Author: admin

Australia will provide an additional $5 million for lifesaving assistance to civilians impacted by the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, with a focus on the most vulnerable, particularly women and children.

The recent escalation in the conflict has led to a significant deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon.

We are seeing increasing and widespread displacement, with families in desperate need of essential food and medical care. More than one million people have already fled their homes, including over 200,000 children.

Australia’s assistance will be delivered by trusted partners:

• $3 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide emergency food assistance 
• $2 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for nutrition assistance, access to water and health services

This latest funding brings Australia’s humanitarian assistance for civilians affected by the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon to over $135 million since October 2023.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong:

“We know this is a distressing time for Australians in Lebanon and for the Australian-Lebanese community here at home thinking of their family members and loved ones.

“We are gravely concerned by the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, the loss of life and the displacement of more than one million civilians.

“Australia condemns Hizballah for its ongoing strikes on Israel and for dragging Lebanon into conflict.

“Australia calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and for the protection of civilians and aid workers. A major Israeli ground offensive into Lebanon will only exacerbate the worsening humanitarian situation in the country.”

International Development Minister Anne Aly:

“The escalating conflict in Lebanon is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. Australia’s humanitarian support will provide emergency food, water and health assistance for displaced civilians across Lebanon.

“At this time of crisis, Australia is working closely with the international community and our humanitarian partners to support the people of Lebanon through the provision of lifesaving aid.

“Humanitarian personnel must also be protected, consistent with international humanitarian law. Aid workers save lives. Their dedication to improving the lives of others should not cost them their own lives.”

NT Greens today have called for fossil fuel corporations to contribute to the projected $100M cleanup costs of the NT’s ongoing flood crisis.

Addressing negotiations between NT and federal governments over the mounting repair bill, Jonathan Parry from the NT Greens warned that gas production fuels climate disruption, and polluters should pay for their impacts.

“The unfolding compounding weather systems challenging Territorians this month are precisely the chaotic impact experts warn will become more frequent and intense as carbon pollution mounts,” said Mr Parry.

The CLP Finocchiaro government has this week announced the establishment of a $100 million fund for flood recovery, to be funded entirely from the NT budget.

“It’s essential that we invest in climate resistance and disaster repair but ordinary Territorian households and small businesses shouldn’t be footing the bill.” 

“Big gas producers like Inpex and SANTOS are profiting massively from exploitation of resources that literally fuel climate chaos. Territorians know these international fossil fuel companies don’t pay their way, and now we find ourselves with a growing damage bill from climate impacts.”

“That’s why we’re calling on the Finocchiaro CLP government to fund disaster recovery by making the gas industry pay their fair share.”

Last week in the Commonwealth Parliament, the Australian Greens forced a vote in the Senate on a bill to introduce a 25% export tax on gas. But Labor, the Coalition, and One Nation all voted against the measure.

“The Greens are the only party in Australia willing to take on the big fossil fuel giants. Labor, the Coalition and One Nation have shown again and again that they’re more worried about their big corporate donors and the cushy jobs they promise than the interests of everyday Australians.”

“The Greens oppose plans for massive new fossil-fuel industrialisation at Middle Arm, and the expansion of onshore and offshore fracking production.”

“Those already in operation should be made to come to the table and contribute to recovery costs.”

Labor’s so-called crackdown on petrol corporations will do nothing to rein in petrol prices, and won’t stop corporations using the cover of war to price gouge, the Greens say.

“Labor’s proposal won’t stop petrol companies price gouging,” Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“It will only increase penalties for lying about why prices are rising, while doing nothing to actually stop prices rising.”

“Australians are being slugged at the bowser, and the Government’s response is simply fiddling at the margins.”

“Corporations are using the war as cover for price rises across the economy, so the government’s response needs to be economy wide.”

“The Greens pressured Labor into cracking down on supermarket price gouging, but Labor is now sitting back and allowing price gouging without consequence.”

“If price gouging laws are good enough for supermarkets, they should apply across the entire economy.”

“Labor’s piecemeal response means that Australians will pay higher prices than they should right across the economy.”

“The coming inflation spike won’t stop at petrol. We already know that fertiliser costs are going up, which will flow through to farmers and food prices.”

“We need economy-wide anti price gouging laws so corporations can’t use the war as cover to boost profits. The Greens have already drafted a Bill that would do this.”

The Albanese Government has put community safety at risk by granting a visa to a convicted murderer who had been rejected four times under the former Coalition Government, before going on to succeed in the High Court this week and strip away key monitoring safeguards for the dangerous NZYQ cohort.

Within months of the Albanese Government’s election in 2022, this individual was granted a visa despite repeated refusals under the former Coalition Government.

The contrast is stark – where the Coalition acted to keep a dangerous individual out of Australia, Labor overruled those decisions and gave this murderer a visa.

Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Senator Jonno Duniam said the case exposed a serious failure of judgment by the Albanese Government.

“Labor is handing out visas to murderers who should never have been granted one in the first place – showing a complete disregard for community safety,” Senator Duniam said.

Senator Duniam said this failure sits alongside a pattern of legal incompetence, with the Government losing three major High Court cases – NZYQ (2023), YBFZ (2024) and EGH19 (2026).

“Three times Labor claimed its laws were sound. Three times the High Court has disagreed. Each failure has weakened safeguards and left Australians less safe.”

Reports confirm the individual went on to reoffend after being granted a visa.

“This is exactly what happens when a Government ignores warnings and lowers standards – Australians are put at risk.”

“Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke needs to explain to Australians what safeguards are now in place and assure communities that they are being protected. Because at the moment, we have heard nothing from the Government about what they will do next.”

The Minns Labor Government is proposing wholesale change to the annual GST carve-up that continues to rip off the people of New South Wales.

The urgent need for reform has been highlighted by the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s decision to hand NSW its lowest GST relativity share on record.

Last week’s decision will see NSW, Australia’s largest state, receive $1.4 billion less GST revenue than Victoria, despite having 1.5 million more residents.

The NSW share of the GST pool has now fallen to 82 cents in the dollar in 2026-27, down from 86 cents in 2025-26, and 92.4 cents in 2023-24.

This decreasing rate of relativity is estimated to have cost NSW $8.6 billion over the past four years. That could have funded:

• Around 13,500 more registered nurses in the NSW public hospital system, or
• Around 14,500 more teachers over four years.

The current distribution calculation is complex and opaque. This not only leads to unpredictable variations for state budgets but also produces unreasonable distributions.

The Minns Labor Government is proposing a fairer way forward.

The NSW submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry proposes an equal per capita distribution of GST grants, with top-ups funded by the Australian Government from outside the GST pool.

An equal per capita distribution would remove complexity, result in a higher level of transparency and eliminate any possible drag from the current system on the productive capacity of the Australian economy.

If GST was shared on an equal per capita basis, it’s estimated NSW would receive an additional $3.2 billion next financial year.

If broad consensus cannot be reached on equal per capita distribution, NSW also proposes an alternate model that returns to the pre-2018 equalisation arrangements from 2030-31, with several modifications:

• The introduction of a relativities safety net floor of 0.50 funded by the Australian Government. This is a reduction from the current 0.75 floor. This would ensure there is a fair distribution to all states of any windfall revenue flowing to only one state.
• Early notification of likely distribution changes through the Commonwealth Grants Commission issuing four-year relativity forecasts.

These modifications will address factors that drove the changes to GST in 2018 and will reduce the negative impact of horizontal fiscal equalisation on the productivity of the Australian economy.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“The current system for carving up the GST is busted. NSW carries the Federation all by itself.

“Some of the richest and wealthiest states aren’t doing their bit to help smaller states and territories like the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

“Even worse, NSW taxpayers have seen more of their money put to work fixing the budgets of Western Australia and Victoria, than their own.

“The whole of the Federation would be better off if we allocated the GST by population share, with the Federal Government using their balance sheet to prop up the smaller jurisdictions.

“That is what we are arguing for. But we are also presenting a compromise proposal to push for change.

“Change like this won’t be quick. But I’m glad that since we launched this campaign every state and territory, except Western Australia, has slammed this broken system. “