Category: Australian News

Australia’s aerial firefighting capability has today received an annual $11 million boost to ensure additional aircraft are available for the 2020-21 and future bushfire seasons.
Minister for Emergency Management David Littleproud said the additional funding, bringing the annual Australian Government investment to $26 million, would increase aerial firefighting capacity across the country helping the States and Territories to prepare for summer.
“The $11 million boost to the national aerial firefighting fleet was announced in January by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and comes on top of the $15 million we already deliver each year for aerial firefighting,” Minister Littleproud said.
“In previous fire seasons, these aircraft have been a comforting sight for people living in and around the bush.
“We recognise the vital role that aerial firefighting plays in protecting communities, and it’s their integration with the hard work of firefighters on the ground, along with a well-prepared community, that makes the difference.
“Most importantly, this investment by the Australian Government will save lives and property.”
The additional funding to the National Aerial Firefighting Centre will increase the length of existing lease arrangements and/or the number of contract opportunities available to aircraft owners/operators.
These aircraft, contracted on behalf of state and territory governments, are supplemented by additional state owned, and state contracted aircraft and other aircraft hired to meet peak demand across Australia.
The Australian Government is committed to working with states and territories to reduce the impacts of bushfires, and ensure the availability of resources to combat natural disasters.

The Australian Greens have joined an international delegation signing onto a letter calling for extensive debt forgiveness from international financial institutions, including the IMF and World Bank, for International Development Association countries. The letter was initiated by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and signatories include Jeremy Corbyn, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Yanis Varoufakis.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Adam Bandt MP are the sole Australian signatories to this unprecedented letter.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, the Greens spokesperson for International Aid and Development, said:
“The shackles of debt have crippled poorer countries for far too long. I proudly join many other leaders across the world calling for extensive debt forgiveness from international financial institutions.
“Many of these countries simply do not have the public health systems, nor the wealth, required to survive a deadly pandemic. They will need all the resources they can hang onto in order to get through to the other side of this.
“The Australian government should be urging institutions including the World Bank and the IMF to cancel developing countries’ debt and help put them on a track to get through COVID-19 with minimal loss of life and living standards.
“Though this pandemic has been devastating, it has also forced us to think in different ways about how the world should work. Governments, including Australia’s, should seize this opportunity to reset their thinking about debt, obligation and global poverty.
“We should approach debt through the lenses of human rights and social justice, and with historical context never far from our minds. Let’s be frank: the cascading legacies of brutal colonialism have locked in the poverty and economic underdevelopment which mean that it is highly unlikely that the debt of many countries will ever be fully paid off. And with the impacts of climate change to be felt most acutely in the Global South, we cannot let developing countries’ debt hold them back any longer,” she said.
Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens, said:
“The Australian Greens are proud to be adding our voice to calls from over 300 politicians, including Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar, to cancel debt for the world’s poorest countries.
“The COVID-19 health and economic crisis is entrenching global income inequality. But right now we have the chance to transform our world to be fairer and more equal,” he said.

Today the Greens will introduce a bill to empower Sport Australia to fund the sports clubs whose applications they recommended under the Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program, but were not funded by then-Minister McKenzie.
The Australian Sports Commission Amendment (Ensuring a Level Playing Field) Bill 2020 will correct the injustice of the Coalitions sports rorts scheme.
Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for Sport said:
“The sports rorts scandal isn’t over. While the Prime Minister is trying his best to duck and weave about his role in this saga, there are still hundreds of sports clubs around Australia who deserved funding but haven’t received a cent.
“The clubs that were recommended for funding by Sports Australia were robbed so that the Coalition could repurpose tax-payer money as a slush fund to buy elections. The Greens Level Playing Field Bill will correct this injustice for those community sports clubs.
“Many of the sports clubs have lost trust in government and felt utterly cheated by the Coalition’s corrupt process.
“This Bill won’t fix the Coalition’s failure of transparency or their active subversion of our democracy. But it will make a real difference to these clubs and communities.
“During the COVID-19 crisis, sports clubs are now in more need of support. Most of the projects are shovel-ready, and this Bill will benefit these community sports groups by providing much-needed investment stimulus in the face of the pandemic.”
“The Senate inquiry into the Administration of Sports Grants received answers yesterday that showed the Minister lacked independent authority to issue grants, instead ‘piggybacking’ on Sport Australia’s authority to do so. My Bill ensures that the Sports Minister would not have the power to direct the Commission on this new round of funding.
“As the Deputy Chair of the inquiry, I am eager to hear from Senator McKenzie. I  urge her to accept the invitation to appear before the committee in a hearing next month.”

The Government’s latest attempt to prohibit items in immigration detention centres is a massive overreach, Greens Immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says.
“This is a transparent attempt to cut people in immigration detention off from the outside world,” Senator McKim said.
“Phones in immigration detention are absolutely essential.”
“They allow people to stay in touch with friends and family, and they also help shine the disinfectant of sunlight on abuses which are all too common.”
“There are many people in immigration detention who have no criminal history. These facilities are not prisons, despite the Government’s attempts to make them such.”
“This is massive overreach and must be defeated in the Senate.”

The Greens will introduce a motion in the Senate calling for Federal Parliament to sit in June to strengthen democracy and address ongoing issues of national importance.
“The Covid crisis response and the plan for recovery demand more transparency in government decision-making. The Senate Covid Committee plays a critical role, but is no substitute for full parliamentary oversight,” said Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Democracy.
“We need more democracy during this time, not less. We need to ensure that Australia’s recovery is fair, effective, and guided by expert advice. We need Parliament to return.
“The Greens are calling for both houses to sit in June to fix gaps in the JobKeeper scheme, introduce rights to pandemic leave, consider banking royal commission legislation, and debate the merits of the government’s proposed gas-led recovery.
“We must ensure we don’t come out the other side having brought this coronavirus under control but finding ourselves with our democracy eroded and hard-fought for rights lost.”

The Government’s latest attempt to expand ASIO’s powers is cynical and unjustified, the Greens say.
“Yet again, Peter Dutton is trying to increase powers of security agencies without even trying to explain his reasons,” Greens Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
“Nor has he tried to give any possible justification for the need to interrogate children as young as 14.”
“To use the pandemic as cover for the increased scope of the surveillance state is dangerous and cynical.”
“The National Terrorism Threat in Australia hasn’t increased for more than five years, and yet we have been confronted with wave after wave of legislation.”
“There have been more than 200 pieces of ‘counter terror’ legislation passed in Australia since 2001 and very few have been relaxed or withdrawn.”
“Australia desperately needs a Charter of Rights to protect our basic freedoms.”

The Abbott Turnbull Morrison Government has slashed average annual investment in the Barton Highway by more than 65 per cent in the last seven years.
Under the former Federal Labor Government, it averaged $5.4 million per year. Now, it stands at a meagre $1.7 million.
While funding for the Barton Highway keeps dropping under the Liberals and Nationals, traffic between Yass and Canberra, keeps going up.
Local residents should use the upcoming Eden-Monaro by-election to send Mr Morrison a clear message that his neglect of the electorate’s road infrastructure needs is not good enough.

 
The Barton Highway is used by 12,500 vehicles a day, including about 1000 trucks.
Mr Morrison should be working with the New South Wales Government to expedite the full duplication of the road.
This would not only improve road safety for motorists, but also boost economic productivity by expediting the movement of freight around the region.
Instead, the Liberals and Nationals are leaving the people of Yass behind.
Indeed, the Coalition has cut road investment in regional Australia and tried to conceal its cuts with promises of investment not due until years into the future.

The 100th GP-led respiratory clinic opens today in Mudgee, New South Wales, as part of the Australian Government’s $2.4 billion health response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Since the first GP-led respiratory clinics opened in Macquarie Park and Morayfield on the 21st March, more than 100 clinics have since opened around the country to assess and test patients with mild to moderate COVID-19-like symptoms, reducing pressure on hospital emergency departments and local general practices.
Clinics in Wodonga and Morwell in Victoria; and Hazelbrook in NSW also opened today.
Throughout Australia there are now 436 clinics operating nationwide that include:

• 102 GP led respiratory clinics funded by the Commonwealth
• 305 state fever clinics funded jointly by the Commonwealth and States
• 29 ADF clinics funded by the Commonwealth.

The clinics supplement a range of measures, including additional practice incentives and the expansion of telehealth, to enable the medical workforce to continue to care for Australians through the pandemic.
“While Australians and our wonderful health professionals have done an outstanding job of containing the virus so far, we need to be prepared for further cases,” Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said.
“With 100 GP-led respiratory clinics open across all states, with more on the way, we will be extremely well-prepared to stamp out any new outbreaks, wherever they occur.
“In collaboration with the states and territories, these clinics have been rolled out extremely fast since the initiative was announced on 11 March.
“This has only been possible because of the dedication and professionalism of our GPs, their staff and their representative organisations, all of whom deserve our thanks.”
Regional Health Minister, Mark Coulton said the clinics are helping to ensure rural patients with mild respiratory issues could see a doctor, without putting other patients at risk, almost half of the clinics are located in regional, rural or remote areas.
“Regional Australians are doing a brilliant job of protecting their communities by following the advice of experts, however if you have a fever, cough, sore throat or other respiratory symptoms, I urge you to make an appointment at one of these clinics to get tested,” he said.
“Regional people and communities must remain vigilant as we see the number of cases decline and continue to practice good hygiene and social distancing.
“It’s equally important that people keep appointments and continue to consult their doctor without delay if they have a non-COVID related health issues.
“I’ve convened regular roundtables to ensure our response recognises the unique challenges in rural and remote areas, and I acknowledge the work of the Rural Health Commissioner supporting local doctors to establish these GP clinics.
Included in the 100 operational clinics are nine Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS)-led clinics. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly overrepresented in the high-risk categories for COVID-19 – including through a much higher burden of respiratory and other chronic diseases. A further seven ACCHS-led clinics are being offered contracts.
“It is critical that respiratory Clinics are easily accessible to ensure safe and culturally supportive screening and follow-up care management,” Minister Hunt said.
All Australians are encouraged to download the COVIDSafe app to improve tracing and help keep more people safe.
The respiratory clinics have thorough infection prevention and control protocols to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19. They provide assessments and testing for all people with symptoms to detect cases and allow them to be isolated as early as possible.
Patients attending a GP-led respiratory clinic should make a booking via the online booking system on health.gov.au or by phoning their nearest clinic.

The Greens have lodged a motion in the Senate to disallow parts of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Amendment Rules (No. 2) 2020 that have the effect of excluding universities from accessing the JobKeeper wage subsidy.
The motion would only disallow provisions of the rules regarding JobKeeper eligibility for higher education providers, which extend the turnover calculation period from one to six months for universities and mandate that government funding be included in the calculations.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens spokesperson for Education, said:
“Through multiple changes to the rules, universities have been targeted by this government and deliberately excluded from the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.
“30,000 jobs are on the line, with impacted staff in every corner of the country. The unfair treatment must end this week. Parliament has the opportunity to reject this malicious exclusion of universities.
“The government keeps shifting the goalposts and the madness has to stop. The failure to support universities through this crisis jeopardises not just our recovery but also our long-term future.
“I call on Labor and the crossbench to do the right thing and back this motion, which would potentially save jobs in every state and territory, and deliver much-needed support to our universities and their staff at this very difficult time.
“In addition to JobKeeper, universities need a dedicated rescue package to massively boost funding, save jobs and research, improve conditions and abolish fees,” she said.

Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young responded to the Federal Government’s announcement of $150million for Bushfire Recovery for Species and Landscapes:
“This announcement is much more about trying to win a by-election than anything to do with helping the environment and wildlife.
“If the Government cared a bit more about protecting koalas than they do protecting their seats in parliament, we might have faith they have a plan for bushfire recovery.
“Environmental recovery after the catastrophic bushfires was always going to need much more than $50m and the government flagged more was coming, but this still isn’t enough. The Greens called for a $500m fighting fund for the environment in January when the fires were still burning, when we already knew more than a million animals had been lost and millions of hectares of habitat destroyed, yet it’s taken four months to get more than $50m.
“$50m was never going to cut it and $150m more now still won’t be enough especially when the government is going to allow more damage to the environment with salvage logging and cut to environmental protections.
“The Federal Government announced yesterday the bushfire recovery funding includes $15m for transporting salvaged logs. This is despite the science clearly showing salvage logging will be devastating to bushfire affected areas causing further disturbance to these ecosystems and hampering regeneration and recovery.
“So on the one hand the government says it is putting more money on the table for the environment but on the other hand, they are supporting salvage logging and planning to cut environmental protections.
“Attempting to win elections by suddenly remembering forgotten bushfire communities won’t fly. Australians care about the environment more than ever and they want it protected, not trashed in favour of the government’s big business mates.
“The Environment Minister should take another look at the policy and start doing the right thing by our native wildlife and environment before we’ve lost even more of it.”