Category: Australian News

Greens Spokesperson for Communications and Media Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Government’s announcement of $5 million in funding to save newswire service AAP.
Senator Hanson-Young said:
“Earlier this week, I called on the Government to ensure the survival of AAP as they consider options for protecting public interest journalism through the ACCC News Media Code. I am glad that after months of uncertainty, the Government has finally come to the table with the support AAP needs.”
“AAP is key media infrastructure that helps new players into the market and diversity across Australia’s media landscape. Allowing AAP to collapse would entrench the power of big media companies, NewsCorp and Nine and lock out smaller and new players in the industry.”
“The current pandemic has shown us how important it is to have local and regional news. AAP is an essential part of making sure that all Australian communities have access to local news.”
“While today’s announcement has secured AAP’s short term future and will assist AAP’s transition to it’s new not-for-profit model, the newswire service may require the further government support in the future. I urge the Government to consider recurrent funding to ensure the viability of the of AAP so it can continue to play an essential role in ensuring that Australia has a strong and diverse public interest journalism industry.
“Another essential component of the Australian news industry is the ABC. To protect public interest journalism in Australia, I call on the Government to stop their relentless attacks on our national broadcaster and include the ABC and SBS in the upcoming legislation for the ACCC News Media Code.”

The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s COVID-19 response, recent progress following the Victorian outbreak, easing restrictions (including international border measures), helping Australians prepare to go back to work in a COVID-safe environment and getting the economy moving again.
National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions to the health and economic consequences of COVID-19. Australia has done well on both the health and economic fronts compared to most countries around the world.
The Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, provided an update on the latest epidemiological data and medical advice in relation to COVID-19.
There have been more than 26,800 confirmed cases in Australia and sadly 837 people have died.
Following Victoria’s second wave, there are now around 1,100 active cases in Australia, a decrease from 2,500 cases two weeks ago. In Victoria, infection rates continue to decline in a positive sign, while daily infection rates have remained low in all other states and territories. Some differences have emerged in testing rates between states and territories, and National Cabinet agreed the importance of enhancing testing. More than 7.2 million tests have been undertaken in Australia.
National Cabinet reaffirmed a suppression strategy for COVID-19 with the goal of no community transmission. Seven of Australia’s eight states and territories are successfully suppressing COVID-19, enabling most Australians in those jurisdictions to live and work in a COVID-safe economy.
National Cabinet recommitted to providing all necessary support to Victoria.
National Cabinet welcomed the Commonwealth’s $2 billion extension of the COVID-19 Health Measures package to support Medicare-subsidised telehealth and pathology services, GP-led respiratory clinics, home medicines delivery, public and private hospital services, as well as further investments in PPE. To date, over 30 million telehealth consultations have been delivered, with mental health telehealth consultations a priority. Telehealth services will be extended to 31 March 2021.
National Cabinet will meet again on Friday 16 October 2020.
ADF Support
National Cabinet welcomed an update from Lieutenant General John Frewen DSC AM, Head of the Defence COVID-19 Taskforce, on the contribution of the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force to the national pandemic response, particularly relating to Defence’s support to the states and territories.
As at 17 September 2020, there were 3,241 Defence personnel directly supporting Operation COVID ASSIST and contributing to the Commonwealth’s whole-of-government efforts. This included 1,306 personnel in Victoria, 736 personnel in New South Wales, 586 personnel in Queensland, 163 personnel in Western Australia, 152 personnel in South Australia and 128 personnel in the Northern Territory.
Full details of Defence’s contribution is provided in the attached chart.
Australians returning home
National Cabinet noted that there are a significant number of Australians wishing to return home from overseas, with the Commonwealth having taken steps recently to provide further support for those facing personal hardship.
National Cabinet agreed that all jurisdictions would continue to work towards enabling more Australians to return home by increasing the current caps on international passenger arrivals.
New South Wales and South Australia will continue to implement existing plans to accommodate more returning Australians by increasing their current international passenger arrival caps by Monday 28 September 2020 by 500 and 100 respectively.
Queensland and Western Australia will adopt a two-stage increase in their international passenger arrival caps over the next three weeks that will see an additional 500 Australians returning through each jurisdiction each week. Queensland will commence with an additional 200 passengers from Monday 28 September 2020, increasing to 500 passengers from Monday 5 October 2020. Western Australia will commence with an additional 200 passengers from Monday 28 September, increasing to 500 passengers from Monday 12 October 2020.
National Cabinet also agreed that any facilitation of special commercial services would be carried out through the jurisdictions of South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.
Contact tracing by domestic airlines
National Cabinet noted that domestic airlines will progressively implement four mandatory contact tracing data fields (name, email address, mobile phone number and state of residence) from 1 October 2020 on a mandatory basis during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be implemented by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications in-conjunction with domestic airlines.
Coordinating contact tracing efforts and quarantine arrangements
National Cabinet welcomed the review by Dr Alan Finkel AO and Commodore Mark Hill CSC on the lessons learned from the visit to Health NSW by Commonwealth and Victorian officials.
National Cabinet agreed to a review of systems and operations in all jurisdictions to strengthen capacity and capability to effectively track, trace and isolate COVID-19. Further, National Cabinet agreed to commission a report by Dr Finkel to enable jurisdictions to exchange case and outbreak management data to enhance the management of outbreaks nationally.
National Cabinet received an update from Jane Halton AO PSM on the review of state and territory hotel quarantine systems. Australia’s hotel quarantine system has performed well across most jurisdictions and Jane Halton’s work will provide useful guidance on improvements for state and territory governments.
Agriculture Workers Code
National Cabinet noted progress with implementation of the Agriculture Workers Code, which is on track to be implemented by Victoria, NSW, ACT and the Northern Territory by at least 25 September 2020 as provided for in the Code.
Rural and Regional National Cabinet Reform Committee
National Cabinet commissioned the new Rural and Regional National Cabinet Reform Committee. As a first tranche, the Committee will focus on developing a shared understanding of the quantum, status and impact of existing investments by governments in rural and regional communities and, by the end of 2020 provide advice to National Cabinet on options to improve the delivery of existing investments to support Australia’s COVID-19 economic recovery through strong and sustainable rural and regional communities.
Aged Care
National Cabinet noted progress on joint actions underway to meet the commitments it made on 21 August 2020 to boost aged care preparedness at the provider, local, state and national level.
National Cabinet noted that while all states and territories are considered to have good existing emergency response capabilities and are on track with establishing and/or scaling up virtual or physical Response Centres, further practical actions will be undertaken to ensure a high level of preparedness.
The Commonwealth will continue to work with the states and territories, including through the development of resources, to support the operation of response centres.
On 7 September 2020, AHPPC endorsed advice from its Aged Care Advisory Group that each state and territory should establish emergency response centres.
Within each jurisdictions’ public health response structure, a dedicated aged care emergency response team has been established and key personnel identified at the state and Commonwealth level.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is completing an infection control site visit program as part of its COVID-19 regulatory activity. As at 11 September 2020, the Commission has undertaken 673 visits relating to infection control out of a total 2,720 Residential aged care Facilities (RACF) (25 per cent). These visits are sequenced based on a risk assessment such that those visits represent those considered to be highest risk facilities. In total nationally, 2,446 visits to RACFs have been undertaken by the Commission, the Australian Defence Force, AUSMAT and state and territory governments.
Income tax exemption for small and medium business grants
The Commonwealth and Victoria have reached an agreement to make the grants to small and medium business recently announced under Victoria’s Business Resilience Package exempt from income tax. This recognises the exceptional circumstances Victorian businesses face.
The Commonwealth will extend this arrangement to all States and Territories on an application basis. Eligibility would be restricted to future grants program announcements for small and medium businesses facing similar circumstances to Victorian businesses. Any tax exemption would be time limited for grants paid until 30 June 2021.
AHPPC Advice on Boarding School Students
National Cabinet agreed to a new AHPPC Statement on Boarding Students and Students Living in Border Zones, which supports all jurisdictions adopting appropriate risk-based approaches (such as the Queensland approach) to ensure boarding students can cross borders and safely return home to their families during school holidays.

Millions of Australians will continue to receive medical care and support in their own homes with the Morrison Government investing more than $2 billion to extend a range of COVID-19 health measures for a further six months, to 31 March 2021.
Medicare-subsidised telehealth and pathology services, GP-led respiratory clinics, home medicines delivery, public and private hospital services will all be extended, as well as further investments in PPE.
These health initiatives play a major role in detecting, preventing and treating COVID-19.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the $2 billion extension in funding brought the Government’s commitment for the COVID-19 health response to more than $16.5 billion since March 2020.
“We will continue to provide Australians with critical health care and support to protect both lives and livelihoods,” the Prime Minister said.
“By providing telehealth and home delivery medicine services we are reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the community while also supporting people in isolation to get the care they need.
“Importantly this also includes mental health services, delivered over the phone, by trained specialists and GPs.
“As we continue to suppress COVID-19 while continuing to open our economy up, Australians can be reassured that we have the world’s best medical support in place to protect their health.”
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said “Our Governments response to the pandemic brought forward a 10 year plan on telehealth within 10 days.”
“As a consequence, over 30 million consultations protected the health and wellbeing of Australians, and protected our health workers and the viability of their practices.”
Patients will continue to have access to Medicare-subsidised telehealth for general practitioner, nursing, midwifery, allied health and allied mental health services, where and when they need them.
Telehealth is also being extended for essential specialist services, such as consultant physician, geriatrician, and neurosurgery services. Bulk billing will continue to be available and regular billing practices will apply to all of these services.
Up to 150 GP-led respiratory clinics across the country, which complement state run fever clinics, will continue their pivotal role in testing. Patients will continue to have access to bulk-billed COVID-19 tests under Medicare, with aged care residents and staff getting priority access to rapid testing.
Medicare-subsidised pathology and testing at the point of care will continue in 86 rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. This enables early identification of cases and rapid response if COVID-19 is detected in these highly vulnerable communities.
Eligible people will continue to get free home delivery of essential medicines by their local pharmacist. The Home Medicines Service has already delivered more than one million medicines to patients’ homes at no additional cost to patients.
Our support for states and territories continues, with the historic National Partnership Agreement ensuring the public health system is prepared and the public and private hospital systems are fully resourced and able to respond rapidly to any outbreak.
As an example, this agreement has enabled the transfer of more than 480 aged care residents to private hospitals and deployed clinical and nursing staff to assist in aged care during Victoria’s second wave.
The National Coronavirus Helpline will continue to operate around the clock providing important advice.
The expert Australian Health Protection Principal Committee recognises that future outbreaks will occur. The ongoing health response must be maintained to protect the health of Australians.

Millions of Australians will continue to receive medical care and support in their own homes with the Morrison Government investing more than $2 billion to extend a range of COVID-19 health measures for a further six months, to 31 March 2021.
Medicare-subsidised telehealth and pathology services, GP-led respiratory clinics, home medicines delivery, public and private hospital services will all be extended, as well as further investments in PPE.
These health initiatives play a major role in detecting, preventing and treating COVID-19.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the $2 billion extension in funding brought the Government’s commitment for the COVID-19 health response to more than $16.5 billion since March 2020.
“We will continue to provide Australians with critical health care and support to protect both lives and livelihoods,” the Prime Minister said.
“By providing telehealth and home delivery medicine services we are reducing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the community while also supporting people in isolation to get the care they need.
“Importantly this also includes mental health services, delivered over the phone, by trained specialists and GPs.
“As we continue to suppress COVID-19 while continuing to open our economy up, Australians can be reassured that we have the world’s best medical support in place to protect their health.”
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said “Our Governments response to the pandemic brought forward a 10 year plan on telehealth within 10 days.”
“As a consequence, over 30 million consultations protected the health and wellbeing of Australians, and protected our health workers and the viability of their practices.”
Patients will continue to have access to Medicare-subsidised telehealth for general practitioner, nursing, midwifery, allied health and allied mental health services, where and when they need them.
Telehealth is also being extended for essential specialist services, such as consultant physician, geriatrician, and neurosurgery services. Bulk billing will continue to be available and regular billing practices will apply to all of these services.
Up to 150 GP-led respiratory clinics across the country, which complement state run fever clinics, will continue their pivotal role in testing. Patients will continue to have access to bulk-billed COVID-19 tests under Medicare, with aged care residents and staff getting priority access to rapid testing.
Medicare-subsidised pathology and testing at the point of care will continue in 86 rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. This enables early identification of cases and rapid response if COVID-19 is detected in these highly vulnerable communities.
Eligible people will continue to get free home delivery of essential medicines by their local pharmacist. The Home Medicines Service has already delivered more than one million medicines to patients’ homes at no additional cost to patients.
Our support for states and territories continues, with the historic National Partnership Agreement ensuring the public health system is prepared and the public and private hospital systems are fully resourced and able to respond rapidly to any outbreak.
As an example, this agreement has enabled the transfer of more than 480 aged care residents to private hospitals and deployed clinical and nursing staff to assist in aged care during Victoria’s second wave.
The National Coronavirus Helpline will continue to operate around the clock providing important advice.
The expert Australian Health Protection Principal Committee recognises that future outbreaks will occur. The ongoing health response must be maintained to protect the health of Australians.

Australian Greens Disability Rights and Services spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has labelled reports that the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission has fined just one provider, despite receiving more than 8000 complaints, as deeply concerning but not surprising.
“As a disabled person, as a disability advocate, it speaks to the systemic and endemic nature of the violence and abuse we have been screaming about for decades, and the abject failure of the commission to act.
“This report is particularly concerning to me because we know that those 8000 complaints are still just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect that is occuring.
“There are many people who, because of their disability or circumstances, physically cannot use the safeguard system to report. You’ve got to be able to pick up the phone, do it in a safe way, and if you’re hearing impaired, visually impaired or have a physical mobility issue that’s not an option to you.
“It should not have taken the murder of Ann Marie Smith for the Commission to take action against a single provider. I shudder to think about the number of people who are in similar situations around the country with no avenue for justice.
“These systems are supposed to protect disabled people and hold perpetrators to account. They are failing.”

Health professionals in drought and bushfire-affected rural communities have access to extra resources to help them deal with the mental health fallout from these events.
CRANAplus, the peak professional body for Australia’s remote and isolated health workforce, has received Commonwealth funding to provide a suite of webinars, podcasts, and tailor-made workshops for those working on the frontline, to keep themselves and their communities resilient.
Federal Regional Health Minister, Mark Coulton said nurses are the lifeblood of rural areas, responding to complex health needs away from major hospitals and needed support to carry out this vital role.
“We cannot overstate the important role our remote nursing workforce has in helping their local communities get through these tough times,” Minister Coulton said.
“The CRANAplus mental health training workshops are unique and tailored to the specific needs of clinicians in a particular community to help build long-term resilience in our rural and remote health workforce.
“With the summer months fast approaching, it is important to prepare for the upcoming bushfire season by ensuring our health professionals are well supported to respond and help rural communities who might face additional challenges in the months ahead.”
Minister Coulton said Nursing in the Community Week (14-20 September) provided an opportunity to thank all rural and remote nurses who continuously put their heart and soul into caring for communities, especially this year as we face the additional challenge of managing COVID-19.
“I want to thank all the nurses who often go above and beyond the call of duty to care for rural and remote communities, this year has already been particularly challenging for rural Australia,” Minister Coulton said.
CRANAplus CEO, Katherine Isbister said many rural communities have dealt with years of drought, compounded by last summer’s devastating bushfires and now COVID-19.
“Our primary health clinicians are starting to see an increase in complex, trauma-related mental health presentations linked to these events, and we need to support them to continue caring for their communities,” Ms Isbister said.
“In many cases, our rural and remote health professionals have been through the same traumas and challenges as their patients and they haven’t had a break to be able to look after their own wellbeing”
CRANAplus Psychologist, Cath Walker said the free resources were developed in conjunction with experts in the field of disaster recovery and mental health, and can be accessed via the CRANAplus website.
Ms Walker said consultations with clinicians in remote and rural communities have led to training content being developed across four key areas:

• Effects of disaster, long term stress, common reactions and helpful responses.
• Potential for secondary trauma and burnout in health professionals and other carers.
• Resilience and self-care strategies to reduce the potential long-term effect on personal health and wellbeing.
• Increasing confidence with conversation about mental health using basic listening, counselling and communication skills.

“The prolonged disaster-related stress being experienced by some of our rural and remote communities is placing significant pressure on isolated clinicians, who may not have had mental health training, particularly when community members are unable to travel to access specialist mental health care, so it’s vital to provide tools to help the helpers,” Ms Walker said.
Minister Coulton said the Federal Government’s investment totalled more than $13 million over three years to CRANAplus to provide remote health professionals, including community nurses, with access to training, professional services and mental health support.
This builds on existing support available to provide trauma-informed care and mental health first aid training to frontline healthcare and emergency workers, under the Australian Government’s $76 million Supporting the Mental Health of Australians Affected by Bushfires package.
Health professionals in areas affected by drought and/or bushfires interested in a having a local mental health training workshop can contact National Project Manager Kristy Hill at kristy@crana.org.au or visit crana.org.au to access the free resources.
“This initiative complements our existing CRANAplus Bush Support Services 24/7 toll-free support line, 1800 805 391, for rural and remote health professionals and their families,” Ms Isbister said.

The Morrison Government is investing in new and emerging technologies that will support jobs, strengthen our economy and reduce emissions.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the $1.9 billion investment package in future technologies to lower emissions would back jobs now and into the future, cut costs for households and improve the reliability of our energy supply.
The Prime Minister said the Government is supporting the next generation of energy technologies with an extra $1.62 billion for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to invest, as well as expanding the focus of ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to back new technologies that will cut emissions in agriculture, manufacturing, industry and transport.
“Our JobMaker plan is about protecting and creating the jobs of today and positioning Australia for the jobs of the future, which is why our investment in new technologies is so crucial,” the Prime Minister said.
“Australia is in the midst of a world-leading boom in renewable energy with over $30 billion invested since 2017. Solar panels and wind farms are now clearly commercially viable and have graduated from the need for government subsidies and the market has stepped up to invest.
“The Government will now focus its efforts on the next challenge: unlocking new technologies across the economy to help drive down costs, create jobs, improve reliability and reduce emissions. This will support our traditional industries – manufacturing, agriculture, transport – while positioning our economy for the future.
“These investments create jobs and they bring new technologies into play. This will not only cut emissions, but deliver the reliable energy Australia needs while driving down prices for homes and businesses.”
The new package also invests in a range of promising low-emissions, reliable new technology advancements including:

• Supporting businesses in the agriculture, manufacturing, industrial and transport sectors to adopt technologies that increase productivity and reduce emissions through a new $95.4 million Technology Co-Investment Fund that was recommended by the King Review
• Piloting carbon capture projects that will dramatically help cut emissions with a $50 million investment in the Carbon Capture Use and Storage Development Fund
• Helping businesses and regional communities take advantage of opportunities offered by hydrogen, electric, and bio-fuelled vehicles with a new $74.5 million Future Fuels Fund
• Setting up a hydrogen export hub worth $70.2 million to scale-up demand and take advantage of the advancements in this low emissions, high powered source of energy
• Backing new microgrids in regional and remote communities to deliver affordable, reliable power with $67 million
• Contributing $52.2 million to increase the energy productivity of homes and businesses, including a sector specific grant program for hotels supporting equipment and facilities upgrades
• Slashing the time taken to develop new Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) methods from 24 months or more to less than 12 months, involving industry in a co-design process and implementing other recommendations from the King Review into the ERF, worth $24.6 million
• Boosting energy and emissions data and cyber-security reporting and supporting the delivery of future Low Emissions Technology Statements under the Technology Investment Roadmap process, as well as developing an offshore clean energy project development framework, together worth $40.2 million

Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said getting the next generation of energy technologies right would not only help to keep prices low and the lights on, but would importantly grow jobs, strengthen the economy and reduce emissions.
“We will reduce the cost of new and emerging technologies, not raise the cost of existing technologies or layer in new costs to consumers and businesses through mandated targets or subsidies,” Minister Taylor said.
“The Government recognises the strong growth in emerging energy technologies that will play a role in Australia’s energy mix into the future. We need to get the balance right and our investment to re-energise ARENA will deliver that.
“ARENA has played an important role in this growth, and as the cost of renewable technologies has fallen dramatically, the Government is investing in the future of ARENA to support the next generation of energy technologies.”
The Government’s emissions reduction strategy is focussed on technology not taxes. An approach that doesn’t compromise energy affordability or reliability will be more important than ever as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government will provide ARENA with guaranteed baseline funding of $1.43 billion over 10 years. ARENA’s baseline funding will be supplemented in two ways:

• Together with the Clean Energy Regulator, ARENA will be approved to deploy a portion of the $2 billion Climate Solutions Fund; and
• ARENA will also become a clean technology grants hub for future initiatives, with a new $193.4 million provided to deploy targeted programs.

The Boards of ARENA and CEFC will continue to be accountable for individual investment decisions. The Government will introduce new legislation so both agencies can support new and emerging low emissions technologies (including zero and negative emissions technologies). That ensures they will be able to support critical technologies such as soil‑carbon sequestration, carbon capture and storage, production of green-steel, and industrial processes to reduce energy consumption.
This package will contribute to Australia’s continued success in meeting and beating our emissions reduction targets. Australia beat its Kyoto-era targets by up to 430 million tonnes and the Government is on track to meet and beat our 2030 Paris target.
As a nation, Australia has done far better than similar export-oriented countries with emissions now 14.3 per cent below 2005 levels. This is an achievement all Australians can be proud of.
Early-stage investment is a proven method to accelerate the development of new and emerging technologies. The Technology Investment Roadmap will provide a strategic framework to prioritise the Government’s investments.

The OECD has upgraded Australia’s economic growth outlook for 2020 in its latest Interim Economic Outlook Report despite the global economy being hit by “an unprecedented sudden shock in modern times” as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
According to the OECD, global GDP will contract by 4½ per cent in 2020 before picking up by 5 per cent in 2021, as the world deals with the economic fallout from the coronavirus. To put this in context, global growth fell just 0.1 per cent in 2009 during the Global Financial Crisis.
Economic growth in Australia is projected by the OECD to fall by 4.1 per cent in 2020, representing an improvement of 0.9 percentage points compared to the OECD Economic Outlook from June.
Australia’s economic outlook compares remarkably well to other nations with the United Kingdom forecast to contract 10.1 per cent, Italy 10.5 per cent, France 9.5 per cent, Canada 5.8 per cent and Germany 5.4 per cent.
The OECD also sends a warning that “localised lockdowns, border closures and new restrictions being imposed in some countries to tackle renewed virus outbreaks are likely to have contributed to the recent moderation of the recovery in some countries, such as Australia.”
Put simply closed borders cost jobs and put the economy in a weaker position to recover.
Only by working together will we beat this virus and ensure that our economy comes out stronger on the other side with the OECD calling on “enhanced global co-operation to maintain open borders and the free flow of trade, investment and medical equipment which is essential to mitigate and suppress the virus in all parts of the world and speed up the economic recovery.”
Australia approached this crisis from a position of economic strength. The Federal Budget returned to balance for the first time in 11 years which underpinned our capacity to respond to this unprecedented shock with more than $300 billion in economic support.
State Governments will also play an important role in the recovery with the RBA Governor proposing to National Cabinet that States Governments commit a further $40 billion in areas such as infrastructure over the next two years.
The Morrison Government will continue to do what is necessary to cushion the blow and help all Australians get to the other side of the crisis.

The Greens have today said the Morrison Government’s Media Code plan is incomplete, calling on the government to include the public broadcasters in the Mandatory Code, ensure the survival of the AAP newswire and protect smaller players.
Australian Greens Spokesperson for Communications and Media Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has said any Code must protect public broadcasting and public interest journalism.
“The ABC is Australia’s most trusted news source and should be included in any reform to tackle the greed of the big tech giants.  It was a deliberate decision to lock the public broadcasters out of the draft code, allowing Facebook and Google to profit from their content for free – the Government should reverse this and drop their relentless attack on the ABC.
“The power and greed of the tech giants is threatening journalism and public access to news. The government’s mandatory ACCC code could be part of the solution but the draft needs fixing and additional measures brought to the table.
“Australia’s media landscape is facing unprecedented challenges. Public interest journalism, reliable local news and trustworthy and informed analysis is essential for a robust and accountable democracy.  The power imbalance between the big tech giants and Australian news organisations is unsustainable.
“It is therefore important that key parts of Australia’s media landscape are protected as part of this process.  There is no reason for the ABC and SBS to be excluded from the Code. Public broadcasters deserve a fair return for what they produce and what the tech platforms benefit from.
“At the same time it is important that Australia’s fact based independent newswire service is supported. It would be unconscionable for the Government not to find a way of supporting AAP while introducing a code that supports other media players. AAP is key media infrastructure that helps new players into the market and diversity across Australia’s media landscape.
“The ACCC’s draft Mandatory Code must guarantee simple and cost effective benefits for small and independent media players, through effective collective bargaining arrangements.
“If the aim of this code is to ensure the viability of Australia’s media, then the Government should ensure ABC is included, that AAP doesn’t fail and that small and independent publishers don’t miss out.
“Public interest journalism is under threat in Australia, whether it be from funding cuts to the ABC, loss of advertising revenue for commercial outlets or the threat of heavy-handed police action that we have seen lately. The Greens’ changes would see the mandatory code go some way to protecting public interest journalism in Australia.
“The Greens reserve our final position on the Mandatory Code until we have seen the legislation.”

The Greens strongly oppose the bill to establish a nuclear waste dump at Kimba.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia said:
“The Senate Inquiry showed that this is a highly flawed bill. There are deep concerns that this bill blatantly seeks to prevent any right to judicial review of this process and sets in stone Kimba as the dump site against strong community opposition.”
“The Morrison Government has no mandate from the people of South Australia to dump nuclear waste in our backyard. The decision to set up a nuclear waste dump in SA will affect our state for generations to come. All South Australians should have the right to have their say on this important issue.”
“The Morrison Government has bungled this process from the beginning. They have mismanaged site selection, failed to secure the consent of the Traditional Owners, the Barngala people, and failed to consult the broader South Australian community.”
“The Government needs to halt this process and establish an independent inquiry into all waste management options.”
”The Greens will fight this is Canberra, and work hard in Parliament to stop our state being the Morrison Government’s dumping ground.”
Mark Parnell MLC said:
“Nuclear waste dumps are illegal in South Australia under State law. We already know that the Traditional Owners of the land are opposed to the dump. They were even denied the right to vote in the community ballot. Also, other affected communities through which nuclear waste will be transported, weren’t even consulted.
If the Federal Government pushes ahead with this divisive project, it will also trigger a State Parliamentary inquiry, where all those South Australian communities ignored so far, will be able to express their concerns.”