Category: Australian News

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with the President of the United States Joseph R. Biden Jr. ahead of the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Delaware.

Leaders discussed the strength of the Australia-United States alliance and depth of cooperation across defence and security, economic ties and climate and clean energy.

Today’s meeting builds on the progress Australia and the United States have made over the past two years in turning our decades-long alliance to face the future.

Our two nations have long stood together in the cause of peace and stability. We have worked together for eight decades to promote freedom and prosperity around the world.

Now we are modernising our alliance to focus on new challenges and vital interests – including clean energy, critical minerals and addressing climate change.

And of course, the biggest single investment in Australia’s defence capability in our history – the AUKUS agreement.

Today, President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese discussed ongoing bilateral defence and security cooperation, including in the Indo-Pacific. They reaffirmed their commitment to the AUKUS partnership and noted the ongoing and bipartisan support for AUKUS across the alliance. They welcomed the significant progress that has been made this year, including in building Australia’s capabilities to steward and operate its own fleet of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines from the early 2030s.

Leaders discussed the strength of our economic ties, and the importance of working together to act on the global challenge of inflation and to address supply chain resilience.

Leaders noted the close engagement on climate and clean energy, underpinned by the Australia-United States Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact. Prime Minister Albanese and President Biden also discussed ongoing work—including under the Australia-United States Critical Minerals Taskforce – to support resilient, diverse critical minerals supply chains.

Leaders looked forward to a productive Quad Leaders’ Summit, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, focused on promoting stability and delivering practical outcomes for the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“I thank President Biden for hosting the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Delaware.

“This is the 11th time President Biden and I have met as leaders, and it highlighted how productive and important our partnership has been during a time of unprecedented global economic and security challenges.

“We are facing our decades-long alliance to the future, strengthening our economic ties and investing in the security of our shared region.

“Australia and the United States continue to cooperate closely on climate and clean energy and remain committed to our shared goal of expanding and diversifying critical mineral supply chains.

“I look forward to meeting with my Quad partners to discuss important challenges facing the Indo-Pacific and strengthening the Quad’s cooperation.”

The Leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan have together launched the Quad Cancer Moonshot initiative, with the aim of saving lives and preventing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific.

Australia is on track to be the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, yet women in the Pacific die of the disease at up to 13 times the rate of women in Australia.

The ground-breaking human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to prevent cervical cancer was invented and developed at the University of Queensland by Australian of the Year Professor Ian Frazer.

Australia will contribute to the Quad Cancer Moonshot initiative by expanding our Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer Program.

This program works with our partners in the region to implement a comprehensive cervical cancer elimination strategy. This includes introducing and expanding their HPV vaccine immunisation programs.

The partnership will help more governments get HPV vaccine programs up and running in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Fiji, Nauru and beyond.

The Australian Government will contribute $16.5 million to this partnership, with Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation providing an additional $13.1 million.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“Australia is proud of the leading role we’ve played preventing cervical cancer worldwide. Today I am pleased to expand Australia’s regional cervical cancer elimination program in the Indo-Pacific.

“This announcement will save the lives of women in our Pacific family.

“The Quad Cancer Moonshot demonstrates that we can achieve more together than on our own.”

Dr Andrew Forrest, Founder of Minderoo Foundation:

“It is a true privilege to stand beside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today and announce Team Australia’s contribution to the Quad Cancer Moonshot.

“Minderoo Foundation envisages an Indo-Pacific – and indeed a world – where cervical cancer is consigned to the history books.

“It is the role of philanthropy and government to work in partnership to take advances in health to scale, democratising access to life saving health innovations.

“I think it is fitting that this announcement was made at the Quad, which is all about making a positive contribution to the Indo-Pacific by delivering practical outcomes that respond to the region’s priorities.”

This week the Federal Government tabled the final report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into early childhood education and care (ECEC) Read here

Member for Ballina Ms Tamara Smith MP and NSW Greens Spokesperson for Early education welcomed the report and said that all children deserve the best possible education from early childhood right through to university. For this to happen according to the Report, all governments need to commit to free universal early childhood education and care.

Ms Smith said, “It was reported that one-in-four three-year-olds and one-in-ten four-year-olds are not enrolled in any ECEC partly due to lack of suitable and available options particularly in regional or remote areas.”

“It is heartening to see reflected what early educators have been saying for decades that the biggest change you can make in a child’s life trajectory is invest heavily in years 0-6 years.”

“The inquiry found that in regional and remote Australia, there are many communities with limited or no local early childhood educational services, and I certainly experienced that as a single mum working as a teacher in outback NSW a few decades ago. To think that this is still the case when we know the game changer that early childhood education is not just to a child’s life chances but for broader society is chilling.”  

“As long as these inequities continue, we will see regional and rural Australian communities continue to go backwards in important indicators of health and wellbeing and economic success. Highly educated and happy children make for highly successful and happy communities – it is that simple.”

“I welcome in particular the Report recommendation to ensure that at least 30 hours or three days a week of quality ECEC is available for 48 weeks of the year for all children aged 0–5 years.” said Ms Smith

“Having a high-quality universal early childhood education and care system not only improves outcomes for children in regional and rural communities but can also play a critical role in engaging parents in the labour force.”

“The Greens have consistently called for free, universally accessible childcare for decades, and while we recognise and support the recommendations of this critical report, we need action not words from Federal Labor before another generation of children in regional and rural Australia fall through the cracks.”

The Greens say Labor claiming a win on a tiny JobSeeker indexation and a paltry increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is an insult to the millions of Australians the government is keeping in poverty and housing insecurity.

Today, the combined “increases” from indexation and tinkering to the CRA come into effect. The indexation to JobSeeker amounts to $1.09 a day; for the CRA it’s only a $1.64 rise. 

Greens spokesperson on Social Services, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“It shows the disdain Labor has for people on income support that they are calling a paltry increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance and automatic JobSeeker indexation help.

“The automatic increase from indexation amounts to just $1.09 a day. This is an automated fig leaf for a Labor government that is leaving people in poverty.  

“The changes coming into effect today don’t bring JobSeeker anywhere close to the poverty line, let alone enough to live on.

“$1.64 a day increase to rent assistance means next to nothing when average national rents have increased by over $115 a week since this Labor government was elected 

“A marginally increased rate of JobSeeker for 4,700 people with an assessed partial capacity of under 14 hours shows how broken this system is. It’s crumbs instead of the real heavy lifting of fixing the Disability Support Pension.

“If Labor is serious about keeping any of their promises instead of paying lip service, the government must raise income support above the poverty line.” 

The Victorian Greens have slammed the Victorian Labor government for claiming in court that they have no documents which back up their plan to demolish and privatise the public housing towers at North Melbourne and Flemington.

The Victorian Labor government has refused requests from the Supreme Court to produce documents backing up their reasoning for demolishing the towers which the judge has labelled as “startling”.

The Victorian Labor government was requested to provide these documents as part of the discovery process for the ongoing class action being led by residents from the North Melbourne and Flemington towers.

It comes just a few months after the Victorian Labor government refused to produce 146 of 158 documents to Parliament related to the demolition and privatisation of all 44 public housing towers, denying access under executive privilege.

The Victorian Greens Acting Spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Gabrielle de Vietri accused the Victorian Labor government of ongoing secrecy and lack of transparency over their plan to demolish and privatise the towers.

She said that it’s unbelievable that Labor would steamroll ahead with this disastrous plan without a shred of evidence to back it up.

Quotes attributable to the Victorian Greens Acting Spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Gabrielle de Vietri:

“Labor is denying documents to courts, parliament and the public – they’re clearly hell bent on concealing the true reason they’re demolishing and privatising all of Victoria’s public housing towers.

“This half-baked plan has never been about the residents. It’s just a way for Labor to hand over prime public land to private developers for massive profits. Any plan that starts with demolishing 7000 public homes in the middle of a housing crisis, is not a housing plan, it’s a housing disaster.

“The Premier owes us an explanation. This plan will displace more than ten thousand public housing residents in the middle of a housing crisis, yet they’re steamrolling ahead without providing a shred of evidence to back it up. Where we see communities, they see dollar signs.

“The plan to demolish and privatise all 44 public housing towers has never stacked up and it’s clear that Labor has something to hide. It’s only a matter of time until their house of cards falls down on them.”

Australia is stepping up efforts to tackle high priority health issues in the Solomon Islands and across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Through expanded partnerships between governments and civil society, we will provide $15.9 million to the Pacific Community – the region’s principal scientific and technical organisation – to help strengthen the health workforce across the Pacific.

The package also builds partnerships between Pacific and Southeast Asian organisations and their Australian counterparts, encouraging experts from across the region to share their technical skills and to develop exciting new links

Under the package we will:

• invest $9 million to provide technical support to improve immunisation coverage across the region , drawing on the expertise of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance.
• support regional collaboration and partnerships through research on issues at the intersection of human, animal and environmental health, such as in food security and nutrition, by jointly funding programs with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
• co-fund two collaborative Centres of Excellence with the National Health and Medical Research Council, that link Australian and regional health research institutions.
• strengthen community preparation and response to epidemic disease threats through a $3 million investment which will support the Australian Red Cross to work with partners in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
• support training for animal health workers across the Pacific and Timor-Leste to enhance regional biosecurity and better protect animal and human health, through a $2.5 million partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

These activities are funded under the Australian Government’s Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, which works with governments and civil society organisations in the Pacific and Southeast Asia to build resilient, equitable and inclusive health systems.

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong:

“A peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific rests on the shared wellbeing and health of communities across our region.

“The Albanese Government is responding to Pacific priorities and working with partners to improve immunisation coverage across our region, helping communities better anticipate, prevent, detect, and control communicable diseases and protect the most vulnerable.”

Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy:

“This new package reflects our commitment to the health of our family and neighbours across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

“Recognising the importance of working in partnership with governments and local civil society organisations, we are committed to addressing high priority health issues in our region.”

The Victorian Greens have slammed the Victorian Labor government for announcing the next public housing towers to be demolished, just days after claiming they had no evidence to back up the demolition of the first towers at North Melbourne and Flemington.

Today the Victorian Labor government announced that they’re targeting the towers and low-rise communities in Richmond as part of the next stage of their disastrous plan to demolish and privatise all 44 public housing towers in Victoria.

It comes just a few days after the Victorian Labor government told the courts they had no documents to back up their decision to demolish and privatise the first towers at North Melbourne and Flemington.

Today also marks the one year anniversary of the Victorian Labor government’s Housing Statement, with the state of housing only worsening since then with rents soaring across Victoria and the list of people on the public housing waitlist ballooning.

The Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri said that this plan is only going to make the housing crisis worse and that it’s outrageous that Labor is steamrolling ahead without providing a shred of evidence to back it up.

Quotes attributable to Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri:

“Just days ago Labor admitted that they have no evidence to back up the first demolitions and now they’re steamrolling forward to destroy the next community. This disastrous plan is only going to make the housing crisis worse for everybody.

“Labor is gaslighting us about this plan. It’s never been about providing more homes for Victorians and it’s certainly never been about the residents – all this is about is handing over prime real estate to their property developer mates for massive profits.

“Once again Labor has thrown public housing residents under the bus today. If Labor listened to the residents in Richmond – or any of the towers – for just one second, they’d hear that they don’t want to leave, they don’t want their homes torn down and their communities ripped apart.

“There are over 120,000 people on the public housing waitlist and that number continues to soar. Yet Labor wants to tear down 7000 public homes in the worst housing crisis in living memory and then won’t even show us the receipts.”

Annual migration under Labor is on track to shoot over 400,000 for the second consecutive year and could even surpass 500,000 arrivals.

Labor will almost certainly fail to honour its commitment to halve migration, based on ABS population data published today:

• Under Labor, Net Overseas Migration (NOM) was 133,802 for the March 2024 quarter — the second highest March quarter ever reported by the ABS — beaten only by Labor’s record 165,500 arrivals in March 2023.

• 388,241 additional migrants arrived in the first nine months of Financial Year 23-24 under Labor.

• In comparison, when Labor broke the Australian migration record with 536,547 arrivals in FY22-23, NOM was 415,034 across the first nine months of that year — just 26,793 higher than Labor is currently tracking.

• For Labor to achieve its FY23-24 migration target of 395,000 arrivals in this year’s budget, NOM will have to be lower than 6,759 in the June quarter — a level so low it was only reported when the borders were closed during COVID.

Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to explain why Labor was not honouring its commitment to halve migration.

“The Prime Minister needs to explain where all these people are going to live,” Mr Tehan said.

“Australians are experiencing a housing and rental crisis, but the Prime Minister seems to be unaware.

“Labor kept their plans for a Big Australia secret before the election, and Australians are living with the consequences.

“We have experienced record migration since Labor came to power, and housing supply isn’t close to keeping up. That drives up the cost of housing and rents, which further increases inflation as Australians endure cost-of-living pain.

“The Prime Minister’s broken promises to cut immigration, cut electricity bills and provide cheaper mortgages is making that pain worse.

“The Coalition will get the migration policy settings right to help free up more houses for Australians.

“Labor can’t be trusted to manage immigration, and they can’t be trusted on national security.”

Labor can’t be trusted to manage migration

On 9 December last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “migration is expected to decline substantially over the coming financial year”.

On 10 April, 2024, then Labor Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the Labor government would halve migration from its record high.

“When we get to the 1st of July this year, and I’m talking about in a few months time we will be back in a normal year of migration. We will have halved our migration rate as a country.” O’ Neil said an interview on Sunrise.

When asked if Labor would achieve its then NOM target of 375,000, O’Neil replied: “I mean, the numbers will come out but the indications are yes, that we will hit that target”.

Work is planned to start next week on Queensland’s biggest ever social and affordable housing project, jointly funded by the Albanese and Miles Labor Governments.

The big housing build will deliver 490 homes in Woree and will be the biggest social and affordable housing project to be built in Queensland.

It’s aimed at older Queenslanders who are looking to downsize from their current home, and will in turn free up larger homes for families.

The complex will include 245 social, 223 affordable and 22 specialist disability apartments.

The purpose-built, architecturally-designed precinct features modern, low maintenance and energy efficient one and two-bedroom homes for people over 55 and those with disability, and is set among landscaped gardens and picnic grounds.

The Woree site has direct access to transport routes, the Bruce Highway, the local shopping centre and the Woree Aquatic Centre.

The project is being funded through the Miles Government’s Housing Investment Fund, as well as lending from Housing Australia, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and ANZ as well as a capital grant from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility.

Community Housing Limited (CHL) and Tetris Capital are joining forces to deliver and manage the homes with construction undertaken by FCC Construction Australia and Modscape.

Adopting innovative construction methodologies to help solve the housing crisis, FCC Construction Australia will be joined by local modular housing supplier, Modscape, to help deliver the impressive package of works, with most of the materials and labour planned to be Australian sourced.

Once complete and tenanted, CHL will provide onsite staff and work with support partners to deliver lifestyle programs aimed at reducing social isolation and encouraging active lifestyles.

Construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026, weather and construction conditions permitting.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

“Housing changes lives, and my Government is determined to work with the Queensland Government to deliver more homes all across the state.

“In spite of the No-alition of the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and One Nation we are determined to increase housing supply.

“This project will deliver hundreds of homes in regional Queensland, while complementing our plan to deliver thousands of homes through our Housing Australia Future Fund all around Australia.”

Premier of Queensland Steven Miles

“Every Queenslander deserves a safe place to call home.
“One of the most important things a government can do is build homes for the most vulnerable – something I’m proud to be doing every day.

“In Woree, this 490-home precinct is the biggest housing build in our state. That’s our Homes for Queenslanders plan in action.  

“I have a plan to build more homes, faster while supporting first home buyers, renters and the most vulnerable, and I will do what matters every day to relieve the housing pressures we face while also planning for the future.”

Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King

“Every Australian needs a roof over their head and a place to call home.

“I’m very proud to be part of a Government that is taking practical steps to build more homes for more Australians.

“This project is a great example of how the Northern Australia Investment Facility is supporting social infrastructure and making lives better for people living in the North.”

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil

“This is about reducing housing stress for Queenslanders and Australians everywhere, because the more homes like these that we build, the more affordable housing becomes.

“This is a fantastically innovative project that shows the Commonwealth is back in the game of partnering with States, Territories and the housing sector to build housing at scale, and to make housing more affordable.”

Queensland Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon

“To build more homes faster, we’re partnering with community housing providers and rolling out hundreds more modular homes. This project in Cairns does both.

“Our Homes for Queenslanders plan is delivering – whether it’s building or buying more social homes, working with community housing, helping first homeowners, supporting renters and those sleeping rough.”

State Member for Cairns Michael Healy

“It’s the Miles Government that has been doing what matters for the Far North – with $1,000 off power bills, 20 per cent off car rego and building more homes locally.

“I’ve fought hard for more homes to be built – because it’s what matters to our community – and I’m excited to see what is the largest social and affordable housing project in the state get underway in Cairns.”

Inmates from across NSW Prisons call for free phone calls and education rights in largest inmate only petitions tabled in NSW State Parliament

Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson has today tabled two inmate led, inmate only paper petitions in the NSW Parliament. The petitions collected the signatures of over 1,000 inmates from ten of the 32 correctional centres across NSW and call for NSW Labor to provide free phone calls and access to information technology devices so that inmates can access educational programs.

Education Petition

Currently, there are a limited number of Tertiary Education programs available for inmates in this state, but due to a lack of internet access, computers or email services, it is virtually impossible for inmates to enrol in these courses or complete their coursework. In 2016 the privatisation of Corrective Services Education resulted in an 86% reduction in qualified teachers in NSW Prisons, who still have not been replaced. The number of prisoners who reoffend within 12 months of their release date has increased from 20.8% in 2016 to 23.4% in 2022.

Phone calls Petition

In June 2023 NSW Labor scrapped a service which provided low-cost calls to mobile phone numbers, effectively increasing the cost of a ten-minute phone call from $0.25 to $2.59. Inmates currently receive $16-18 per week, meaning the cost of one phone call is now equivalent to approximately 15% of their weekly income.

Comments attributable to Sue Higginson MLC

Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said, “NSW Corrective Services have been operating in the shadows for far too long. People on the inside are screaming out to be heard and now they are asking the Minister for Corrections to respond to their demands directly,”

“It can cost up to $100 a week for an inmate to stay connected to their loved ones. This cost is crippling to most people. To an inmate making less than $1 a day, it is a cruel and impossible price to place on connection,”

“Right now inmates in this state are suffering from “Disconnection Disorder”. They can’t connect to the people they love, because punitive policies in this state won’t let them,”

“Connection and education are two of the most effective factors in reducing recidivism. By denying basic access to technology and educational programs the Minns Labor Government is ripping away the path to rehabilitation inmates in this state have,”

“The voices of these inmate petitioners represent just a fraction of the daily calls begging for reform from inside the hellholes that our prisons. NSW Labor and Corrections NSW must take accountability for its appalling treatment of some of our most vulnerable people,”