Category: Australian News

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Torres Strait Treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea, which entered into force on 15 February 1985.

In addition to defining the maritime boundaries between Papua New Guinea and Australia, the Treaty protects the ways of life of traditional inhabitants in the Torres Strait Protected Zone.

The Treaty’s unique provisions allow Torres Strait Islanders and Papua New Guineans from Treaty Villages free movement across borders for traditional activities, such as traditional fishing, cultural and religious ceremonies, social gatherings and trade.

It is particularly important to reflect on the Treaty’s success this year as we look forward to marking the 50th Anniversary of Papua New Guinea’s independence in September.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong:

“The Torres Strait Treaty recognises the kinship between our two countries and our people, reflecting the deeply important relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea as neighbours, friends and equals.

“We will continue working closely together to advance our shared interests and ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.”

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy:

“The arrangements in the Treaty are a reflection of the thousands of years of engagement and cultural connection that exist between Papua New Guinea and Australia.

“Australia remains committed to the Torres Strait Treaty, and its assurance to empower our First Nations people and preserve their traditions, as the longest continuous culture on earth.”

The Greens have slammed the Prime Minister’s announcement today that he will cave in to the Tasmanian salmon industry by weakening Australia’s environment laws if re-elected. The Greens will stand up for the environment and community this election against vested interests.

Nick McKim is Australian Greens Senator for Tasmania:

“Labor has backed in the profits of foreign salmon-farming corporations over Tasmania’s environment and the survival of the Maugean Skate.

“Australia’s environment laws are already too weak. To water them down even further to underpin corporate profits is an outrage and a betrayal.

“The Greens will fight any attempt to erode the protection of Australia’s environment with everything we’ve got.

“This will play very badly for Labor at the election, because right around the state Tasmanian communities are fighting to defend their coastlines from pollution and privatisation by industrial salmon farms.

“Tasmanians have always voted for the environment, and will do so in even larger numbers after this shocking environmental sellout.”

Australian Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Prime Minister has bulldozed environment laws and his Environment Minister, again. Last week it was caving in to the fossil fuel industry, today it’s the multinational salmon corporations.

“It is clearer than ever that Labor is too weak to stand up to vested interests and protect the environment and native species. They simply can’t be trusted to do the right thing, by the law or by nature.

“Instead of applying the law, the Prime Minister has told industry he will change the rules to suit them at the expense of the community and the environment. This is not leadership, this is a weak capitulation.

“Whether it’s protecting our marine ecosystems, native forests or koalas, neither Labor or Mr Dutton can be trusted – they will sell out to the corporations every time. Only the Greens in balance of power can save our native species and force Labor to act.”

The Greens are calling on the Albanese Government to immediately release its response to UNESCO regarding the endangered Maugean skate.

UNESCO has raised concerns with the Federal government about the risks to the Maugean Skate, yet despite repeated requests the government has refused to make its response public.

A Freedom of Information request for the document was also denied, with no valid justification provided.

“What is the government trying to hide?” Greens Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim said.

“No doubt the government is embarrassed by its response to UNESCO, but people have the right to know how their Government is responding to the likely extinction of a species and the impact of industrial salmon farming on a World Heritage property.”

“The Government’s own environment department has confirmed that reduced oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour – driven by salmon farming – are the key threat to the Maugean skate’s survival.”

“Australia has obligations under the World Heritage Convention to keep the public informed about threats to world heritage areas, yet the Government is refusing to release this critical information.”

“The Maugean skate is on the brink, and the Government should be taking every possible step to save it.”

“Instead, they are prioritising the profits of foreign-owned fish farming corporations over transparency and action.”

“The world is watching. The Government must release its response to UNESCO and act to stop the extinction of this ancient species.”

The Greens (WA) have today announced their 2025 Climate platform which presents a clear plan for Western Australia to protect our climate, get off gas and turn our state into a renewable energy powerhouse.

The Greens plan for WA includes:

• A Clean Energy Transition Levy on gas revenue
• A Gas Transition Plan for WA
• A 2030 Emissions Reduction Target & Renewable Energy Target

Under WA Labor, Western Australia has become the nation’s worst climate laggard – the only state in Australia without a 2030 emissions reduction target or a 2030 Renewable Energy target, with rising emissions and one of the lowest renewable energy investment rates in Australia.

Western Australia’s fossil fuel exports have significant global impact and consequences. WA is currently the world’s third largest exporter of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), supplying 12% of the world’s total LNG exports.

WA Labor’s claims that our gas has less emissions than coal and is helping Asia to decarbonise are dangerous lies – LNG is a dangerous fossil fuel that is causing significant harm to our climate.

The latest climate science makes it clear that exported gas emits as many, if not more, greenhouse gas emissions than coal. Research from the CSIRO has shown that Australian gas is actually displacing renewables in Asia, not coal – keeping our neighbours hooked on fossil fuels for decades to come.

Contrary to misinformation from the gas industry, fossil fuels are only a small part of WA’s economy. While 220,000 Western Australians work in health care, and 143,000 work in mining, just 11,000 work in oil and gas extraction – making up just 0.7% of the state’s workforce.

Unlike the mining industry, most of the gas industry in Western Australia pays no royalties at all – in fact WA drivers pay more in vehicle registration than the gas industry pays in royalties.

Western Australia is already experiencing devastating climate consequences. Identified as a global drying hotspot by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), since 1970 winter rainfall has declined up to 20% in our southwest, river flows have plummeted and heatwaves spanning water and land have intensified.

Last year was Perth’s hottest, driest summer ever recorded, leading to forest collapse in large swathes of our southwest and deeply challenging conditions for our farmers.

These warming temperatures are also leading to deeply harmful economic consequences for our state. The January 2023 Kimberley flooding cost WA taxpayers over $869 million dollars.

A severe marine heatwave experience in January 2025 threatens valuable industries such as the rock lobster fishery and marine tourism on the Coral Coast.

Only the Greens have a plan to transition workers out of the harmful and dying gas industry and develop good long term green jobs that will last decades into the future.

A Clean Energy Transition Levy on Gas Revenue

WA’s gas revenue arrangements are dated and no longer fit for purpose, with the current tax and royalty arrangements made decades before WA developed its offshore gas industry.^[1]

It is time Western Australian residents received benefits from the gas and condensate transported from Commonwealth waters offshore to onshore processing plants in WA, that are then sold for billions of dollars.

Fossil fuel companies including Woodside, Chevron, Shell, Exxon, BP made an estimated $41 billion in 2023-24 exporting liquified natural gas out of Western Australia.

However, the current royalty arrangements saw WA only receive $680 million[1]  from gas royalties in the 2023-24 budget.

The Greens will push for the WA State Government to work with the Federal Government to establish a new 10% Clean Energy Transition Levy on existing WA gas projects processed onshore.

If applied last financial year, this levy could have earned Western Australia $4.1 billion dollars – still less than half the $9.8 billion dollars that the iron-ore industry contributed to WA state revenue.

The funds raised from the Greens proposed levy will be earmarked solely to pay for WA’s transition into a renewable energy superpower and for paying from the increasing climate damage our state is suffering.

It will directly fund:

• Delivery of critical and life-saving fire and emergency services across the state that are facing increasing demand from climate related disasters. 
• The Greens ‘Renewables for All’ policy which would see Zero Interest Loan Scheme for home renewable energy, EV’s and batteries, a Home Energy Rebate Program aimed at lower income households, a Renewables for Renters initiative and a Solar for Apartments scheme.
• The building of large scale, publicly owned batteries, wind and solar.
• The development of a WA Renewable Jobs Plan
• The development of a Gas Transition Plan for WA
• The establishment of Green Iron Precincts in partnership with the Federal Government, ensuring strategic and sufficient investment in large-scale renewables necessary for the delivery of green iron.
• The building of the required transmission network to deliver large-scale renewable energy projects in the south-west.
• The development of a comprehensive single Common-User Grid Infrastructure Plan in the expanded Pilbara region to deliver large-scale renewable energy, green iron and green minerals projects in the north-west.
• The establishment of an industry-led reuse, recovery and recycling scheme for solar panels, battery storage systems, inverters and related products, creating new jobs and industries from the recovery of these resources.
• The establishment of a decommissioning pathway for offshore and onshore oil and
  gas facilities and ensure the delivery of a multi-user decommissioning facility that maximises recycling of steel and associated construction materials.

A Gas Transition Plan for WA 

The Greens will push for the WA government to commission a comprehensive gas transition study and industry phase-out plan for WA.

No gas industry worker should suffer the anxiety and financial insecurity that comes from losing their job suddenly. Over a carefully planned transition, we can assure gas industry workers that they will continue in gainful, well-paid employment until retirement.

This study will determine the training and support needed to ensure WA gas industry workers are not left behind in the transition to net zero, providing a clear roadmap for how Western Australia can use the expertise and skills within the gas industry to develop new, clean energy export industries.

This in-depth transition plan will be funded by the Clean Energy Transition Levy and will be carried out in consultation with unions and industry.

2030 Emissions Reduction Target & Renewable Energy Target

Western Australia remains the only state without a 2030 Emissions Reduction target or a 2030 Renewable Energy Target in the whole country.

While other states, on average, have reduced their emissions by 55% since 2005, whilst Western Australia’s emissions have increased by 8.3% in that time.

The Greens will introduce a climate change Act for Western Australia that legislates 1.5 degree-aligned targets for emissions reduction and renewable energy for 2030 through to 2050.

Western Australia needs to play ’s part in Australia meeting at 1.5° aligned goal for 2030 and 2035

Greens WA Fossil Fuel Spokesperson Sophie McNeill:

“Roger Cook and Reece Whitby have spent their time in power securing the future of Woodside and Chevron shareholders – not a safe future for our kids.

“The Cook government’s obstruction of climate action is so obvious state Labor MPs are choosing to leave politics to go work in the climate space because they’ll have more chance of helping reduce emissions from outside this government than within it.

“Meanwhile, our state is being increasingly left out of the green boom because of WA Labor’s continued obsession with fossil fuel expansion and new gas.

“If Premier Cook doesn’t change his ways soon, his lasting legacy will be how he chose to support Woodside’s interests over the long-term benefit of WA’s workers and our economy.

“Only through the Greens securing the balance of power will see WA finally come out of the dark ages on climate.”

Greens WA Climate Change Spokesperson Dr Brad Pettitt MLC:

“Gas is part of the problem, not part of the solution. 

“Western Australia is the only state where emissions are still rising and yet the Cook Labor has failed to deliver on its promise to introduce emissions reduction and renewable energy targets that are in line with the science because they are captured by the gas industry.

“This same industry is ripping off Western Australians, making billions of dollars in revenue and paying hardly anything back for the privilege. This arrangement is frankly criminal, and it has to change. 

“Only the Greens have a plan to urgently get off gas, invest in renewable energy and legislate realistic, but ambitious, emissions reduction targets that are in line with climate science to bring Western Australia back on track with the rest of Australia, and the world. 

“The Greens understand that a transition must include a plan to protect workers and communities that are impacted by the transition away from fossil fuels and ensure their long-term economic security as a priority.

“In the face of hotter and drier summers, more dangerous and frequent bushfires and ecological collapse on a scale never seen in this state before the WA community rightly expect better!

“Without a plan as the closure of coal-fired power stations in Collie looms, Western Australia is sleepwalking into long-term reliance on new gas.”

More support is being provided into North Queensland, with more than $100 million in extraordinary grants now available for flood affected primary producers, small businesses and not for profit agencies across flood affected areas.

The grants are the next round of disaster assistance activated by the Albanese and Crisafulli Governments to support recovery and resilience for North Queensland communities impacted by recent flooding.

The package activated today includes:

• $72.7 million grants package for flood-affected primary producers in North Queensland.
• $25 million grants package for small businesses and not for profit agencies impacted by the North Queensland floods.
• $2.4 million Rural Landholder Grants for owners or lessees of at least 10 hectares of flood affected land.
• $1 million Emergency Fodder Support for eligible primary producers.

Grants of up to $25,000 are available to flood-affected primary producers, small businesses and not for profit agencies impacted by the North Queensland floods.

In addition, grants of up to $10,000 are available to rural landholders or lessees of at least 10 hectares who sustained direct damage but are not eligible for other DRFA primary producer assistance.

This assistance is available to eligible applicants in the local government areas of Burdekin, Cairns, Cassowary Coast, Hinchinbrook, Palm Island, Townsville and Yarrabah.

Primary producers in the Burdekin, Cairns, Cassowary Coast, Charters Towers, Flinders, Hinchinbrook, Palm Island, Townsville and Yarrabah local government areas will have access to an Emergency Fodder Support Package with up to $1 million available for the purchase and transportation of fodder to sustain livestock and mitigate the impacts of flooding.

These extraordinary assistance grants are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments under Category C and D of the joint Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

For grant applications, contact QRIDA on 1800 623 946 or via www.qrida.qld.gov.au.

Primary producers wishing to access the Emergency Fodder Support Package should contact the Department of Primary industries on 13 25 23.

More on DRFA assistance is available at www.disasterassist.gov.au or www.qra.qld.gov.au.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“These are tough times, but North Queenslanders are tougher.

“My Government is making sure we’re providing whatever resources are required, right now and into the future as these communities recover.”

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli:

“Our focus is getting North Queensland back on its feet – fast.

“We’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with those affected by the disaster to ensure they can recover quickly and come back stronger than ever.”

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Small Business Julie Collins:

“These grants will help reduce clean up and recovery costs for North Queensland small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations who were impacted by recent flooding.

Grants like this can make all the difference in helping to ensure impacted North Queensland farmers and small businesses can get back on their feet faster.

“Farmers and small businesses are at the heart of local communities so this funding is critical.”

Minister for Emergency Management Jenny McAllister:

“Farmers, businesses and not-for-profit organisations are central to the North Queensland community, and we know that heavy rainfall and severe flooding has made operations very difficult.

“The grants activated today will support businesses and farmers as the region moved to recovery, it will help farmers feed stock, and repair damage.

“Recovery can take time. Our government is here for the long haul. The Albanese Government will continue working hand in glove with the Queensland Government to support communities in Far North and North Queensland.”

Queensland Minister for Disaster Recovery Ann Leahy:

“Small rural landholders in North Queensland would not be left to fend for themselves on the road to recovery.

“Rural Landholders that have suffered direct damage from the event can also access grants of up to $10,000 to speed up their recovery,”

Queensland Minister for Regional and Rural Development Dale Last:

“The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority is well prepared, with staff on the ground ready to assist.

“These grants are being administered by QRIDA who have dedicated people ready to speak to primary producers, small businesses, not for profits and rural landholders about their applications and provide help where needed.”

The Albanese Government is supporting safe and connected communities throughout the Illawarra by providing $851,279 for the Shellharbour Integrated Child and Family Precinct.

The funding for planning is the first step in making this important project a reality. It will support a comprehensive business case, master plan and detailed designs for a holistic services hub to provide early childhood and family support services in one accessible location.

The planning work will consider the revitalisation of the site and connections to nearby services as well as parking and public transport. Local families and community stakeholders will be an integral part of designing the precinct to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

The project is being delivered by Karitane with Barnardos Australia and the University of New South Wales.

Planning for the Shellharbour Integrated Child and Family Precinct will consider options to provide a wide range of health, education and social care services in one accessible location.

This support is being provided through the Government’s $400 million regional Precincts and Partnership Program, which provides investment to transform regional, rural and remote places.

The program is investing $47.9 million to support the transformation of seven precincts across New South Wales. For more information, visit: infrastructure.gov.au/regional.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

“This project demonstrates how my Government is building Australia’s future and strengthening regional communities.

“Having support services, education facilities and social care options all under one roof in the middle of Shellharbour will make a big difference to this beautiful and growing region.

“We want to support regional communities to grow and thrive, for our youngest and eldest Australians and everyone in between.”

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King

“We’re proud to partner with communities to bring important projects like this to life.

“Being a new parent is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be really challenging. A central hub for early childhood and family support will help new parents in the Shellharbour region get the services they need close to home.”

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Member for Whitlam Stephen Jones

“This precinct is a game changer for our community.

“It will help connect people to vital support services they need in an easy to access way.

“Labor is delivering for our regions and building a stronger Illawarra.”

The Albanese Government has imposed additional cyber sanctions in response to the 2022 cyberattack against Medibank Private.

The attack affected millions of Medibank’s customers whose personal and sensitive medical information was stolen. Some records were published on the dark web.

This is the first time that Australia has imposed cyber sanctions on an entity and the first time Australia has imposed sanctions on those providing the network infrastructure and services that make cyberattacks like this possible.

The Government is imposing these cyber sanctions on the Russian entity, ZServers, and five Russian cybercriminals who provided the network infrastructure and services used to host and release the data stolen from Medibank. The individuals are ZServers’ owner, Aleksandr Bolshakov, and employees Aleksandr Mishin, Ilya Sidorov, Dmitriy Bolshakov and Igor Odintsov.

ZServers and the five sanctioned individuals also provided enabling services that supported a range of other cybercrimes, including ransomware activities conducted by affiliates of LockBit and BianLian and other ransomware groups.

The sanctions announced today make it a criminal offence to provide assets to ZServers or the five sanctioned individuals, or to use or deal with their assets, with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and/or heavy fines. The sanctions also ban the individuals from entering Australia.

Today’s sanctions follow the Government’s decisive action to sanction Aleksandr Ermakov, announced in January 2024, for his role in the Medibank Private data breach.

They are a result of the close collaboration between the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), other Commonwealth agencies and key international partners, including the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), who have all worked tirelessly to unmask these cybercriminals.

The UK and the US have also imposed sanctions on these malicious cyber actors, demonstrating our collective resolve to combat cybercrime.

These sanctions reflect the Albanese Government’s commitment in the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy to deter and respond to malicious cyber activity, including by using sanctions to hold cybercriminals to account.

Malicious cyber actors continue to target Australian governments, critical infrastructure, businesses and individuals. Australia’s autonomous cyber sanctions framework is a key tool in imposing costs on cyber actors and protecting Australians from this threat.

Australians should report cybercrimes, incidents or vulnerabilities to the Australian Signals Directorate at 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371) or https://www.cyber.gov.au/report.

Australian businesses can help protect themselves from ransomware by updating devices, regularly backing up files and ensuring staff know to never visit suspicious websites, open emails from unknown sources or click on suspicious links. More information can be found at cyber.gov.au/ransomware

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles:

“These sanctions send a clear message to malicious cyber actors that there are consequences of trying to do Australians harm.

“The Albanese Government continues to take decisive action to hold to account those responsible for one of Australia’s largest cyber incidents.

“Importantly, this is the first cyber sanction against an enabler of cybercrime. Disrupting the criminal ecosystem in this way impacts hundreds of cybercriminals at once.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong:

“The Albanese Government is using all elements of our national power to make Australia more secure and to keep Australians safe.

“We are preventing, deterring and disrupting malicious cyber activity through attributions and targeted sanctions in the national interest.

“We will continue to work with our international partners to impose costs on cyber criminals and protect Australians from cyber threats.”

Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke:

“This Government established the cybersecurity portfolio because national security requires cybersecurity. This strong action is about keeping Australians safe.”

The Greens called on the government to consider public ownership of Rex following its entering administration in July last year, and welcome the news that the government may now purchase the airline.

Lines attributable to Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP, Greens spokesperson for Transport, Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities:

“The Greens welcome the news that the government is considering purchasing Rex. Not only would this save these vital regional services, a publicly owned airline will bring more competition to the current Qantas-Virgin duopoly dominating our aviation market.

“The Greens called for the government to consider purchasing Rex back in July last year, when it was clear that Rex was collapsing.

“The collapse of Rex would be a devastating blow to regional communities around Australia who are so reliant on their services. 

“But it’s not enough for the government to promise to be a backstop, they need to get on the front foot.

“The government has already given Rex $130 million in support since July last year and are still talking about subsidising private buyers. 

“The government has a bad record of shelling out millions in taxpayer dollars to prop up private airlines and getting nothing back. Public ownership is the only way to get an airline run in the interests of all Australians.”

The Greens (WA) on Wednesday evening will officially launch the LGBTQIA+ elements of their Social Justice platform for the 2025 WA State Election with a Queer Politics in the Pub event at the Aviary.

Queer Politics in the Pub, MC’d by Boorloo’s very own Miss Phoria (they/them), a queer, trans-nonbinary, disabled and Indigenous performance artist, will see a range of prominent LGBTQIA+ Western Australians join The Greens (WA) LGBTQIA+ Spokesperson, Dr. Brad Pettitt MLC (he/him), to discuss their perspectives on queer issues in Western Australia and take your questions on the current state of LGBTQIA+ politics, as well as the priorities and opportunities for reform as we approach the WA State election in March.

The Greens (WA) plan includes:

• Implementing a statutory declaration model for the legal recognition of gender that enables full self-identification and completely demedicalises the process;
• Reinstating funding for Inclusive Education Western Australia (formerly Safe Schools) that was quietly axed by WA Labor in October 2020 at a cost of at least $1.5 million per year; and
• Reforming the Equal Opportunity Act to:
  • Ban all non-life threatening surgeries on children born with intersex characteristics until they are of a legal age to provide consent; and
  • Ban archaic and harmful conversion practices.

Joining Dr. Pettitt on the panel are Alex Wallace (they/them), a queer rights activist with Queer Liberation Boorloo, former Transfolk WA Board member and Greens (WA) Legislative Council Candidate, Mia Krasenstein (she/her), former Board Member of Busselton Pride Alliance, human rights campaigner and Greens (WA) candidate for Vasse and Hannah Halls (she/they), volunteer for Albany Pride.

Event Details:

• Wednesday 12 February, 7pm – 9pm
• The Aviary Lounge Bar, Level 1/140 William Street, Perth

Alex Wallace:

“This is an important opportunity for WA’s queer community to hear from The Greens and members of our community about how we achieve real change this election.

“It was The Greens (WA) who continued to apply pressure in Parliament, on the back of community action for movement on LGBTQIA+ law reform in the last term of Parliament. 

“It was the Greens who drafted and put amendments to gender recognition reforms that would’ve made the legislation more like what the community sought.

“WA Labor voted against those community-sought amendments, while the WA Liberals and MOST WA Nationals voted DOWN the legislation in full. Only The Greens (WA) are unapologetically and fully on the side of the LGBTQIA+ community in Western Australia; every protest, every vote, every time.”

Mia Krasenstein:

“The greens have always been the party to stand up for the rights of the LBGTQIA community.

“As a queer woman, I wouldn’t throw my support behind any party that didn’t stand up for the LGBTQIA+ community and my community knows the Greens have always had their best interests at heart.

“We have consistently fought against discrimination, against conversion therapy, pushed for better education of gender and sexuality and gender recognition reforms.

“This Labor government has claimed they support  the LGBTQIA+ community but has consistently backtracked on promises when the time comes. The Liberals ran a huge “Vote No” campaign during the marriage equality vote; it’s clear where the major parties stand. 

“All we need is more votes to have more influence on better laws in parliament. Come and stand with us.”

WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:

“It is a privilege to be invited to share the stage with these incredible folks and speak to the painfully slow reform on LGBTQIA+ rights, and extremely harmful rhetoric, by WA Labor in the last Parliament.

“Trans and gender-diverse folks in the community have been calling for a Statutory Declaration model that enables self-identification of sex and gender on birth certificates in line with Victoria’s  gold-standard laws, passed in 2019. This is the core of the Greens (WA) election commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community.

“What this Labor government rushed through without consideration of amendments put forward by the community was a bill that continues to medicalise trans, intersex and gender-diverse identities by requiring an application to be ‘supported by a statement by a doctor or psychologist certifying that the person has received appropriate clinical treatment’. 

“Also buried in the announcement was an acknowledgement from Premier Roger Cook that the rest of the promised reforms to the Equal Opportunity Act would only be legislated if and when this government wins a third term. 

“Hedging life-changing reforms on winning a third term of government is despicable and the Greens are in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community who have been rightly calling this out.” 

“In the next Parliament and with the balance of power in the upper house the Greens (WA) will fight to ensure that life-changing reforms to the Equal Opportunity Act and the banning of archaic and harmful conversion practices – reforms the community have been calling for and that WA Labor have promised since 2017 – are finally realised.”

One Nation will strengthen Medicare, with a focus on combatting fraud, as part of its plan to put more money in Australians’ pockets.

Party leader Senator Pauline Hanson said the Medicare system was being rorted by up to $3 billion a year – resources better directed towards lifting bulk-billing rates.

“When the Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance was released in April 2023, we learned Medicare was being rorted by up to $3 billion a year,” Senator Hanson said.

“There have been many examples of people using other people’s Medicare cards, doctors’ appointments being used to obtain cheap PBS-funded medicines which are then sold on the black market here and overseas for big profits, and even doctors falsely claiming funding for appointments they did not have.

“A lot of this could be prevented by requiring photo ID on our Medicare cards – this is our policy – and by ensuring Medicare is sufficiently resourced to ensure GPs are remunerated sufficiently.

“Like so many other small businesses in Australia, GPs are facing much higher operating costs – rents, rates, insurance, energy bills – and this is reducing bulk-billing rates.

These rates fell from 51.7% to 47.7% last financial year, with the average out-of-pocket cost rising to $45 per appointment. Almost 9% of patients either delayed their appointments or just didn’t go because of these out-of-pocket costs.

“We must have a hard look at increasing the Medicare rebate and better remunerate GPs to prevent their exit from the system. Australia is potentially looking at a shortfall of more than 10,000 GPs by the start of the next decade.

“Fixing Medicare and cracking down on fraud is part of our plan to slash government waste by $90 billion, putting $40 billion more in Australians’ pockets, paying down government debt and investing in Australia’s future.”