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The Morrison Government will protect Australia’s family-owned automotive businesses and their employees from the growing power imbalance with multi-national car companies by introducing new significant financial penalties for wrongdoing under the Franchising Code of Conduct.
A fine of up to $10 million could be given to international car companies that undertake systemic breaches under the Code, including unilaterally changing contracts, poor compensation and reneging on warranties.
The existing voluntary automotive principles will be made compulsory and a new mandatory automotive code will be strongly considered, following consultation.
The Government will also explore mandatory binding arbitration provisions within this new code, similar to those in the Media Bargaining Code, which were developed to curtail the power of the Big Tech platforms.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s automotive dealers employed more than 60,000 Australians, including 4,000 apprentices, and contributes more than $12 billion to the economy.
“We stand up for Australian jobs and Australian businesses,” the Prime Minister said.
“We stood up to Big Tech companies and we will stand up to multi-national car companies who are riding roughshod over many family-owned Australia car dealers.”
“By protecting these businesses, we will be protecting the thousands of jobs that rely on the sector, including many apprentices.
“Car sales are surging and it’s further proof that the Australian economy is on the comeback. We need to ensure Australian family-owned automotive businesses continue to reap the rewards of this growth and the support from our supercharged instant asset write-off.”
The new measures announced today will:

• Increase available penalties under the Franchising Code to up to $10 million. This will strengthen penalties for wilful, egregious and systemic breaches of the Franchising Code by large and profitable multinational companies.
• Ensure that the Franchising Code keeps pace with changes to business practice by explicitly recognising that dealers operating as a manufacturer’s agent in relation to new vehicle sales are still protected by the Franchising Code.

Establish best practice by transforming existing voluntary principles into mandatory obligations under the Franchising Code. This will address concerns multi-national manufacturers won’t follow voluntary principles.
Minister Cash said, “This is a decisive suite of reforms for automotive dealerships and the many local businesses, apprentices, charities and broader communities that they in turn support.
“The Government is fully committed to enacting reforms that are impactful and deliver for the nation and regions where transport is integral for economic and social needs.”
“This is a landmark set of reforms for the automotive industry, building on the critical work done by the Government, most recently with the announcement of the automotive principles to deliver for consumers in December 2020.
“I am looking forward to working together with the industry to ensure the reforms made will better the overall experience of consumers, who ultimately drive the demand that underpins the viability of the automotive sector.”
In addition, the Government is committed to working further with the automotive franchising sector and will consult on:

• Ensuring appropriate protections for automotive dealerships from unfair contract terms in their agreements with manufacturers;
• Options to achieve mandatory binding arbitration for automotive franchisees, to address power imbalance when there is a dispute; and
• The merits of a standalone automotive franchising code.

The Greens have said that Australia must support a World Trade Organization (WTO) proposal that would waive intellectual property provisions to allow Covid-19 vaccine production to be rolled out and made accessible and affordable to everyone in the global community.
The WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council is meeting this week, with the Covid-19 vaccine on the agenda.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for International Aid & Development, said:
“This is a matter of global justice, and putting people before the profits of enormous pharmaceutical companies.
“The Covid-19 vaccine is a public good, not a commodity, and access to healthcare is a human right.
“It would be unconscionable – and highly self-defeating – for Australia to allow the Covid-19 pandemic to roll on in the Global South all to the benefit of big pharma.
“All the Global South countries are asking for is to be given access to intellectual property allowing for research, manufacture and supply of vaccines without risking a trade dispute.
“Refusing this will allow pharmaceutical giants to shake down nations that are already struggling under huge debt burdens and the legacy of colonialism. If they can’t pay or take on more debt, then Australia has condemned them to years of lockdowns, social injustice, sickness and death,” she said.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for Health, said:
“I’m very concerned about the lack of attention being paid to this issue by the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
“When I asked Mr Gaetjens about Intellectual Property Rights and TRIPS Waiver this week during the COVID Senate Committee it was clear they haven’t been engaging with the issue adequately. He said that the new taskforce is not focusing on that issue and that the terms of reference are not part of our taskforce.
“This is not good enough. Australia has a global responsibility and the fact is no one is safe unless we are all safe.
“Australia should also commit to increasing its funding to the COVAX AMC to at least the level of Canada (an additional $135.2m USD). “Big pharma must move to temporarily waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines to facilitate universal access.”

The Greens have again called for a comprehensive national approach to consent training after Education Minister Alan Tudge today revealed the government’s weak-kneed response to growing demands for change.
“This response from the Morrison government to the roar of fury from women and girls everywhere is predictably too little and too late,” said Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women.
“The Education Minister’s so-called ‘announcement’ today wasn’t even that. It was a re-announcement of a $2.8 million online program they unveiled in 2019. A program that has so far, in two years, apparently failed to deliver any education materials for schools.
“In the face of a crisis of misogyny and sexual violence, this government has served up a reheated program from two years ago that was underwhelming at the time and seems utterly inadequate now.
“While many schools currently have Respectful Relationships programs after it was included in the National Curriculum in 2015, delivery of the content has been inconsistent, piecemeal and variable in quality. Every student no matter what school they attend or where deserves the same level of education about consent and healthy, respectful relationships.
“That’s why the Greens have called on the government to budget $190 million to support a national roll out of Our Watch’s respectful relationships training program that has been piloted successfully in Queensland and Victoria.
“The training takes a whole-of-school approach to primary prevention of gender-based violence including sexual harassment and abuse, not only providing in-class education but addressing school culture, policies and procedures and promoting gender equality among school staff.
“Australian women deserve a government that takes their safety seriously.”

Australia’s first Indigenous pharmacist, Associate Professor Dr Faye McMillan started in her new role this week, as one of two new Deputy National Rural Health Commissioners that will play a key role in the Federal Government’s agenda to increase access to rural health services and address rural workforce shortages.
Federal Rural Health Minister, Mark Coulton and National Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Ruth Stewart met with Dr McMillan today in Wagga Wagga to congratulate her and discuss priorities for the role.
Minister Coulton welcomed Professor Stewart’s recruitment of Dr McMillan, a Wiradjuri yinaa (woman), to the newly created Deputy Commissioner role and acknowledged her expertise and diverse experience in the rural health sector, including her work to establish Indigenous Allied Health Australia.
“Dr McMillan brings significant rural health experience, including as a practising rural pharmacist, to the role as Deputy Rural Health Commissioner,” Minister Coulton said.
“Expanding the Office to include expertise across a range of important health disciplines will support the Government’s focus to develop team-based, collaborative and sustainable approaches to delivering health care in the bush.
“The Federal Government has shown its willingness to tackle head on the challenges delivering health services in rural and regional Australia, and Dr McMillan’s appointment further demonstrates that commitment to make the regions a better place to live.
“The Office will contribute to significant health reforms already underway, including primary care, workforce and training reforms, as well as continuing to the support the Government’s ongoing rural response to COVID-19 and the vaccine rollout.”
Last year the Federal Government expanded the Office of the National Rural Health Commissioner to have a broader focus, which included appointing two Deputy Commissioners to represent and advocate for allied health, nursing and Indigenous health disciplines.
“Dr McMillan will be an outstanding deputy and will bring her multidisciplinary expertise to my Office and allow us to take a broader perspective on rural health,” Professor Stewart said.
“Working with my new team, this is an exciting challenge to develop and promote innovative and integrated approaches to health care delivery in rural and remote areas.
“The breadth of expertise in my team across rural health professions establishes the foundations to look at how different disciplines can work together to deliver the best possible services in rural and remote communities.”
Dr McMillan is an Associate Professor in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, School of Population Health at the University of New South Wales, and a founding member and former Chair of Indigenous Allied Health Australia, and the 2019 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year.
“I look forward to working alongside the National Rural Health Commissioner Professor Stewart in the role and acknowledge the Government and Minister Coulton in ensuring the diversity of the rural workforce is represented,” Dr McMillan said.
“It is vital that current and future rural health professionals are acknowledged for their significant contribution in the delivery of health services to our remote, rural and regional areas across this nation.”
Dr McMillan is appointed Deputy Commissioner until 30 June 2022.
A second Deputy National Rural Health Commissioner is on track to be appointed in coming weeks.

The Morrison Government is supporting Australia’s manufacturers to turn their good ideas into world-beating realities that create more local jobs, with a new $30 million fund.
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the Commercialisation Fund will foster projects that bring industry and researchers together to commercialise new manufacturing products and processes.
“Making science and technology work for industry is one of the central pillars of our Government’s $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy and this fund is just one of the ways we’re delivering on that,” Minister Andrews said.
“The Morrison Government is positioning Australia’s manufacturing industry at the cutting edge of innovation and this fund will help bring together the best of research and manufacturing capability to generate commercial outcomes.
“We know that by making our manufacturers more competitive and helping them to take on the world, we will create jobs for Australians – both for the COVID-19 recovery and for generations to come.”
Consistent with all programs under the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, this fund will support projects within the Government’s six National Manufacturing Priorities.
These priorities are: Medical Products, Food and Beverage, Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing, Recycling and Clean Energy, Defence, and Space.
Commercialisation Fund grants will be between $100,000 and $1 million and must be matched by industry. These smaller-sized grants will complement the larger projects that will be supported through the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
Projects must include collaboration with a research partner and a minimum of one industry partner.
The fund will run over an 18-month period. The first round of funding, which opens today, will provide $20 million while a subsequent round will deliver the remaining $10 million.
The fund will be managed and administered by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC), in collaboration with the five other Industry Growth Centres AustCyber, Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL), MTPConnect, METS Ignited and National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), and the CSIRO.
For more information and to apply for a grant go to https://www.amgc.org.au/projects/

Australia’s airlines, hotels and caravan parks, restaurants and bars, travel agents and tourism operators are set for a rush of hundreds of thousands of tourists as part of a new $1.2 billion support package from the Morrison Government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said while Australia’s economy had recovered 85 per cent of its fall from COVID-19, the next step in the Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan would target the businesses, workers and regions still doing it tough.
The Prime Minister said the package’s mix of half-price airline tickets, cheap loans for businesses and direct support to keep planes in the air, and airline workers in their jobs, would be a bridge to a more normal way of life for Australians.
“This is our ticket to recovery – 800,000 half-price airfares to get Australians travelling and supporting tourism operators, businesses, travel agents and airlines who continue to do it tough through COVID-19, while our international borders remain closed,” the Prime Minister said.
“This package will take more tourists to our hotels and cafes, taking tours and exploring our backyard. That means more jobs and investment for the tourism and aviation sectors as Australia heads towards winning our fight against COVID-19 and the restrictions that have hurt so many businesses.”
“Our tourism businesses don’t want to rely on government support forever. They want their tourists back. This package, combined with our vaccine roll-out which is gathering pace, is part of our National Economic Recovery Plan and the bridge that will help get them back to normal trading.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the measures would work hand-in-hand to boost interstate tourism and aviation in key regions significantly impacted by the loss of tourists.
“The new Tourism Aviation Network Support (TANS) Program will give Australians clear incentives to travel to key domestic tourism areas,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
“Discounts will be offered on tens of thousands of fares per week across an initial 13 key tourism regions.
“We’re working with airlines to increase the number of flights to these tourism areas – giving travellers the flexibility needed when organising dream holidays to destinations such as Tropical North Queensland and Kangaroo Island.
“In a big win for local communities, especially in regional Australia, we will continue to financially support flights which are so key to health services, employment opportunities and social activities.
“We’re also backing the workforces of our international airlines and the teams and infrastructure they need so that when tourism takes off again and our borders reopen, our airlines are ready to go.”
The half-price ticket program will initially operate to 13 key regions including; the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays and Mackay region (Proserpine and Hamilton Island), the Sunshine Coast, Lasseter and Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula, and Kangaroo Island. Flights, routes and the total number of tickets will be driven by demand and are subject to final discussions with the airlines.
The discounts will be off the average fare and will be available on airline websites from 1 April.
Other new measures in the support package include:

• New International Aviation Support to help Australia’s international passenger airlines maintain more than 8,000 core international aviation jobs
• Support for regular passenger airports to meet their domestic security screening costs
• A new Aviation Services Assistance Support Program to help ground-handling companies meet the costs of mandatory training, certification and accreditation to ensure they maintain their workforces so they can stand them back up when the market expands again.
• The reinstatement of domestic aviation security screening cost rebates for more than 50 regular passenger airports

The Morrison Government will expand and extend its ‘SME Loan Guarantee Scheme’ as part of its commitment to support up to $40 billion in lending to small and medium enterprises.
Under the existing Scheme, more than 35,000 loans worth more than $3 billion have already been provided, helping thousands of small businesses get to the other side of this pandemic.
As we move into the recovery phase, the Scheme will be targeted and tailored to support those businesses that have been relying on JobKeeper during the March quarter.
The SME Recovery Loan Scheme will benefit from an increased Government guarantee, increasing from the current 50/50 split between the Government and the banks to an 80/20 split. This will encourage more banks to support small businesses and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to back those businesses that are prepared to back themselves.
The expanded Scheme will also increase the size of eligible loans, increasing from $1 million under the current Scheme to $5 million. Businesses with a higher turnover will also benefit under the expanded Scheme, with the maximum eligible turnover increased from $50 million to $250 million.
Maximum loan terms under the expanded Scheme will also be increased from 5 to 10 years – providing businesses and lenders with greater flexibility.
The expanded Scheme will also allow lenders to offer borrowers a repayment holiday of up to 24 months.
Importantly, the Scheme will also be able to be used by eligible businesses to refinance their existing loans. This will allow SMEs to access the more concessional interest rates available under the program and to better manage their cash-flows through an extended loan term and lower combined repayments.
More than 350,000 current JobKeeper recipients are expected to be eligible under the expanded Scheme. Loans will be available from 1 April 2021 and must be approved prior to 31 December 2021.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said this latest package of measures was all part of the Federal Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan.
“We know there are sectors and regions across the country that are continuing to do it tough, which is why we will continue to support the economy with proportionate, timely, scaleable and targeted assistance,” the Treasurer said.
“Our support for the aviation sector will not just keep planes in the air but will also provide a boost to domestic tourism while our international borders remain closed.
“This SME Recovery Scheme is part of the next step in our plan to help small businesses stand on their own two feet as the economy recovers from COVID-19.
“The expansion and extension of the loans will back businesses that back themselves and will help businesses who continue to do it tough build a bridge to the other side of the crisis and keep their staff employed.”
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the Government was also extending temporary, targeted measures for parts of the tourism sector impacted most from border closures.
“The thing our tourism operators want more than anything is tourists so we need Australians to do their patriotic duty and book a holiday this year because every dollar spent on an Australian holiday is a dollar that supports a local job and a local business,” Minister Tehan said.
“Our Government’s support package will help get more Australians into those tourist areas most impacted by border lockdowns, and we need states and territories to do their part by agreeing to a nationally consistent approach to using border closures and lockdowns as a last resort on medical advice.”
The Government has also extended the following programs to 30 September 2021:

• the successful Domestic Aviation Network Support (DANS) and Regional Aviation Network Support (RANS) programs
• the 50 per cent waiver of domestic air services charges for Regular Public Transport (RPT) and aeromedical flights
• the International Freight Assistance Mechanism.

The $50 million Business Events Grants Program will also be extended by three months to support Australian businesses to hold multi-day business events, covering up to 50 per cent of costs incurred in participating business events during the 2021 calendar year. This will help restart Australia’s business events sector.
The $94.6 million Zoos and Aquarium program will be extended by six months to support zoos, aquariums and wildlife parks to maintain their animal populations where their tourism revenue has been affected by travel and social distancing restrictions.
The COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program will also be extended for three months beyond 13 March.
For more information on the Government’s COVID-19 support for aviation visit https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/aviation/index.aspx#aviation
For further information on the COVID‑19 tourism support plan visit https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Tourism-and-business
For further information on the Small and Medium Enterprise Recovery Loan Scheme visit https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus/sme-guarantee-scheme