Category: Australian News

The Greens say both Labor and Peter Dutton have caved and failed on gambling ads, while their Bill honours the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations. 

Greens Communications Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young:

“Labor has no excuse for failing to ban gambling ads and Peter Dutton’s fake vibes are no substitute for what is needed: a full ban on gambling ads as recommended by the Peta Murphy Inquiry and supported by 70% of Australians.

“Everyone can see that Labor have caved, but no one should fall for Peter Dutton’s trickery: the Coalition was in Government for years and did nothing. Both are captured by the lobby while problem gamblers keep losing.

“Australians lose more per person to gambling than any nation on earth. We could pass laws to ban gambling ads by Christmas with the Greens Bill in line with the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations – but both Dutton and Labor have sold out to Sportsbet and refuse to support it.”

Senators Mehreen Faruqi and Lidia Thorpe have today moved a motion in the Senate calling for the Standing Committee on Procedures to conduct an inquiry into racism within Parliament.

See the motion here.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“It’s been three years since the Set the Standard report, two years since the parliamentary behaviour codes were developed and 20 months since they were endorsed by parliament, but it seems to make no difference to how women of colour are treated in here.

“The highest office in this country should lead the way on safe and respectful behaviour but it is far from it. That’s why we are seeking a review of standing orders as recommended by the Jenkins review so we can finally move to eliminate the discrimination, racism and sexism that so many are subjected to and harmed by. 

“The Senate refused to censure Senator Hanson when I was racially vilified, but they are quick to shut me down for calling out racism. Politicians in here really need a good dose of anti-racism training.

“In here, it’s easy to fling around racism and racist commentary without consequence, but if you dare call out racism or white supremacy you are shut down, silenced and gaslighted.

“If there is any workplace that needs unpacking of white privilege and white fragility, it is this parliament. 

“Despite all the revelations of the past few years, parliament still has not reckoned with its whitewashed and exclusionary culture where discrimination against First Nations people, people of colour, people with disability and LGBTQI+ people is common in practice and policy.

“Just last week I was silenced in the Senate for calling out racism and white supremacy while speaking in support of Senator Thorpe. It seems those running this place have not really listened to what the Set the Standard report had to say about systemic inequality, entitlement and exclusion. 

“I hope the Senate will support our motion so we can move forward with consistent enforcement of behaviour standards so this can be a safe workplace for all.”

Senator Lidia Thorpe

“Racism in the Senate chamber is routine. Senators dogwhistle and demonise people of colour in speeches, and racist sledging and comments have been made towards Senators of colour, myself included.

“The President and many senators don’t have a good understanding of what is and isn’t racist, and consistently fail to recognise or call it out.

“It was confronting to see that I was kicked off a parliamentary delegation to Fiji and Tuvalu because I dared to call out the King for the genocide of First Peoples, while a Senator who made appalling racist, homophobic and ableist comments online was dealt a more lenient consequence by the Senate.

“It shows that if you speak up and demand justice for First Peoples, you will be punished, while racism, homophobia and ableism are not treated seriously by the Senate.

“Discussions of racism might make people uncomfortable, but these are real problems that need to be openly discussed. It’s racist in itself to prevent these issues from being raised in the chamber, or forcing senators to withdraw.

“For young people of colour wanting to move into politics, the level of racism we see in this workplace is a major barrier and turn off.

“Racism is still frequently used as a political tool by the major parties. They use it to create fear and distrust for their political benefit, and those attitudes flow through to the rest of society. The Prime Minister and opposition leader frequently partake in racist dog whistling.

“This inquiry is about taking a stronger stance on racism and holding this parliament to a higher standard.

“It aims to ensure that the recommendations of the Jenkins report are being taken into consideration in relation to racism, and that codes of conduct are strengthened.

“Parliament is my workplace. Racism is called out in other workplaces, and it should be called out in parliament too.”

The Greens say Labor has given up on renters and first home buyers by refusing to negotiate on the government’s housing bills, but have decided to wave the legislation through to focus on campaigning for renters and against Peter Dutton at the next election.

The Greens say renters should now vote Green to put them in balance of power in a minority Parliament if they want to end tax handouts for property investors and an end to unlimited rent increases.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP:

“There comes a point where you’ve pushed as far as you can. We tried hard to get Labor to shift on soaring rents and negative gearing, but we couldn’t get there this time.   

“We’ll wave the housing bills through and take the fight to the next election, where we’ll keep Peter Dutton out and then push Labor to act on unlimited rent rises and tax handouts to wealthy property investors.”

Greens Housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather MP:

“The Greens are waving through Labor’s housing bills after accepting Labor doesn’t care enough about renters to actually do anything meaningful for them, and that is deeply, deeply disappointing. 

“Last year the Greens secured $3 billion for social housing, six times what Labor originally planned to spend, and we hoped we could secure a similar outcome this time, but the tragedy is Labor decided they’d rather have a fight with the Greens than actually help people. 

“We have pushed as hard as possible to get Labor to do more than tinkering around the edges of this devastating housing crisis in this term of parliament, but in the end we just couldn’t get Labor to care enough. 

“We got close. Labor costed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. We were inches away from the most significant changes to housing policy in a generation that would have helped hundreds of thousands of renters, but the Prime Minister blinked and that is deeply disappointing.

“It’s now over to the people of Australia at the next election. If you want to keep out Dutton, and push Labor to cap rent increases, phase out negative gearing and establish a public developer to build affordable homes, then vote Greens.”

In a submission to the Fair Work Commission, the Labor Government has argued for a delay in paying wage increases to nurses in the aged care sector. The government has pointed to a lack of allocated funding for the increases and wants to institute a new timeline that would see nurses in aged care waiting until October 2027 to received the full increase.

Lines attributable to Senator Barbara Pocock:

“What we see here is a Labor Government reneging on a promise to lift nurses wages immediately to compensate for historical underpayment and provide relief from cost-of-living pressures.

“I see a treasurer who is suddenly faced with a big deficit looking to kick the can down the road after making promises to bring more equity into a low-paid, highly feminised industry. These nurses have been waiting too long already for recognition of the valuable work they do, and they deserve a pay rise on 1^st January as set out in the Fair Work Commission’s schedule.

“Labor needs to decide whether it’s looking after workers or trying to deliver a surplus on the back of a broken promise to some of our hardest working nurses.

“Labor is now worried about the fiscal impacts of this wage rise and its flow-on effects but lifting wages for low paid workers should be the highest priority for any Labor Government. With a big decline in the corporate tax take looming, the focus should be on getting companies to pay their fair share of tax rather than asking underpaid workers to take a hit.

“The government has cited the risk of creating staff shortages in the hospital sector if the timing of the increases is not delayed but the opposite is also true. Putting off the full increase until late 2027 could lead to aged care nurses leaving the sector in droves.

“This could be a make-or-break issue for a Government heading into an election in a cost-of-living crisis. It’s about delivering fair wages and honouring your promises and workers particularly in low-wage and feminised industries will be watching very closely.

“If Jim Chalmers is prepared to throw nurses under the bus for the sake of reducing the deficit, he’ll be sending a dangerous message to the electorate.”

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens and Spokesperson for Tertiary Education, has responded to NTEU’s report “Ending bad governance for good.” 

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“The shocking extent and impacts of the ‘corporate university’ are laid bare by this report. It is obscene that staff have been robbed of hundreds of millions in stolen wages, yet VCs and executives walk away with hefty pay packets.

“The harsh reality is that staff and students have become expendable cogs in the machine of a corporate campus where staff and students are suffering, while the executive class is splurging on consultants and largesse. 

“Decades of neoliberal policies by governments and universities have made a mockery of universities as democratic institutions of public good.

“We need an overhaul of university governance to shift the balance of power away from the managerial class and corporate executives back to staff and students. 

“We need to reimagine better universities that are well-funded, accountable, democratic and transparent. Universities must be places of public good where staff have secure jobs and the best pay and working conditions, and students have fee-free access to quality education. 

“It is high time to fix these systemic problems, and the Greens support NTEUs calls for a parliamentary inquiry.” 

Following a lengthy Senate inquiry, the Greens have today announced their opposition to the Government’s mis and disinformation bill and have called for the bill to be withdrawn. The Greens have heard evidence from experts, lawyers and the community that the Government’s approach doesn’t get to the heart of tackling the harms of mis and disinformation. There are serious concerns that handing responsibility over to tech platforms to self-regulate what is true or false will likely have unintended consequences that undermine the policy intent.

Greens’ opposition means the bill cannot pass the Senate. The Government has failed to address the significant concerns that have been raised by many in the community, and the Greens are today calling on the Government to withdraw the bill.

Greens spokesperson for communications and Senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Greens understand that mis and disinformation is a growing danger to democracy, public discourse, health and safety both in Australia and around the world and needs to be tackled. 

“However we are concerned this bill doesn’t actually do what it needs to do when it comes to stopping the deliberate mass distribution of false and harmful information.

“It gives media moguls like Murdoch an exemption and hands over responsibility to tech companies and billionaires like Elon Musk to determine what is true or false under ambiguous definitions. It does little to stop non-human actors like bots flooding social media and boosting dangerous algorithms.

“There has been strong community opposition to this bill, and experts have also raised serious concerns. The Government has failed to address these.

“As such, the Greens will be opposing the bill. The Government should listen to community concern and withdraw this legislation.

“Instead, the Government needs to focus on comprehensive reforms that tackle the business models and dangerous algorithms that fuel division and damage democracy, and legislate a duty of care so these platforms prevent harm in the first place.”

The People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port has been under sustained attack by the NSW Government. 2020 Newcastle Young Citizen, Alexa Stuart, is today taking the NSW Minns Labor Government to the Supreme Court in a bid to find their 97 hour exclusion order for the Hunter River mouth and beaches unlawful.

Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice and public interest lawyer Sue Higginson said “This is a very important case, at this time. This case is about the rule of law and questioning whether the Government has unlawfully stepped above it. The Court will be asked to determine if this is a lawful use of power and for a proper purpose,”

“The question is, has the notice excluded the public from the water beyond the power that the Marine Safety Act provides. The powers under the law to exclude vessels and people are to facilitate special events such as swim events, regattas and events involving vessels, they are not unfettered powers for the Government to do as they want, when they want, to control people and infringe upon the ordinary rights of people wanting to play in the waters of NSW,”

“We know the NSW Labor Government does not want the people to protest against their current climate change and coal policies that are allowing the continued export of coal through the port of Newcastle,”

“The Government continues to say that its exercise of power against the people is all about safety, but we know if it was about safety – they would be working with the people, to ensure safety, not criminalising ordinary behaviour such as swimming, exercising, paddling, playing and cooling down in the public waters of the state.”

“Keeping people safe means working with people, not trying to squash, hurt and criminalise them. When a Government is at war with the people, it doesn’t go well for anyone, we do see excesses of power and it offends our democracy,” Ms Higginson said

It’s good to see the Treasurer’s move to direct the Future Fund to invest in things we all need like housing and renewable energy but the Government also needs to make clear what the fund should stop investing in.

Senator Barbara Pocock, Greens spokesperson on Finance:

“Any new mandate should make clear that the fund should not invest in coal, oil and gas. We can’t keep putting our foot on the accelerator and the brake at the same time. We’re in a climate crisis and Australians don’t want to see us investing in the very things that will make this crisis worse.

“I’ve been campaigning for two years to have the investment mandate updated to reflect Australians wishes to transition to a clean energy economy. The overwhelming majority of us want this.

“This $230 billion belongs to all Australians and is there to benefit future generations. What sort of future will we leave them if we continue to using our investments to prolong the energy transition and risk climate catastrophe.

“Years ago, the Future Fund was directed not to invest in tobacco. Well, here’s the news, fossil fuels are the new tobacco.

“The Government has a responsibility to direct investments away from coal, oil and gas and contribute to a clean, green and safe future for our children.”

The Greens have criticised Labor and Liberal for ignoring expert evidence and ramming laws through Parliament to ban young people from social media without genuine scrutiny.

The Greens have called on the Government to protect children with a ban on the targeting, harvesting, and selling of their data, a Digital Duty of Care, and a range of other measures supported by the Joint Select Committee into Social Media.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Spokesperson for Communications, Senator for South Australia:

“The Government’s deal with Dutton to ram through a social media age ban in under a week is rushed, reckless and goes against the evidence. We can’t let the tech giants off the hook.

“As parents, we are rightly worried about the safety of our kids. This is why the Greens and experts have been calling for measures to reduce the damage being done by poisonous algorithms that fuel division, damage democracy and target our kids with extreme content.

“The recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Media heard time and time again that an age-ban will not make social media safer for anyone. It is complicated to implement and will have unintended consequences for young people. Yet the Government and Coalition have chosen to ignore the evidence and ram this bill through in the final week of sitting.

“Whether you’re a 14-year-old or a 64-year-old – these companies have a responsibility to provide a safe product to the community and that’s why a Digital Duty of Care should be the priority.

“If the Government can rush these laws through, why can’t they implement the legislated duty of care they promised, or take measures that actually make platforms safer for everyone, like banning platforms from collecting, selling and exploiting Australians’ data?

“You don’t make platforms safer by just locking young people out. The Greens do not support a blunt age ban and will keep pushing for stronger action backed by evidence to tackle the toxic algorithms and insidious business model of these giant corporations.”

The Greens have also called for:

• A ban on the targeting, harvesting and selling of young people’s data
• A Digital Duty of Care on tech platforms
• EU-style guardrails to limit the toxicity of algorithms and extreme content
• The ability for users to turn down and opt-out of unwanted content
• The full release of the Online Safety Act review.
• Investment in education for young people and their families to help develop digital literacy and online safety skills, and equip them with the tools and resources they need for positive and responsible online use.

Responding to the Government and Opposition blocking the Greens move to refer the electoral reform bills to a Senate inquiry Greens Senate leader and democracy spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said:

“Today in the Senate the government and the opposition teamed up to block an inquiry into the electoral reform bills. This is bad for democracy.

“There are some straightforward transparency measures in this bill, like lowering the disclosure threshold to $1,000 and real-time disclosure, which we have long called for. 

“The Greens are ready to pass transparency measures.

“However, we want an inquiry to ensure that the proposed funding reforms to get big money out of politics don’t entrench the two party system and make it harder for diversity and new entrants.

“It is the job of the Senate to scrutinise proposed legislation and that is what we have called for today.

“Any reform which limits donations to anyone who challenges Liberal and Labor, while protecting the establishment parties’ sources of income, will be seen for what it is – a complete stitch up, undermining our democracy, and the public’s expectation of fair play.

“Both the big parties continue to accept huge sums of money from dirty industries like coal and gas with a track record of trying to buy favourable policy outcomes. 

“The Greens have been calling for reform for decades.

“The Greens are ready, with a bill, that provides real electoral reform, but we’re very suspicious that the two big parties will gang up to rig the system to benefit themselves and lock out smaller parties and new entrants.”