Category: Australian News

Thousands of large Australian businesses have been invited to register early for the Morrison Government’s new Payment Times Reporting Scheme which requires large businesses with a total annual income of over $100 million to publicly report their payment terms and practices to their small business suppliers.
From 1 January 2021, large businesses must start reporting on how and when they pay their small business suppliers with the first payment times reports to be provided from 1 July 2021.
Around 4,200 of Australia’s largest businesses including foreign companies that operate a business in Australia are being invited to register their details.
The objective of the Scheme is to improve payment outcomes for Australia’s 3.5 million small businesses by creating transparency around the payment terms and practices of large businesses.
By providing access to information on large business payment performance, small businesses will be able to make more informed choices about their potential customers. Greater transparency will also incentivise large businesses to pay their small businesses on time.
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash said that longer payment times hurt small business cash flow.
“The Government is acting decisively and responsibly to support small businesses to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. It is now even more important large businesses pay their small business suppliers the money that they are owed promptly” Minister Cash said.
“The Morrison Government has already got its house in order and is paying its bills faster. Commonwealth agencies are paying invoices for contracts under $1 million within 20 days and paying e-invoices within 5 days”
“Improving payment times for small businesses will help them to prosper, grow and employ more Australians”, Minister Cash said.
After an initial 12 month transition period, civil penalties will apply to reporting businesses that fail to report or give the Payment Times Reporting Regulator a false or misleading report.
For more information on the scheme, visit industry.gov.au/ptrs

In less than thirty days of mutual obligations being re-instated after they were suspended due to the covid pandemic 74,434 payments have been suspended by Centrelink.
Estimates has revealed that 12,137 First Nations peoples, 6,334 single parents, 13,169 disabled people 9,100 homeless people and 12,135 culturally and linguistically diverse people are among those that have had a payment suspended within the first month of mutual obligations returning.
“There are very clearly vulnerable people who are disproportionately impacted by the punitive mutual obligations system,” Senator Rachel Siewert said.
I’m at a loss to understand how suspending a homeless person’s payment in the midst of a recession will help them find work.
These are cohorts that the Government should be providing additional support for, not punishing them for being on income support.
Having a payment suspended is an incredibly stressful thing for someone to go through, particularly if you are living below the poverty line for a long period of time, not to mention in the midst of a pandemic and recession.
For those who say it may have only been for a couple of days, they miss the point. It is incredibly stressful to be trying to navigate this system to be dealing with Centrelink and in some cases intimidating Employment Providers.
In the best of times this system causes anxiety and poor mental health and this is only exacerbated in the midst of a recession when so many people are living with such uncertainty in their lives.
The Government itself has recognised the problems with the suspension process and in December introducing a 48 hour period to reconnect before suspension occurs, in the meantime all these people have been suspended.

The Senate today supported a Greens motion condemning the government for abandoning the key recommendation of the Banking Royal Commission.
“The Senate has today cast doubt on whether the government has the numbers to tear up responsible lending obligations, which was one of its major budget announcements,” Greens Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“The motion before the Senate highlighted that the government’s proposed changes to consumer credit laws are inconsistent with the first recommendation of the Royal Commission.”
“The government accepted this recommendation when it was handed down last year. Now they are abandoning it.”
“I thank the Senate for joining the Greens in condemning the government.”
“The Greens urge fellow Senators to abide by the Royal Commission’s recommendation and reject the Government’s Bill that would make it easier for the banks to trap people into unsustainable levels of debt.”
Text of Senate motion:

1. Notes that, in respect of responsible lending to consumers, and the provisions of the National Consumer Credit Protection (NCCP) Act 2009 in particular, the final report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry:
   a. noted that there was little or no debate about the terms of the NCCP Act;
   b. emphasised that the submission from Treasury stated that abidance by existing laws would likely enhance rather than detract from macroeconomic performance; and
   c. concluded simply that the law should be applied as it stands;
2. Notes that the Government, in February 2019:
   a. accepted Recommendation 1.1 of the Royal Commission that the NCCP Act not be amended to alter the obligation to assess unsuitability; and
   b. agreed to take action in relation to all 76 recommendations of the Royal Commission; and

1. Notes that the Government has reneged on its previous acceptance of Recommendation 1.1 of the Royal Commission; and
2. Condemns the Government for failing to honour its acceptance of Recommendation 1.1 of the Royal Commission.

The theme for this year’s NAIDOC Week is ‘Always Was. Always Will Be.’
This week, we acknowledge and celebrate the breadth and depth of First People’s knowledge, achievements, experiences and stories, and connection to country.
Australia is home to the oldest living civilisation on Earth – made up of hundreds of nations and cultures that spanned this continent.
This is rightfully a source of pride for all Australians – First Nations and non-Indigenous alike.
For tens of thousands of years, First Australians practised and accrued knowledge in a range of fields: from exploration and navigation; to farming and botany; science, engineering and astronomy; trade and diplomacy; to art and story-telling.
As the world contemplates the challenges of climate change – from severe bushfires; to catastrophic droughts; and rising sea levels – there is much to learn from First Australians, particularly in relation to land care and sustainability.
NAIDOC is about opening our minds, and to listen and learn.
We may not be celebrating NAIDOC Week the same way we usually do, but all of us can still get involved.
There are various ways we can all safely participate in activities in our local community.
For more information and to find out more about NAIDOC events happening near you, visit www.naidoc.org.au.

Renowned physicist Dr Cathy Foley AO has been appointed Australia’s next Chief Scientist.
Dr Foley, who has spent the last two years as the CSIRO’s Chief Scientist, will take over from Dr Alan Finkel AO whose tenure comes to an end in December 2020.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Dr Foley had the background needed to deliver during such a pivotal time in history.
“As we recover from COVID-19 and look to rebuild a brighter future, the role of the Chief Scientist has never been more important,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
“Dr Foley has a big task ahead to drive collaboration between industry and the science and research community, as we look to create jobs for the COVID-19 recovery and for the future.
“I would like to thank Dr Alan Finkel AO for his outstanding contribution as Chief Scientist over the past five years. He has been a valued and respected voice to Government, and I know he will continue to make a significant contribution to the Australian and international science communities.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews also thanked Dr Finkel for his service and said Dr Foley would bring a unique mix of experience to the role.
“Dr Foley is highly regarded in the scientific community, has extensive experience working with government, but most importantly understands how to drive collaboration between industry and researchers,” Minister Andrews said.
“We know science will play a crucial role in helping to create jobs at this critical time, and Dr Foley’s skills as a talented science communicator will help sell that important message.
“Like me, Dr Foley is also a strong advocate for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and her lived experience will make her an important role model for aspiring young scientists.”
Dr Foley is the second woman to be named Australia’s Chief Scientist, after Professor Penny Sackett, who held the role from 2008-2011.
Dr Foley is a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science, and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. She is an accomplished scientist who has made significant contributions in the area of physics relating to superconductors.
Her appointment as Australia’s Chief Scientist is for three years, starting in January 2021.

For the first time in its history, Australia’s National Incident Centre (NIC) has been activated continuously for more than one year, working across Government to respond to unprecedented health emergencies faced by Australia and the world.
The NIC was activated in November 2019 in response to a measles outbreak in Samoa, and continued to act during the 2019–20 bushfires, the Whakaari Island volcano eruption and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
From December 2019 and into January 2020, the NIC was concurrently managing three different situations, also for the first time ever.
I want to thank all of the extraordinarily talented, dedicated and hardworking staff of the National Incident Centre over the past year. Led by the Department of Health, the staff have been drawn from across Government, including the ADF.
Their work around the clock allowed Australia to maintain an air bridge for critical and scarce global supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and test kits at a time of international shortage. The NIC has literally been the Operations Headquarters for Australia’s national response to the pandemic.
Never has the National Incident Centre been more important, and its worth is shown in the Medical Journal of Australia’s paper, which attributes the saving of 16,000 lives to the comprehensive and early nature of Australia’s response.
The staff of the NIC have embodied the concept of real and profound public service. We are fortunate to have had such a well-prepared and well-drilled centre as the NIC in place before the pandemic. We are even more fortunate to have such an extraordinarily capable and dedicated team to help save lives and protect lives across Australia.
As the Department of Health’s emergency operations centre, the NIC coordinates Australia’s health emergency response to national and international incidents. It is also the primary means of communication between the World Health Organization and Australia for public health events, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
A significant accomplishment was distributing millions of masks and other PPE from the National Medical Stockpile in response to the bushfires and COVID-19 to states and territories, aged care facilities, disability service providers and Primary Health Networks.
As part of the COVID-19 response, key staff from a range of agencies across the APS were seconded to help operate the NIC. At its peak, the NIC engaged more than 200 employees, including liaison officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Border Force and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Surge staff have included epidemiologists and analysts from the Department of Defence, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The NIC has also engaged in public information, community awareness and communications. The Australian Government has the strongest commitment to informing the community about the latest health advice and developments. This includes a national campaign, website, fact sheets, media liaison and social media.
The NIC was first formally activated for the SARS outbreak of 2003. It has since been activated for a range of emergencies including the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the Bali bombings of 2005, the H1N1 Pandemic in 2009, the Victorian bushfires of 2009, and the Christchurch earthquake of 2011.
I thank the hardworking public servants in the NIC, which will remain activated for as long as this national health emergency demands.

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The Greens have backed calls from animal welfare groups and an equine veterinarian for an independent investigation and necropsy report into the death of the racehorse Anthony Van Dyck following Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup race.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens spokesperson for Animal Welfare, said:
“Tuesday’s race was horrific. There are serious questions to answer about this racehorse death. There must be no industry cover-up.
“Horse racing kills. No horse is safe at the Melbourne Cup.
“Every year, more and more people are saying ‘nup’ to the Cup and rejecting this carnival of cruelty.
“Ultimately we need to see an end to the Melbourne Cup and the brutality of commercial horse racing,” she said.
Ellen Sandell MP, Acting Leader of the Victorian Greens, said:
“Every year the Greens call on the state government to end animal cruelty at the hands of our racing industry – and every year the government tries to pretend they have no power to stop it.
“The reality is that our government’s cosy relationship with the racing industry has prevented them from putting an end to cruelty against horses. Even a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic wasn’t enough to warrant them closing the gates this year.
“We need an independent investigation into Anthony Van Dyck’s death so that our government can wake up to the unnecessary pain and cruelty the Melbourne Cup inflicts on horses.”