Category: Australian News

The Greens have condemned the Liberals for trashing democracy and deceiving voters after the party’s acting Victorian director admitted in court today that signs written in Chinese at polling booths on election day were designed to look like official Australian Electoral Commission signage.
The signs were posted at 13 polling stations in Josh Frydenberg’s seat of Kooyong and at 29 polling booths in nearby Chisholm, which was won by Liberals candidate Gladys Liu.
Greens co-deputy leader Senator Larissa Waters said the Liberal official’s admission today was the latest in a long line of Liberal party moves aimed at weakening democracy and silencing the community from having its say.
“The Liberal Party has stooped to dirty tactics and tricks designed to hoodwink voters during elections because the community has noticed it no longer provides leadership or any real plan on critical issues such as climate change or housing affordability,” she said.
“This is not the type of democracy the community deserves, this is a circus led by a clown who holds everyday Australians, their aspirations and the issues that matter most to them in contempt.
“The Liberals have an unhealthy disrespect for transparency and accountability. It starts at the top with the Prime Minister failing to deal with Ministerial conflicts of interest and extends to allowing a revolving door between industry and government and allowing ‘cash for access’ meetings.
“This failure of integrity and culture of rampant self-interest is probably why the Prime Minister has not brought on a vote in the House of Representatives on my bill establishing a Federal corruption watchdog with teeth.
“The Liberals are governing in the best interest of their donors including the mining and gambling industries rather than delivering for our community, society or environment.
“Public trust in democracy will be further eroded by the revelations of election sign deception in court today. The Greens call for strong, urgent action to stamp out corruption, increase transparency and restore public trust in democracy,” Senator Waters said.

Older Australians cannot wait for action on aged care and the Morrison Government must act now before Parliament resumes in November to fix our country’s broken aged care system.
Labor has today launched a new campaign urgently calling on the Morrison Government to act now on aged care.
Scott Morrison has said there might be some action by Christmas, but why is the Government waiting when we know the system is so bad?
Labor has set a deadline for the Prime Minister to take action before Parliament resumes in November.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s interim report this week laid bare the disturbing state of Australia’s aged care system.
There is not one part of Australia’s aged care system that isn’t impacted by crisis.
While Labor is prepared to work constructively with the Government to progress long-term reform challenges in aged care, there is action the Government must take now.
There are three actions the Royal Commission says the Morrison Government needs to do urgently to help fix our country’s broken aged care system:
1.    Ensure older Australians are getting the care at home when they need it most.
2.    End the overreliance of chemical restraints in aged care.
3.    Stop the unacceptable number of young people entering residential aged care.
Older Australians and their loved ones cannot wait until the final report of the Royal Commission, which is handed down in November 2020, for action on aged care.
This includes the 120,000 older Australians waiting for care at home, with waiting times blowing out to almost two years for the highest levels of care.
It is shameful that 16,000 people died in a wealthy country like Australia in just one year while waiting for this care.
The Liberals have been asleep at the wheel for six years, with four Ministers and billions ripped out while Australia’s aged care system has lurched from one crisis to another.
It’s time to act now on aged care – for our loved ones who built the country we are rightly proud and for every Australian who wants to age with dignity and autonomy in care.

Drought-hit farmers, small businesses and rural towns are set for an immediate cash injection to keep stock fed and watered, keep businesses open, keep locals in work and pump funds into local economies.
The Prime Minister said the Coalition Government’s next step of measures to combat the drought’s impact was ready to flow.
“We are stepping up our drought response once again to meet the increasing needs as the drought’s effects also step up,” the Prime Minister said.
“Since the budget we have already committed an additional $355 million to step up our drought response. Today’s announcement triples this to more than $1 billion since the election, as well as more than $1 billion in new interest free loans, to see people through.
“This is money into the pockets of all those farmers and graziers who know they have a future, but are currently struggling to keep their operations running as the crippling effects of this drought continue to bite that we’ve heard from out on the ground. They are backing themselves and we are backing them to make it through to the better days that will be ahead.
“It’s not only farmers doing it tough in drought. Our next step in drought support also has an eye squarely on those communities feeling the strain as work dries up and spending in local stores slows down.
“There is no silver bullet to this drought. Each time we introduce further help we listen, we learn and we adjust our response because we know each community has different needs and priorities that need the resources and cooperation of every level of government.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the Government’s latest initiatives would deliver an extra $709 million worth of direct support.
“Communities across Australia are suffering the effects of the prolonged dry spell and today’s announcement is the next step in the measures to help ease the burden of the drought,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
“This suite of measures go to the heart of what matters to these communities. From small businesses to primary producers, we are working with communities to take the pressure off one of the worst droughts in history.
“Not only is the Government continuing to respond as the drought progresses, but we are working on measures to assist in the recovery when the rains come, which includes the Government’s billion dollar investment in water infrastructure.
“By redirecting $200 million from the Building Better Regions Fund into drought communities and an extra $138.9 million into our Roads to Recovery initiative, we’re getting local projects and infrastructure work underway to keep finance flowing, trades in work and money rolling through local stores.”
Minister for Agriculture Bridget McKenzie said a new loans program for small businesses and making existing drought loans interest free for two years would deliver immediate support for everything from buying fodder to transporting stock and agisting cattle through to paying staff and purchasing new equipment. The Regional Investment Corporation’s mandate sets its interest rate just to cover administration and borrowing costs.
“These loans mean farmers and small business owners can do what they need to, right now at zero cost,” Minister McKenzie said.
“Farmers will not have to pay a cent for the next two years and we’ll keep assessing the program if the drought runs longer than that to ensure repayments are affordable.
“With $200 million worth of loans committed already, we estimate the new small business program and the changes to the Drought Loans for farms will see around $1.2 billion issued over the next three years that they can put to their priorities.”
Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David Littleproud said as the drought escalates, so does the government’s response.
“The package will boost local jobs and respond to individual community needs,” Minister Littleproud said.
“We’ve had strong demand on the Drought Communities Extension Programme and we’re extending it to six new areas.
“On top of the $1 million we’ve delivered to 122 councils we’ll make another $1 million available for those still in need.
“We’ve also set up a $50 million fund for council projects in drought-hit communities for things like community hall renovations and playground upgrades.
“This will boost rural economies with more jobs and more business for regional suppliers like the local hardware store.”
Minister Littleproud said the Federal and South Australian Governments had also struck a deal to secure up to 100 gigalitres of water for farmers to grow fodder, silage and pasture at a discounted rate.
“100 gigalitres will produce up to 120,000 tonnes of feed for animals on farms in drought,” Minister Littleproud said.
“This will help farmers maintain their breeding stock during the drought so when it breaks farmers can recover faster.”
Minister Littleproud said the Government had also released the Drought Response, Resilience and Preparedness Plan. The plan draws on the Drought Co-ordinator Major General Stephen Day’s report and the Government’s response, which was also released today. The Plan, Report and the Government’s response are available at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/drought/drought-policy.
The Government will continue to listen to drought-affected Australia, respond and step up.
Further information on the support available for drought-affected farms and communities and how to access it is available at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/drought/
Summary of Federal Government support

Existing support	New support
Looking after our farming families here and now
Simplified and expanded access to the Farm Household Allowance and extended it to a 4 in 10 year payment. Households are eligible for around $105,000 as well as an additional payment of $13,000 for couples $3,000 cash payments for families under the Drought Communities Support Initiative Built the National Drought Map so all data and support services are in one place Invested $25 million to help our farmers combat pests and weeds; $2.7 million to improve regional weather and climate guides; and $77.2 million for Bureau of Meteorology radars $2 billion available in concessional loans through the Regional Investment Corporation to help farmers and small businesses prepare for, manage through and recover from drought $5 million for the Rural Financial Counselling Service	Making new and existing drought loans for farmers interest free for two years so they purchase fodder, pay for freight and pay their farm hands. Years three to five will be interest only payment and years six to 10 will be interest and principal. Current scheme is the first five years are interest only payments, and interest and principal payments for the balance of the loan term A new program for small businesses dependent on agriculture with loans worth up to $500,000 that can be used to pay staff, buy equipment and refinance. It follows the same new payment scheme as the Drought Loans for farmers $10 million to support schools facing financial hardship as a result of ongoing drought conditions, including fee concessions for boarding students $5 million from the Community Child Care Fund will help assist centres that are experiencing decreased demand and financial pressure due to families from drought-affected areas being unable to pay for child care
Supporting jobs and investment in local communities
$1 million for 122 councils and shires in drought-affected areas to invest in projects that support jobs and business income $30 million for targeted mental health support $50 million funding for major charities to assist rural Australians in desperate need with up to $3,000 in individual support payments	An additional $1 million for each of the 122 drought-affected councils and shires if they need it $1 million each for new drought-affected councils and shires including Greater Hume, Hilltops, Lockhart and Upper Lachlan in NSW, and Kangaroo Island and Tatiara in SA $50 million discretionary fund to support projects in Local Government Areas impacted by the drought Redirecting $200 million into a Building Better Regions Fund drought round to support new projects that deliver social and economic benefits to drought-affected communities $138.9 million additional Roads to Recovery funding in calendar year 2020 for the 128 Local Government Areas eligible for the Drought Communities Programme Extension
Long term resilience
Future Drought Fund worth $5 billion to be a sustainable source of funding to improve drought resilience and preparedness $1.5 billion for 21 dams, irrigation projects and pipelines across Australia	100 gigalitres of water that will be used to grow up to 120,000 tonnes of fodder as well as silage and pasture to secure supplies for the months ahead.

Australian Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John said he was extremely disappointed at evidence given by the Queensland Teachers’ Union President, Kevin Bates, during this morning’s Disability Royal Commission hearing.

“I was absolutely shocked to hear Mr Bates confirm that the Queensland Teachers Union support the segregation of disabled children into ‘special schools’ and would be supportive of building new segregated schools in Queensland, contrary to the inclusive education policy of the Queensland Government,” Steele-John said.

“ I was equally shocked to hear Mr Bates describe the segregation of disabled children into special education settings – separated from their non-disabled peers – as an ‘unfortunate compromise’ required by ‘economic rationalism’.

“Let’s be really clear, there is zero academic evidence to support the suggestion that segregated ‘special schools’ are appropriate learning environments for disabled kids.

“Just yesterday, the Commission heard examples of the horrendous abuse that occurs in these settings with experts making it clear that the future of education must be inclusive of all children.

“The human rights of disabled kids are violated by these institutions. Families are forced, everyday, to place their children in these settings because of discriminatory practices and a lack of resourcing.

“In Australia, and indeed around the world, the union movement has played a critical role in ending segregationist policies based on race and gender. IOt is so disappointing to see the QTU depart from this history when it comes to the rights of disabled kids.

“Disabled kids deserve their human rights, and supporting these rights is union business. The Queensland Teachers’ Union’s position is a barrier to ending the violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of children in Queensland’s education system.

I will urgently be seeking a meeting with the Queensland Teachers’ Union to discuss these concerns.

Greens animal welfare spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the suffering of racehorses in today’s Melbourne cup. Rostropovich is reported to have suffered a cracked pelvis and was rushed to an equine clinic while Prince Of Arran was whipped to the point that jockey Michael Walker received a seven-meeting ban and $10,000 fine.
“When animals and gambling mix, animals always suffer,” Senator Faruqi said.
“This is just so tragically predictable. Year after year we see the needless suffering of horses, yet nothing changes. I really hope Rostropovich recovers fully.”
“Cruel practices like whipping happen every day in the horse racing industry, just as horses are pushed to the point of injury – all for the sake of a bet.
“Today’s suffering at the Melbourne Cup is yet more evidence we need a Royal Commission into cruelty in the horse racing industry. I’ll be calling on the Senate to support a Royal Commission when Parliament sits again next week. If the major parties care about animal welfare and preventing the kind of suffering they saw today they will support my call,” she concluded.

Scott Morrison needs to stop listening to his big donors in the fossil fuel industry and pay attention to the 11,000 scientists who have jointly declared that we are in a climate emergency and must act urgently in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.
“We are now in a climate emergency and that is a fact. The scientists know it and the community knows it, but Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party still have their heads buried firmly in the sand,” said Di Natale.
”This Government has no plan to address dangerous climate change beyond running interference for its big corporate donors in the fossil fuel industry. Scott Morrison needs to ignore his big donors and listen to the scientists and the community, who know we need to phase out coal and other fossil fuels and make the transition rapidly to a jobs-rich renewables economy.”
“This is an unprecedented move that confirms governments do not have the climate crisis under control,” said Greens Climate Change Spokesperson Adam Bandt, MP.
“When over 11,000 scientists speak so strongly, the Australian government must act as if our lives depend on it. After 30 years of warning from the scientific community, they are sounding the final alarm.
“The Greens will press on with our push to have Parliament declare a climate emergency so government will start taking the urgent action we need.”

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale has once again called upon the Australian Government to intervene to ensure that Julian Assange is not extradited to the United States, following comments from the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture that Assange is showing acute signs of exposure to psychological torture.
“We have all seen the serious deterioration in Julian Assange’s health at his recent court appearances, and now the UN Special Rapporteur has warned that his life is at risk. This situation cannot be allowed to continue,” Di Natale said.
“Regardless of what you think about Assange as an individual, he is facing extradition to the US on charges relating to his work to shine a light on potential war crimes – an act that won him Australia’s highest honour for journalism.
“He is being held in isolation by the UK authorities at severe cost to his physical and mental health and it is well past time for the Australian Government to intervene and ensure that Assange is brought back to Australia, not extradited to the very country whose wrongdoing he exposed.”

Greens Acting Leader, Adam Bandt MP, has responded to Labor Shadow Minister for Resources Joel Fitzgibbon’s attack on Victorian fracking bans, warning that unleashing toxic methane gas will blow any chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goals.
“Joel Fitzgibbon, the man Anthony Albanese has made responsible for Labor’s coal and gas policy, is trying to bully Labor Premiers into unleashing a toxic methane climate disaster,” said Mr Bandt.
“Unleashing more toxic methane is not a transition plan, it is a recipe for climate disaster.
“Australia won’t become a renewable energy superpower if we start fracking our country and releasing toxic methane.
“An increase in gas mining is a major reason Australia’s pollution keeps rising.
“To avoid climate catastrophe, we need to look beyond gas and coal and transition to a clean energy future.
“While over the weekend Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party announced a ban on fracking in Britain, in Australia Federal Labor was attacking Victorian Labor over its own important fracking ban.
“If Labor is genuine about recognising the climate emergency then they need to join us in not only stopping new polluting gas projects, but planning for a transition away from toxic industries towards the renewable energy future we desperately need.”

Greens spokesperson for animal welfare, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has called on people and businesses to say ‘nup’ to the Melbourne Cup today.
Senator Faruqi said:
“I’m calling on everyone to join me and many other Australians in saying ‘nup’ to the Melbourne Cup and all cruelty to horses.
“I’m overwhelmed by the surge in support for #NupToTheCup. It’s clear the community values animal welfare and the racing industry will end up on the wrong side of history if they ignore this strong community sentiment.
“Year after year we see the needless painful deaths of horses, including five in the last six Melbourne Cups.
“More and more people are recognising that animals never win when gambling profits are at stake. That’s why I say ‘nup’ to the cup.
“After all the evidence of animal cruelty and racehorses being sent to slaughterhouses in appalling conditions, we urgently need a Royal Commission into cruelty in horse racing to hold the industry to account,” she concluded.

Acting Greens leader Adam Bandt MP and Greens spokesperson for Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, have called on Scott Morrison to show some climate leadership and offer to host the upcoming crucial COP25 Climate Summit.
COP25 was due to be held in a fortnight in Santiago, however Chile has withdrawn from hosting due to ongoing civil unrest.
Quotes attributable to Acting Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP:
“If Scott Morrison wants to show that he is serious about taking action on global warming then he should offer to host the upcoming climate summit.
“This is our chance to show the rest of the world that Australia takes the climate crisis seriously.
“Other nations have already put up their hands and offered to host, so this is Scott Morrison’s time to show the global community that Australia is committed to tackling the climate crisis and being a good global citizen.”
Quotes attributable to Greens spokesperson for Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
“COP 25 is the world’s first ‘Blue’ Climate talks, with a key focus on addressing the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans. This provides an especially unique opportunity for Australia to step up and host this event, given our role as global custodian of the UNESCO listed Great Barrier Reef.
“The official outlook for the reef has been downgraded to ‘very poor’ – the best available science tells us nearly half the reef’s corals have bleached and died, primarily from marine heatwaves caused by rising Greenhouse gas emissions.
‘Many of the world’s coral reefs, which over half a billion people rely on directly for their livelihood, are in worse shape. This is a global crisis by any standards – one that requires immediate action.
“Australia hosts some of the world’s leading marine science institutions and programs, including for the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. These are key barometers of ocean health. We have much to be proud of from our endeavours in this critical area of research.
“This is a unique opportunity for Australia to show leadership on the global stage once again and regain the respect we have lost in recent years. We truly are a nation girt by sea. Our national identity is closely linked to our beaches and oceans – few have as much to lose as we do if global ocean health continues its rapid decline.”