Category: Australian News

Today I announce the appointment of Mr Glen Askew as Australia’s next Consul-General in Surabaya.

Indonesia is one of Australia’s closest and most important partners. We are deepening our cooperation under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to keep our region safe, grow our economies and transition to net zero.

Surabaya is Indonesia’s second largest city, with Central and East Java contributing almost one-third of national GDP and comprising a combined population of over 70 million people.

The Consulate-General in Surabaya is working to strengthen two-way trade and investment by implementing initiatives under Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, as well expanding people-to-people ties in a powerhouse region of Indonesia.

The Consulate-General also provides services to Australians in Surabaya, including consular assistance.

Mr Askew is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Director, Israel-Gaza Taskforce.

He has previously served overseas in Papua New Guinea, Ghana and Indonesia and was a Peacekeeper with Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti and the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) with the Australian Federal Police/United Nations.

I thank former Consul-General Fiona Hoggart for her contributions to advancing Australia’s interests in Surabaya since 2022.

Today I announce the appointment of Mr Jason Robertson as Australia’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS).

The OAS is the pre-eminent regional organisation in the Americas, with 34 Members and 75 Permanent Observers. It has four pillars: democracy promotion; human rights protection; security; and development.

Australia’s Permanent Observer status at the OAS, and the designation of our first Ambassador to the organisation, demonstrates our commitment to stronger engagement with the Americas on shared priorities.

These include support for strong interregional and multilateral rules and norms, promotion of human rights and cooperation on transnational crime.

Mr Robertson is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC.

Mr Robertson has previously served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Beijing and as Consul-General in Guangzhou. He has had earlier postings to Australian diplomatic missions in Beijing, Islamabad and Belgrade and served in Sarajevo, Pristina and New York with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Today I announce the appointment of highly qualified individuals to lead Australia’s diplomatic post in Surabaya and our representation to the Organization of American States (OAS).

Australia’s diplomats drive our engagement with the world, build influence, create opportunities, support Australians overseas and promote our national interests.

I am pleased to announce the following appointments:

• Mr Jason Robertson as Australia’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS).
• Mr Glen Askew as Australia’s Consul-General in Surabaya.

I thank outgoing Consul-General Fiona Hoggart for protecting and promoting Australia’s interests in Surabaya since 2022.

Today ACT Greens MLA Jo Clay has introduced a bill to help defend Canberra’s renters against the housing crisis, by putting a two-year freeze on rent increases  and imposing strict limits on rent increases in the long term. 

“It’s about time renters got a fair go in the ACT. For too long the returns of property investors have been prioritised by the government over the right of all Canberrans to a home,” said Jo Clay MLA.

“With the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly, the Greens have already helped to deliver nation-leading renters’ rights, under the leadership of Attorney General Shane Rattenbury.

“The housing market is cooked. More than 30 percent of Canberrans rent, and many are struggling to pay the rent week to week. They face terrible uncertainty. Many are worried and they can’t   afford to pay.

“For the average Canberran, less than one percent of rentals on the market are affordable.

“In the current inequality crisis, we must now take the next step and recognise the unequal burden of the ‘cost of living’ on renters.”

The Greens’ bill will introduce a two-year freeze on rent increases, impose a two percent limit on increases after those two years, and close loopholes that currently allow landlords to lift rents higher than this limit.

“If the Liberals and Labor are genuine about wanting to tackle the inequality crisis and relieve cost of living pressures, addressing the spiralling cost of rent is an essential step,” Ms Clay said.

“The time for talk is over, we need real action.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is sitting on his hands while the RBA is causing massive pain to young people and mortgage holders and deliberately risking a recession, the Greens say.

“Jim Chalmers and Wayne Swan are making noise about high interest rates, but Labor is giving the RBA free rein to crash the economy and punish Australians,” Greens Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“If Labor really cared about people being smashed by rising rates, they’d stop siding with the RBA and use the power they have to bring down interest rates.”

“By not only refusing to do anything to change course, and actively trying to water down his own power to intervene, Jim Chalmers is showing he is happy to let the RBA send Australians to the wall.”

“Labor could introduce a super-profits tax to take the pressure off inflation, but they’re too busy protecting their corporate mates.”

“Labor is more interested in letting the big corporations make out like bandits than in using its power to stop this looming recession. It’s reckless and morally indefensible.”

Today’s National Cabinet announcement brings total funding for the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children to $3.7 billion over 5 years, plus additional money for legal services.

Any funding increase for the frontline responders to the national crisis of violence against women is welcome, but today’s announcement still leaves frontline services underfunded, with one in four women who seek help at risk of being turned away.

Australian Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women, Senator Larissa Waters

“Today’s funding shortfall still leaves one in four women at risk of being turned away from a frontline family, domestic and sexual violence service.

“While today’s announcement offers a modest improvement ($351 federal money, matched by states) on funding for frontline services, with a new total of $3.7 billion federal funding under the National Plan over 5 years, it’s still only 75% of the $1 billion each year that the women’s safety sector needs.

“Money on paper is no guarantee that services will actually receive the money – previous federal funding under the Plan has disappeared into state government administration with no transparency on where it ends up – and services say they aren’t getting it.

“Likewise the promised 500 federally funded frontline workers have still not materialised.

“It’s disappointing that National Cabinet kicked the can down the road on alcohol sales, and that there is still prevarication from the federal government on regulating gambling advertising.

“We welcome funding to establish national standards for men’s behaviour change, something the Greens have asked for for several years.

“On the legal services funding of $3.9 billion over five years, we will examine the detail once it becomes available, but it was concerning to hear the PM note that only $500 million will go towards additional workers for the legal sector. We know that 1,000 women are turned away from women’s legal services each week, and we fear $500 million will not fix that. 

“This is about priorities. If Labor funded just one less nuclear submarine they would have more than the amount required to fully fund frontline family, domestic and sexual violence services.

“They could scrap the $11 billion annually they are currently handing to the fossil fuel industry. Or the $15.9 billion annually to property investors. 

“Women are missing out when submarines, gas companies and property barons are showered with public money.”

The Australian Greens are deeply concerned about the situation in Tigray and the findings of human rights abuses that are detailed in the New Lines Institute report Genocide in Tigray: Serious breaches of international law in the Tigray conflict, Ethiopia, and paths to accountability. 

This report found that since the beginning of the Ethiopian-Tigrayan conflict in 2020, around 700,000 Tigrayans have been killed, with civilians making up the majority of the death poll. The report also found that over 2.5 million people have been internally displaced, 10,000 women and girls have been subject to gender based violence, and only 3% of health facilities have been left functioning. This has resulted in up to 5 million people needing emergency food assistance and over 40,000 people facing famine-like conditions. We have heard accounts of inequitable and ineffective aid distribution, which has resulted in essential humanitarian aid not being delivered to people who need it. 

There have been credible claims that the actions taken by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces against Tigrayans amount to genocide. There is also credible evidence that members of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front have committed war crimes. This is highly disturbing, and accountability for perpetrators must be delivered. 

The Australian Greens believe that the Australian Government must always act to prevent and oppose violations of human rights law, ensure individuals, entities or states that violate human rights law are held accountable and that urgency and transparency are crucial when delivering emergency aid and humanitarian relief. 

The Australian Greens recognise that the Australian-Tigrayan community are frustrated by the lack of coverage given to this crisis by the Australian media and the insufficient action taken by the Australian government, especially in comparison to other international conflicts. 

We are calling on the Australian Government to use its role in international forums to actively support efforts to ensure accountability for perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Tigray. We are also calling on the Australian Government to review the distribution of Australian aid in Tigray. 

The Australian Greens are in solidarity with the Tigray community, and will continue to oppose violence, human rights abuses, and war crimes in Tigray and wherever they occur.

The 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) will convene in November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Australia Greens do not support the decision of the United Nations to host this event in Azerbaijan.  

The Azerbaijan government has a long history of human rights abuses against its own citizens and provocations and violations on the world stage. This includes the violent crackdown on environmental protests and the illegal annexation of the Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023. 

Azerbaijan’s economy is highly dependent on the export of oil and gas. Not only are these exports contributing to the climate crisis, they are also empowering and enriching the corrupt regime of President Aliyev. 

It is concerning that so far the organisers have refused to release details of the Host Country Agreement, this means it is unclear what steps, if any, Azerbaijan is taking to protect human rights during the conference. 

The Australian Greens believe the United Nation’s organisers should have selected a different host country for COP29 – it’s unacceptable that this conference is happening in a country that commits human rights abuses, and profits off the climate crisis. The UN must publicly release the details of the Host Country Agreement. 

After the third hearing on the ESOS bill Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Greens Leader and spokesperson for Higher Education, has said that the more that is revealed about this bill, the bigger a train wreck it is.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“It’s crystal clear the opposition to this chaotic and reckless bill is pretty universal. 

“The government is hell bent on strangling the higher education sector in their bullish attempt to achieve a migration outcome which has absolutely nothing to do with international education.

“The higher education sector will be collateral damage in this race to the bottom on migration between Labor and the Liberals.

“Gaping holes in the caps, perverse outcomes, uncertainties, unknown inconsistencies and a lack of consultation are just some of the flaws that make this bill and the whole policy process a complete mess.

“The government must scrap the caps, immediately get rid of Ministerial Direction 107 and go back to the drawing board.”