Month: February 2025

Regional communities across NSW are set to benefit from new Key Health Worker Accommodation which will help attract more paramedics to the bush.

The Minns Labor Government will invest $10 million in health worker housing for paramedics in regional NSW as part of the Key Health Worker Accommodation program.

The $200.1 million Program supports more than 20 projects across rural, regional and remote NSW.

The $200.1 million funding will secure approximately 120 dwellings across regional NSW, which includes the building of new accommodation, refurbishment of existing living quarters and the purchase of suitable properties such as residential units.

It is estimated the four-year Program will support the recruitment and retention of more than 500 health workers and their families by providing a range of accommodation options.

The Program is one of a number of investments the Minns Labor Government is making to strengthen the regional, rural and remote health workforce and builds on the success of the NSW Government’s $73.2 million investment in key health worker accommodation across five regional local health districts (Far West, Murrumbidgee, Southern NSW, Hunter New England and Western NSW).

Minister for Regional Health, Ryan Park:

“The Minns Labor Government is committed to investing in modern, sustainable accommodation options for key health workers who are the backbone of our regional, rural and remote communities.

“Strengthening our regional ambulance workforce is a key priority for our government and this $10 million investment in accommodation will support attraction of paramedics to the regions.”

Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty MLC:

“Providing modern, sustainable and secure staff accommodation in regional, rural and remote locations will help to attract and retain paramedics.

“This $10 million boost to accommodation for our paramedic workforce follows the rollout of an additional 500 paramedics for regional and rural NSW and will support NSW Ambulance staff who take on these positions.”

Gerard Hayes, HSU NSW Secretary:

“The housing crisis can become a healthcare crisis for rural and regional towns if we can’t provide safe and secure housing for essential workers, so we welcome more accommodation for our hard-working paramedics.

“Paramedics are invaluable to regional and rural towns. They deserve to be supported to care for people in those areas. Removing the stress of finding safe, secure and affordable housing is a big part of recognising the value of these essential workers.”

The Albanese Labor Government and Malinauskas South Australian Government are working together to build South Australia’s future with a multi-billion dollar package to save Whyalla Steelworks, support local jobs and encourage more investment into Australian made iron and steel.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced the package on the ground in Whyalla today.

The Whyalla steelworks employs 1100 workers and supports more than 2000 indirectly.

Whyalla is critical to sovereign Australian steel. It’s one of only two Australian steelworks, produces 75% of Australian structural steel and is the only domestic producer of long steel products.

Steel from Whyalla helps Australia build and maintain its infrastructure – including railways, bridges, schools, hospitals, high-rise towers, transmission infrastructure and defence assets.

The Whyalla Steelworks is also critical for future ambitions for green steel manufacturing, which will be increasingly lucrative as the world seeks to decarbonise.

The funding will be delivered in three distinct parts: immediate on the ground support, stabilising the Steelworks and investing in the Steelworks’ future.

Immediate, on the ground support – $100 million

• Creditor Assistance payments ($50 million)
• Infrastructure upgrades ($32.6 million)
• Jobs Matching and Skills Hub ($6 million)

Stabilising the Steelworks – $384 million

• The State and Federal Governments are co-investing $384 million to fund the Whyalla Steelworks’ operations during administration. This funding will ensure workers and contractors will have ongoing work at the Steelworks and will continue to be paid.

Investing in the Steelworks’ future – $1.9 billion

• The State and Federal Governments will work with a new owner to invest in the upgrades and new infrastructure which will be vital to ensuring the Steelworks has a sustainable, long-term future.

This comes as the Albanese Government today announces a new Green Iron fund to boost green iron manufacturing and supply chains by supporting early mover green iron projects and unlocking private investment at scale.

A joint taskforce will also be set up to provide advice and expertise in the transition to a sustainable future.

The taskforce will engage with workers, the City of Whyalla, administrators and creditors to support a path forward.

The Commonwealth Government has earmarked up to $500 million of the Green Iron Investment Fund to support the longer term transformation of the steelworks. It will also make available substantial additional financing to partner with a future owner and operator to upgrade the facility and ensure a green steel future for Whyalla and South Australia.

The South Australian Government’s share will come from funding set aside for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, which will now be deferred to prioritise securing the steelworks, as well as $50 million from the Whyalla Steelworks Operational Efficiency Improvements Fund.

Yesterday, the South Australian Government took action to secure the long-term future of the Whyalla Steelworks and placed the steelworks in administration.

The State has appointed KordaMentha as administrator.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“My Government is building Australia’s future. And to do that, we need Whyalla steel.

“Whyalla steel has forged some of our country’s biggest projects – rail lines, airports and stadiums.

“That’s why today in partnership with the Malinauskas Government, we are delivering more than $2 billion ensure the future of the steelworks and support local jobs.

“My Government is building Australia’s future and backing Australian workers.”

Premier of South Australia Peter Malinauskas:

“Locally-made steel is vital to South Australia and Australia’s future, and this unprecedented investment recognises the importance of the Whyalla Steelworks.

“I was never going to allow a taxpayer funded bail-out of GFG.

“Now that the Steelworks is no longer under the control of GFG, the State Government can partner with the Federal Government and make the long-term investments necessary to secure the future of Whyalla and Australian steel making.

“We are stepping up to provide immediate on the ground assistance for local workers and businesses, we are stabilsing the steelworks and we are setting the steelworks up for long-term prosperity.”

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic: 

“Making more things here means making more steel in Whyalla.

“Today we are showing our commitment to a long-term future for Whyalla and Australian steel.

“Steel-making has provided spine to Australian industry for a century and it’s here to stay.

“We want a strong future for Australian steel making, Whyalla will help deliver that.”

The Albanese Labor Government is building Australia’s future, locking in our nation as a green iron manufacturing powerhouse through the new Green Iron Investment Fund.

The $1 billion Green Iron Fund will boost green iron manufacturing and supply chains by supporting early mover green iron projects and unlocking private investment at scale.

Up to $500 million has been earmarked to support the Whyalla steelworks transformation, shoring up local jobs and helping with the energy transition.

At least $500 million will be open to applicants right around Australia, and accessible for both existing facilities and greenfield projects that can supercharge Australia’s world-leading iron ore industry by adding more value right here.

This will create extraordinary opportunities for Australian industry where there are a range of green iron and steel ventures underway.

The competitive Fund has been designed in close consultation with industry through our Green Metals Expert Panel.

Australia is the world’s largest producer of iron ore, earning more than $100 billion in export income in 2023-24, with the wider iron and steel sectors supporting over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.

As well as providing more jobs and value-adding onshore, investment in green iron and steel will secure future demand for Australia’s iron ore as the world moves toward lower-emissions iron and steel – and support global emissions reduction at a massive scale in the process.

Green metals are pivotal for global decarbonisation, with iron and steel production responsible for 8% of global emissions, with iron accounting for up to 90% of these emissions.

The Minerals Institute of Western Australia has found that a single green iron plant could add a cumulative $85 billion to gross domestic product, add $2.4 billion in real income per annum, and create 1,540 full time equivalent jobs.

A 2023 Accenture report suggests a green metals industry could deliver up to $122 billion a year in export revenue to Australia’s economy by 2040.

The Albanese Labor government is delivering a strong future for Australian made metals and the thousands of workers and families who depend on them.

This comes on top of the Albanese Labor Government’s existing measures to back in Australia’s thriving energy and mining sectors:

• $2 billion investment in Australian made aluminium
• Passing legislation to deliver Production Tax Credits for hydrogen and critical minerals, which was opposed by the Liberals and Nationals
• Investment in major critical minerals and rare earths projects through the Critical Minerals Facility including Iluka and Arafura
• a $3.4 billion investment in Geoscience Australia to accelerate the discovery of resources
• Funding Hydrogen Headstart to catalyse Australia’s hydrogen and clean energy industries

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

““Labor’s plan for a Future Made in Australia is very clear: we want Australia to make more things here.

“That’s why my Government is delivering $1 billion for our Green Iron Investment Fund.

“We’ve got the resources, the workers, and the know-how – the only thing we don’t have is time to waste.

“This investment is good for Australian workers and good for Australian business.”

Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic:

“The Australian Government is backing in our green metals producers as the world moves towards net zero.

“The Green Iron Investment Fund will enable Australia to take advantage of our existing iron ore supply chain, renewable energy potential, world class research and high-skilled workforce.

“Through this $1 billion Fund we’re supporting industrial diversification, productivity and economic growth, for a Future Made in Australia.”

This week, I will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As a middle power and trading nation, cooperation with other countries ensures our nation’s success and keeps Australians safe.

The G20 is an opportunity for Australia to engage with some of the world’s largest economies on shared challenges, delivering strong and sustainable growth, and advancing peace and security.

I look forward to discussing our progress in the fight against global inflation and to continue the Albanese Government’s work to ease cost of living pressures.

The Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will mark the first ministerial meeting for South Africa’s host year.

The Australian Government supports South Africa’s G20 Presidency and its focus on building partnerships.

While in Johannesburg, I will also undertake other ministerial meetings with G20 members, including MIKTA ministers from Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Türkiye.

The Australian Greens have launched the first part of a comprehensive plan to deliver cheaper insurance during a climate crisis, in a bid to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and shift the costs of the climate crisis to those responsible for it. 

Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, will announce the first steps today alongside Greens’ candidate Mandy Nolan in the Greens’ winnable seat of Richmond, which is Australia’s second most at risk electorate to climate disasters. The Greens only need a 1.8% swing to win Richmond this election, and Mandy Nolan has been running a strong grassroots campaign in Richmond for over a year.

As at March 2024, more than 1.6 million households were experiencing home insurance affordability stress, with the climate crisis driving an increase in insurance premiums which significantly outpaced price rises for nearly all other goods and services. Meanwhile, insurance companies have been raking in record profits. 

The Greens’ plan for cheaper insurance includes the following elements:

• ENDING STAMP DUTY- Incentivising state governments to abolish stamp duty on house and car insurance.
• EXPANDED REINSURANCE POOL- Expanding the coverage of the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool to include all natural disasters.
• POLLUTER PAYS- Requiring coal, gas and oil companies to contribute to the reinsurance pool and Disaster Ready Fund.
• CONSUMER PROTECTIONS- More ACCC powers and stronger disclosure obligations on insurance companies to explain premium pricing. 
• RISK MAP- Establishing a public national disaster risk map and database.

And more to be announced.

An independent costing by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) shows that the stamp duty changes alone will put more than $4 billion back in people’s pockets across Australia in the first year. 

In NSW, the removal of stamp duty could reduce insurance premiums by around 10% for home insurance. In areas of heightened climate risk, such as the Northern Rivers, testimony to a recent Senate Inquiry suggests this change alone could save households $500-600 each year. In addition, an expanded reinsurance pool, increased transparency, and better risk mapping will lower premiums even further. 

With a minority parliament looming, the announcement is the latest in the series of the Greens’ ‘Robin Hood reforms’ that will be put on the table in any post-election negotiations, and will be funded by making big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax. 

Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“The Greens will make fossil fuel companies pay their fair share to make insurance cheaper for everyday people.

“Families, renters and retirees should not have to pay skyrocketing insurance premiums for a climate crisis they did not cause. Filthy rich coal and gas companies caused the climate crisis and they should pick up the tab.

“During the Greens-led Senate inquiry into the impacts of climate risk on insurance, I heard from witness after witness about how extremely opaque insurance premium pricing is in Australia. There is a real lack of transparency and clarity, which makes it easier for insurance companies to price gouge and exploit the climate crisis to increase profit margins.

“People’s insurance premiums are skyrocketing with no explanation as to why. Consumers have a right to know how their premiums are being priced and deserve a meaningful explanation of why they are doubling and tripling in price.

“Stamp duty on insurance premiums is plainly unfair when people who face higher risks pay higher premiums and then more stamp duty on top. Abolishing these taxes is a no-brainer way to immediately reduce premiums. There also must be stronger oversight, monitoring, and disclosure requirements. 

“A free, accessible and up to date national disaster risk map and database that take into account climate change are crucial for informing communities, councils, insurers and government to prepare for climate-driven disasters like floods, respond to the aftermath, and identify mitigation measures. 

“The Albanese Government’s decision to approve 32 new coal and gas projects since coming to power will make the climate crisis worse and make insurance more expensive.

“The Greens will make corporations pay their fair share of tax to fund the services people need.

“With more Greens in parliament, like Mandy, we will end new coal and gas.”

Greens candidate for Richmond, Mandy Nolan:

“Our region is one of the most climate impacted and has some of the least affordable insurance in the country. The big corporations that caused this climate crisis should be the ones paying for it, not our local families who are already doing it tough.

“We’ve had the same Labor MP for 20 years and despite our region experiencing one of the worst climate fueled disasters in Australian history she has stood by while her government has approved 32 new coal and gas projects.

“We only need a 1.8% swing to win here. This election, you can vote to keep Dutton out, stop new coal and gas and make big fossil fuel companies pay their fair share.”

REFERENCES

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/uninsurable-nation-australi…

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/insurer-profi…;

https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/insurance-duty/types-of-insuranc

The NSW Government has rushed through a suite of laws that will significantly restrict the right to protest in NSW. The government suggested these laws were necessary to address the alarming rise in racially charged attacks and hate crimes.

 “We must unequivocally condemn racism, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia. Every person, regardless of their background, has the right to feel safe and to practise their faith freely” said NSW Greens Democracy spokesperson Kobi Shetty.

 “However, this bill does not effectively address those concerns. The bill wrongly conflates hate crimes with peaceful protest and grants sweeping new police powers that threaten our fundamental democratic freedoms.”

 The bill introduces broad new police powers to issue “move on” orders to protestors near places of worship, without requiring intent to obstruct.

 Ms Shetty warned that these vague provisions could be misused to stifle lawful protests, particularly in Sydney’s CBD, where many major places of worship are located.

 “Under these laws, peaceful protests at Town Hall, Hyde Park, or even outside Parliament could be shut down simply for being ‘near’ a place of worship,” Ms Shetty said.

 “There is no clear definition of what ‘near’ means, leaving it up to police discretion—a power that has repeatedly been used to disproportionately target First Nations people and other marginalised groups.”

 Legal and human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Law Centre, have raised the alarm about the bill’s overreach. They argue that it lacks clear legal thresholds, fails to meet human rights standards, and is likely to face constitutional challenges.

 “Religious vilification and intimidation are already criminal offences,” Ms Shetty said. “The violent incidents we’ve seen in recent months have been dealt with under existing laws. This bill is not about safety—it’s about suppressing dissent and expanding police powers to crackdown on protests.”

 The Greens sought to amend the legislation last night to address ambiguity and to reduce the impact these laws would have on human rights. This included a move to ensure that these new laws would not override the common law right to protest.

 “I’m incredibly disappointed that the NSW Labor Government did not support our sensible amendments to remove vague provisions and ensure the common law right to protest is protected.

 “Instead, we have another anti-protest bill on the books. One that will not meaningfully protect faith-based communities, but that will have a chilling effect on our democracy,” Ms Shetty said.

The Greens (WA) will push for Satterley’s North Stoneville development to be permanently scrapped, citing bushfire concerns and the impact on important habitat for threatened native species including the Chuditch, Phascogale and all three species of Black Cockatoo.

The North Stoneville development proposal remains a dangerous and destructive plan from more than three decades ago that fails to acknowledge climate risk and is totally inappropriate for Perth’s future. 

the Greens (WA) Kalamunda candidate Janelle Sewell:

“I will stand alongside the community to ensure dangerous and environmentally destructive developments in the highly vulnerable and increasingly volatile Perth Hills – such as the despised Satterley North Stoneville development – will never proceed.

“I’ve rallied with Save Perth Hills against the Satterley Hills development from the beginning of the campaign and will continue to fight to protect our environmentally vulnerable region.

“It’s a fundamental duty of care for the Greens – and for me – to ensure that any development in our region, safeguards, not endangers our bushfire-risk communities; recent fires in California have only fortified this position.

“In the last 20 years the Liberals have accepted almost $300,000 in donations from Nigel Satterley and Satterley Property Group while Labor have accepted just under $240,000 in the same period, including more than $36,000 in the last 18 months.

“Only the Greens can be trusted to protect and preserve Perth Hills because we are the only party that does not take corporate donations from property developers, like Nigel Satterley, and we have a proud history of supporting this community campaign from the beginning, through consecutive Liberal and Labor governments that had ample opportunity to stop it.”

WA Greens Environment spokesperson and Legislative Council candidate, Jess Beckerling:

“The impacts of back-to-back record dry summers remain for all to see throughout the Perth Hills, from Pickering Brook to Worooloo and across to Darlington; it is unthinkable that Satterley would be allowed to clear 60,000 native trees across 200 hectares of bush at a time when our natural environment is under so much pressure.

“Endangered Black Cockatoos are already starving and this project will further reduce their crucial habitat, as well as impact on other endangered wildlife including Chuditches and Phascogales.

“The offsets proposed for this disastrous project will do nothing to protect these species because offsets are notoriously problematic and Satterley has 110 years to implement them!

“This project has been knocked back multiple times because of environmental impact and bushfire risk; It is a testament to the influence of property developers in this state that this project is still on the table after more than thirty years of community opposition.”

WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:

“Nothing about this development makes sense and the Perth Hills community will be rightly disappointed in the federal Labor government for granting this approval to offset the destruction of critical habitat for endangered black cockatoos and chuditches.

“Perth desperately needs to stop the urban sprawl, which means not clearing important bush habitat to build these kinds of car-dependent developments in bushfire prone areas that have limited access to essential services and employment opportunities.

“When this project was first conceptualised way back in 1991 there was less of an understanding of the impacts of climate change; now there is no excuse. This development no longer makes sense and to build it would put future residents at serious risk of climate-related impacts, especially bushfires.

“Perth needs smarter and more sustainable infill, not dangerous fringe development. Let’s preserve Perth Hills’ environmental biodiversity and create a more liveable Perth by rethinking how we build houses and communities for our growing population.”

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