Category: Australian News

The Albanese Government is announcing a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program (RJED) that will help close the gap in employment outcomes by creating 3,000 jobs in remote Australia.

This $707 million investment is the first step in delivering on our commitment to replace the failed Community Development Program (CDP) with real jobs, proper wages, and decent conditions.

The new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, starting in the second half of this year, is about self-determination through economic and community development.

It will be implemented in partnership with First Nations people, build skills and experience, and deliver services that communities want.

The Albanese Labor Government is also announcing it will establish a National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People to help achieve progress under the Closing the Gap agreement.

Indigenous children are almost eleven times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children. The National Commissioner will focus on working with First Nations people on evidence based programs and policies to turn those figures around.

Establishing the National Commissioner is the result of extensive discussions with the peak body, SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, which has been calling for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner for many years.

An interim Commissioner will be appointed mid-year and will work with the government and First Nations expert advisers to determine the powers, roles and functions of the National Commissioner, which will be established under legislation.

The Prime Minister will today hand down the 2023 Closing the Gap Annual Report and the 2024 Implementation Plan. The report assesses progress and commits to new initiatives focussed on improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Other key initiatives include:

• $30.2 million for Remote Training Hubs in up to seven remote locations in Central Australia.
• $10.7 million to continue funding for the Justice Policy Partnership, working to reduce incarceration rates.
• Community Wi-Fi services for around 20 remote communities so people can access government services, education and stay connected, with funding arrangements to be settled through commercial negotiations with NBN Co.
• $24 million to expand the Junior Rangers program to 50 sites to boost engagement and attendance rates of First Nations students.

Significant progress has also been made against commitments made in the 2023 Closing the Gap Implementation Plan:

• 183 people have enrolled in the Health Worker Traineeship Program as part of our commitment to funding 500 First Nations health workers.
• We are improving access to safe and reliable drinking water in the remote Northern Territory communities of Yuendumu and Milingimbi.
• We are delivering the Commonwealth’s $100 million investment for urgent repairs and maintenance to housing and essential infrastructure on Northern Territory Homelands – including Utopia, Paru and Rockhole.
• 157 houses are on track to be delivered months earlier than anticipated, easing severe overcrowding in remote Northern Territory communities.
• We are delivering on our landmark justice reinvestment package supporting communities to find local solutions to improve community safety and reduce incarceration rates.
• Over 14,000 First Nations students have enrolled in Fee-Free TAFE courses.
• Work is progressing to improve access to renal services in remote communities for people with end stage kidney disease.
• Applications are open for organisations to expand Indigenous Rangers by up to 1,000 jobs, as part of our plan to double the number of Rangers by 2030.
• Continuing to support the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation to employ 260 new workers in community controlled health organisations to deliver cancer treatments and other supports.

Over the next year, the Albanese Government will strengthen our relationship with the Coalition of the Peaks and work in partnership to design and implement programs that make a difference at the local level.

By backing self-determination and listening to locals and working with communities, we can make progress on Closing the Gap.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“The National Commissioner will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of First Nations children and young people, as well as calling on their strengths, sense of hope, and ideas for change.

“The Commissioner will address the unacceptable rates of out-of-home care. What it all comes down to is strengthening families and keeping children safe.

“It is what experts and the Coalition of the Peaks have been calling for, guided every step of the way by the evidence. We have listened.

“The Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program will deliver real jobs with proper wages and decent conditions, developed in partnership with Indigenous communities. These jobs will build skills and experience, and deliver services that communities want.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said:

“The new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program is about fixing up the mess left by the Liberals failed CDP and putting communities in the driver’s seat to create local jobs and businesses.

“People in remote communities should have access to the benefits and dignity of work – for themselves, their families and the next generation.

“Establishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner is about changing the trajectory and creating brighter futures for Indigenous children and young people.

“The status quo cannot continue and we are committed to making real change, strengthening families and getting better outcomes for Indigenous children and young people.”

Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Health Malarndirri McCarthy said:

“Our delivery of a proper jobs program in the bush will make a positive difference in the lives of Indigenous Australians and ensure they can fulfil their full potential regardless of where they live.

“As a former participant of a remote jobs program myself, I know all too well the importance that meaningful employment has on economic empowerment, health, happiness, and general wellbeing.

“Building on our significant delivery of better health, housing, education and employment services will help build stronger communities for all Australians and ensure more Indigenous Australians can live longer, healthier and happier lives.

“Every child deserves to live a healthy and happy life, and this is why it is critical we are working hand-in-hand with SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, to ensure more kids can achieve their full potential in life.”

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said:

“Improving outcomes for First Nations communities, children and young people requires First Nations-led solutions and a National Commissioner will build on our important work under Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children.

“The Commissioner will improve accountability and advocate for systemic change, informed by the voices and experiences of First Nations children and young people.

“Systemic change takes time, and elevating the voices of First Nations children through this Commissioner, will further embed the partnership elements of the Priority Reforms.”

the Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor said:

“All Australians have a right to education, training and employment. It is our responsibility to ensure that accessibility and quality is not limited to those living in larger, more developed parts of the country.

“This is an on-the-ground example of our Government’s commitment to ensure no one is left behind and no one is held back.”

the Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said:

“In 2024, access to reliable broadband is a critical part of everyday life. It’s how we stay connected with loved ones, run businesses, and engage with essential services.

“That’s why reliable connectivity is essential to closing the gap.

“These free Wi-Fi services in remote First Nations communities will support communities to get online and experience the transformational benefits of broadband.”

The Greens will demand significant changes to Negative Gearing and the Capital Gains Tax Discount in negotiations on the government’s ‘Help to Buy’ bill currently before the Parliament, saying that Labor’s ‘housing lottery’ will only push up house prices, while failing to help 99.8% of eligible renters and first home buyers.

Labor’s Help to Buy scheme would only support a capped 0.2% of eligible home buyers each year. Economists say that similar schemes have inflated house prices, asking prices have risen 12% since Labor came to power in 2022 and 85% over the last decade according to SQM Research.

To stop pushing up house prices and make homes affordable for first home buyers the Greens say that Labor must limit Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax handouts and redirect the saved revenue to public housing  to win the Greens’ support for the scheme.

The Greens will also continue to push for a rent freeze and a cap on rents in the negotiations.

With rents continuing to rise rapidly and rental inflation likely to hit another record this year, the Greens say 2024 will be the year of the renter and that handouts to property investors must be wound back.

Tax handouts for property investors, including negative gearing and CGT discounts will cost the Budget $39b in forgone revenue.

The Help to Buy Bill 2023 will be debated in the House this week, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee inquiry into the bill is due to report on April 16.

Adam Bandt MP, Leader of the Australian Greens said:

“The system is stacked against renters and first home buyers, and Labor’s answer is a housing lottery for a lucky few and higher rents and house prices for everyone else.

“In negotiations with the government over the Help To Buy legislation we’ll push Labor to end the tax handouts for big property investors, freeze rents and build public housing to help renters and first home buyers.”

Max Chandler-Mather, Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness said:

“You shouldn’t have to win a lottery to have a secure home.

“The rental crisis is breaking people. This hard-to-get scheme will push house prices up for 99.8% of renters and first home buyers and make it even less affordable than it is now.

“The system is stacked against renters and first home buyers. Tax handouts for big property investors, like negative gearing, make it easier for a big property investor to buy their 7th property than for a first home buyer to buy their first home. 

“Pressure works. Labor changed their position on Stage 3 tax cuts and now they need to change their position on negative gearing and capital gains tax.

“Property prices and rents are growing way faster than wages, putting home ownership even further out of reach for millions of people, and we can’t fix this until the government stops handing out billions of dollars in tax concessions to big property investors. 

“We need to make house prices and rents cheaper, and we can do that by freezing rents, phasing out negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts and investing that money in public housing instead.

“The Greens will not stop fighting for renters and if Labor ignores us they will lose at the ballot box.

New data from the 2021 Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia report has shown youth mental health at the worst since tracking began — with the prevalence of psychological distress among people under 35 doubling in a decade to nearly 40%.

It might be tempting to attribute this sharp deterioration to the COVID-19 pandemic and young people missing out on many of the formative social experiences older generations had as young adults. 

But these trends started well before the pandemic, and show a generation shaped by constant disappointment with political leaders failing to take meaningful action on the crises they face.

The uptick in loneliness and psychological distress and decline in long-term relationships point to the same root causes — young people feel disconnected, alienated and insecure in their work, relationships and home life. 

The Australian Greens have a fully costed plan to tackle the mental health crisis in Australia by making mental healthcare free and unlimited for everyone who needs it as part of Medicare.

Stephen Bates MP, Australian Greens Youth Spokesperson said:

Young people — and now people well into their careers or older — are stuck in cycles of insecure work, paying too much rent in poor conditions, without enough disposable income to do the fun and formative experiences young people deserve. Then, if you’re lucky enough to escape out, you’re just stuck with a mortgage you can barely pay and facing down the prospect of raising a family you can’t afford. 

We need to meet young people where they are at and talk about the reality they’re facing — a cooked economy, a worsening climate, a housing crisis, piling debt..

Youth mental health won’t be solved with some fancy meditation app or banning phones in schools.

Young people deserve hope for the future — but right now they’re staring down the barrel of a life that’s more expensive, more precarious and ravaged by climate change.

If young people can barely afford a roof over their heads and food on the table, what chance is there for them to have the hundreds of dollars it costs to get a mental health care plan and pay the gap on a therapy session.

Governments at all levels need to start making the hard choices needed to take the cost of living, housing and climate crises seriously. These are all the same crisis. The crisis of capitalism. And either that system breaks, or a whole generation will. 

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) have today confirmed that Prime Minister Albanese had no involvement in the decision for Australia to not send a warship to the Red Sea, nor was a National Security Committee of Cabinet meeting called to resolve Australia’s response to the request.

On multiple occasions PM&C deflected questions to the Department of Defence citing they had no oversight of the request made by the United States, stating “It was a decision by the Defence Minister.”

With 12 per cent of the world’s trade passing through the Red Sea this is an embarrassing revelation for Australia to have refused a request of our allies without it even passing the Prime Minister’s desk.

It is both remarkable and negligent that the Albanese Government seemingly couldn’t even be bothered to call a National Security Committee to discuss this request from the United States, especially given the woefully inadequate response provided by the Albanese Government.

PM&C officials confirmed that the Prime Minister’s Office was advised of the request from the US, yet no action was taken or requested by Mr Albanese – his department heard nothing but crickets.

Prime Minister Albanese’s missing in action response to matters of national security are a stark reminder of his inability or unwillingness to stand up Australia’s national interests, including in other matters such as the HMAS Toowoomba incident.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.
 
I’m delighted to be here in Ballarat.
 
The course of our national history has been shaped and changed here.
 
It’s a place where leaders were born.
 
A place where the past is present.
 
And we find an important part of our past here at the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, which speaks of a different chapter in our nation’s story.
 
It’s a story that needs to be told. No one instilled that idea in me more than my dear friend, mentor and father figure, Tom Uren.
 
Tom spent much of the Second World War as a prisoner of the Japanese – captured in Timor, incarcerated at Changi, forced to work on the Thai-Burma railway, then sent to Japan as a slave labourer – only to witness the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
 
I will always think with wonder of how Tom endured years of such depravity and cruelty – and emerged as a tower of humanity.
 
Tom saw humankind in its darkest depths, yet he was forever after driven to seek out our brightest heights. And when he held up the past to us, he was holding out the hope of a better future.
 
Tom always said Australians survived in the prison camps because of a simple code: The healthy looked after the sick, the strong looked after the weak, the young looked after the old.
 
Tom’s strength was inseparable from his gentleness, and I believe that it was that aspect of life in captivity that lay at the heart of who he was.
 
He knew that the very worst could bring out the very best in us. And I believe those values are at the heart of what it is to be an Australian.
 
That is why I am proud to be here to see the story of Australian PoWs being told.
 
It tells of the sacrifice, courage and mateship of the men and women who served our country in war.
 
And asks us to honour the POWs among them.
 
For whom captivity meant waiting in silence.
 
Long years of isolation and deprivation, without news of loved ones or mates, home or country.
 
When the sounds of war were muffled by chains and fences.
 
And the impulse to action was too often crushed by brutality and inhumanity.
 
For those men and women, their strength lay in the power to endure.
 
This memorial is an eloquent expression of their spirit.
 
It is a record of patience, perseverance and humour.
 
And, above all, hope.
 
The roll of names is a litany of endurance.
 
Its standing stones and sombre granite are a tribute to fortitude.
 
And the flowing water sings a hymn to constancy.
 
Through the centuries, war has led to a flood of diaries and documents, recounting life on and off the battlefield.
 
With them came objects and artworks, many crafted by POWs in the long, oppressive hours of imprisonment.
 
Often made in haste from materials scrounged from dumps, they are a storehouse of memory and a record of fidelity.
 
The work of men and women, imprisoned in the bitter cold of a European winter, or the heat of the tropics.
 
Sick, wounded, starving, exhausted.
 
But, while the breath of life remained, the spark of creativity enlivened their hands.
 
Shaping relics of a time and place no words could comprehend.
 
A pottery mug, inscribed with the plea of a loving father:
 
‘God bless and protect Bill, Jim, Ronnie, Eddie, Kenny and Dear Maud’.
 
A woollen blanket, crocheted in the muted colours of Red Cross-issued socks and jumpers.
 
Rosary beads, painstakingly fashioned from seeds and wire.
 
A Melbourne Cup trophy, improvised out of a can of bully beef.
 
Heartbreakingly, these artefacts often came home without their creators.
 
And for family and friends, they became a window onto the unimaginable — and a final, precious gift from their dear ones.
 
A symbol of the light of hope that burnt within them as the wretched weeks, months and years of captivity passed.
 
This is the spirit so poignantly captured in the arrangement of this memorial to Australia’s POWs.
 
On its 20th anniversary, I offer my thanks to those who saw and acted on the need for a memorial to honour Australia’s prisoners of war.
 
To tell us their story. A story that needed to be told. A story that needs to keep being told.
 
Lest We Forget.

Greens Deputy Leader and Aid and Global Justice spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has questioned Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Penny Wong’s judgement in suspending life-saving funding to UNRWA without having all the facts.

In question time earlier this week, Senator Faruqi asked a direct question on whether the Minister had seen any evidence of claims by the Israeli government before her decision to suspend funding to UNRWA. The full exchange is available on Hansard here and on video here. 

Senator Faruqi said:

“It’s not just wrong, but recklessly irresponsible when a Minister suspends such critical humanitarian funding without having all the evidence. One must wonder, is this a case of poor judgement or is Minister Wong happy to take just the word of Israel?

“After my questioning in the Senate, Minister Wong has been forced to admit what we knew all along; the Labor government has suspended UNRWA funding based on allegations, and without all the facts. Humanitarian aid should never be beholden to politics. 

“The government acknowledging that UNWRA do life-saving work and then halting funding is hypocritical and misguided.

“There is not a minute to waste. The Labor government must immediately lift the suspension of UNRWA funding. In fact, there is a need to rapidly increase aid given the dire situation in Gaza. 

“The most humanitarian thing would be for Minister Wong to take strong action to stop Israel from bombing civilians in Gaza.”

Four hundred delegates from across the Indian Ocean region and beyond will today meet in Perth for this year’s Indian Ocean Conference.

This is the first time Australia has hosted this important gathering. Together with India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar, I look forward to welcoming Sri Lanka’s President Wickremesinghe, 17 Ministers, Secretaries-General and high-level delegates.

The Conference theme of ‘Towards a Stable and Sustainable Indian Ocean’ presents an opportunity to discuss positive and practical ways in which we can work towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indian Ocean; a community in which agreed rules and norms empower all states to cooperate, trade and thrive.

Indian Ocean countries share common interests in the security of our region, tackling climate change, the health of our oceans, marine safety, trade, and economic development.

Our region faces shared challenges, and we are working together on shared solutions.

The Albanese Government’s disastrous “right to disconnect” law could lead to fines of over $18,000.

The new “right to disconnect” law was tabled on Wednesday night as part of over 100 amendments to the Albanese Government’s latest radical industrial relations Bill.

The amendment was put forward by the Greens after they did a dodgy deal with the Government to pass the wider Bill if the Government supported the so-called “right to disconnect’.

The law says an employee may refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact, or attempted contact, from an employer outside of the employee’s working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable.

The law allows for an application to be made to the Fair Work Commission for a stop order to be put in place if either party believes the other is acting in contravention of the law.

“At the 11th hour we learn that fines of over $18,000 could flow from this law,’’ she said.

“This law just opens up another level of complexity for businesses at a time when they are doing it very tough,’’ Senator Cash said.

“In a country with five time zones during the summer months and in a globally competitive economy, it’s not clear how this will help increase productivity in the workplace,’’ she said.

“Western Australia will be hit particularly hard by the right to disconnect law because of the three-hour time difference over summer. The Prime Minister and this Government has complete contempt for Western Australia and the hard work of businesses and workers who contribute so much to the national economy,’’ Senator Cash said.

Australia’s research sector is vital in driving innovation, advancing our economy and building a globally competitive nation, but it must expend taxpayers’ funds in the national interest.

Labor’s proposal to outsource public funding decisions for more than half a billion dollars to an Australian Research Council (ARC) board, unaccountable to the Parliament, is irresponsible.

It is also contrary to our system of parliamentary democracy which ensures that elected representatives are accountable to the Australian people, not untouchable boards or committees.

Without oversight from the minister, there is the risk wasteful or questionable projects, which may involve large travel or other inappropriate costs, will be funded without recourse. This shows how little Labor cares about safeguarding taxpayer funds.

In 2022-23, more than $895 million was delivered through ARC grant programs.

Of the many thousands of ARC research projects, the former Coalition government vetoed just 32 projects.

This is bad policy from a very bad government.

Given Labor will retain control of big-ticket funding programs such as the ‘ARC Centres of Excellence’ involving several hundred million dollars, Jason Clare’s hypocrisy is on full display. What double standards from a minister who has refused to hand over the ribbon cutting and photo opportunities.

Since its election, the Albanese government has shown only contempt for the research sector, cutting $102 million from university research programs in the December MYEFO, with no sign Labor will keep its election promise to increase research funding to 3 per cent of GDP.

The establishment of an ARC board, to be paid from the ARC’s budget, means a direct cut to research of another $1.5 million.

Australians are paying more for their passports under the Albanese Labor Government in return for a woefully inefficient service.

A report released by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) today on the Australian Passport Office has revealed that “passport applications are not being processed in a time and resource efficient manner.”

Since being elected, Labor has hiked up the price for Australians with an adult passport of 10 years going up $38 and plans of a second increase this year of $28 from 1 July.

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Simon Birmingham said the Albanese Labor Government had no shame in slogging Australians with higher passport fees while delivering woefully inadequate services to deliver them.

“In a desperate cash grab the Albanese Government has twice hiked the price of passports with a third to come, yet this report reveals Australians are forking out more just to wait longer for their passports,” Senator Birmingham said.

“Australians already pay more for their holiday thanks to Labor blocking airline competition, now they’re paying more just to be allowed to leave the country.

“The Albanese Labor Government should reverse their big passport price hike until they comprehensively respond to these recommendations so that Australians get a fair deal on passports, not a costly, stressful stuff-around.”

In what the Treasurer has called a “relatively modest” change Australians will be paying 21 per cent more under Labor to get their passports during a cost-of-living crunch.