Category: Australian News

The Albanese Labor Government has continued its record of hypocrisy in appointing Labor mates to Government Boards.

Today’s announcement that failed former Labor Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk would be appointed to the board of Australia Post is treating Australians like mugs.

Ms Palaszczuk might be famous for willing to attend the opening of an envelope, but she has now been appointed to oversee a service millions of Australians rely on to deliver their packages and letters.

Having her own colleagues disown her in Queensland, the Albanese Labor Government has rewarded Ms Palaszczuk’s terrible performance with a board role at the taxpayers’ expense.

Given Ms Palaszczuk led a government that was more focused on itself than it was focused on dealing with the cost of the living crisis, the housing crisis, and the crime crisis that are facing Queenslanders, can Australians expect the same level of service at Australia Post?

In Opposition, Michelle Rowland said ‘Australia Post is a respected national service that should not be dragged into the mud by political appointments.’ Her actions speak louder than her words.

“This is just rank hypocrisy, writ-large, made worse by the fact that the Albanese Government has appointed a failed and unpopular former Queensland Premier,” Shadow Minister for Communications David Coleman said.

“Australia Post is going through a significant reform process in an era of change and the last thing the board needs is for the Government to appoint one of its Labor mates whose poor record in public administration speaks for itself.”

The Government has waited until Friday to slip this announcement out to avoid the scrutiny of a parliamentary sitting week.

Shadow Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Jane Hume said that this is yet another example of Labor’s jobs for mates hypocrisy.

“When Minister Gallagher announced her review into public sector board appointments back in February 2023, she said it was “all about putting an end to the jobs for mates culture”.

“Yet this review was provided to the Government over a year ago, and it still has not been published.

“If the Albanese Government was really committed to transparency, Minister Gallagher would release the review and explain why she has sat on it for over a year.”

The Australia-China High Level Dialogue, which brings together representatives from industry, government, academia, media and the arts, will be held in Adelaide this week.

The Dialogue, which was established in 2014, is another opportunity to progress discussions across the breadth of Australia and China’s relationship, including on trade and investment, cultural ties, and regional and international security.

Former Trade Minister, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson, will co-chair the Dialogue as head of the Australian delegation.

Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms Jan Adams AO PSM, and Australia’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Mr Scott Dewar will also participate as delegates.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop, will join the Dialogue again this year and participate as a session lead, reflecting continued bipartisan support for the Dialogue.

The Dialogue is co-hosted by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations and the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs.

China’s delegation will be led by Mr Wang Chao, President of the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs (CPIFA).

This is the fourth time Australia has hosted and the first time the event has been held in Adelaide.

Deputy Greens Leader and spokesperson for Higher Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to Labor’s bill that was introduced today claiming to wipe $3 billion of student debt. 

The bill is nothing more than a mirage to give the impression that the Labor government is wiping student debt, when in fact it will have little impact. Around 3 million Australians have over $74 billion in student debt, so shaving off $3 billion in indexation just scratches the surface.

Equally, the inclusion in the bill of a Commonwealth payment for students undertaking placements in nursing, teaching and social work is wholly inadequate and excludes hundreds of thousands of other students required to do unpaid placement work.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi: 

“Labor’s student debt relief bill is nothing more than a PR stunt, not genuine cost-of-living relief. 

“Labor steals our lines about wiping student debt, because they know it’s what people want, but they are really just tinkering with indexation. The Greens are the only party with a genuine commitment to wipe student debt.

“Student debt is another cost for millions of people trying to make ends meet on top of so many other cost-of-living pressures. A cost that can and should be erased if Labor just wiped student debt entirely. It just goes to show that Labor doesn’t really care about helping people cope in a cost-of-living crisis.

“What Labor is proposing is trimming around the edges, throwing around fancy numbers and pretending to help ordinary people when they’re not. We can all see through the Labor mirage.”

“All students required to do a placement must get paid. Not a lesser supplementary amount, but at the very least, minimum wage.

“Once again, Labor’s half-baked measures fall short of doing what’s needed.”

Australian Medical Students’ Association:

“We are deeply disappointed that medical students remain excluded from the Commonwealth Prac payment. The medical degree’s structure and high demand results in over 2,000 hours of unpaid labour and study, which cannot be completed part time.

“Without support measures like paid placements, we are cutting out most of society from joining the medical workforce, leaving it only for privileged people who can pay their way through the degree.

“Nobody should be forced to make the choice between paying the bills and contributing to our healthcare system.”

Students Against Placement Poverty:

“The legislation passing through the parliament is labelled as financial support for placement students, but we know that most students will still be missing out entirely. The lucky few will get a few dollars an hour for their work, and will have to wait another year before receiving anything. Placement poverty continues despite what the Labor Party promises to students.

“Students Against Placement Poverty rejects any suggestion that this legislation fixes the issue. We will not stop organising until all placement students are covered by a real payment of at least minimum wage, including international students and students in all the degrees currently ignored by the government.”

Ngaire Bogemann, President of the National Union of Students: 

Referring to the new HECS indexation system: “The reality is that even under this change, tertiary students will continue to get a raw deal.

“The reality is placement poverty won’t end until all students undertaking mandatory placements are paid at least minimum wage and the Fair Work Act is amended to make unpaid placements illegal.

“The NUS has advocated over many years for an end to placement poverty and is very pleased to see steps taken towards this… However, the promise of a measly $8 an hour is a slap in the face to the many nursing, teaching, midwifery and social work students across the country who are currently providing crucial labour in key skills shortage areas for free.”

The ACT Government has released the Sullivan’s Creek Re-naturalisation Opportunities Report, which identifies ways the natural environment in the area could be transformed to promote environment in the suburbs and provide a biodiversity corridor through the heart of the city.

Minister for the Environment, Parks and Land Management Rebecca Vassarotti said the report includes a variety of suggestions to turn the creek into a community hub where people can relax, play, learn and connect with nature.

“Right now, Sullivan’s Creek is a concrete labyrinth that runs right through the heart of our city, often collecting sediments and algae that are really detrimental to water quality,” Minister Vassarotti said. 

“Already in Canberra we’ve seen the massive positive impact renaturalisation projects can have on building positive community spaces, urban biodiversity and environment in our suburbs.

“That’s why we want to open a dialogue with Canberrans about bringing Sullivan’s Creek up to its full potential, turning it into an ecological corridor that protects water and fosters even greater biodiversity down the spine of the inner north.

“Today we’re releasing the Sullivan’s Creek Re-naturalisation Opportunities Report to share the outcome of extensive consultation with the community in 2023, showcasing community needs and desires at the forefront of the report’s recommendations.

“Based on the feedback we’ve received from Canberrans, the report includes suggestions tailored to managing flood risks, creating vibrant and inviting green spaces, and contributing to the positive health and wellbeing of people living in our beautiful city.

“There are numerous benefits to re-naturalising Sullivan’s Creek, including restoring the native habitat and supporting the movement of native species, improving water quality, building resilience to climate change and enhancing our connection with nature.

“The report released today is aspirational but will set the vision for an area that brings our community together and revitalises the landscape. This report will be used as the foundation for any future plans for the site, subject to the considerations of the next government, and further consultation and investigation, ” said Minister Vassarotti.

Sullivan’s Creek and the surrounding waterways and landscape are significant to the Ngunnawal community. The report also includes opportunities to strengthen Connection to Country and invigorate the cultural aspects.

For more information on the Sullivan’s Creek Re-naturalisation project, or to read the Sullivan’s Creek Re-naturalisation Opportunities Report, visit the ACT Government’s YourSay Conversations project webpage.

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the national gender pay gap is the lowest on record – today falling to 11.5 per cent from 12 per cent in November 2023, and 14.1 per cent in May 2022. Under the Albanese Government, women’s average weekly earnings have increased $173.80 a week since May 2022.

Labor came to government in 2022 with a commitment to drive action to close the gender pay gap. Since then, we have seen the gender pay gap drop to all-time lows over four consecutive reporting cycles.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese:

“We came to Government with a commitment to help close the gender pay gap and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.

“That’s not a coincidence, it’s because the Government has taken action like banning pay secrecy clauses, modernising the bargaining system, enforcing transparent gender pay gap reporting and delivering pay rises for aged care and child care workers.”

Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher:

“Closing the gender pay gap means that women are taking home more money at the end of each week.

“Whether it be by boosting the pay of early childhood educators and aged care workers by 15 per cent, backing a pay rise for minimum wage workers or banning pay secrecy clauses – Labor is doing work right across the economy to lift women’s pay.

“This progress isn’t just good for women – it’s also good for men, good for children, good for the economy and good for the community.

“Closing the gender pay gap is a key ambition of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality, because we know that it is both a driver and a result of inequality. We know there is still work to do and we will keep going.

“As well as lowest gender pay gap on record, we now also have reached a record high for women’s workforce participation at 63.2 per cent”

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt:

“We’ve secured record pay rises for hundreds of thousands of women on award wages, fixed the bargaining system to get wages moving in feminised industries, and changed workplace laws to put gender equity at the heart of the Fair Work Commission’s decision-making.

“We said we’d get wages moving again and that’s exactly what’s happening.

“This is despite the Opposition opposing almost every single one of these measures and promising to repeal a range of Labor’s laws that are delivering better pay for Australian workers.

“At the same time the gap has narrowed, an extra 510,000 women are now in jobs since the Albanese Government came to office, with 60 per cent of these jobs full-time.”

The ABS average weekly earnings data can be found online: Average Weekly Earnings, Australia

Information on the gender pay gap can be on the WGEA website: The ABS data gender pay gap

On Friday, the Prime Minister announced at a press conference that he was going to abandon religious discrimination reform after the Opposition vetoed their legislation. 

This broken promise from Labor has received universal scorn from across the political aisle. Religious leaders, LGBTIQA+ community and Labor’s own voters expected Labor to deliver their election promise — not capitulate to Peter Dutton’s whims. 

The Australian Law Reform Commission’s report last year was a roadmap to reform everyone could agree to and Labor has had a clear pathway through the Senate, with the support of the Greens and crossbench, to deliver those recommendations in full. 

But to Labor, the only opinion that matters is Peter Dutton’s. 

Stephen Bates, Australian Greens LGBTIQA+ spokesperson

Yet another broken election promise from a Prime Minister too cowardly to do his job. Labor won the last election with a promise to protect LGBTIQA+ workers and people of faith from discrimination and he’s failed at both. 

Enough broken promises. If this government cares at all about LGBTIQA+ workers, they would move right now to remove section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act like the Law Reform Commission said to. 

This Labor government has had the numbers to get this done for months and The Greens have offered time and again to work collaboratively to make this change. 

The LGBTIQA+ community wants protections. Communities of faith want protections. The vast majority of the country wants this positive and progressive change. 

When it comes to keeping progressive promises, it seems this Labor government is incapable of doing so without the sign off of the LNP. 

Sex discrimination reform on Friday. Makarrata Commission on Monday. How many election promises does Albanese plan on breaking this week?

Labor needs to realise that they are the government and have been for over two years. They have the power to implement progressive change with The Greens but it’s painfully clear that Labor has no intention of doing that. 

When the LNP are in government, they waste no time in implementing a radical conservative agenda. Now that Labor is in power, we are told their hands are tied and that they’d love to do nice things but can’t because Dutton won’t let them. No-one’s buying it. 
 

The Victorian Greens are calling for a moratorium on evictions for public housing residents following revelations that the Victorian Labor Government has secretly signed the demolition contracts to steamroll ahead with tearing down public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington. 

The Victorians Greens are bringing a motion before the Parliament today that stands up for residents who face being forced from their homes in North Melbourne and Flemington now that Labor has signed the demolition contracts. 

It comes as leaked documents recently revealed that Labor is pulling funding from multiple public and community housing, offering up land set aside from public and community housing to private developers and have signed this $100 million demolition contract with John Holland.

During question time on Tuesday, the Greens grilled Labor on whether the signing of the demolition contracts would be used to pursue legal action against residents, to which the government refused to give a straight answer. 

The Victorian Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Samantha Ratnam said that Labor have clearly signed these contracts to have legal grounds to force evictions, which will displace hundreds of residents and tear their communities apart. 

She added that while Labor continues to pull funding from social and community housing and is handing over swathes of public land to developers, it’s impossible not to think that they will do the same with the towers. 

the Victorian Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Samantha Ratnam: 

“We’re in a housing crisis and instead of building public housing, Victorian Labor is conducting a fire sale of public housing land and demolishing the public homes we have. 

“Labor has clearly signed these contracts in order to pursue legal action against residents and force evictions displacing hundreds of people who are currently living in the North Melbourne and Flemington towers. 

“We’re having thousands of conversations directly with residents who have no certainty about their future. 

“Labor has sold off hectares of public housing and land to private developers – now they’ve signed these contracts, how can Victorians have any confidence they won’t do the same to all 44 public housing towers?

“We won’t stop holding Labor’s feet to the fire on this. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis where we should be building more public housing on public land, not tearing down our existing housing and selling off public land to private developers for massive profits.” 

The Greens say Labor’s excuse for caving-in to the gambling lobby is shifty and they will test the Government with a Senate vote to ban gambling advertising in line with the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations. 

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is spokesperson for Communications and Manager of Greens Business in the Senate:

“Don’t buy Bill Shorten’s lie. Labor have caved in to the gambling lobby and they are scraping around for an excuse. The gambling lobby have had their claws in both the Labor and Liberal Party for far too long. 

“We can support public interest journalism in this country without sucking the life and happiness out of Australian families, forcing gambling addicts to pay the price. The Prime Minister of this country Anthony Albanese needs to stand up to the gambling lobby.

“Experts have told us we need to ban gambling advertising, like tobacco ads, and Labor will be tested on this question in the Senate when Greens amendments for a full gambling ad ban in line with the Peta Murphy recommendations are voted on.

“We should be banning gambling advertising, taxing the big tech corporations and funding public interest journalism. Gambling addiction is not the solution for public interest journalism. 

“It is incredible that only two months ago the Albanese government threw free to air broadcasters under the bus by locking sport behind the paywalls of the global streamers with their anti-siphoning laws. Now, suddenly are using Free TV as an excuse to cave-in to the gambling lobby. Labor caved to the pressure of the big tech companies like Kayo and Amazon, now they are caving to the gambling lobby.

“This is not about championing Free TV or quality journalism, this is about Labor caving to vested interests instead of standing up for the public interest.”

Today the NSW Labor Government has confirmed their plans for an independent office of animal welfare — except that it will not be independent, not an office and not for animal welfare.

The NSW Upper House has today debated the NSW Greens Independent Office of Animal Welfare Bill introduced by Greens MLC Abigail Boyd.

As part of their platform ahead of the 2023 State Election, NSW Labor committed to introducing a new animal welfare framework in NSW, including establishing an independent office of animal welfare. However, in voting down the bill, the Agriculture Minister made clear Labor’s intentions to introduce their own bill that creates a body that has no operational costs, sees the inherently-conflicted Minister for Agriculture of the day retain primary responsibility for the welfare of animals, and which is required to consult as much with industry as it does with animal welfare stakeholders.

Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW Animal Welfare spokesperson:

“It is truly shameful to hear the Agriculture Minister confirm what we have long suspected — that Labor has no intention of keeping their election commitment to introduce an independent office of animal welfare, and is instead slow-walking towards creating wholly inadequate regulation that will overlook the interests of animals in our state.

“Unless it is truly independent, robustly resourced and responsible for prioritising the interests of animals, Labor cannot possibly call their long-promised reform an independent office of animal welfare.

“Labor is too afraid to do anything that is not in the interest of Big Ag, and as a result we will undoubtedly see animals across our state continue to suffer in the name of profit.

“Establishing an Independent Office of Animal Welfare that aligns with scientific evidence and community expectations has been core Greens business for over a decade.

“Our Greens bill was developed in close consultation with the animal welfare sector and the community, and would have done exactly what is needed to overhaul our outdated animal welfare framework.

“Labor’s failure to support our Greens bill today is yet another broken election promise, and is an insult to all those in the community who have campaigned tirelessly for an independent office of animal welfare for years.”

Today, the ACT Greens have announced an election initiative to scale-up our city’s capacity to grow and produce food, giving Canberrans more access to healthy local food while bringing real competition to the supermarket duopoly.

“Growing the food that ends up on our dinner tables locally rather than importing it from across the country is good for farmers, good for the environment and good for giving Canberrans greater choice to buy and support local businesses,” said Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens, Rebecca Vassarotti.

“The corporatisation of food production in Australia has created a food system that is vulnerable to climate change, unfair to farmers, and which sells food to Canberrans at exorbitant prices while big supermarkets rake in record profits.

“The ACT Greens plan will establish a new food hub in Fyshwick to ensure local farmers have the right equipment to pool, process and distribute the food they grow so that Canberrans can buy it straight from their local shops and markets, not from the supermarket giants.

“This food hub will empower Canberrans to boycott imports from the big supermarkets and buy more local food, giving them confidence in where their food has come from, who has grown it and why their food costs what it does.

“Under the ACT Greens plan, we will combine this new food hub with access to up to $1 million in interest free loans to support projects that help food producers get their food out to local shops so that they can more easily sell to Canberrans. 

“For example, farmers might like to get together and purchase an electric van for food deliveries to local shops and restaurants, or as part of a box scheme direct to the front doors of Canberrans.

“These sorts of programs are the foundation to helping local farms and local farmers thrive. Our suite of initiatives will be good for farmers, good for the environment and good for the bank accounts of Canberrans.

Some of the key initiatives the ACT Greens have announced today include:

• Invest $3.5 million to establish a food hub which will allow local farmers to set up a base of operations for food production and distribution
• Protect prime agricultural land and so farmers have fair, long-term leases 
• Provide $1 million in interest free loans to empower local farmers to invest in collaborative local food logistics and enterprise-building projects 
• Revitalise and refurbish the Canberra City Farm in Fyshwick 
• Establish a farm training centre which will run training and jobs programs for people at risk
• Provide $2 million over four years to fund five full-time equivalent primary school garden coordinators, to support school kitchen gardens
• Invest $600,000 over 4 years to create new large community gardens for the suburbs, using the Community Garden Grants program for smaller projects

The full list of our initiatives for local food is available on the ACT Greens website.

ACT Greens Member for Brindabella, Laura Nuttall, said the ACT Greens will give farmers confidence in the future of their business, guaranteeing fair and long-term leases and establishing a new future farming training program. 

“For too long, farmers have been left in the lurch about how long they will be able to continue to run their business in the ACT. If we’re going to scale-up the role of farmers in growing affordable food for Canberrans, we need to give them certainty,” said Ms Nuttall. 

“The ACT Greens will make sure farmers can have confidence in the future of their business by recognising prime agricultural land as part of changes to zoning rules, and providing long-term leases to create a pipeline of affordable and sustainable food for many years to come.

“Securing the future of our farming workforce will be a key part of our plan to scale-up affordable local food production in Canberra. That’s why we will create a new education and training program to support people to become local growers.

“We will proactively open up this training scheme to Canberrans experiencing barriers to work, such as people who have experienced homelessness or have had contact with the criminal justice system, to provide them with stable employment and a pathway to learn about and succeed at being a local grower. 

“This is modelled on successful long-term programs overseas that have demonstrated that local food is a pathway for people to rebuild their lives” said Ms Nuttall.