “peace” proposal for Israel and Palestine, which would instead further entrench injustice and conflict in the Middle East.
“This proposal is not worth the paper it’s written on. It fails to provide the minimum requirement for a Palestinian State and rewards breaches of international law like the Israeli Government’s flagrant settlement building,” said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.
“This is very clearly a political document drafted by men who are desperate to distract from the corruption allegations that surround them. The Palestinian people have been excluded from this process and will be forced to reject this deal, because it compels them to effectively live on scraps of territory.
“The Australian Greens call on the Coalition and the Labor Party to condemn this terrible proposal, and clearly communicate to the US and Israeli Governments that it will further entrench conflict and division. It is critical that Australian voices speak out before we see emboldened ultranationalists illegally annexing even more territory.”

The Australian Government is working across agencies to assist the departure of isolated and vulnerable Australians from Wuhan and to put strict quarantine arrangements in place.
Australian diplomatic and consular staff have been working very closely with the Chinese authorities and with other partner countries to develop options for the departure of Australians in Wuhan and Hubei Province, in what continues to be a difficult and complex situation.
The Australian Embassy in Beijing is now seeking formal approval from the Chinese Government to send a plane to Wuhan to assist the departure of Australians from Hubei Province.
We thank the Chinese Government for the cooperative way they have dealt with Australian counterparts and those of other countries who have citizens in Wuhan and Hubei province.
Australians departing on any flight arranged by the Australian Government will be flown to Christmas Island to undertake a period of quarantine of up to 14 days based on current medical advice, as a condition of their assisted departure.
They will also be required to commit to making a contribution to the cost, consistent with normal arrangements in these circumstances.
This will ensure we are also prioritising public health in Australia.
A consular team is positioned to support an assisted departure. A temporary Consular office is being set up in Wuhan to work with local authorities to help give effect to this plan. We do not have a permanent consular presence in Wuhan.
An Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) will provide medical support and expert advice to returning Australians upon arrival at Christmas Island.
There are just over 600 Australian citizens currently registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We will seek to speak with each of them in relation to the Government’s announcement. Our focus and priority is on vulnerable and isolated citizens.
We are endeavouring to make further contact with those people who have provided us their details. Contact can be difficult due to high demand on phone lines in China. We request that those who have registered their details contact DFAT again if they have not spoken to Australian consular officials in the past 24 hours. The DFAT emergency number is +61 2 6261 3305 from overseas or 1300 555 135 if you are calling from Australia on behalf of a family member.
We also thank Qantas, which has offered to support Australians out of Wuhan if the authority to proceed is provided.
We understand this is a very stressful time for those impacted. We encourage people to make contact with family and friends, stay in touch with travel providers and contact your insurers. Australians should continue to follow all health precautions which are available on the Smart Traveller website – www.smartraveller.gov.au.
We advise that Australians do not travel to Hubei Province and reconsider their need to travel to China overall.
There is still significant work to do but we are taking all necessary steps to ensure that we can help Australians to leave Wuhan as soon as possible.

Funding for farmers, small businesses, families and schools in drought-affected communities across Australia will now start rolling out as part of a $57 million support package.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was important that those people and businesses suffering from the drought continued to get the support they need.
“While we know the nation has been gripped in recent months by the bushfire crisis I want all Australians impacted by drought to know that you have remained firmly in our Government’s focus,” the Prime Minister said.
“You remain at the centre of relief, response and recovery plans for the future and making Australia more resilient to these challenges in the future.
“This funding will support local tourism initiatives, new infrastructure and amenities, and funding to help non-government schools facing financial hardship as a result of drought.”
Minister for Drought David Littleproud said an additional 52 councils would now receive up to $1 million under the extended Drought Communities Programme, determined by rainfall data and both agricultural and broader employment information.
“We will distribute $47 million to drought effected areas based on population, providing councils of less than 1,000 people with $500,000 and those with a larger population with $1 million to ensure we continue to provide appropriate, tailored support,” Minister Littleproud said.
“Drought doesn’t just hurt farmers, it goes out the farm gate. It hurts small businesses and the wider community as well, but this extra funding keeps money flowing through affected areas.
“Funding will support events that create jobs, boost tourism and improve community wellbeing, and enable construction of infrastructure that encourages people to stop in these small towns.
“So far, the DCP extension has funded over 300 projects, such as the construction of amenities blocks, potable water supply, local tourism assets, community resilience events and employing local drought support officers.”
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the Government was committing an additional $10 million to ensure families affected by drought are supported to continue accessing education.
“We have doubled our drought relief support for non-government schools to $20 million to help more schools across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia keep their doors open,” Minister Tehan said.
“Many of these schools have been taking money out of their own pockets to waive fees and subsidise fees to ensure that families can continue to send their children to school.
“This additional funding will ensure students don’t have their education interrupted as a result of financial hardship caused by drought.”
Since the election the Government has rolled out more than $1 billion in extra grants and payments to support drought-affected communities.
Today in Orange the advisory board of the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency will meet for the first time, working with the National Farmers Federation to improve access to support programs for affected farms and communities across all levels of government.
A list of the additional councils made eligible for the DCP Extension can be found below. A full list of eligible councils for the DCP Extension can be found at business.gov.au/dcp

New South Wales
Clarence Valley	Junee	Lismore	Richmond Valley	Snowy Monaro
Cootamundra-Gundagai	Kempsey
Northern Territory
Barkly	Central Desert
Queensland
Bundaberg	Scenic Rim
South Australia
Barossa
Tasmania
Devonport
Victoria
Benalla	Greater Shepparton	Moira	Wangaratta
Western Australia
Albany	Carnamah*	Dumbleyung*	Kent*	Narembeen*
Beverley	Coorow	Esperance	Kojonup	Pingelly
Bridgetown-Greenbushes	Corrigin	Gnowangerup	Kulin*	Plantagenet
Brookton*	Cranbrook	Irwin	Lake Grace	Quairading
Broomehill-Tambellup	Dandaragan	Jerramungup	Mingenew*	Ravensthorpe
Bruce Rock*	Denmark	Katanning	Moora	Three Springs*
Busselton	Donnybrook-Balingup	Kellerberrin	Nannup	Wickepin*

*Denotes councils with populations of less than 1,000 and receiving $500,000 in funding.
All other councils have populations of 1,000 or greater and will receive $1 million in funding.
Funding for farmers, small businesses, families and schools in drought-affected communities across Australia will now start rolling out as part of a $57 million support package.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was important that those people and businesses suffering from the drought continued to get the support they need.
“While we know the nation has been gripped in recent months by the bushfire crisis I want all Australians impacted by drought to know that you have remained firmly in our Government’s focus,” the Prime Minister said.
“You remain at the centre of relief, response and recovery plans for the future and making Australia more resilient to these challenges in the future.
“This funding will support local tourism initiatives, new infrastructure and amenities, and funding to help non-government schools facing financial hardship as a result of drought.”
Minister for Drought David Littleproud said an additional 52 councils would now receive up to $1 million under the extended Drought Communities Programme, determined by rainfall data and both agricultural and broader employment information.
“We will distribute $47 million to drought effected areas based on population, providing councils of less than 1,000 people with $500,000 and those with a larger population with $1 million to ensure we continue to provide appropriate, tailored support,” Minister Littleproud said.
“Drought doesn’t just hurt farmers, it goes out the farm gate. It hurts small businesses and the wider community as well, but this extra funding keeps money flowing through affected areas.
“Funding will support events that create jobs, boost tourism and improve community wellbeing, and enable construction of infrastructure that encourages people to stop in these small towns.
“So far, the DCP extension has funded over 300 projects, such as the construction of amenities blocks, potable water supply, local tourism assets, community resilience events and employing local drought support officers.”
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the Government was committing an additional $10 million to ensure families affected by drought are supported to continue accessing education.
“We have doubled our drought relief support for non-government schools to $20 million to help more schools across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia keep their doors open,” Minister Tehan said.
“Many of these schools have been taking money out of their own pockets to waive fees and subsidise fees to ensure that families can continue to send their children to school.
“This additional funding will ensure students don’t have their education interrupted as a result of financial hardship caused by drought.”
Since the election the Government has rolled out more than $1 billion in extra grants and payments to support drought-affected communities.
Today in Orange the advisory board of the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency will meet for the first time, working with the National Farmers Federation to improve access to support programs for affected farms and communities across all levels of government.
A list of the additional councils made eligible for the DCP Extension can be found below. A full list of eligible councils for the DCP Extension can be found at business.gov.au/dcp

New South Wales
Clarence Valley	Junee	Lismore	Richmond Valley	Snowy Monaro
Cootamundra-Gundagai	Kempsey
Northern Territory
Barkly	Central Desert
Queensland
Bundaberg	Scenic Rim
South Australia
Barossa
Tasmania
Devonport
Victoria
Benalla	Greater Shepparton	Moira	Wangaratta
Western Australia
Albany	Carnamah*	Dumbleyung*	Kent*	Narembeen*
Beverley	Coorow	Esperance	Kojonup	Pingelly
Bridgetown-Greenbushes	Corrigin	Gnowangerup	Kulin*	Plantagenet
Brookton*	Cranbrook	Irwin	Lake Grace	Quairading
Broomehill-Tambellup	Dandaragan	Jerramungup	Mingenew*	Ravensthorpe
Bruce Rock*	Denmark	Katanning	Moora	Three Springs*
Busselton	Donnybrook-Balingup	Kellerberrin	Nannup	Wickepin*

*Denotes councils with populations of less than 1,000 and receiving $500,000 in funding.
All other councils have populations of 1,000 or greater and will receive $1 million in funding.

Access to a cutting edge and potentially curative cancer therapy will be expanded for patients with particular forms of lymphoma, following a positive recommendation from the medical experts on the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC).
Between 200 and 250 additional cancer patients with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, Transformed Follicular Lymphoma and Primary Mediastinal B Cell Lymphoma, are expected to benefit from access to the CAR T-cell therapy, Kymriah®, each year.
Kymriah is a type of CAR T-cell therapy that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. The patients T cells are extracted from the body, genetically reengineered and programmed to recognise and destroy cancer cells, and then reimplanted into the body.
Together with states and territories, the Government currently provides Kymriah to children and young adults with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia for free.
Treatment would cost more than $500,000 for each patient without Government funding.
The agreement with Novartis to extend the availability of this treatment to patients with some types of lymphoma through the public health system, follows a positive recommendation from the medical experts on the MSAC. An MSAC recommendation and agreement with the supplier is an essential step in the public funding process.
Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma is the most common type of Non Hodgkin Lymphoma. Most patients respond very well to current treatments, but for a small number of patients the disease relapses or is resistant to everything available.
Transformed Follicular Lymphoma and Primary Mediastinal Large B Cell Lymphoma are less common types of lymphoma that can also be hard to treat in some patients.
Treatment with Kymriah gives patients a new chance at achieving remission.
As Kymriah is a highly specialised treatment, it is delivered to patients in specialised tertiary public hospitals.
Melbourne is also set to become one of the few cities in the world to manufacture CAR T-cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, with the signing of an historic partnership agreement between Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, to manufacture Kymriah in Melbourne.
The Government welcomes this announcement.
This historic partnership agreement adds to the Morrison Government’s broader commitment to the Parkville Precinct and Victoria as a world leading health and medical research centre, with a particular focus on cancer.
It follows our $460 million investment in a range of health and medical research centres throughout the state, including $80 million to establish the Centre for Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The Centre for Excellence in Cellular Immunotherapy is supporting the capacity and capability of Australia’s leading cancer specialists to use CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of certain types of cancer.
The manufacture of Kymriah at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre means patient cells will no longer need to be shipped overseas for processing.
Australia will become one of the few countries in the world to manufacture CAR T-cell therapies.
This demonstrates the advanced medical manufacturing capabilities we have in Australia and Victoria.
The Morrison Government’s commitment to ensuring Australians can access affordable treatments, when they need them, remains rock solid.