Category: Australian News

Another 47 communities will take up the challenge of fighting drugs and alcohol in their midst, after being accepted for inclusion in the Australian Government’s innovative Local Drug Action Team (LDAT) program.
The 47 new LDATs bring the total number of active community teams across the nation to a record 280.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) operates the program for the Government.
The LDAT program emphasises building protective factors in the community. Many of the teams are focused on working with vulnerable groups in their communities to prevent alcohol and drugs misuse, including crystal methamphetamine or ice.
The new community LDATs will each receive $10,000 upfront to help them through the initial phase. During this phase, a member of the ADF will assist them with setting up, undertaking community consultation, and developing a Community Action Plan tailored to their local alcohol and other drug issues.
When this phase is completed, the LDATs can apply for further funding to support delivery of their action plans.
The LDAT Program recognises that every community is different. Its expansion is very positive news, as more communities are joining together to give their people the resources to reduce the misuse of alcohol and other drugs in their communities.
The Government has committed more than $29 million to the LDAT program since it began in 2016-17, as part of the $450 million National Ice Action Strategy.
As part of the 2021/22 Budget, the Government also committed $ 5.9 million to continue the Good Sports Program, which complements LDAT activities.
Good Sports helps community sporting clubs to develop policies on alcohol and other drugs, to reduce their impact on club members and the wider community.
This funding will expand Good Sports to another 400 clubs and support the new consolidated digital delivery platform to improve its efficiency and availability. More than 10,000 clubs are already engaged in the Good Sports program.
LDATs deliver evidence-based information, education and mentoring programs to prevent and minimise the risk of harms related to alcohol and other drugs. A wide range of other grassroots activities may be undertaken to allow people to connect, engage, empower and support each other.
This approach has proven to be successful in heading off the harm that drugs and alcohol misuse bring to individuals, families and across the community.
LDATs are formed from partnerships that can include local government, community groups, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisations, business associations, police, schools, local Primary Health Networks, and other interested not-for-profit organisations.
Organisations that have not been accepted into the LDAT program can deliver alcohol and other drug prevention initiatives in their local area using free resources available on the Alcohol and Drug Foundation website at https://community.adf.org.au/.

Yet another COVID-19 outbreak from hotel quarantine has plunged a state into lockdown. Yet another COVID-19 outbreak from hotel quarantine has closed state borders.
The risk to the health and livelihood of Australians has not gone away, and the Morrison Government must get their act together and treat this pandemic with the urgency it deserves.
But because of their complacency, we’ve seen another outbreak stem from hotel quarantine. If Scott Morrison had built a fit-for-purpose national quarantine system – a responsibility that sits squarely with the Prime Minister – then this outbreak would not have happened.
Some of the people at the centre of this current outbreak were eligible for the vaccine. If the Morrison Government hadn’t botched our vaccine rollout, those people would have been vaccinated by now.
Australians want a clear plan for the future – a plan that gives them clarity and certainty.
It’s now clear for everyone to see that Scott Morrison doesn’t have a plan to beat COVID-19. But we do.
If I were Prime Minister, an Albanese Labor Government would:

1. Build new quarantine facilities and expand existing facilities in every state and territory – because it’s time to end the blame game and be a true partner with the states and territories.
2. Fix the vaccine rollout and expand mobile and mass vaccination clinics to get as many Australians vaccinated as quickly as possible. We would stop the excuses and get everyone who lives and works in aged or disability care vaccinated. We have the doses and we know where they are. There’s simply no excuse for the delay.
3. Start a mass public information campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated, and start a process for considering incentives to achieve that aim.
4. Begin manufacturing mRNA vaccines, like Pfizer, right here in Australia. This virus isn’t going away and when it comes to beating it, we need to be able to stand on our own two feet.

The Greens have called on the PM to drop the veil of secrecy and release the review by Stephanie Foster into processes for responding to serious incidents at Parliament House.
Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson on women Senator Larissa Waters said: 
“The Prime Minister’s description of what Ms Foster has recommended seems positive, but forgive me for not taking the PM’s word for it given his appalling track record on women’s equality and safety.
“The Prime Minister must release the Foster review. He must say whether he will act on her recommendations, on what timeframe, and with what resourcing.
“An independent complaints body is long overdue and has been called for by Brittany Higgins, and by many others including the Greens for many years.
“Important questions need answering which Ms Foster was unable to answer in senate estimates today.
“The Prime Minister must answer if and how the complaints body will be able to sanction MPs, given the gaping holes in existing processes, and given the Prime Minister’s track record of keeping alleged abusers within Cabinet.
“The Prime Minister must say if the recommended independent complaints body would be retrospective, and if workplace safety training would be compulsory for MPs.
“We know from Senate Estimates yesterday that policies for dealing with serious incidents have not been updated since Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape more than two years ago. It’s an astounding failure.
“After months of revelations of vile, abusive and misogynistic behaviour in this building the women who work in Parliament House can wait no longer for the PM to face up to his responsibilities and ensure a safe workplace for all.”

The Greens have today warned that the ongoing crisis in the Queensland energy market is a sign of things to come if we continue to rely on an aging coal fleet to keep the grid secure.
It has been reported that the fire at the Callide Power Station left over 470,000 homes and businesses without power, and the market operator was forced to issue a Level 2 Lack of Reserve notice at 4:44pm to manage the risk of further rolling blackouts.
CS Energy, the operator of Callide Power Station (and joint owner of Callide C with multinational InterGen), has announced this morning that one of their generating units may be out for up to 12 months, and are yet to confirm a timeframe for when the three remaining generating units will come back online
These events come at a critical juncture, with Minister Taylor having used his speech at the 2021 Australian Energy Week Conference on Tuesday to spruik a “physical retailer reliability obligation”, a scheme that would force electricity users to pay coal fired power stations for their available capacity.
“The Greens are relieved by the news that no-one was harmed by the fire at Callide Power Station”, said Adam Bandt, Leader of the Australian Greens
“However, Tuesday’s events make clear that we cannot rely on coal-fired power stations to keep the lights on while we transition to a zero emissions electricity grid.”
“It’s no surprise that 24 hours since the fire began, the Energy Minister is nowhere to be seen. The Liberals’ lie that coal is required for grid stability is unravelling before their eyes.
“Minister Taylor is trying to smuggle in a new scheme that would force households and business to subsidise our aging coal-fired power stations under the banner of ‘reliability’.
“With Australia’s increasingly unreliable coal-fired power station fleet, now is the time to press the accelerator on the renewables and batteries revolution
“Minister Taylor must now front the media and make clear how his new reliability scheme, which would push up bills for households and businesses, would supposedly prevent events like Tuesday’s coal-fired power outage from happening.

The Australian Government is increasing its efforts to promote cancer screenings to support and improve outcomes for all Australians, including $9.7 million for a new National Bowel Cancer Screening Program awareness campaign.
The campaign will aim to increase the numbers of Australians taking their free bowel cancer test and will focus on men aged 50 to 59 years, people living in regional and remote Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and individuals from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities.
Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia and is more common in people over the age of 50. Each year, more than 15,000 cases are diagnosed and more than 5,000 lives are lost to bowel cancer.
When detected early, however, the great majority (around 90%) of bowel cancers can be successfully treated.
Bowel cancer is one of the types of cancer targeted by Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, Cancer Council Australia’s flagship event.
In 2020, the Biggest Morning Tea was hit hard by COVID-19. I encourage everyone to hold a morning tea or take part in one this year, in a COVID safe way.
Cancer Council Australia does fantastic work raising funds for research, funding prevention initiatives, communicating about cancer prevention and screening, and most importantly, providing support to people diagnosed with cancer.
Our Government is increasing its efforts on cancer screening to help more Australians to get early treatment and beat the disease.
As part of the 2021-22 Budget we announced a number of measures to support our already strong national cancer screening programs, including:

• more than $100 million to improve early detection of breast and cervical cancer, which includes $67 million to continue the expansion of BreastScreen Australia’s mammogram services to women aged 70 to74 years.
• $6.9 million in 2021-22 to establish the feasibility of a new national lung cancer program, and to trial new cancer care nurses for lung cancer patients; and
• $32.8 million with the aim of eliminating cervical cancer in Australia by 2035, through the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP).

Last month, we also held a Ministerial Roundtable with Cancer Australia, the first step in the development of a visionary ten-year Australian Cancer Plan.
The Plan will set out the key national priorities and action areas over the next 10 years to improve outcomes for Australian’s affected by cancer. It will also cover prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, while providing for the unique needs of specific cancer types and populations.
These initiatives consolidate Australia as a world leader in the early detection of cancer.

The Australian Government is releasing an additional 130,000 vaccines to support Victoria to accelerate vaccinations in the state, including in the Whittlesea Local Government Area.
This support will be provided through an immediate release of 40,000 doses this week and an additional 15,000 doses each week for six weeks.
Further, from Monday, the Altona North Commonwealth Vaccination Clinic will commence vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine, this is in addition to the AstraZeneca vaccine they are currently administering.
All 16 residential aged care facilities in the Whittlesea Local Government Area are fully vaccinated.
In the surrounding Local Government Areas of Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Moreland and Nillumbik, 66 of the 67 residential aged care facilities have received at least one dose with the final residential aged care facility in these Local Government Area’s to receive their first dose clinic this week.
There are 598 residential aged care facilities in Victoria. 569 facilities have received a first dose clinic, with 361 fully vaccinated with both doses. The remaining 29 facilities will be prioritised.
The Government will provide further support as required to help Victoria to respond to this outbreak.

Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called on the Morrison government to reject United States strategic military ambitions in Northern Australia.
Senator Steele-John said the strategic ambitions of the United States would clearly put Australia on a pathway to hosting nuclear-capable weapons that is at odds with our commitments to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone Treaty of Raratonga (SPNFZ) and article 6 of the United Nations Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
“This is a very serious escalation by the United States and Australia must not be drawn into it,” Senator Steele-John said.
“Over the last decade we’ve seen a significant build up of United States military in the Northern Territory starting with the Marine Rotational Force in 2011, followed in late 2019 by commitments to store fuel reserves and extend the runway at RAAF Base Tindall in Darwin to accept B-52 Bombers.
“Now we are seeing the next phase of this build up with the United States announcing their wish to build and store precision-guided missiles here in Australia’s top end.
“The Northern Territory community has very clearly said that they do not accept the ongoing rotation of US troops through the top end, nor the build up of US military equipment at RAAF Base Tindall.
“The aspirations of the US government, announced last night by Ambassador Goldman, clearly contravene not only Australia’s nuclear non-proliferation treaty commitments but also the wishes of the Australian public.
“The ball is now in court of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to state clearly that Australia will not be the Un

Ahead of National Sorry Day, the Greens today called on the Federal Coalition Government to establish a national compensation scheme for the survivors of the Stolen Generations.

It has now been 24 years since the Bringing Them Home report recommended that a National Compensation Fund be established to adequately compensate survivors – estimated at 17,150 people — of the Stolen Generations for the harm inflicted on them by successive Australian Governments.
Since then, successive Federal Governments have ruled out their support for a nationally consistent compensation scheme. However, various piecemeal state-based schemes have been established in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania, South Australia and WA – and more recently, Victoria. Survivors in the Northern Territory are currently suing the Commonwealth for adequate compensation.
The Greens’ plan for a nationally consistent scheme will provide survivors with compensation that more accurately reflects the enormous harm they experienced.
The Greens’ plan would compensate each survivor with a $200,000 lump-sum payment to support them and their families in life-changing ways, as they continue to heal, as well as a one-off ex gratia payment of $7,000 to each survivor for funeral expenses.
The Greens will also provide a separate, secondary package to support the emotional and mental health needs of survivors and their families as they continue to heal from the appalling trauma of being stolen from their families by Australian Governments and their agencies.
In 2018, while a Victorian Greens MP, Senator Thorpe called on the Victorian Labor Government to implement a state-based compensation scheme, as the last state to do so. In March this year, the state Labor Government finally committed to implementing a state-based scheme.
In solidarity with the survivors of the Stolen Generations and their families, at and at every level of Government, the Greens will continue to lead the way in the fight for First Nations Justice.
Comments attributable to Australian Greens First Nations spokesperson Senator Lidia Thorpe:
“The Stolen Generation are getting older, and we’re running out of time to deliver justice.”
“This is about justice, truth-telling, and healing.
“They took our children to break our society. No Government has ever brought peace to the people of the Stolen Generation.
“It’s time to reparate. We need to break the cycle and stop the trauma.”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt says the Prime Minister must instruct his Health Minister to stop giving mixed messages on vaccines that could delay the national rollout.
“Comments today by Greg Hunt could lead people to think they should wait a few months to pick another option, undermining the central message of the vaccine rollout,” said Mr Bandt.
“Winter is coming, the spectre of further COVID outbreaks is real and the Morrison government hasn’t built large-scale remote quarantine facilities, so the message must be to get vaccinated now, not to think about waiting a few months.”
“The Minister is giving mixed messages. Saying ‘why not wait a bit’ encourages vaccine hesitancy.”
“The Prime Minister and Minister Hunt must immediately show support for all of the vaccines approved by independent health authorities and cease up-selling brands that are yet to arrive in sufficient quantities.
“The PM should also pick up the phone to the TV networks and ask them to constantly run the vaccine numbers on their screens, like in the UK. Australia needs a big advertising campaign encouraging people to get vaccinated.”
“The UK has a high vaccination rate and a big advertising campaign, but Australia has a Health Minister telling people to wait a few months.
“Scott Morrison’s political decision to avoid responsibility for the vaccine rollout is undermining its success. He should be fronting the cameras every day urging people to get the jab as part of a high volume, high visibility information campaign.”
Greens spokesperson on Health Senator Rachel Siewert said: 
Morrison is failing Australian in his laissez-faire approach to addressing vaccine hesitancy
The Government is treading water, hoping on a wing and a prayer that people in the community will just come out and get vaccinated.
There is clearly a lack of confidence in how the Government is managing the vaccine rollout and we urgently need a national strategy to boost vaccine uptake that includes reminders,  and targeted messaging to specific cohorts addressing their concerns. Doing nothing is not an option.
A public health campaign that reaches people who are vaccine hesitant is absolutely urgent.
We have run very successful public health campaigns here in Australia like encouraging seatbelts, anti-smoking and anti HIV/Aids stigma.
The polio vaccine changed the lives of a generation of Australians because of strong public health campaigns and messaging.
The Morrison Government doesn’t have a timeline for fully vaccinating a certain percentage of the adult population. Without a target, we don’t have a plan to re-open borders and bring stranded Australians back home.