16 News

Leading mental health experts and groups have teamed up with the insurance industry to draw attention to a major drag on Australia’s productivity; mental ill-health.

In an open letter to the Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the signatories have called for bold reform which will target the root causes of mental ill-health in Australia to avoid needless misery and financial hardship.

The signatories include:

• Former Australian of the Year Professor Pat McGorry
• Co-Director of the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre Ian Hickie
• Former chair of the National Mental Health Commission Allan Fels
• Mental Health Australia
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
• Australians for Mental Health
• the Council of Australian Life Insurers and more

“The Productivity Commission has previously found mental ill-health is costing the economy up to $220 billion a year. That’s an economic drag the federal government cannot ignore. Our economy can only ever be as good as our people,” Executive Director of Australians for Mental Health Chris Gambian said.

Almost 1 in 2 Australians will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, and mental ill-health was one of the leading causes of temporary and permanent disability for workers under the age of 30, with young people being disproportionately affected by mental health conditions.

“We must do more to support Australians’ wellbeing from the get-go, not when they reach a crisis point and can no longer contribute to their communities and workplaces because they are too unwell to work,” Chris Gambian said.

The coalition of signatories is urging the federal government to consider how mental ill-health is holding the nation’s productivity back, and to consider the following recommendations:

1. Coordinate a whole-of-government response to the mental health crisis, including national mental health targets, to make every department accountable
2. Guarantee timely and affordable access to mental health care by boosting funding and training for community-based services
3. Bolster education and training within the mental health workforce to combat workforce shortages.

“Taking steps to stop people from becoming so mentally unwell to the point they can no longer work will be a major boost for the economy, communities, families and most importantly the person who got the support they need before a crisis takes hold.

“We know working and contributing to society is good for our mental health, but not when working hours and demands are unsustainable, contributing to burn out and psychological injury.

“We can’t treat our way out of rising rates of mental ill-health. We need bold reform to embed wellbeing in our policies. It will be better for Australians, and our economy too.”

Two major export deals worth a combined $80 million have been secured by Kongsberg Defence Australia, seeing missile launchers and command and control consoles made in South Australia soon to be exported to Europe.

Last year, the Albanese Government added Kongsberg Defence Australia to its Global Supply Chain Program, which has since opened the door to Australian defence industries. These export deals are made possible through Australia’s Naval Strike Missile procurement contract, which included an agreement for components to be manufactured in Australia.

As a result, South Australian companies are now contributing to exporting sophisticated defence hardware to Poland, Spain and Denmark. 

Through its parent company, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace in Norway, the company will deliver Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defence System Command and Control Consoles to Poland. 

The $30 million contract is Kongsberg Defence Australia’s first export as part of the Commonwealth’s Global Supply Chain Program. The company also secured another $50 million order for Australian-made Naval Strike Missile Launcher Systems to be exported to Spain and Denmark.

The export deals mark a significant milestone for Australia’s sovereign guided weapons manufacturing program. 

Both the launcher systems and command and control consoles will be assembled by Kongsberg Defence Australia, and tested in their production and maintenance facility in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. The consoles and launchers will be manufactured using 100 per cent Australian made components and subsystems from companies based in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. 

The two projects are set to create 60 highly-skilled jobs at Kongsberg Defence Australia and across its local supply chain. 

The Naval Strike Missile is a modern anti-ship cruise missile designed to defeat highly capable enemy warships as well as land-based targets. The Naval Strike Missile is being installed on Navy’s Hobart class destroyers and Anzac class frigates with a successful first of class firing in July 2024 and Initial Operational Capability declaration in 2024.

These exports are part of the Australian Government’s investment in the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance enterprise, underpinned by a commitment in Defence’s Integrated Investment Program of $16 to $21 billion over the next decade.

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Pat Conroy MP:

“The Albanese Government’s efforts to support Australia’s sovereign defence manufacturing industry have reaped further benefits with these significant export deals. This is an exciting milestone for Australia’s sovereign defence manufacturing industry and a proud moment for Australian businesses to enter the global supply chain for missile manufacturing. 

“It will be the first time Naval Strike Missile launchers are manufactured outside of Europe and the United States, positioning Australia as a trusted source of supply to the Naval Strike Missile capability. 

“These deals underscore the Government’s commitment to working alongside our industry partners to strengthen Australia’s role in the global defence industry.”

South Australian Minister for Defence & Space Industries, the Hon Stephen Mullighan MP: 

“This is a fantastic result for South Australia’s defence sector, demonstrating our capabilities in delivering state-of-the-art technology to a global market.

“These significant contracts will not only boost the workforce at Kongsberg’s Mawson Lakes facility, but along the supply chain. 

“It’s successes like this that help cement South Australia’s reputation as the Defence State.”

Managing Director of Kongsberg Defence Australia, John Fry:

“These major export contracts are a huge milestone for Kongsberg Defence Australia. 

“Together with our Australian suppliers, we have demonstrated our determination and competitiveness to be able deliver to our parent company, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace for international customers, highlighting the capability, quality and reliability of our Australian team and supply chain.

“The export contracts under the Commonwealth’s Global Supply Chain Program are creating opportunities in the international market for our local suppliers, which is a fantastic outcome for Australian Defence industry.”

Ahead of the Government’s productivity roundtables, the Productivity Commission’s interim report on Delivering quality care more efficiently re-affirms that the Government must urgently deliver bold reform for the care sector, with the Greens arguing early childhood education and care should be firmly on the agenda. 

The interim report proposes that the Government pursue greater alignment in quality and safety regulation across all care sectors. 

Today, Australian Greens spokesperson for early childhood education and care, Senator Steph Hodgins-May, has written to the Treasurer urging that universal, affordable and high-quality early learning be a central item on the roundtable agenda to help achieve its stated goals of improving living standards, boosting productivity and strengthening economic resilience.

Expanding access to high-quality early learning would enable more women to participate in the workforce, support children’s development and deliver substantial long-term economic returns. Yet the current privatised childcare system remains a major barrier, leaving too many children locked out of the quality education they need in their early years.

Australian Greens spokesperson for early education and care, Senator Steph Hodgins-May:

“Early education is a vital part of the care sector and essential to lifting national productivity.

“A shift to a universal, low-cost, high-quality early learning system would be a game-changer for families, children and the economy. Research shows such a system could grow the economy by $168 billion and generate an additional $48 billion in government revenue.

“The childcare subsidy model and market-driven approach make early learning inaccessible and unaffordable for many families, and clearly fails to guarantee safety or quality.”

“This broken system is locking young parents, especially women, out of the workforce and stopping them from contributing their full skills to our economy.

“If the Government is serious about boosting productivity, it must examine every part of the system. 

“Early learning is low-hanging fruit for real reform. Let’s create a bold legacy of universal, high-quality early education that gives kids the best start in life and gives parents real choices to get back into work and study.”

The Greens have slammed the Albanese government for taking extraordinary measures to dodge accountability in the Federal Court on allowing the expansion and continuation of polluting salmon farming in the last remaining habitat of the endangered Maugean skate. 

Environment groups waited two years after lodging a reconsideration request of the expansion before the Albanese government sensationally passed legislation in February specifically designed to bypass the reconsideration and allow salmon farming to continue.

The controversial new laws were set to be challenged by the Bob Brown Foundation in Federal Court next week and would have compelled the Minister to reconsider the expansion based on evidence. 

To avoid being held accountable in Federal Court, the Minister today confirmed the reconsideration request had been settled and salmon farming would continue.

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans & Senator for Lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson:

“The only reason this decision has been made by the Minister now is to scuttle the Federal Court case. 

“The Albanese government had two years to make this decision and didn’t, instead it opted to sensationally bring in new legislation that undermines Australia’s already weak nature laws in an attempt to bypass making a decision based on evidence.

“The Minister has disrespected the legal process, dodged accountability, and refused to look at the evidence, all to placate and extend a polluting industry pushing a species to extinction.

“Labor is showing just how far it will go to protect the profits of foreign salmon farming corporations over Tasmania’s environment and the survival of the Maugean skate.”

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil’s promise to deregulate home building won’t fix the housing crisis, according to Australian Greens Housing and Homelessness spokesperson, Senator Barbara Pocock.

Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock:

“Today’s leaked Treasury advice shows that this Government has caved to demands of the property lobby. Labor needs to be careful they’re actually tackling the housing crisis, not just doing the bidding of property developers who want to make more money. 

“We need more housing built more quickly but what we don’t want is poor quality housing in bad locations. There is a dire need to lift productivity in the housing sector but we must be very careful undertaking reforms in this area to avoid greenlighting shoddy developers who will deliver substandard dwellings in inappropriate settings.

“Many of these regulations are in place to protect consumers, protect the environment and to make our urban areas more liveable. We can’t afford to lower our standards on safety and sustainability as we try to improve efficiency. Giving robots control over environmental approvals is not the answer.

“The housing crisis in Australia can’t be solved simply through deregulation. We urgently need to wind back tax breaks for wealthy property investors, such as the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing, to open up a pathway for first home buyers. 

“These tax breaks make home ownership unaffordable for too many Australians and turbo charge intergenerational inequality. We need action on housing but we need the right set of policy solutions to ensure equity and liveability in our urban environments.

“If the Government doesn’t tackle the tax handouts to rich property investors, they are not tackling the housing crisis. Unless the Government makes the necessary reforms to the tax concessions for property investors, we’ll continue to see house prices rise and rents spiral and we’ll continue to see levels of homelessness increase, which advocacy groups have said is the worst in living memory. The Greens stand ready to work with Labor to action this urgent reform.

“Ahead of the Government’s productivity roundtable, it’s disappointing that the outcomes have already been decided. We’ve had public debate in good faith on how to boost productivity, and deregulation alone won’t cut it. Labor must deliver on essential tax reform to deal with the housing crisis, ensure workers get their fair share and strengthen flexible working arrangements for women and carers.”