Category: Australian News

Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has welcomed the Fair Work Ombudsman’s priority investigation of wage theft and casualisation at universities, following revelations of underpayments at dozens of campuses.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Wage theft is widespread in our universities and it is clearly linked to casualisation and job insecurity, which has been allowed to run rampant.

“I’m glad to see Fair Work take this seriously following years of complaints by university staff and unions, as well as the shocking evidence provided to multiple Senate inquiries.

“Since 2020, I have referred many universities to give evidence to the Senate, compelling senior university management to front up and be accountable for systemic underpayments they had presided over.

“I’m hoping in the new parliament we can take decisive action. Piece rates must be abolished immediately, and universities must introduce publicly available targets for increasing permanent employment and reducing casualisation. The federal government has a clear role to play in making sure this happens.

“More broadly, we need a big injection of public funding for our universities, and to overhaul university governance. The corporate university has been built to serve management, not staff and students. Universities must be reimagined on principles of democracy and equity.”

The Federal Court bid by the Australian Conservation Foundation to stop Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas project until its impact on the Great Barrier Reef is assessed, highlights the need for a climate trigger to assess the impact of polluting projects, the Greens say.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“We must stop making climate change worse and that means we stop making pollution worse. Yet environmental approvals don’t even consider the impact of a polluting mine or development on the climate. 

“Our environment laws are broken and any suggestion by mining companies and their political mouthpieces that a project can stack up environmentally ignores this fact. 

“It’s time to fix these broken laws with the insertion of a ‘climate trigger’ that assesses the climate impacts of a mine, development or land clearing proposal. 

“It shouldn’t take a not-for-profit environmental organisation taking a gas giant to court to get a proper assessment of the environmental damage a polluting project could cause. 

“The deeply precarious status of the Great Barrier Reef, and many of our other World Heritage sites and iconic natural places, as well as our wildlife, is well documented. Doing more to provide proper protection is a no-brainer. 

“The heritage values of the Reef are already under strong scrutiny globally. It’s clear climate change is smashing the Reef, and a new big polluting project like Woodside’s is only going to make that worse.

“All new fossil fuel projects, onshore or offshore, should be assessed under the EPBC Act that properly examines the consequences on our climate and environment.

“Better yet, the Albanese Government should rule out any new coal and gas projects and focus on accelerating the transition to clean, green renewable energy.”

The Greens Leader Adam Bandt says a windfall tax on gas corporations profiteering from the current crisis could be imposed simply by closing loopholes in the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) in the government’s first budget in October.

The PRRT was designed to tax super-profits, but gas corporations figured out how to avoid paying it by building up a backlog of tax credits to the tune of a jaw-dropping $282 billion. This means that gas companies have to burn through $282 billion in profits until they start paying tax.

If we stop the use of these credits, Australia could reap major revenues which are currently going offshore during this global energy crisis. The Greens have been pursuing a fix to the PRRT that would generate $59 billion in revenue over the next 4 years.

Adam Bandt MP said:

“On paper Australia already has a windfall tax, but it is broken and being exploited. A simple legislative fix could ensure we raise the billions we need to help people and businesses suffering from the gas crisis.”

“Gas export operations in Australia are 95.7% overseas-owned. We’re giving our resources away for next to nothing, even as these big corporations put pressure on the country and drive inflation.

“The PRRT is the key. If we fix the PRRT, we could make big gas corporations pay their fair share and use that revenue to help struggling households and businesses. 

“The government’s first Budget should fix the PRRT and put an end to the free ride of big gas corporations paying zero tax and zero royalties.

“The Greens are proposing a windfall tax on fossil fuel corporations, with the money used to support households and businesses dealing with skyrocketing energy bills, including by helping them switch from gas to electric, install batteries and make their premises more energy efficient.”

Today, I am announcing my intention to recommend to the Governor-General the appointment of four new secretaries of Australian Public Service departments.

Jim Betts will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Mr Betts has extensive experience in the New South Wales and Victorian public services, including as Secretary of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Secretary of the Victorian Department of Transport, and CEO of Infrastructure NSW. He will bring to the Federal level a deep understanding of the priority challenges facing Governments in this space. Mr Betts’ appointment will commence on 11 July 2022.

Jan Adams AO PSM will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ms Adams is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently Australia’s Ambassador to Japan. She has previously served as Ambassador to China, as a senior trade negotiator and as Ambassador for Climate Change.  Ms Adams has also had postings to Washington and to the OECD Secretariat in Paris. Ms Adams will commence her appointment on 1 July 2022.

Natalie James will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Ms James has an extensive career in public service and employment and workplace relations. From 2005 until 2010, she was Chief Counsel to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, becoming a State Manager of that Department in 2010. In 2013, she was appointed the Fair Work Ombudsman for the Commonwealth. Recently, Ms James has been a Partner at Deloitte Australia. Ms James will commence her appointment on 11 July 2022.

Jenny Wilkinson PSM will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Finance. Ms Wilkinson, currently Deputy Secretary at Treasury, has held positions across several departments and agencies. This includes running the Parliamentary Budget Office, from July 2017 to January 2020. Prior to that, she held senior positions at Treasury, the Department of Industry, the Department of Climate Change, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Working in these roles, she has provided advice on a wide range of economic policy issues. She was awarded a PSM in 2021 for outstanding public service in the development of fiscal policy. Ms Wilkinson will take up her appointment on 9 August 2022, on Rosemary Huxtable’s retirement.

Additionally, David Fredericks PSM will be leaving his role as Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, to lead the newly created Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Mr Fredericks has extensive senior experience engaging on policy and Budget within the APS and ministers’ offices. As well as Secretary experience in both the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, and the Department of Environment and Energy, he has experience at the Deputy Secretary level at the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Finance. He has held senior Ministerial Adviser roles at both the Commonwealth and state levels. Prior to that he served in the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

Each of these appointments will be for five years.

Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM will return to the Australian Public Service as Secretary for Public Sector Reform. Working to the Minister for the Public Service and in close partnership with Peter Woolcott AO, the Australian Public Service Commissioner, he will lead and implement a wide range of public sector reforms which will support my commitment to place greater value on the public service and to grow its capability.

Simon Atkinson and Kathryn Campbell AO CSC will conclude their Secretary roles with effect from 1 July 2022. I thank them both for their service to the Australian Public Service over many years. They have both brought great professionalism and deep experience to the range of roles they have held, and I wish them both the best. Ms Campbell will be taking up a senior appointment in the Defence portfolio in an AUKUS-related role.

I congratulate Mr Betts, Ms Adams, Ms James and Ms Wilkinson on their appointments.  The appointment of Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources will be made shortly. Acting Secretaries will be appointed by Ministers as required.

Attached is a full list of Secretaries and their Departments with effect from July 2022.

Attachment

APS Departments and Secretaries as at 1 July 2022

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet	Prof Glyn Davis AC
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry	Mr Andrew Metcalfe AO
Attorney-General’s Department	Ms Katherine Jones PSM
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	Mr David Fredericks PSM
Department of Defence	Mr Greg Moriarty
Department of Education	Dr Michele Bruniges AM
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations	Ms Natalie James [from 11 July 2022]
Department of Finance	Ms Jenny Wilkinson PSM [from 9 Aug 2022]
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Ms Jan Adams AO PSM
Department of Health and Aged Care	Prof Brendan Murphy AC
Department of Home Affairs	Mr Michael Pezzullo AO
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts	Mr Jim Betts [from 11 July 2022]
Department of Industry, Science and Resources	TBC
Department of Social Services	Mr Ray Griggs AO CSC
Department of Veterans’ Affairs	Ms Elizabeth Cosson AM CSC
Department of the Treasury

Australia will provide $50 million in Official Development Assistance to support Sri Lanka meet urgent food and healthcare needs.

Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

Australia has a close and long-standing relationship with Sri Lanka. Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.

We will contribute an immediate $22 million to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs.

Australia will also provide $23 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.

This will support health services, and economic recovery, with a strong emphasis on protecting those at risk, especially women and girls.

These contributions are in addition to $5 million recently provided to United Nations agencies for Sri Lanka.

Statement from Australian Greens Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, Senator Jordon Steele-John. 

“Following The UK’s decision that Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, the Australian Greens are once again calling for the immediate release of Australian journalist, Julian Assange. 

“Extradition to the United States, the country whose war crimes Julian Assange exposed, sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. 

“Julian Assange has been in Belmarsh Prison for three years, and has spent seven years in detention in the Ecuadorian Embassy. In those 10 years, his health has deteriorated and these ongoing proceedings are unjust, torturous, and must end. 

“Julian Assange’s prosecution has always been political. It needs political intervention of the highest order from our government to get justice for him.

“The Australian Greens are calling on Prime Minister Albanese to pick up the phone to the UK and US governments immediately to secure Assange’s freedom.” 

The Australian Government notes the decision of the United Kingdom Home Secretary to extradite Julian Assange to the United States.

We also note that Mr Assange has several avenues through which he can appeal this decision.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to offer consular assistance to Mr Assange, noting that Australia is not a party to Mr Assange’s case, nor can the Australian government intervene in the legal matters of another country.

We will continue to convey our expectations that Mr Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical care, and access to his legal team. 

The Australian Government has been clear in our view that Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and that it should be brought to a close. 

We will continue to express this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and United States.

After the first National Cabinet meeting under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today, Greens Leader Adam Bandt said National Cabinet failed to address the dual crises of climate and cost of living by setting a more ambitious climate target, getting the country off coal and gas and unwinding the privatisation of Australia’s energy system.

Labor’s climate target is not consistent with limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees, and instead is based on heating of at least 2 degrees, which means the destruction of reef systems like the Great Barrier Reef. The Climate Targets Panel has said that to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Australia’s target should be 74% by 2030, and for a 2 degree trajectory the target should be 50%.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:

“Labor has given up on saving the Great Barrier Reef.

“To have any chance of saving the Reef we must limit global heating to 1.5 degrees, but Labor’s target bakes in the Reef’s destruction.

“It’s better than the climate-denying Coalition, but 43% is not much more than business as usual. 

“Labor’s low target signs the death warrant for the Great Barrier Reef and consigns regional Australia to worse droughts.

“What’s worse is that the emissions from proposed new coal and gas projects, like the up to 13% increase to Australia’s pollution from proceeding with Beetaloo, aren’t even included in Labor’s modelling.

“You don’t end the climate wars by opening more coal and gas mines, but that’s what Labor plans to do.

“We call on the new government to end the climate wars by listening to the scientists and stop opening up new coal and gas mines.

“Electricity is an essential service, but big coal and gas corporations are holding the country to ransom. National Cabinet needs to recognise that privatisation of electricity has been a complete failure and go back to the drawing board.”

Today the Prime Minister, along with state and territory First Ministers, met in Canberra to discuss their shared priorities.

They discussed how the National Cabinet can support strong collaborative relationships and drive progress on priorities for the nation.

National Cabinet will build on recent collaborative efforts to support the COVID-19 health response and support the delivery of additional areas of focus.

In recognition of the pressures in the health and hospital system exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth Government will extend the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response for a further three months to 31 December 2022, at a cost of approximately $760 million.

To deliver a more cooperative streamlined approach to Federation, First Ministers agreed to identify practical improvements to the health system and specifically the connections between GPs and hospitals. This includes working together to identify practical ways to get aged care residents and NDIS participants out of hospital and into a more appropriate setting.

Following the Commonwealth Government’s commitments to increased investment in primary care, the Commonwealth will also work with states and territories, drawing on local knowledge, to determine the final locations for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.

The First Secretaries Group, chaired by Professor Glyn Davis, has been tasked with developing these improvements to the way the health system operates and reporting back to the National Cabinet.

National Cabinet affirmed its shared commitment to urgently addressing skills shortages. As part of the Commonwealth’s commitment, it will urgently work to address a backlog in processing visa applications in areas of skills shortages, reduce visa processing times and prioritise training and migration.

The Council on Federal Financial Relations (CFFR), chaired by Dr Jim Chalmers, will also provide advice within three months to National Cabinet on pressures on Commonwealth and State and Territory budgets, including anticipated fiscal pressures with a focus on areas of joint funding responsibility.

National Cabinet will next meet before the Commonwealth Budget in October 2022 to discuss these reforms and how the Commonwealth and states will work better together in the future. To advance microeconomic and productivity reforms, First Secretaries were also tasked with providing advice on the role of Ministerial Councils in progressing national priorities, with a sharpened focus on productivity improvements.

States and Territories expressed their support for the Commonwealth’s commitment to progress a referendum to constitutionally enshrine a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution as a matter of priority.

At the meeting, Treasury Secretary, Dr Steven Kennedy, provided an update on the economic and fiscal outlook for 2022.

Senior national security officials also provided First Ministers an update on national security issues and the current national threat environment, to further information sharing and intergovernmental engagement on national security matters.

National Cabinet noted several further challenges facing the nation and committed to continue to work together on solutions that will produce the best outcomes for all Australians.

• Energy markets across eastern Australia and the ongoing discussions between energy Ministers. They further agreed to continue working together to protect and improve outcomes for Australian consumers.
• Disaster recovery funding arrangements and the need to ensure they were consistent, streamlined and equitable.
• Measures to boost productivity across all sectors.

The National Cabinet affirmed a shared commitment to the Commonwealth’s revised Nationally Determined Contribution to a reduction in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, which has been submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

National Cabinet will invite a representative of Local Government to future meetings of National Cabinet and CFFR once a year to ensure all levels of Government are represented. The National Cabinet has agreed to meet a minimum of four times a year or as necessary and will next meet prior to the Federal Budget in October 2022.

Australia will provide an initial $675,000 to assist Kiribati respond to the country’s severe drought.

The funding commitment follows the Kiribati Government’s declaration of a State of Disaster on 13 June.

We are also working closely with New Zealand, Japan, UNICEF and the World Bank to identify needs and gaps for enhanced international support across Kiribati.

Australia will support the installation of 100 solar distillation units in Outer Island communities to convert well water into safe drinking water, and help primary schools ensure water is available for students.

Australia’s funding will support Australian NGOs to work with the Government of Kiribati and local NGOs to help deliver sustainable and inclusive access to drinking water in South Tarawa and the Outer Islands.

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

“As Pacific family members, Australia is standing with Kiribati to meet the challenges of climate change and its impacts.”

Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy MP said:

“Australia is listening actively and carefully to ensure that we mobilise resources that best support the people of Kiribati.”