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The Greens and the disability community have achieved another huge win!
After years of raising the alarm that the confidentiality provisions in the Disability Royal Commission are insufficient, the disability community, alongside Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, have locked in amendments that will allow those with confidential information to come forward to the Disability Royal Commission with trust.
The Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of disabled people was established in 2019. The changes that passed the Senate today, will ensure that information provided to the Commission in confidence, will remain confidential after the Royal Commission ends, and there are stronger protections for those who expose the failings of organisations such as a government department, corporations, or institutions.
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, Disability Rights & Services Spokesperson said: 
“Together, The Greens and the Disability Community have again demonstrated our power, and have succeeded in getting outcomes that will improve the lives of disabled people.
“The changes that passed the Senate, will give disabled people security that the information they give to the Disability Royal Commission will remain confidential over time. These changes also enact stronger protections for folks who bravely come forward to blow the whistle, exposing the failings of organisations such as government departments, corporations, or institutions.
“The Greens are encouraging everyone to share their experience of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation with the Commission. They need to hear from all of us to get a total picture of violence, abuse and neglect that is occurring in all settings all across the country.
“At the next election, with a small change in the vote, The Greens can be in balance of power. The Greens, alongside the community, have already achieved so much for the disability community, and in the balance of power we will prioritise ensuring all disabled people are able to access the NDIS quickly, where ever they are across the country, and we will be in a position to ensure the recommendations that will be made by the Royal Commission are implemented thoroughly and quickly.”

The Australian Greens have savaged Labor’s decision to vote with the Liberals today in the Senate to spend public money opening up massive gas fields in the Beetaloo Basin, saying the move raised questions as to whether Labor still believes the climate crisis is real.
If Labor had voted with the Greens and crossbench, the fund would have been abolished, given the numbers in the Senate. Labor is responsible for the continued existence of the $50 million Beetaloo Co-operative Drilling Program to open up new gas projects.
The Greens have vowed to revisit the issue when Parliament meets again in October, and off the back of the Labor party writing to the Auditor-General to investigate the fund they support, the Australian Greens have also written to the ANAO asking for this work to be completed before the next and final vote.
The fund is being used to funnel money to a donor to Liberal and Labor. Major grant beneficiary Empire Energy’s majority shareholder is billionaire Dale Elphinstone, a regular donor to the Liberal Party and a Liberal Party Life Member. Empire Energy also donated $25,000 to both the Northern Territory Labor Party and Country Liberal Party during the 2020 territory election.
There is almost 70 years’ worth of Australia’s emissions in the NT gas basins and fracking the NT will lift our own annual emissions by up to 6%.
Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP said:
“In the middle of a climate crisis, Labor is backing the Liberals using public money to open up new gas fields.
“Gas is as dirty as coal. Labor’s decision to vote with the Liberals to open up new gas fields makes you wonder if they accept the science of climate change.
“Scientists are screaming at us to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground, but Labor and Liberal have just used public money to open up massive gas reserves, lighting the fuse on a giant climate bomb.
“This is a climate crime. Public money should go to schools and hospitals, not Liberal and Labor corporate gas donors who are cooking our future.
“It is clear the Liberals have to be kicked out, but Labor can’t be trusted to act on the climate crisis, so we need to put the Greens in balance of power in both houses of Parliament.
“If Labor had voted with the Greens instead of the Liberals, we would have won. We had the numbers.
“It is Labor who has allowed this climate crime to happen.
“It’s not too late for Labor to change their mind and defuse this climate bomb, with a final disallowance vote set for 19 October.”
Australian Greens Leader in the Senate, Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Labor talks a big game on climate, but their track record falls well short of their rhetoric. Time after time, presented with the opportunity to stand up to this dodgy government and fight for climate action, they turn tail and run.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t expect much more from a party that can’t even commit to a 2030 ermissions reduction target, and a party that pockets millions in donations from gas and coal companies.
“Senator Watt said that if people want to know where Labor stands they should look to their policy platform. Well, I think people are going to be looking at Labor’s voting record, and I think they’ll see quite clearly that when Labor had the chance to stop public money going to a climate-wrecking project they didn’t take it.
“By siding with the Libs to give money to a major donor to frack the Northern Territory, against the explicit wishes of Traditional Owners, Labor is giving First Nations people and all Australians a clear and unambiguous message: ‘We don’t care about you.’”
Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Senate should have put an end to this rort today.
“It’s disappointing the Labor Party can identify all the ways in which this program is dodgy yet has allowed it to continue.
“Millions of dollars of taxpayer money is destined for a bunch of gas cowboys to create a climate bomb and due to Labor’s capitulation, now even more money will be handed out under this dodgy program.
“The evidence uncovered by the Senate Inquiry into this program showed there was no proper due-diligence, a $21m cheque was handed over on a ‘first in, first served’ basis and the recipient is a donor to the Liberal Party.
“The Greens will keep fighting to put a stop to this program because not only is the taxpayer being rorted, our climate is being ripped off too.”

The Morrison Government is providing additional support to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) who continue to deal with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis by expanding eligibility for the SME Recovery Loan Scheme.
In recognition of the continued economic impacts of COVID-19, the Government will remove requirements for SMEs to have received JobKeeper during the March quarter of 2021 or to have been a flood affected business in order to be eligible under the SME Recovery Loan Scheme.
As with the existing scheme, SMEs who are dealing with the economic impacts of the coronavirus with a turnover of less than $250 million will be able to access loans of up to $5 million over a term of up to 10 years. Other key features of the SME Recovery Loan Scheme include:

• The Government guarantee will be 80 per cent of the loan amount.
• Lenders are allowed to offer borrowers a repayment holiday of up to 24 months.
• Loans can be used for a broad range of business purposes, including to support investment.
• Loans may be used to refinance any pre-existing debt of an eligible borrower, including those from the SME Guarantee Scheme.
• Loans can be either unsecured or secured (excluding residential property).

The expanded Scheme will enable lenders to continue supporting Australian small businesses when they need it most.
The SME Recovery Loan Scheme builds on earlier loan schemes introduced during COVID-19, under which around 74,000 loans totalling around $6.2 billion were written.
The loans will be available through participating lenders until 31 December 2021. The expansion complements other financial support the Commonwealth is offering to businesses impacted by the current COVID-19 health restrictions.
The Morrison Government will continue to support small businesses as they seek to rebuild, adapt and create jobs on the other side of this crisis.
Further information can be found on the Treasury website.

The Greens say Labor’s decision today to wave through changes to the Electoral Act that will increase membership minimums and give existing parties veto power over new rivals’ names, limits democratic participation and entrenches the two-party system.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters said:
“The Libs and Labor are running scared. They know they’re on the nose with the electorate and they know their share of the primary vote is collapsing. This is a blatant and utterly shameless attempt to shore up their power.
“Today, the old parties have told all Australians that they are willing to use their combined numbers in parliament to entrench their duopoly and shut out diverse voices.
“With an election looming dozens of minor parties are now at risk of being deregistered. It’s an attack on our democracy at a time when neither the Libs nor Labor can be trusted to act in the interests of anyone else other than their corporate donors.
“The Bill refers to ‘Party Registration Integrity’. Lack of integrity in the major parties is exactly why the crossbench is the largest in history. But rather than change their behaviour, the big parties just want to close the doors to new players.
“A healthy representative democracy should welcome wide and diverse political engagement. What does it say about our own democracy that both the government and opposition are in lockstep on such undemocratic reforms?
“Thankfully, Labor has backed the Greens in opposing changes that would saddle civil society organisations with significant financial and disclosure burdens and make it harder for them to engage in public debate. I urge the crossbench to join us in opposing those changes and protecting public interest advocacy.”

“First Nations people have been a priority group for the COVID-19 vaccine since December 2020, yet our vaccination rates in Western NSW are among the lowest in the country,” said DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe, the Greens Senator for Victoria.
“When COVID-19 hit, governments around the country sent our communities body bags, not the PPE we asked for. I’m hearing reports of healthy people being forced to stay in overcrowded homes with people who have COVID-19. They need to stop blocking us from being healthy.
“People have been turned away from supermarkets and food has been withheld from families while staff underwent training. How much training to you need to deliver a box?
“Walgett only has a four–bed hospital, the next nearest hospital is three hours away. Smaller towns are entitled to the same quality of healthcare and access to essentials as major cities. These communities have been neglected for decades and because of this First Nations people are getting sicker and dying earlier. It’s not good enough.
“First Nations people know what’s best for our communities. Elders in western NSW are demanding more vaccines, nurses to support Aboriginal Medical Services and suitable accommodation so people can quarantine effectively and safely.
“Aboriginal children between the ages of 10 to 19 make up 40% of cases of COVID-19 in western NSW. We don’t know what impact COVID-19 has on growing bodies, but we shouldn’t be putting kids at risk. Children and teenagers must be included in vaccine targets now.” said Thorpe.
Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi said:
“Communities across New South Wales and the country have been massively let down by a botched-up vaccine rollout. This has had disproportionate and harmful impacts on First Nations and multicultural communities across our state.
“Systemic racism has clearly played a role in the government’s failure to keep communities safe and an obsession with policing over public health measures that actually work.
“Communities must be supported, not vilified and blamed as part of a strategy to distract from the government’s own failures.”
The Greens are calling for all eligible 12+ year olds to immediately be included in vaccination targets and rollout, adequate resourcing in terms of medical supplies and personnel, full access to health services and more intensive care units to meet higher demand.