The Australian Government is providing $10 million to establish a multidisciplinary national research network that will contribute to Australia’s preparedness and responsiveness to health threats from changing environmental conditions and extreme weather events.
The Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) Network will provide national and international leadership in environmental change and health research.
The national initiative will be comprised of researchers, practitioners, communities and policymakers who will work together to address themes such as urban health, bushfires, food security, heatwaves and other extreme events, and biosecurity.
HEAL network partners have committed more than $6 million in cash and $8 million in kind, in addition to the $10 million provided through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Special Initiative in Human Health and Environmental Change.
The HEAL network is led by Professor Sotiris Vardoulakis, Professor of Global Health at the Australian National University, and includes 28 participating institutions. The network has strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and wide geographic reach for a uniquely Australian response.
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt MP, said the network would develop the interdisciplinary, cross-sector, solutions-driven research needed to address local, regional, national and global challenges.
“Australians know from experience how we depend on working together to respond to global health challenges,” Minister Hunt said.
“The complex interplay of environmental change, extreme weather events, economics and public health requires a multidisciplinary, collaborative response that can inform future policy and practice.”
“The HEAL network will develop the evidence, capability and tools needed to protect and improve community health, strengthen health system resilience and reduce inequities and inequalities across communities and generations.”
NHMRC CEO Professor Anne Kelso said resilience to environmental change, emerging health threats and emergencies is one of NHMRC’s strategic priorities.
“This network will help to protect the health of the Australian community and build a resilient and responsive health system, based on strong engagement and co-design with federal and state governments, the public health and healthcare sectors, charities, communities, business and industry,” Professor Kelso said.
With strong leadership, the network will also seek respectfully to integrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and culture with Western knowledge.
The multidisciplinary research network will include leaders in environmental/public health, health systems, economics, and climate, data and social science who will work together to assess and communicate environmental health risks, and develop practical integrated solutions to reduce their impacts and protect human health.
Category: Australian News
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$1.27M to improve disability support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
A group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations across Australia are receiving a total of $1.27 million in grants to improve the delivery of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support services.
The $22,000 Indigenous Business Support Funding grants have been awarded to 57 organisations.
Awarded for the first time this year, the scheme was administered by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), which represents 143 community health organisations.
The grants are being provided as part of the Federal Government’s NDIS Ready project.
Minister for the NDIS Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC said the funding would strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s participation in the NDIS – as well as increase the number of culturally-appropriate service providers.
“We can improve the lifetime wellbeing and quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability by ensuring earlier and better access to the NDIS,” Minister Reynolds said.
The funding will help Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHO) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) to build their national capacity to deliver NDIS services.
“The grants will improve access to reasonable and necessary supports for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability and improve their choice and control of those supports,” Minister Reynolds said.
Organisations will be helped to address challenges in registering and delivering NDIS services and/or engaging business or technical advice, to develop better systems of service delivery.
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) Chief Executive Officer Pat Turner welcomed the funding.
“These grants will enable the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation sector to expand into the NDIS, to provide additional essential supports for people with disability,” Ms Turner said.
Northern Territory grant recipient Danila Dilba Health Service will use the money to further its work in supporting people to access disability services.
South Australian West Coast Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Network Chairperson Cindy Zbierski said access to culturally respectful and Aboriginal-led disability services was vital to improving life outcomes and achieving equity.
“The funding gives us the opportunity to scope future Aboriginal-led disability solutions within our communities,” Ms Zbierski said.
Chief Executive Officer of Victorian Aboriginal Health Service Michael Graham said that the grant would also enable the service to operate its NDIS program within governance frameworks, and to expand it.
A list of successful applicants will be made available on the NACCHO website.
Small and medium businesses secure record number of Commonwealth contracts
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are supplying a record share of goods and services to the Australian Government, with the latest procurement statistics showing a $5.4 billion increase in the value of Commonwealth contracts going to SMEs.
In the 2020-21 financial year, SMEs were awarded 45,773 or 54 per cent of contracts with a total value of $18.7 billion, which is the highest level on record and the highest annual increase for SMEs, up from $13.6 billion in 2019-20.
Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the Morrison Government continued to back SME participation in Commonwealth procurements and continued to exceed its targets in regard to the proportion of contracts going to SMEs.
“Small and medium businesses continue to punch well above their weight in the highly competitive government procurement market,” Minister Birmingham said.
“SMEs are the engine room of our economy, and this strong performance is further demonstration of the huge economic and jobs contribution they make.
“We fully recognise that many small and medium businesses have done it tough during the pandemic. This strong SME performance is a shining light and is a testament to the quality of the goods and services that Australian SMEs continue to produce and deliver.
“Enhancing opportunities for small businesses to bid for and win work will be critical to our ongoing economic recovery and as our nation continues to open up.
“This outcome also reflects our ongoing commitment to boosting industry capability and ensuring a level playing field for Australian SMEs in Commonwealth procurements.”
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Stuart Robert said that a series of changes to the Commonwealth procurement framework had helped to put more small businesses in the mix for government procurement work.
“We continue to cut red tape and reduce costs for small businesses within the government procurement market,” Minister Robert said.
“We’ve done this by changing the rules to allow for the direct engagement of SMEs for procurements valued up to $200,000, where the engagement provides a value for money outcome.
“This measure, as well as others like the greater use of whole-of-government panels to reduce the costs of tendering, 5 day payment times for e-invoices, and assessing the domestic economic benefits offered by suppliers for large contracts, are all about making it easier for SMEs to bid and secure Commonwealth contracts.”
For further information, please visit https://www.finance.gov.au/government/procurement/statistics-australian-government-procurement-contracts-
Morrison's ‘not zero’ modelling a sham
Greens Leader, Adam Bandt MP, on the government’s ‘net zero modelling’ said:
“This is a plan for ‘not zero’.
“The Prime Minister’s promise not to lie lasted less than 24 hours.
“This is a piece of fiction trying to cover up inaction.
“Scott Morrison’s climate ambition is so low that he doesn’t even hit net zero in his net zero ‘plan’.
“This is a recipe for climate collapse in Australia, with more extreme droughts, floods and fires.
“It doesn’t even model what the world is furiously trying to reach in Glasgow, the Paris Agreement goal of staying below 1.5C of warming.
“Under this ‘not zero’ plan, in 2050 emissions from coal, gas and other sources are nearly half what they are today, 253 million tonnes per year.
“The plan is built on more coal and gas and a vague hope that the private sector will voluntarily offset 159 million tonnes of someone else’s pollution. The Prime Minister fundamentally misunderstands ‘can-do capitalism’ if he thinks big corporations will voluntarily hand over a big bag of cash for permits they’re not obliged to buy.
“Under the Liberals’ plan, in 2050 Australia won’t have a safe climate and it won’t even have net zero emissions. Under the Liberals, in 2050 Australia will emit 94 million tonnes per year in 2050, a larger amount of climate pollution than countries like New Zealand or Greece emit right now in 2021.
“Any genuine plan would model the Paris Agreement pathways to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, which for Australia means 75% emissions reduction by 2030.
Greens plan to clamp down on multinational tax avoidance estimated to net $4.5 billion
Today Greens leader Adam Bandt will address the final Greens National Conference of the year announcing a major pillar of the Greens’ Tax the Billionaires election campaign: the plan to End Multinational Tax Avoidance by clamping down on tax exploits and improving the transparency of company and ATO reporting.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has indicated the policy would claw back around $4.5 billion for the public purse.
The Greens say this policy will work in concert with the previously announced ‘Tycoon Tax’, on corporate super-profits, which itself would prevent certain types of tax minimisation practices. When added to the revenue generated by the already-announced Tycoon Tax (which includes a corporate super-profits tax and a mining super profits tax) and the Billionaires Tax, it brings the revenue raised by Greens’ policies to make big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax to $391b over the decade. The Greens will announce further components applying to oil and gas corporations and ending fossil fuel handouts over coming months.
Recent polls point to a power-sharing Parliament as the most likely outcome of the coming election and in the balance of power, the Greens will push for billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share of tax to get dental and mental health fully into Medicare and build affordable housing.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has indicated the policy would claw back around $4.5 billion for the public purse.
The Greens say this policy will work in concert with the previously announced ‘Tycoon Tax’, on corporate super-profits, which itself would prevent certain types of tax minimisation practices. When added to the revenue generated by the already-announced Tycoon Tax (which includes a corporate super-profits tax and a mining super profits tax) and the Billionaires Tax, it brings the revenue raised by Greens’ policies to make big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax to $391b over the decade. The Greens will announce further components applying to oil and gas corporations and ending fossil fuel handouts over coming months.
Recent polls point to a power-sharing Parliament as the most likely outcome of the coming election and in the balance of power, the Greens will push for billionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share of tax to get dental and mental health fully into Medicare and build affordable housing.
How the Greens’ multinational tax avoidance crackdown will work
The Greens comprehensive plan to tackle multinational tax avoidance identifies key areas to block the ways that corporations avoid Australian company tax:
- Stop the artificial shifting of debt to Australia to increase tax deductions.
- Stop tax deductions for royalties paid to other arms of the same company.
- Establish a public register of beneficial owners to see who really owns what.
- Publish basic information on the tax paid by companies earning over $50 million.
- Require the ATO to publish the details of the settlement of tax disputes with companies.
The independent Parliamentary Budget Office has calculated these measures will raise $4.5 billion over the decade. The Greens will also back a global push for a minimum corporate tax rate of 25%.
Tax Dodgers – Case Studies
Exxon Mobil
ExxonMobil Australia is a private subsidiary of the publicly listed global parent company. Over the last six years that the ATO has published details on the basic tax affairs of large private companies, ExxonMobil Australia has booked $56B in total income.1 But, each and every year, they reduced their taxable income to $0, mostly through a web of deductible payments to other arms of the same company. Which means that one of the world’s oil and gas giants has been paying 0% company income tax in Australia.
Apple
Apple is the world’s most profitable company. Their gross profit from their Australian operations was $1B in 2020.2 Yet, because they are a private company in Australia, we know little about how their affairs are structured, including what are the $663m in “selling, general and administrative expenses” that enabled them to reduce their taxable income to $410m and their tax bill to $120m. Like many tech giants, Apple Australia could be making royalty payments to the global parent company, which really aren’t an expense and shouldn’t be tax deductible.
PwC
PwC, along with the other Big4 accounting firms, operate as a partnership in Australia, which means we know very little about how much tax they pay. PwC says that its partners pay an average of 37% tax on $2.6B in revenue.3 But there is scant detail on how they arrived at these figures, which is ironic for an accounting firm.4 Whatever tax the partners do or don’t pay pales in comparison to their work as architects of intricate and sophisticated tax schemes for multinationals.5 In Australia, PwC has used lawyers to shield from the public what advice they have given to serial tax avoiders such as coal miner Glencore and Brazilian meat processor JBS, and what effect this advice had on how much tax these companies pay.6
Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP in the speech will say:
Liberal and Labor aren’t just making the climate crisis worse, they’re making inequality worse too.
Right now, 1 in 3 big corporations don’t pay any tax.
The Greens believe that big corporations making big profits should pay tax.
In balance of power, the Greens will push to make big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax.
There will be a billionaires’ tax on billionaires’ obscene wealth, which grew faster during the pandemic than the wealth of billionaires in any other country.
We will push for a ‘tycoons tax’ on the super-profits made by big corporations.
We will axe the handouts to the coal and gas corporations, because corporations who are mining and burning coal and gas need to be phased out, not publicly funded to make the climate crisis worse.
And today, I would like to announce the next part of our plan to make the big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax and stop sending all their profits offshore.
The Greens will crack down on multinational tax avoidance.
Big corporations have too much power.
They seem to write their own rules.
Nowhere is this more evident than in tax.
Right now, we’re all being ripped off by multinational corporations who hide their profits in tax havens, shell companies and use accounting tricks to get away with paying their fair share of tax.
One example is ExxonMobil Australia. Over the last six years, it’s booked $56B in total income.7 But, each and every year, they reduced their taxable income to $0, mostly through a web of deductible
payments to other arms of the same company.
One of the world’s oil and gas giants has been paying 0% company income tax in Australia. What a joke.
These schemes are widely used to avoid or reduce tax in Australia.
Apple does it. Santos does it. And Virgin does it.
It’s a rort. It’s dodgy. But it’s lawful.
We must close the loopholes and stop the cash train departing our country.
The tax law might be complicated, but the morality is pretty simple.
When a nurse is paying more tax than a multinational, something is deeply wrong.
Multinationals making huge profits and sending them offshore should pay tax.
The Greens will push to end the rorts.
In balance of power, we will push to close the loopholes that allow money shifting offshore, by forcing companies to pay based on their global debt to equity ratio.
We will push to increase transparency, by forcing companies to publish what they pay, and ban secret settlements with the ATO.
And we will improve monitoring and enforcement, by establishing a public register of beneficial owners.
Our policy would claw back around $4.5 billion, according to the PBO. We’re being robbed and we need to get this cash back.
And we will back the minimum 25% global tax rate for multinational companies.
They will fight us, in court and in public, but people are fed up with being forced to pay more for schools and healthcare while billionaire corporations pay no tax.
People would prefer to have free mental and dental health care rather than billionaire corporations sending massive profits to offshore shareholders.
But to make the big corporations and billionaires pay tax, we need to get into the balance of power.
Greens Treasury Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said:
“Tax avoidance is a game to these big corporations, and ultimately the loser is the Australian public.
“Ultimately, everybody knows what’s going on; the profits are being made here and we’re sitting back and watching them fly away. We need to stop the rot and make these multinationals’ pay their fair share of tax.
“We’re sick of hearing that it’s ‘too hard’ to tax corporations making billions of dollars here in Australia. All of the tired excuses and threats of leaving the country are paper thin.
“What company turns its nose up at billions in profit because it has to pay a fraction of that profit in tax? Sure they’ll take it all if we let them, but the other option is to play hard ball and call their bluff.
“Every dollar of tax that the government fails to get from a multinational is an extra dollar they have to either take from an Australian worker or cut from schools and hospitals.
Footnotes:
- ATO, Corporate tax transparency: report of entity tax information, 2013-19.
- ASIC, Copy of financial statements and reports, Doc No. 7EBE03904 – Apple Pty Ltd, ACN: 002 510 054
- https://www.pwc.com.au/press-room/2019/pwc-australia-discloses-its-tax-contribution-to-the-australian-economy.html; https://www.pwc.com.au/press-room/2021/pwc-australia-delivers-full-year-revenue.html; and assuming
- Literally, there are two press releases. One contains some numbers in the text. The other has a five line table. That’s it! And they only issued these press releases following attention through a parliamentary inquiry. They don’t even have to disclose this information.
- See: Jones, Temouri & Cobham, Tax haven networks and the role of the Big 4 accountancy firms, Journal of World Business, Volume 53, Issue 2, February 2018, Pages 177-193.
- Commissioner of Taxation v Glencore Investment Pty Ltd [2020] FCAFC 187; Commissioner of Taxation v
PricewaterhouseCoopers & Ors. - ATO, Corporate tax transparency: report of entity tax information, 2013-19.
Australia’s Tokyo showcase leaves a lasting legacy for our health
The performances of our Olympic and Paralympic teams in Tokyo look set to leave a lasting legacy and improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.
Findings from Sport Australia’s Community Perceptions Monitor survey reveal more than half of all Australians were inspired by the performance of our athletes – with one in five saying they were now more motivated to get active.
The survey, which captures public attitudes towards sport, found 55 per cent of Australians who watched the Olympics and 58 per cent who watched the Paralympics said they felt proud to be an Australian.
Minister for Sport, Richard Colbeck, said it underlined the positive impact the performance of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes had on the nation.
“We have always understood the power of sport to improve our health and reinforce communities,” Minister Colbeck said.
“But the Sport Australia survey showcases the tangible outcomes created as a result of the performances of our sports men and women.”
Participation in organised sport is also expected to benefit with 12 per cent of parents considering enrolling their child or children in a new sport after watching the Games.
While winning medals was identified by Australians as something that made them feel proud, we placed greater value on athletes who showed determination, worked hard and demonstrated good sportsmanship.
The survey also found 82 per cent of people surveyed watched at least some of the 16-day coverage of the Olympics.
And despite having a third of the free-to-air coverage and a 12-day program, the Paralympics proved popular with 68 per cent of survey participants tuning in.
Sport Australia Acting CEO Rob Dalton said the research highlights the pride that Australians have in our athletes and reinforces the important role they play as role models.
“As COVID-19 restrictions ease across the nation and community sport returns, now is the perfect time to get involved in organised sport as a participant, volunteer or official and enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits that sport offers,” Mr Dalton said.
“We know that volunteers remain key to ensuring sporting clubs and organisations can get back on track following the pandemic. For many Australians, community sport provides a first connection to sport and can help develop and unearth our future sporting talent.”
Minister Colbeck said the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games provided a perfect launching pad with a string of major sporting events locked in as we head towards Brisbane 2032.
“The report illustrates the lasting legacy major sporting events can have on generations to come,” Minister Colbeck said.
“We marvelled at the incredible efforts of our Olympians and Paralympians in Tokyo and I can’t wait to see what our athletes achieve next.
“As we look ahead to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2024 Paris Games and 2032 Brisbane Games there are plenty of opportunities for our athletes to shine and inspire future generations.”
Sport Australia’s Community Perceptions Monitor survey can be found here.
Additional support for Australians with rare skin conditions
The Morrison Government is providing additional support, reducing the out of pocket costs for hundreds of Australians living with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder which requires specialised wound dressings.
Epidermolysis bullosa, which mainly affects children can be a painful and debilitating condition, resulting in extremely fragile and blister prone skin.
Around 260 Australians require specialised dressings and for those living with the most severe form of the disease, the dressings can cost them around $5,000 a month.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the Morrison Government has approved 46 new products to be listed on the National Epidermolysis Bullosa Dressing Scheme (NEBDS) Product Schedule.
“These new products will provide additional support for Australians, helping to manage their costs for dressings, reduce their out of pocket costs,” Minister Hunt said.
“Recommended by the NEBDS Clinical Advisory Committee, the 46 additions include new and improved technology designed to enhance wound care and accelerate healing.
“In 2020-21, our Government invested $3.35 million through the NEBDS, which continues to help Australian patients access wound dressings. Instead of paying thousands of dollars a month, patients will only pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card for each monthly order of dressings.”
Management of the Scheme is also being streamlined to enable recommended listings to occur sooner, which will improve patient access and support efficiency by enabling the Department of Health to approve minor changes and costs.
Access to the NEBDS is restricted to patients who meet the clinical eligibility criteria and are registered by a clinical expert. Patients participating in the Scheme are required to pay a contribution equivalent to the relevant PBS co-payment for each monthly order of dressings.
At 1 July 2021, there were 368 individual dressing/wound care products on the NEBDS Product Schedule.
More information about the NEBDS is available online – https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/national-epidermolysis-bullosa-dressing-scheme-nebds
Securing Australia’s Economic Recovery
The Morrison Government is securing Australia’s economic recovery by backing businesses to succeed and create jobs with a further $33 million to support Australian made food and beverage companies.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding was part of the latest round of the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI).
“Liberals and Nationals will continue to protect and grow manufacturing jobs to secure Australia’s economic recovery,” the Prime Minister said.
“More than one million Australians are once again employed in manufacturing and we want businesses to be successful and create even more jobs.
“Under Labor, one in eight manufacturing jobs were lost and Australians can’t risk this sort of economic mismanagement as we begin to open up again.”
Seven Australian companies will share in the funding, which will unlock new manufacturing opportunities, boost production, and create more jobs across the country.
The investment would boost manufacturing from Kingaroy in the north, to Hobart in the south.
Food and beverage production is the largest manufacturing sector in Australia, employing one in four manufacturing workers and contributing around $22.4 billion to our economy.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said these grants would bolster the thriving food and beverage sector and unlock further significant investment from the sector.
“This funding will help some of the most innovative producers leverage technology to increase their production, while meeting growing export demand and creating new local jobs,” Minister Taylor said.
“Not only will this funding help maximise the agricultural advantages we enjoy, but it will also help regional Australia and the supply chains that operate throughout it.”
The successful Food and Beverage recipients under the Initiative are:
- Sabrini Foods (VIC, NSW, SA) will use $1.4 million to become the first local manufacturer to transform Aussie dairy into extended shelf life and frozen paneer, overcoming one of the constraints to export.
- Bulla (VIC) will use $4.5 million for a purpose-built facility to make new ice cream lines such as cones and sandwiches from Australian dairy for sale here and overseas.
- Plenty Foods (QLD) will use its $9 million in funding to transform Australian nuts into locally-made protein nut flour.
- Turbine Sunshine Coast (QLD) will use its $8.7 million in funding to establish a research and development centre and large-scale contract beverage manufacturing facility.
- Mulgowie Fresh (QLD, VIC) will use its $5.1 million in funding to expand its processing capability and capacity in sweet corn and beans, increasing its supplies both domestically and in South East Asia.
- Sullivans Cove Distillery (TAS) will use its $3.3 million in funding to help build its new state-of-the-art production facility, which doubles as a world-class tourism experience.
- Ennio (SA) will use its $ 1.3 million in funding to develop its world-first patented technology for manufacturing nettings and casings specifically for the global meat and poultry industry.
The MMI is the centrepiece of the Government’s $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy, designed to position Australia as a globally recognised, high-quality and sustainable manufacturing nation.
Food and Beverage is the fourth stream of funding across priority areas identified under the MMI, and follows $100 million invested in Space, Medical Products, and Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing announced in July.
Funding across the remaining areas of Recycling and Defence will be announced soon.
To learn more about the Strategy and the MMI visit www.industry.gov.au/manufacturing
Australia must not sabotage Glasgow climate consensus: Greens
As the Glasgow climate summit comes to a head and the Liberals’ weak 2030 targets place Australia under increasing pressure, Scott Morrison is again readying Australia to sabotage a global climate consensus by blocking political momentum for a ‘ratcheting up’ of 2030 targets.
With Australia failing to raise ambition for 2030, the draft communique from COP26 is planning to specifically call upon nations who have insufficient mid-term targets to return next year to COP27 in Egypt with increased ambition consistent with the science.
The Liberal Party has a demonstrated history of sabotaging international climate talks by blocking consensus and demanding the right to keep polluting. The notorious ‘Australia clause’ loophole that allowed countries like Australia to increase its emissions under the Kyoto Protocol was added into the agreement at the demand of the then Howard Government.
“Scott Morrison is getting ready to sabotage global climate action just to save face,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said.
“Scott Morrison must not hold the rest of the world back from climate action just to suit his domestic climate denial.
“If we don’t do more by 2030, we won’t stop the climate crisis. The rest of the world gets that and they’re urging countries like Australia, Russia and Saudi Arabia to do more.
“Instead of trying to fudge the science and rip clauses out of the Glasgow agreement, Scott Morrison should sign on to the agreement and lift Australia’s 2030 targets, like the US and UK have done.”
“Removing clauses that recall nations who fail to increase 2030 ambitions may appease the coal and gas corporations in the lead up to the 2022 election, but it gives cover for other recalcitrant petrostates to join Australia’s lead and refuse to act.
“We’re in a critical decade for climate action and the rest of the world is no longer distracted by the Liberals’ accounting tricks. The only action that will count is urgently phasing out coal, oil and gas, the main causes of the climate crisis.
“This draft communique recognises the urgency from the latest IPCC report. Pushing back action to later decades is as dangerous as climate denial.”
Police violence is a national crisis, say Greens
Gomeroi man, Stanley Russell, a father, was shot dead by NSW police. His brother, Eddie Russell, died in police custody in 1999. “Violence against First Nations people is a national crisis and the Morrison Government is doing nothing about it,” said Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.
Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations, Senator Lidia Thorpe said:
“This is colonial violence. This is the continuation of the genocidal project that started in 1788. Over 470 people have died since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and we’re still waiting for true accountability. Is the system broken, or working according to its design?
“The police are supposed to protect people, not kill them. Why does being around the police have fatal consequences for First Nations people? My heart aches for this family. The police have a duty of care and that has been completely ignored for this family.
“We’ve had the solutions to end deaths in custody for over 30 years. The Morrison Government needs to work with the families of people who have died in police custody and implement all of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. How many more of us need to die?
“The Greens have listened to the families and we are joining their call for a national ban on spit hoods and lethal choke holds, greater transparency in reporting deaths in custody and more funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services and their peak bodies.
“As a matter of national urgency, we’re also calling for the full implementation of an independent prison oversight system under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). Without independent monitoring of places of detention, more First Nations people will die in custody.
“OPCAT is a critical instrument of international human rights law. It needs to be culturally safe, properly resourced and nationally consistent. The Liberal party signed onto it in 2017, and since then have done the bare minimum and called it progress.
“Everyone has the right to be treated fairly, no matter where they are. Humane treatment in police custody cannot be a game of chance. Every person in this country deserves to be treated with dignity and be free from torture. Always.” Said Thorpe.
The Office of Senator Thorpe has asked for permission from the family to speak on this, and use their names.
David Shoebridge, Greens NSW MP said:
“Deaths in custody are not an accident, they are the result of a criminal justice system that is designed to be dangerous, often lethal, for First Nations people.
“Recurring deaths in custody send renewed waves of pain and hurt across communities. It never seems to have an end.“This is a national crisis that many political leaders refuse to recognise, because those that pay the cost are not the people they are in power to represent.
“Indifference, platitudes and empty gestures from politicians allow these killings to continue, and it’s well past time they were held to account for their inaction,” Said Shoebridge.