Category: Australian News

The Government has failed to budget for its Clayton’s Commonwealth Integrity Commission in MYEFO, proving the announcement was just smoke and mirrors, Greens spokesperson for democracy Senator Larissa Waters said.
“The Morrison Government has no intention of actually seeing a CIC through to establishment and ending this rigged system any time soon,” Senator Waters said.
“They claim to have been working on a proposal for 12 months yet have failed to budget for it.
“If the PM was serious he’d have ensured that at least the measly amount mooted for this new body was included in yesterday’s half-yearly budget statement.
“Instead, the deceit of the Australian public continues. There’s no legislation, there’s a Government-appointed panel overseeing ‘consultation’, and at the heart of it, there’s a weak and underfunded proposal for a body that will do nothing to actually help clean up politics.
“The Government needs to show us the money or admit this issue is still well on the ‘fringe’ of its priorities.”

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today expressed his disappointment that Labor’s National Conference has failed to act on coal.
“It is fundamentally dishonest to move motions about the climate emergency but then have no plan to stop the burning and exporting of coal,” said Mr Bandt.
“Their refusal to phase out coal, along with their Abbott-esque commitment to pro-rata emissions reductions across the economy, shows that Labor is not prepared to tackle the climate emergency.
“Unless Labor comes up with a plan to stop Adani and end coal exports, Bill Shorten will be dogged by striking students and climate protestors right up until election day.
“Meanwhile, as Australia’s emissions continue to rise, Angus Taylor continues to mislead the public about the Paris Agreement.
“Australia will not ‘smash the target without intervention’ because it’s an economy-wide target, not an electricity-specific one, and the government’s own data says we’re on track to miss it.
“There is no electricity sector-specific target in our Paris commitments. We have promised to cut pollution across the whole country, but instead pollution is going up.
“So far, the government’s only plan to meet Paris appears to be using dodgy accounting to cook the books and count dodgy ‘carryover’ credits from Kyoto towards Paris.
“The only thing we are going to ‘smash’ under this government are temperature records.”

Australian Greens Education Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has condemned the Liberal Government’s punitive $328.5m cuts to University Block Grants.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The Liberal Government has continued their war on universities with the $328.5m cut to Research Block Grants announced in the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
“These punitive cuts demonstrate the Liberal government’s disrespect for the higher education sector and the vital research work conducted in our universities.
“The cuts are more than double the amount previously announced. The government doesn’t even have the courtesy to consult or even let universities know how much money they are cutting.
“The principle here is simple. We cannot be an innovative country without properly funding universities to undertake world class research.
“The Liberals hostility towards universities is clear. They’ve politically interfered in ARC grant approvals, introduced a tax on unis with their Cost Recovery bill and have now confirmed they are gutting research funding,” she concluded.

Greens employment spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today noted MYEFO joins 8 years of heroic wage growth forecasts that haven’t come true, making this mid-year update more fantasy than reality.
“If history is anything to go by, we’ll see pigs at 35,000 feet before these wage growth forecasts come true,” said Mr Bandt.
“We’re now in our 8th year of broken wage growth promises.
“Neoliberalism does not deliver decent wage rises.
“We need to legislate a floor under the minimum wage, restore cuts to penalty rates and recalibrate the economy so it serves working people.
“Working people are entitled to be sick and tired of this government, but there’s no guarantee that Labor will deliver either. If the market won’t deliver wages growth, the next government needs to implement policies to generate it.”
Below is a graph representing the gap between forecasted increases to wage growth and actual wage growth:

Sources: Budget Strategy and Outlook: Budget paper No. 1; Statement Two: Economic Outlook, Table 1; and MYEFO, December 2018

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today noted that the release of this year’s ‘Mid-Year Financial and Economic Outlook’, which shows spending on climate change decreasing every year to 2021-2022, reflects the same disdain this government has shown towards real action on climate change at the recent international climate talks in Poland.
“Australia is a climate change denier at home and abroad,” said Mr Bandt.
“While Australia attempts to sabotage international climate negotiations abroad by spruiking fossil fuels, MYEFO shows the government is cutting spending on climate change when it should be lifting it.
“Australia should be leading the way and joining other countries in the urgent push to lift ambition to keep global warming well below 1.5 degrees.
“Instead, we’re trying to undermine real action on climate and attempting to cook the books by using ‘carryover’ from Kyoto to meet our already measly Paris obligations.
“It’s clear we need to turf this rotten government out as soon as possible and hold the next one to account, as Labor is also refusing to rule out using dodgy ‘carryover credits’ from Kyoto.”

Labor’s commitment to the cruelty of offshore detention and boat turnbacks is disappointing, but not surprising, Greens immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says.
“Labor cannot call themselves progressive while they continue to support these inhumane measures” Senator McKim said.
“Indefinite detention on Manus Island and Nauru, which began under Labor, has destroyed so many lives.”
“The tide has turned on offshore detention – the Australian people want it to end.”
“Additional support for the UNHCR is welcome, as is an increase in Australia’s humanitarian intake.”
“But it is long past time for Labor to commit to ending the cruelty of offshore detention.”

On behalf of the Federal Opposition, I congratulate General (retd) David Hurley on his appointment as Australia’s next Governor-General.
General Hurley has dedicated his life to serving Australia, including decades in the Defence Force and then as Governor of New South Wales.
The Opposition was informed of the announcement this morning.
While I am pleased the Prime Minister received approval from the United Kingdom for this merited appointment, I hope this is the last time an Australian Prime Minister has to call Buckingham Palace for permission.
We are a country that can stand on its own two feet: an Australian Republic with an Australian head of state.
That’s what the next Labor Government is determined to deliver.

“Today’s Mid-year Economic Financial Outlook shows that the Coalition is totally out of touch with everyone in our community who is feeling under pressure. The Prime Minister hopes to buy the next election with a surplus built upon cuts to essential services and heroic assumptions about wages growth,” Greens Co-Deputy Leader Senator Larissa Waters said.
“The Treasurer may have claimed that the country is doing better than ever, but people aren’t feeling it. Wages have flatlined, household debt is sky-high, homelessness is on the rise and essential services funding has been eroded – it’s only the Coalition’s mates in big business that are feeling better off.
“Crowing about the lowest government spending in 50 years is just bragging about its vicious cuts to essential services. Morrison’s surplus is your children’s overcrowded schoolroom, your delays in getting a hip replacement at a public hospital, your year stuck in poverty without a raise to Newstart.
“Only a Government in bed with the mining industry would slash climate funding after the extreme weather events we’ve seen batter our nation. Cutting a third of climate funds by 2020, while pouring money into drought funding, adds insult to injury for farmers who want a national climate policy to address what’s driving the drought.
“Today’s outlook confirms we still won’t see a cent from our domestic gas industry over the forwards, yet we’ll spend another $83 million on fossil fuel tax credits, creating record high subsidies of more than $7 billion. The handouts to big business keep coming – perhaps a thank you for the big donations to political parties from the fossil fuel industry.
“The lack of any funding for the Government’s weak Commonwealth Integrity Commission proves the announcement was always just smoke and mirrors – they were never committed to delivering anti-corruption measures, and want the rigged system to continue as usual.
“The lack of any long-term strategic planning shows the Liberal and Nationals have no intent, capacity, or right to be leading Australia into the future and addressing our nation’s challenges.
“If this is the best the Coalition can offer, the election can’t come soon enough.”

Australian Greens Housing Spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has described Labor’s housing announcement as tinkering around the edges.
Senator Faruqi is calling on the Labor Opposition to commit to building more public housing stock which will be affordable in the long-term.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Housing in Australia is monumentally messed up. With so many people in need of affordable housing we need radical solutions.
“Labor’s announcement will incentivise private investors for 10 years, but what happens when the subsidy runs out? What we need is massive investment in public and community housing to build homes where people can afford to live in for the long-term.
“We need rent-controlled social housing where people won’t suddenly face homelessness because a subsidy has run out. The Greens have a plan to build 500,000 new rent-controlled public and community homes.
“With Labor’s plan, we will find ourselves with the same problem we have with National Rental Affordability Scheme where people are left facing homelessness when the scheme ends.
“Guaranteeing a home and a roof over people’s head should not rely on ongoing subsidies to private investors.
“Nobody should be without a home. It doesn’t matter whether you’re renting or buying, the Greens plan will make sure there are enough affordable homes for everyone to have a decent and safe place to live,” she concluded.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, the Australian Greens spokesperson for Education and a former academic, reacted to this morning’s news that the University of Wollongong has accepted the John Howard-led Ramsay Centre’s funding for a degree in ‘Western Civilisation’.
She said:
“Today’s news is a blow to academic freedom in Australia.
“As a former academic, I can unequivocally say that allowing any organisation to influence curriculum, let alone one as shady as this centre, is a huge mistake.
“The Ramsay Centre wants nothing more than to churn out students with an uncritical view of Western Civilisation, and they’re willing to shower our public universities with money to make that happen.
“We must push back hard against this idea of cultural supremacy and stand strongly for academic freedom and critical thinking.
“The University of Wollongong can still do the right thing and reject the Ramsay Centre’s money and the ideology that comes with it,” she concluded.