Category: Australian News

Australia and Japan are strengthening our defence ties with the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) coming into effect.

This military agreement provides the legal framework for greater defence cooperation between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF).

It is the first visiting forces agreement Japan has struck with any country outside the United States.

When it comes to practical outcomes, this agreement will see more training and exercises between the two countries, including;

• Japanese F-35s will deploy to Australia, to RAAF Base Tindal for the first time at the end of August
• Exercise Bushido Guardian, where Australian F-35s will be deployed to Japan for the first time in early September
• Australia will participate in Exercise Yama Sakura as a full participant for the first time with more than 150 personnel travelling to Japan in December.

The RAA will streamline more effective force cooperation, and enable each country to increase the sophistication and regularity of training, exercises and other cooperative activities.

Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Richard Marles MP said:

“The Reciprocal Access Agreement will deepen the relationship between our respective defence forces, supporting closer cooperation and strengthening the capabilities of both the ADF and the JSDF.

“Both Australia and Japan recognise the increasing complexity of our security environment and the need to grow our partnership to support a stable and prosperous region.”

QMinister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong said:

“Australia and Japan share an aspiration for a stable, peaceful and prosperous region, and this bilateral Reciprocal Access Agreement will help us deepen our defence cooperation.

“The security and defence relationship between Australia and Japan is critical to both nations, and is underpinned by our Special Strategic Partnership.”

The NSW Government is starting work on a new temporary park at Bank Street in Pyrmont for locals and visitors to play, exercise and relax. 

For years, the public land of the future Bank Street Park has been inaccessible to the community. This temporary activation marks a significant milestone and the first part of the broader Blackwattle Bay precinct to be delivered to the public.  

Located near the southern pylon of the Anzac Bridge, Sydneysiders will soon have the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities at the new pop-up park, including a basketball half court, fitness equipment, hopscotch and handball courts, at an amazing harbourside location. 

Benefitting from the shade and weather protection of the Anzac Bridge, the space will also include seating next to native vegetation and plantings.

Construction on the pop-up park at Bank Street will begin next week and is expected to be completed by mid-spring.

Visit Blackwattle Baylaunch to learn more about Bank Street Park.

Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said:

“We are delighted to provide the local community with early access to these fantastic public amenities. The Bank Street Pop-up Park is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to invite everyone to explore and enjoy this new space.

“The government is focused to promoting an active and healthy lifestyle for the people of Sydney and the opening of this park is a significant step towards providing new recreational activities that are free to visit, and new open space in the heart of our city. 

“This initiative is part of the ongoing revitalisation of the Blackwattle Bay Precinct. Once completed, the precinct will offer a range of world-class facilities, recreational spaces and improved access to Sydney Harbour.”

Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said:

“For over a century, this piece of land has been inaccessible to the community. This pop-up park marks the first part of public open space accessible to the public as part of the Blackwattle Bay Precinct.

“The Bank Street Pop-up Park is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to invite everyone to explore and enjoy this new space.

“It’s also great to know that the basketball half court and fitness equipment will be maintained for the final Bank Street Park.”

Matildas fans will have free entry into Western Sydney Stadium in Parramatta and Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park on Wednesday night to watch the team’s history-making Semi-Final at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 ^TM. 

The NSW Government has applied for the required licences and will open the two Sydney stadiums as additional screening sites to ensure football fans who did not secure tickets to the sold-out game can unite to cheer on the Matildas. 

Gates at both stadiums will open at 6.30pm ahead of the 8:00pm kick-off, with standard conditions of entry in effect.  

Tickets are not required to enter the stadiums. All fans are invited to enjoy the match free of charge and will be welcomed into the stadiums until seating capacity is reached. 

Food and beverages will be available for purchase. 

More information is available on the NSW government website. 

Fans are encouraged to use public transport to travel to the stadiums. Visit TransportNSW to plan your trip.  

Australia will take on England in the historic clash on Wednesday 16 August at Stadium Australia. The winner of Wednesday’s match will progress to the Final on Sunday night, also at Stadium Australia. 

Wednesday’s match will also be screened at the FIFA Fan Festival ^TM at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour, which has been attended by more than 202,000 fans throughout the tournament.  

Once capacity is reached at Tumbalong Park, the ICC Event Deck will be made available for fans to view the knock-out match on a big screen – supporters can bring their own food and non-alcoholic drinks to this location.  

Fans are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.  

The FIFA Fan Festival ^TM site will screen the Semi Finals and Final for free on large screens, along with live performances and street food. For information the FIFA Fan Festival, visit Sydney Fan Festival.

Other locations across Sydney and NSW will also be showing the remaining FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM matches. Visit SportNSW for more information. 

Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium and Stadium Australia are part of the Venues NSW network. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Indonesia, the Philippines and India in September to meet with regional leaders to discuss global challenges and advance Australia’s economic, security and climate agenda.

The Prime Minister will attend the 3rd Annual ASEAN-Australia Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit in Jakarta from 6–7 September. Australia’s close partnership with ASEAN and its members is critical to achieving mutual prosperity, security and peace in our region.

As part of the Government’s upgrade of relationships with countries of Southeast Asia, the Prime Minister will travel to Manila, the first Australian Prime Minister to undertake a bilateral visit to the Philippines since 2003. The Prime Minister’s meeting on 8 September with President HE Ferdinand R Marcos Jr will focus on strengthening cooperation on defence and maritime security, development and education.

From 9–10 September, the Prime Minister will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. The G20 is the world’s preeminent forum for global economic cooperation. Leaders will focus on navigating the global economy back to strong, sustainable and resilient growth.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Deepening Australia’s engagement with Southeast Asia is a key priority for my Government. Our futures are intertwined – so it’s essential that we work together to achieve a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

“Australia is proud to be hosting a Special Summit to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations in 2024. I look forward to welcoming ASEAN leaders to Australia in March next year.

“Our partnership with the Philippines is built on close defence and security cooperation, increasing economic relations and warm personal ties, including through the vibrant Filipino-Australian community. I look forward to visiting Manila to meet with President Marcos and affirm our partnership.

“It is more important than ever that Australia works closely with international partners, including through multilateral economic forums like the G20, to address shared challenges and opportunities.

“Australia is invested in and committed to the Indo-Pacific to enhance growth and prosperity, stability and respect for sovereignty and lasting peace.”

The Greens have welcomed a Senate report on school refusal and have called on the federal government to work with states and territories to immediately begin implementing its recommendations.

The Greens last year initiated a Senate inquiry into what parents and carers prefer to call “school can’t”, the inability of a young person to attend school due to a severe negative emotional reaction, in response to growing calls for action from affected families.

The committee’s consensus report makes 14 recommendations, including:

• development by education ministers of a national action plan within 12 months, with input from health and education professionals, service providers and people with lived experience;
• establishing a funded independent peer support network;
• increasing the number of subsidised mental health care visits for students experiencing school refusal;
• improving child health and development screening to identify opportunities for early intervention;
• developing school refusal resources for parents, teachers and school leaders; and
• incorporating school refusal training within teacher education and supporting the use of trauma-informed practices in schools.

Australia Greens spokesperson on schools Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“The Greens are pleased that the committee was able to agree that school can’t is an urgent problem that requires an urgent response from the Commonwealth, states and territories.

“Despite the significant increase in students experiencing school can’t, it’s a problem that has largely gone unexamined to this point, with state and territory governments and school systems failing to collect comprehensive attendance data.

“As the inquiry heard, school can’t is an issue of inclusion. Too often students are required to adjust to the needs of educational systems and institutions, rather than the other way around.

“While disability and mental health are risk factors, a focus on disability as the cause of the issue overlooks the failure of schools and education systems to support inclusion.

“If we are to offer a truly inclusive education for all young people, including those experiencing school can’t, systems and institutions need to be prepared to adapt to meet those students’ needs. 

“We need to reduce the stigma and shame felt by students and their families and educate and upskill school administrators, teachers and the wider school community.

“Many students and their families are at breaking point. The need to act is urgent.”

School Can’t Australia said:

“Submissions to the inquiry demonstrated that school can’t is a significant issue that is impacting many families. Our parent peer support group has over 9000 members with 1600 waiting to join. We have been doubling in size every year.  

“Families in our community report significant stress accessing appropriate supports for their children and themselves. It affects their physical health, mental health and financial well-being.

“For many years, school attendance difficulties have been attributed to poor parenting or student mental health. Subsequently, intervention has focussed on parent training and the child’s avoidant behaviour.

“But it is School Can’t Australia’s lived experience that school can’t is a stress behaviour, not a misbehaviour. We need to identify the stressors that are impacting students and reduce exposure to them.

“Prioritising student well-being starts with prioritising teacher well-being. That means we need to resource and equip schools to respond to school can’t in ways that prioritise well-being, including encouraging collaboration with students and their families to identify and reduce stressors within the school environment.

“Our vision is that our children’s needs will be better understood and identified early, so that  support is provided before they reach crisis point, and that parents and their children no longer feel judgement and shame due to school can’t.

“School Can’t Australia welcomes the recommendation of funding for parent peer support.  Funding will help safeguard and develop this valued service.

“We thank the Senate for the opportunity to share our community’s lived experience. We also thank the many parents who shared their stories and completed surveys – their emotional labour was substantial.”

Link to the inquiry’s report

This weekend marks three years since Australian citizen Cheng Lei was detained in China.

Our thoughts are with Ms Cheng and her loved ones, including her two children.

I want to acknowledge Ms Cheng’s strength, and the strength of her family and friends through this period.

Ms Cheng’s message to the public makes clear her deep love for our country. All Australians want to see her reunited with her children.

Australia has consistently advocated for Ms Cheng, and asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met for Ms Cheng, in accordance with international norms.

We will continue to support Ms Cheng and her family and to advocate for Ms Cheng’s interests and wellbeing.

Anthony Albanese has been tearing his hair out because the more extreme activists who relish forcing the voice on Australia can’t stick to his sales pitch.

Part of the Prime Minister’s pitch is that the Uluru Statement represents a plea by every indigenous Australian for a voice in Parliament, and it “fits on an A4 page”.

The statement is much more than that, and it’s no wonder the ‘yes’ mob are keen to play this down. It’s 26 pages full of demands for money, racially-exclusive access to Australian land and water, special race-based rights, and self-government – an independent indigenous nation entirely by Australian taxpayers. It’s recommended reading for anyone concerned about enshrining racial inequality in the Constitution.

Prominent voice extremist Megan Davis, one of the authors of the Uluru Statement, has since 2017 said repeatedly it’s a lengthy document of “18 to 20 pages”. This week she’s been forced to write a newspaper column pretending she never said anything of the kind, but it’s too late.

This issue has been a trainwreck for the ‘yes’ mob this week. Labour and the ‘yes’ extremists spent years talking to sympathetic audiences in the voice bubble. They allowed this sympathy to convince themselves the voice would sail through a referendum with solid support.

Now they’re beginning to realise that the Australian people at large – to whom the pitch must be made because changing the Constitution is our prerogative – are not so gullible.

When the Prime Minister finally musters the courage to set a date for the racist referendum, I suspect that’s when you’ll see the big money behind the ‘yes’ mob flow into a blitzing campaign about ‘listening’ and ‘better outcomes’ with no mention of what the voice really is: a vehicle for a treaty and special rights that will make non-indigenous Australians second-class citizens in their own country.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to the United States from 23 to 26 October for an official visit hosted by President Joseph R Biden Jr in Washington DC.

The Australia-United States relationship is unique in scale, scope and significance, reflecting more than 100 years of partnership between our nations. This visit will be an opportunity for the Prime Minister and President to strengthen this important relationship and look ahead to the future.

Prime Minister Albanese and President Biden will build on discussions held in Hiroshima, Japan in May, including advancing ambitious climate action and the transition to clean energy under our historic Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact.

The leaders will look at ways the economic relationship between Australia and the United States can be made fit for the opportunities of the future to the benefit of workers and businesses in both countries. They will also discuss regional stability and security, AUKUS, strengthening cooperation in science and technology and the importance of together shaping an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

This will be the Prime Minister’s first official visit to Washington DC as Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“I am honoured to accept President Biden’s invitation to undertake an official visit to Washington DC.

“Australia and the United States have a longstanding relationship, based on deep friendship and trust and a shared commitment to peace, the rule of law and the values of democracy.

“My visit is an important opportunity to discuss our ambitious climate and clean energy transition, and shared goal of a strong, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Australian farmers and regional communities will benefit from a major, long-term investment into drought preparedness, with $38 million in federal innovation grants announced today.

Through the Future Drought Fund, the Albanese Government will invest in six research projects undertaking long-term trials of new and emerging agriculture practices around cropping, grazing and mixed farming, to help farmers be more drought-resilient.

The 6-year Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Grants aim to help farmers prepare for drought by equipping them with the data and confidence to invest in technologies and practices which have been proven across different landscapes and production conditions.

The successful projects are:

• $6.23 million – Charles Sturt University will lead a consortium to investigate the interdependence and whole-system effects of cropping and livestock components and managing environmental and social impacts in response to seasonal variation, with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in New South Wales.
• $3.94 million – Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils – will lead a consortium to evaluate drought reliance in farming systems and soils through an established network of long-term trials across multiple sites in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
• $4.32 million – NQ Dry Tropic Limited will lead a consortium to look at the effectiveness of virtual fencing to enable rangeland graziers to implement fine scale, drought resilient grazing systems over large areas, with trials to be undertaken in Charters Towers (Queensland).
• $7.2 million – University of Melbourne will lead a consortium to consider the effectiveness of farming-systems adaptations thought to improve drought resilience of broadacre grains, grazing and mixed farming systems, with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in Victoria and Tasmania.
• $8 million – Flinders University will lead a consortium on the climate resilience of cropping, livestock, and mixed farms, assessed through a network of long-term trials across the pastoral, low, medium, and high rainfall zones of South Australia with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in South Australia.
• $7.99 million – Deakin University will lead a consortium to investigate the diversity in pastures to build resilience, and support 365 days of feed production in southern temperate grazing enterprises with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

The program represents a new direction for the $5 billion Future Drought Fund in providing long-term funding to facilitate sustainable change in farming practices that will help strengthen the resilience of farmers to drought conditions and a changing climate.

For more information visit: Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Grants

Prime Minister Albanese said:

“Australian farmers are always gearing up for the next drought – it’s a matter of when, not if.

“And I’m proud to say that Australian farmers are some of the best in the world at preparing for and managing drought, which puts them at the forefront of climate adaptation.

“We’ve listened to the industry and we will continue to make sure farmers and rural communities are ready to face the next drought.

“Being prepared for drought is not just good for farmers, it’s also important for rural and regional communities, supermarket consumers and Australia’s trade industry.”

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said:

“This program is about advancing projects that we hope will make a real difference in a future droughts.

“These projects – like crop rotations, soil management, grazing techniques and infrastructure – will arm farmers with robust information to invest in technologies and practices that have been proven across different landscapes and conditions.”

The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to Tamworth residents to help strengthen Medicare.

Following an Expression of Interest process, Northwest Health will be established as a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, treating patients from October 2023.

The Tamworth Medicare UCC will deliver on the Australian Government’s commitment to make it easier for people in New South Wales to get the urgent treatment they need – from highly qualified doctors and nurses – while taking pressure off Tamworth Hospital.

The Medicare UCC will be open extended hours, seven days a week and offer walk-in care that is fully bulk-billed.

Almost 63 per cent of presentations to Tamworth Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care.

The Tamworth clinic is one of 14 Medicare UCCs across New South Wales – located in Albury, Batemans Bay, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Cessnock, Coffs Harbour, Gosford, Lismore, Penrith, Randwick, Westmead, Wollongong and Wyong.

The Australian Government will continue to work closely with Primary Health Networks and the New South Wales Government to deliver the remaining Medicare UCCs, all of which will open this year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“The Tamworth Medicare UCC will make a big difference to patients in the region who will be able to walk in seven days a week and get free urgent care from a nurse or a doctor.

“The clinic will ease pressure on Tamworth Hospital, so that its hard-working doctors and nurses can focus higher priority emergencies.

“The Tamworth Medicare UCC is just another way the Government is strengthening Medicare and making it easier to see a doctor.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said:

“The UCCs will offer high-quality care for people who need to see a medical professional for a health issue that is urgent and requires treatment but is not life-threatening and does not require attending the emergency department.

“The Tamworth UCC will ease pressure on the local emergency department, and be much more convenient for our community – closer to home, at short notice, and free under Medicare.

“This is another example of the Australian Government delivering better healthcare for New South Wales.”