16 News

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Spokesperson for Education, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has welcomed the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) pre-budget submission, which has called for an end to the university funding freeze, an end to student fees and for better conditions for university staff.
Senator Faruqi has said that the Greens platform for higher education, including fee-free uni and TAFE, funding boosts for universities, more secure conditions for workers and expanded student payments fits well with the NTEU’s submission.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The National Tertiary Education Union’s pre-budget submission hits the mark for what needs to be done to remove the burden of debt from students and to support staff. I am pleased to say that the Greens five point plan, including fee free university and TAFE, increased funding to universities and better job security for workers,  is much needed transformative and education policy.
“For too long universities have been asked to do more with less. It’s been decades since the last real increase in funding to universities. Our plan delivers billions more to universities over the decade to improve learning and teaching conditions, reduce class sizes and and give researchers the resources they need.
“We are ranked 30th out of 34 in the OECD for public investment in tertiary education which shows how far behind we are globally. We need to properly fund our public university system and reverse the cuts imposed by the Liberal-National Government.
“As a former academic, I know that we will not begin to address the challenges of the years to come unless our best minds are given the time, resources and support to tackle them. We will work with universities to reduce casualisation in the sector and improve staff working conditions.
“I welcome the National Tertiary Education Union’s submission and call on the other political parties to get on board with proper funding of universities and to support our plan for fee free uni and TAFE,” she concluded.
The Greens plan for higher education is available here: https://mehreen-faruqi.greensmps.org.au/articles/fee-free-university-and-tafe-greens-launch-transformational-5-point-plan-higher-education

Today’s NSW Land and Environment Court ruling preventing a new coal mine in NSW is a game changer Greens climate and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP said today.
“This ruling is a game changer,” Mr Bandt said.
“A court has ruled that a coal mine can’t proceed because Australian coal, whether burned here or abroad, will make climate change worse.”
“Now we as law makers need to follow suit. I’ll introduce legislation when Parliament resumes to stop new coal mines and phase out coal mining.”
“From floods in Queensland, drought in the Murray Darling to fires in Tasmania, climate change is hitting Australia hard. It shouldn’t be left up to judges to act. Labor and Liberal politicians must join the Greens to pass a law to keep coal in the ground.”

A Shorten Labor Government will create 50 permanent full time Department of Human Services jobs to benefit the South Coast region including in Nowra, Ulladulla and Batemans Bay.
These 50 new, secure jobs will inject up to $3.6 million into the local economy each and every year.
It is a further example of Federal Labor’s commitment to the decentralisation of Commonwealth Government service delivery.
The 50 jobs will include local service delivery and call centre roles that will provide support for people across Australia.
Regional centres like Nowra have been ignored when it comes to decentralising Government service delivery.
The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has turned its back on Gilmore, with a campaign of cuts to Centrelink and Medicare that are leaving Nowra residents waiting longer to receive support.
Medicare and Centrelink services help the Nowra and surrounding communities when they need it the most – when people are sick, processing aged care pensions, child care support, disability support pensions and carers allowance payments.
These jobs will improve access to Medicare and Centrelink and reduce waiting and processing time for older Australians – important services that have been left to deteriorate under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government.
Income support is complex and that’s why it is important there are properly trained and permanent staff who are familiar with the personal circumstances facing income support recipients.
There are 27,700 age pensioners in Gilmore, who have faced lengthy phone wait times to Centrelink and for their pensions to be approved. There are also nearly 6000 recipients of Carers Allowance, over 7000 recipients of a Disability Support Pension and over 10,000 recipients of Family Tax Benefits in Gilmore – who will all benefit from the increased support as a result of these jobs.
The truth is Centrelink is in crisis under the Morrison Government. It’s under staffed and under resourced.
The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has cut and outsourced over 2,700 staff from DHS and Centrelink and cut thousands of public sector jobs in regional Australia.
These cuts have coincided with increased Centrelink phone wait times, and income support recipients being pushed to the edge of poverty waiting months for their payments.
These roles will be permanent and full time and staff will be properly trained to assist Australians on income support.
Labor can afford this because we have made the tough decisions to make multinationals pay their fair share of tax and will close tax loopholes used by the top end of town.
We will also clamp down on blowouts in spending on contractors and consultants, and unnecessary and unreasonable travel.
Labor is focused on more jobs and services for Nowra and the South Coast region – we’re listening to the local community and making the investments needed to build a stronger local economy and create genuine job opportunities.

Labor reiterates our call on Thailand to release Hakeem Alaraibi and return him to his family in Australia.
We remain deeply concerned by Mr Alaraibi’s ongoing detention in Thailand and the continuing threat of his extradition to Bahrain.
Senator Wong has raised Hakeem’s case directly with the Ambassador of Thailand and called for his release and return to Australia.
Labor also urges the Prime Minister of Thailand to exercise executive discretion in this case – a discretion that both Thailand’s office of the Attorney-General and the prosecutor have confirmed is allowed under Thailand’s Extradition Act.
Thailand is a good friend of Australia’s. We are confident the Thai people and Government understand the concern so many Australians have for the welfare of a person to whom we have offered sanctuary, and permanent residency.
We wish to thank all those showing their support for Hakeem, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, other governments, Mr Alaraibi’s local community in Melbourne and in particular Mr Craig Foster, the Football Federation of Australia, and the broader football community.