Category: Australian News

The Greens have condemned the Forestry Corporation of NSW for threatening endangered species by logging the habitat of the great glider in Tallaganda state forest.

They are calling on state and federal governments to urgently act to scrap the Regional Forest Agreements to end native forest logging and protect endangered species.

Australian Greens’ spokesperson for forests Janet Rice said: 

“This forest and these gliders are national heritage – the Commonwealth has a responsibility to protect them, particularly in light of how much forest burnt in 2019 in NSW and Victoria. 

“It shouldn’t be up to the vandals of the NSW forestry commission to send greater gliders closer and closer to extinction. 

“If we want zero extinctions as Tanya Plibersek has promised then we need to end native forest logging across the country immediately.

“Forests are going to be under even greater threat from fire in the future with more extreme conditions due to global heating.

“The Regional Forest Agreements have allowed for decades of reckless destruction of native forests across Australia, pushed native wildlife to the brink of extinction, endangered our water supplies, heightened bushfire risk, and made the climate crisis worse.

“Native forest logging is a dying industry and there’s no way around it. 

“We need a permanent, national ban on native forest logging and a just transition plan for forestry workers.” 

NSW Greens’ spokesperson for forests Sue Higginson said:

“The NSW Government must immediately pause all plans to log Tallaganda Forest. We can not allow Greater Glider extinction logging and make no mistake, that’s what this is. 

“There are dozens of Greater Glider den trees in Tallaganda that are proposed to be logged, but Forestry Corporation have only mapped a single tree for habitat protection across the 5,000 hectares that they want to destroy.

“Forestry Corporation are legally required to conduct pre-logging fauna and flora surveys but they can not have done this adequately as their report has drastically under-assessed the Greater Glider habitat and population in this area that is critical for the survival of the Greater Glider.

“I’ve called on the NSW Minister for Environment and the Environment Protection Authority to use their powers and issue an immediate stop work order for logging operations in Tallaganda State Forest until an independent review of the Greater Glider habitat can be undertaken.

“The NSW Government has committed to zero extinctions in NSW but the continued logging of critical Greater Glider Habitat, one of only two remaining in the state, is a blatant failure to take the necessary actions to prevent the extinction of Greater Gliders.”

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is urging all South Australians to support the YES campaign as it kicks off in Adelaide today.

“Today’s YES campaign launch is a historic moment for our country, and it’s taking place in Adelaide because South Australia is a crucial state in this referendum.

“SA is the make or break state in this referendum. The positive polling results we have seen today show the Yes vote leading narrowly, but that it can’t be taken for granted.

“There will be no “maybe” box on the ballot paper. It is either Yes or No. Yes for doing what is right, or No for continuing the wrongs of the past.”

“SA was the first State to give women the vote and now we can take Australia forward again. 

“Now that the official YES campaign has kicked off, I urge all South Australians to get involved and help us get this really important reform across the line.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be out and about around the state campaigning to make sure South Australia returns a strong YES vote.”

Senator Hanson-Young will be attending the announcement of the date event in Adelaide this morning.

The Albanese Labor Government is presiding over a staffing crisis at Services Australia, with a top agency official conceding that understaffing is drastically impacting the delivery of vital government services and payments during the cost of living crisis.

In an interview on 3AW radio yesterday, Services Australia’s long-time agency spokesperson, Mr Hank Jongen PSM, admitted that widespread delays to the processing of Paid Parental Leave was a result of understaffing, saying “in reality, we are understaffed in our service delivery,” adding that “we are currently actively trying to recruit staff to help us address call centre and processing delays.”

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy Paul Fletcher said Government Services Minister Bill Shorten must urgently order a review into Services Australia’s workforce arrangements.

“Labor has unleashed waves of job cuts at Services Australia without doing any proper planning which is clearly affecting service delivery,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Labor cut average staffing levels for this financial year, going from 36,685 in 2022-23 to 35,956 in 2023-24.

“In June, 600 call centre jobs were axed after a multi-million contract with Serco was scrapped, with no public explanation offered.

“It’s no wonder that Mr Shorten has repeatedly refused to release data about how long Australians are having to receive a Centrelink or Medicare payment.

“Across the country, major businesses are deploying smart technologies to improve how they engage with customers without increasing the headcount.

“Learning from the positive digital transformation journeys of the private sector and translating those lessons into the public sector should be on Mr Shorten’s to do list.”

Mr Fletcher said digital technology could help address many of the government’s service delivery challenges, but just isn’t being prioritised.

“Australians going online to access services via MyGov are also being let down by this government, which puts digital transformation in the too hard basket,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Over 1000 specialist ICT jobs were abolished in December last year and, more than six months on, Mr Shorten still hasn’t responded to the MyGov User Audit.

“The government needs to urgently review the viability of Services Australia’s current workforce arrangements which includes an examination of the impact of its contractor cuts and the health of its digital service delivery channels.”

The Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is flying around Australia campaigning for the Yes vote as the number of failed asylum seekers in Australia passes 75,000 and a Labor-commissioned report that recommends action gathers dust.

According to the latest Home Affairs data, under the Anthony Albanese Labor Government:1940 people made an asylum claim in July — which is a record number of asylum seekers under this Labor Government.21,718 asylum seekers have now arrived under Labor.There are now a record 75,017 fake asylum seekers in Australia awaiting deportation.Just 12 fake asylum seekers were deported in July.

The Immigration Minister Andrew Giles should be taking action to deal with the growing asylum seeker problem, instead he is flying around the country campaigning for the Yes vote. Giles has attended Yes campaign events in Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, and Canberra.

In March, the Government was handed a report by former chief commissioner of Victoria Police Christine Nixon that contained recommendations to stem the growing problem of asylum seekers arriving by plane. That report is gathering dust.

Since Labor were handed the Nixon report an additional 7,073 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia.

Labor would rather do nothing than try something. Labor has put the Nixon report and the problem of fake asylum seekers in the too hard basket, alongside addressing the housing crisis and cost of living pressures.

Anthony Albanese and Andrew Giles would rather fly around the country promoting the Voice than roll up their sleeves and deal with the problems hurting Australians.

Fake asylum seekers are choking our courts and visa system, denying genuine asylum seekers and Australians access to justice.

The Coalition wants a better Australia, not Labor’s big Australia.

The Coalition is demanding the Albanese Labor Government be transparent and reveal how long Australians are having to wait to receive government payments, including Centrelink and Medicare claims, with recent attempts to do so stonewalled.

In June, Coalition MPs asked Government Services Minister Bill Shorten how long Australians were having to wait to receive these government payments.

Mr Shorten responded to the questions by saying, “Services Australia does not collate or record data by electorate.”

However, Questions in Writing obtained by the Opposition for the previous Parliament, reveal that Services Australia does in fact use electorate-level data and that this data was provided to Labor MPs when the Coalition was in government.

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy Paul Fletcher said the move to block the release of the data didn’t pass the pub test, especially amid a cost of living crisis.

“The Opposition is calling on Mr Shorten to urgently release the requested data to better inform policymaking and empower citizens,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Every community is different and Labor must come clean on how claims processing is going on an electorate level so we can work together to implement targeted solutions to areas most in need.”

Mr Fletcher said Mr Shorten is a serial offender when it comes to trying to avoid accountability.

“Under Mr Shorten, every question ever asked of him during Senate Estimates has been answered past the due date,” Mr Fletcher said.

“In May this year, the Speaker had to formally write to the Minister because formal Questions in Writing were left unanswered for more than 60 days.

“It has also been revealed that Centrelink call wait times have skyrocketed under his watch.”

The Albanese and Cook Governments have signed a landmark agreement to power the next stage of Western Australia’s growth with affordable and more secure renewable energy.

The Commonwealth-Western Australia Rewiring the Nation deal will bolster WA’s energy security by expanding and modernising electricity grids in Perth, the South West, as well as in the North West Pilbara region.

The Albanese Government will provide up to $3 billion through concessional loans and equity investments to WA through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to new builds and major upgrades to transmission in the state’s major electricity grids – the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and the North West Interconnected System (NWIS).

Priority projects in these grids were identified through WA’s demand assessment processes, with recent Australian Energy Market Operator modelling supporting the need for sustained investment in transmission infrastructure in the SWIS.

An investment of this scale is expected to support around 1,800 construction jobs and unlock future projects across WA, helping to empower regional communities.

The SWIS is WA’s main electricity network and serves more than 1.1 million residential and business customers in Perth and across the South West. It starts north in Kalbarri, runs through Perth down to Albany in the south and extends to Kalgoorlie in the east.

This deal will finance priority projects across the SWIS to increase the supply of renewable energy and connect it into the grid by plugging in renewable generation hubs.

Initial modelling suggests that in 20 years’ time, the SWIS grid will need to have up to five times more electricity than is available today as new industrial users connect to the grid.

Investing in new energy grid projects will ensure the SWIS remains fit-for-purpose and ensure cleaner, affordable and more reliable energy for West Australians into the future.

The Pilbara’s NWIS consists of largely standalone networks owned by private companies and public entities with only a very small proportion (less than two per cent) of electricity generated from renewables.

This agreement will support more renewable energy in the NWIS, while ensuring existing infrastructure upgrades are coordinated between industries and governments.

This Rewiring the Nation deal builds on the momentum of the Pilbara Industry Roundtable, a significant WA Government-led initiative, which included some of the state’s major resources companies.

It will unlock economic development and speed up decarbonisation by bringing on more renewable energy and sharing it more efficiently across different users.

The Australian and WA Governments will work closely with First Nations Australians to understand their views on this investment and support their participation in the state’s clean energy transformation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Today we are joining forces with the Cook Government on a $3 billion landmark deal to deliver affordable cleaner energy to West Australians.

“Rewiring the Nation will help future proof WA’s energy supply, while also creating new jobs in energy, mining and manufacturing.

“On the weekend I visited Karratha and saw firsthand the economic power of the Pilbara – as the global economy decarbonises we need to provide opportunities for regions like the Pilbara to be powered by as much renewable energy as possible.”

Premier of Western Australia Roger Cook said:

“In WA we are delivering on our sensible and achievable plan to decarbonise our existing industries and create new clean energy industries as we transition to net zero, unlocking new projects while supporting new and ongoing local jobs.

“This significant package means we can accelerate the development of key energy transmission projects to facilitate decarbonisation, while also building on my Government’s climate action plan and initiatives already underway towards more secure, cleaner, reliable and affordable energy supplies.

“I thank the Commonwealth Government for its confidence in WA and the way in which they have approached negotiations for a Rewiring the Nation allocation for WA, and I want to acknowledge the efforts of WA Energy Minister Bill Johnston for spearheading the concept and undertaking consultation to garner the support and commitment of key industry players in WA.”

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said:

“This announcement is about driving cheaper, more reliable energy in WA and setting the state up for years to come.

“Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy and the Rewiring the Nation deal will put downward pressure on electricity bills for WA consumers in the years ahead.

“The Australian and West Australian Governments are enabling WA to capitalise on the renewable energy transformation and make the most of the incredible jobs opportunity that comes with it.”

Western Australia Minister for Energy Bill Johnston said:

“The agreement has been informed by WA Government modelling, specifically from the South West Interconnected System Demand Assessment and the Pilbara Industry Roundtable process, and I thank private industry for their commitment to undertake a crucial role in decarbonisation.

“It is expected the private sector will largely fund the cost of renewable energy generation and transmission infrastructure in the Pilbara, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars over the coming decades.

“The low-cost finance program will help unlock this significant investment.

“Keeping Western Power in public hands has allowed the State Government to support this significant program of works by funding transmission infrastructure in the SWIS – where we have already funded $126 million in the recent Budget to kickstart early network planning.”

The Greens say that the funding shortfall to public schools could be met by reducing government spending on the overfunded private system by only a third.

A new report by the Centre for Future Work found that it would cost an additional $6.6 billion a year to ensure that all public schools receive 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard, the funding level schools require to provide the bare minimum level of staffing and resources. 98% of Australian public schools are currently underfunded.

In 2021, private schools received $18.6 billion in combined funding from the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

CGreens spokesperson on Schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“Everyone’s looking for reasons why student performance continues to fall and more and more kids are disengaging with their education – but the answer is staring us right in the face.

“Before we start tinkering with teacher training and methodologies, let’s make sure that there are enough teachers in schools, and enough resources and support for them to deliver a good education for our kids.

“There’s only one thing that will fix that: money. Right now, public schools don’t have enough, while private schools have too much. It’s as simple as that.

“$6.6 billion is only a third of what our governments spend on fee-charging private schools every year. And it’s not like that’s doing anything to keep those fees down; fees in some private schools have risen 80% in the past decade.

“$6.6 billion is also less than a third of the $20 billion surplus Labor found behind the back of the couch last month, and it’s one-sixth of a nuclear submarine we don’t need and absolutely no one asked for.

“Labor’s refusal to fund public schools to the minimum level calculated by Gonski – which they could do immediately – looks like pure bastardry at this point. Our kids are crying out for a chance and all they’re getting are pointless reviews and platitudes.

“The Greens are calling on Commonwealth and state and territory governments to deliver 100% of the SRS to every public school at the start of the next National School Reform Agreement, in January 2025.”

The Albanese Government’s plan to train, retrain or upskill Australians and tackle skills shortages is a raging success with all 180,000 Fee-Free places filled within six months.

New figures show Fee-Free TAFE enrolments have hit more than 214,300 in the first six months – six months earlier than anticipated and nearly 35,000 places more than expected.

The biggest winner is set to be the care sector, with courses across health care, aged care and disability care attracting more than 51,000 students or 23.8 per cent of total enrolments.

These urgently needed care sector places will help address Australia’s shortfall of care workers, which has been estimated to grow to a gap of 100,000 care workers nationwide by 2027-28.

Enrolments are also strong across other priority sectors, with:

• Construction attracting 20,987 enrolments (9.8 per cent)
• Technology and digital attracting 16,768 enrolments (7.8 per cent)
• Early childhood education and care attracting 11,868 enrolments (5.5 per cent)

Demographic data also shows Fee-Free TAFE is making inroads supporting disadvantaged and in-need Australians, with enrolments including 50,849 job seekers (23.7 per cent), 15,269 people with disability (7.1 per cent) and 6,845 First Nations Australians (3.2 per cent).

Women make up the majority (60.2 per cent) of enrolments, with nearly 130,000 women taking on a qualification under the program.

More than a third of enrolments (34.1 per cent) are located in inner and outer regional locations.

The Fee-Free TAFE and VET agreement was only possible because of genuine partnership on skills and training with State and Territory Government’s established at the Jobs and Skills Summit.

We will continue to work together to ensure excellence and quality in the vocational education and training sector.

The Albanese Government expects to announce the next tranche of Fee-Free training places for 2024 in coming weeks. 

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said:

“One of our major commitments from the Jobs and Skills Summit was delivering free TAFE places to train, retrain and upskill Australian workers.

“Working with states and territories, in six months we have smashed our target of 180,000 Fee-Free enrolments by almost 35,000 places – this is a terrific achievement.

“Fee-Free training offers a huge cost of living relief for students, grows the recruitment pool for businesses and eases the skills shortages that hold our economy back.”

Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O’Connor said:

“This is an encouraging sign that Australia is making progress on easing skills shortages still affecting many areas of the economy post-pandemic. These shortages affect up to 31 per cent of occupations according to the 2022 Skills Priority List.

“The Australian Government is committed to working with the States and Territories, who have been great partners and advocates during the delivery of this program.

“Fee-Free TAFE is the spark that is igniting a renewed sense of optimism and potential in our vocational education and training sector and I’m looking forward to building on our success.”

On Equal Pay Day this year, women will have worked an extra 56 days, on average, to earn the same as men. The current national gender pay gap is 13 per cent. While this is a significant drop in the national gender pay gap, representing the lowest it has ever been, it will come of little comfort to working women seeing more of their salaries eaten up by everyday essentials. 

Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women said:

“Today marks the 56 extra days women need to work, on average, to earn the equivalent salary to men.

“There is now a national gender pay gap of 13 per cent. Queensland is above the average at 14.8 per cent; the second largest gender pay gap in the country.

“For those who are working part-time or casual roles, the gap is even higher at 22 per cent nationally.

“We have seen some moves to improve the Fair Work Act, including a new remuneration principle to help the Commission issue pay increases to workers in low-paid, female dominated industries, but a minimum wage increase below inflation put a dent in hopes for real improvements.

“The easiest way to close the gender pay gap is to pay women more. The government could legislate for above average wage increases over 10 years in women-dominated industries, which would provide a much-needed boost to women’s economic security and ensure we can attract and retain staff in these critical sectors. 

“The government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill was also passed last year, with new rules to end pay secrecy clauses that stop employees from discussing how much they get paid, something my 2015 Fair Work Amendment (Gender Pay Gap) Bill had previously sought to legislate for. 

“The Workplace Gender Equality Agency should also be given more powers to tackle gender inequality in the workplace, including preventing companies who are not working to reduce their pay gap from getting government contracts, and requiring organisations to report on the volume of sexual harassment complaints (including actions taken) and use non-disclosure agreements.

“We need gender pay gap reporting obligations to apply to more employers, a ban on ‘pay gag clauses’ in the private sector, and stronger sanctions against companies who fail to close their pay gap.

“We welcome the minor improvement in the gender pay gap, but women still have to work an extra 56 days to earn the same average salary as men, and the government is still charging ahead with Stage 3 tax cuts that will overwhelmingly benefit already wealthy men.”

The Greens are calling on Qantas to pay back the $2.7 billion in public money it received during the Covid pandemic, and requesting that the federal government consider taking Qantas back into public ownership to protect consumers and workers.

On ABC Radio this morning Jim Chalmers has ruled out asking Qantas to pay back their Covid subsidies worth $2.7 billion.

Qantas has just posted a record profit of $2.47 billion. The Federal government also recently denied an application from Qatar Airways to add 21 weekly flights, after opposition to the proposal from Qantas. This decision comes after revelations that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s son was granted free membership to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

The Federal Court also found in 2021 that Qantas illegally sacked 1,700 ground staff during the pandemic. Qantas is now challenging this ruling in the High Court.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP, Greens spokesperson for Transport, Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities said:

“During the pandemic, Qantas was given billions in government handouts and it turned around and sacked thousands of workers and outsourced to labour hire firms.

“Now that Qantas is posting record profits, it’s only right that they should pay back the $2.7 billion in public money. If they refuse, the Labor government should consider taking Qantas back into public ownership to keep prices down and protect workers.

“Qantas’s record profits are off the back of ballooning prices for flights during a cost of living crisis. Instead of that money going to CEO bonuses and share buybacks, it should be going to paying workers, improving their conditions, and making flights cheaper for everyday people.

“It’s galling to hear the Treasurer on radio this morning running defence for Qantas’s profits instead of holding them to account.

“People are right to be suspicious of Labor’s dealings with Qantas after revelations that the Prime Minister’s son has been granted free membership to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, while the recent decision to block Qatar Airways and secure further monopoly status for Qantas has been made with no scrutiny or clear justification.”