Category: Australian News

The Australian Greens have obtained satellite imagery that shows the destruction of Australian war graves in Gaza and the surrounding area. 

The Gaza War Cemetery is in the al-Tuffah area, near Gaza City. Over 250 Australian soldiers are buried in the Commonwealth Gaza War Cemetery and thousands of other soldiers from across Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand, casualties from two World Wars.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), an international consortium of which Australia is a member tasked with ensuring the graves of soldiers are maintained, notified the Australian Government in March 2024 that there was damage to the graves in Gaza.  

In response the Australian government did nothing. It made no inquiries about the extent of the damage and critically no protest to Israel about the damage.

Since that report, there have been further repeated heavy strikes on al-Tuffah including on June 22 which saw bombing and artillery shelling around the area which killed at least 40 people. 

Satellite images from July 7 show there has been significantly more damage to the cemetery than March, including more craters, churned-up dirt and debris. The images also show the staggering destruction of the surrounding area in Palestine. 

Senator David Shoebidge, Greens Spokesperson on Defence: “When the Albanese Labor Government exerts no pressure on those who commit war crimes, they just continue committing war crimes. The desecration of war graves by Israel is another example of this.”

“When you look at these pictures it is important to zoom out and see the surrounding damage with homes, farms, workplaces, in fact entire communities destroyed. 

“Make no mistake, the State of Israel hit these war graves because it could, because there would be no punishment from Australia or the UK. It has made Gaza into a gravesite for the same reasons.

“More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, and tens of thousands more injured, since Israel invaded Gaza and the Albanese Government has taken no material steps to stop the genocide. 

“Even in the face of desecrated Australian war graves there has been no pushback from the Albanese government, no complaint, no protest. That is hard to understand.

“The Government could end the two-way arms trade, sanction Benjamin Netanyahu’s extreme government and expel the ambassador, but it chooses not to.”

Should rental properties in the ACT be expected to have locks, window coverings and sufficient ventilation? Or is it okay to rent someone a property without a bathroom or cooking facilities?

Canberrans are invited to help shape the future of rental housing during a six-week community consultation starting today.

Community members and stakeholders are being asked for their views on key issues for renters and landlords, including new minimum standards for rental properties and other key reforms to occupancy laws.

Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said the goal was to set clearer expectations for landlords and tenants that would apply to all rented residential properties.

“We believe everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home,” the Attorney-General said.

“By working together, we can ensure our rental laws reflect the needs and expectations of all Canberrans, creating a fairer and more transparent rental market for everyone.”

From minimum requirements for locks and ventilation, to energy-efficiency ratings for appliances, the proposed changes aim to establish a clear baseline for habitable living conditions.

The consultation will seek views around whether there is a need for stronger protections for occupants around the termination of occupancy agreements, the rules around occupancy fee increases (such as those for residents in boarding houses) and protections for caravan parks residents.

The consultation is open until 2 September 2024 for tenants, landlords, and community organisations to share their insights and experiences.

Key topics for community feedback include:

1. Minimum standards: Establishing the essential features every rental property should have to ensure it is safe, healthy and comfortable.
2. Energy and water efficiency: Outlining landlords’ responsibilities in installing energy-efficient appliances and water-saving fixtures to reduce costs and environmental impact.
3. Occupancy fee increases: Exploring whether limits should be placed on the amount and frequency of increases where fees cover services other than rent, similar to limits already in place for rent increases for tenants.
4. Caravan parks: Evaluating the needs of residents in caravan parks and the protection of their rights.

To share your thoughts and contribute to this important discussion, visit the YourSay website or learn more about energy-efficiency standards for rental homes here.

A family counselling pilot will be established at the Alexander Maconochie Centre to help improve the wellbeing of detainees and their loved ones.

ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury announced the pilot, which is one of several new projects supporting vulnerable people who interact with the ACT Justice system.

The family counselling pilot will establish a family counsellor at the AMC, who can provide personalised support to detainees, enhancing their communication skills, building resilience and providing strategies to build relationships or resolve any conflicts that may exist with their families.

Other projects include:

• improved access to the ACT Courts for First Nations people in the Jervis Bay Territory, and
• continued work on the implementation of electronic monitoring.

The projects are sharing funding of $275,000 allocated from the Confiscated Assets Trust (CAT).

CAT funding redirects proceeds of criminal activity into projects for healing, growth and a more equitable legal system.

Attorney-General Rattenbury said the projects will help address the diverse needs of individuals at different stages of their interaction with the justice system.

“The pilot aims to foster rehabilitation, to help address systemic challenges that contribute to people’s offending, and through that to create stronger communities and break cycles of recidivism.

“This investment also underscores our commitment to ensuring everyone in our community has equitable access to legal services and support,” said the Attorney-General.

Minister for Corrections and Justice Health Emma Davidson welcomed the investment, saying it will keep families better connected and support people to make safer choices once they return home.

“Our support networks play an important role to keep us connected, kind and caring. For people in AMC, connection with loved ones supports their rehabilitative journey and return to the community,” Minister Davidson said.

“Family counselling services at the AMC will help people build stronger bonds with their loved ones that can ultimately reduce harmful behaviours, create healthier families and deliver safer communities.”

The ACT Greens welcome progress on a northside birth centre feasibility study and stress the importance of a freestanding midwife-led option, separate to the hospital campus, to increase birthing choices for Canberrans.

Pregnancy and birth are cherished life experiences. The ACT Greens want all parents to have positive and fulfilling experiences as this improves outcomes for them and their family.

Greens MLA for Ginninderra Jo Clay, whose motion in the Assembly last year led to this feasibility study, said the current model of care focuses on or around hospitals, but our community wants a separate freestanding birth centre.

“Birth is a natural part of life. It is not an illness, but in Canberra, the vast majority of people currently have no choice but to give birth inside a hospital,” Ms Clay said.

“The community has been clear. We need an option in Canberra that prioritises keeping people out of hospital, reduces unnecessary medical interventions and better supports our midwives.

“Being able to access a hospital-based birth is sometimes necessary, but we need to enable healthy people who want to give birth elsewhere to do so safely and with support by a known midwife.

“We already have birth centres that are in hospitals. The freestanding option is what’s needed in Canberra to provide more choice for people giving birth.

“I’m confident the impassioned preference of midwives, parents and other experts for a freestanding birth centre will shine through in this feasibility study and deliver what will be a much-loved service for the Canberra community.”

Background

• The ACT Greens included their 2020 election commitment to a standalone family birth centre as a priority in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement for this term of the Legislative Assembly.
• On 7 February 2023, Ms Clay unanimously passed a private members motion committing the ACT Government to complete a feasibility study for a co-designed midwife-led facility, either located alongside or fully separate from the new northside hospital, by August 2024.
• Also on 7 February 2023, Ms Clay tabled a petition with over 3000 signatures calling for a freestanding birth centre in the ACT.

Google’s updated health and medicines policy threatens to limit or stop Australian healthcare providers from advertising their abortion and contraception services unless they are certified by a US based, for-profit company. 

Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for women, Senator Larissa Waters

“Google has a bad habit of overstepping when it comes to Australia’s healthcare regulations. Unlike in the US, abortion and contraception is legal, telehealth is a vital part of our healthcare system, and people don’t need more barriers to information about either.

“Access to safe, legal abortion remains a postcode lottery in Australia, with different rules, costs and availability depending on where you live. The last thing we need in Australia is a US based company regulating our access to information about reproductive healthcare.

“MSI Australia suggests the cost to their organisation would be more than $4700 in registration and annual fees. That money would be much better spent supporting people to access essential reproductive healthcare.

“Abortion and contraception are legal, basic healthcare services. They should be safe, accessible and freely available everywhere in Australia, including on Google.”

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) has today tabled its investigation report into Operation Harrisdale – an investigation into a car crash in the NorthConnex and allegations of a police cover-up.

The report details an investigation into a senior police officer known only as AB who crashed his car after allegedly consuming 23.5 standard drinks, lied about it in official police records and attempted to commit insurance fraud. The officer (whose identity is to be kept secret for the next 40 years) reported both in his insurance claim and police safe driving entry that he fell asleep at the wheel with no mention of alcohol.

The report describes acts of deliberate impropriety by police, the routine deletion of messages among officers, and makes clear the need for further resourcing and expanded powers for an independent watchdog, finding ‘a number of ordinary misconduct processes only occurred after questions were asked by the Commission’s Oversight Investigator.’

Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said, “The Harrisdale report paints a damning picture of how police leadership instinctively protect themselves and their own.”

“When a senior officer crashed a vehicle while drunk and committed insurance fraud, police pursued ‘arm’s length’ internal investigations and stated their main concern was that the officer ‘got through the ordeal with as much support as possible’. This, Harrisdale finds, is not unusual.”

“The impunity was full throttle on this occasion. Without LECC oversight and public scrutiny, it does not appear that NSW police would have issued media statements about the initial incident, or followed basic internal accountability measures following the incident. This is the culture at NSW police and it is unacceptable,”

“This was outright lying and gross misconduct from a senior member of the force and it was enabled by an embedded culture of impunity and coverup at NSW police,”

“It’s alarming that police officers are routinely deleting work messages out of apparent concern they could be made a matter of public record. The Commissioner must set the record straight and put and end to this practice immediately,”

“When police do the wrong thing, they must be held accountable and the public must know. Instead, this officer maintained his prestigious position, continued to hold his driver’s licence and was immediately given access to another police vehicle. It was only when the LECC started asking questions three months after the accident that a safe driving panel was established,”

“We simply don’t have an effective police integrity and accountability system. The LECC does excellent work, but it is reactive, has limited resources and powers and is routinely obstructed by police in the courts. A police force we can trust requires a watchdog with proactive powers and teeth,” Ms Higginson said.

Greens Deputy Leader and Higher Education Spokesperson has responded to recently released student contribution rates which reveal a standard three year arts degree will cost around $51,000 while a law degree will cost around $85,000.
 

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“The Albanese government’s refusal to scrap the disgraceful, punitive fee hikes of the Coalition’s job-ready graduates package is making the student debt crisis much worse. Students are graduating with bigger and bigger debts.

“In opposition, Labor spoke a big game against the Morrison Government’s fee hikes for degrees like arts, business and law. In Government, they’ve shown their true colours, continuing the Coalition’s crusade against young people and students.

“Labor’s student debt relief policy is a bad joke. It still means student debts rising by 11.5% in their first term of Government and arts degrees costing over $50,000. That’s not a solution, that’s a disaster for people already crushed by a housing and cost of living crisis. 

“Soaring student debt is already locking people out of the housing market, crushing dreams of further study and stopping people from starting a family, and Labor is making things worse.

“With the Albanese Government backing Morrison’s university fee hikes, and student debt ballooning out of control, young people are telling me that they’re finding it harder and harder to tell Labor and the Liberals apart.

“The Universities Accord Final Report was scathing in its assessment of the Job-ready Graduates package, stating that it was a failure that needs urgent remediation. The Government is completely ignoring this advice and students will pay the price for years to come.”

New Legal Aid client liaison officers to provide support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and cultural and linguistically diverse Canberrans are among projects that Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury has funded from the Confiscated Assets Trust (CAT).

The funding will support a range of initiatives designed to empower victims, strengthen community connections and ensure a fairer legal process for the community.

The Attorney-General said that CAT funding ensures that proceeds of crime recovered under the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Act 2003 can be used productively to address the impact of crime on the community. These projects invest proceeds of crime in activities that will support criminal justice activities, crime prevention, and assistance to victims of crime.

“Access to justice is a fundamental right,” the Attorney-General said. “This investment reflects our commitment to ensuring that all Canberrans have equal opportunity to navigate the legal system. We are proud to support these important initiatives that will make a real difference in the lives of many.”

Projects aimed at increasing access to justice to receive CAT funding in this round include:

• Women’s Legal Centre: $30,000

Supporting the development and distribution of a Sexual Assault Legal Service handbook, providing essential information and resources to sexual assault survivors navigating the criminal justice system.

• Expansion of the Witness Assistance Scheme: $404,346

Immediate expansion of the Witness Assistance Scheme within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), providing essential support and guidance to witnesses and complainants throughout the criminal justice process.

• Legal Aid ACT: $369,000

Strengthening Legal Aid’s capacity by employing three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse client liaison officers, who will provide targeted support to vulnerable members of the community.

• Extension of Embedded Prosecutor Initiative: $107,000

Extending the placement of a senior prosecutor within the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Team (SACAT) in the ODPP, ensuring the provision of high-quality, pre-charge advice and support for the implementation of the new Threshold to Charge policy. 

Dr John Boersig PSM, Legal Aid ACT Chief Executive Officer

“Legal Aid ACT is strongly committed to the delivery of services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities. As a mainstream service provider to the ACT, we understand the importance of communication and the key role of allied professionals in the justice system.  This will allow us to better provide legal assistance by engaging liaison officers from these communities.”

Quote attributable to Elena Rosenman, Women’s Legal Centre ACT Chief Executive Officer

“The first step to making the criminal justice system more responsive to people who have been affected by sexual violence is to provide clear, accessible information about what to expect in the process. Information, accompanied by specialist legal assistance and support, can be part of rebuilding community trust in the policing and criminal justice responses to sexual violence. . If you need help, please contact Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377.”

The Victorian Greens have slammed the Victorian Labor Government for steamrolling ahead with their devastating plans to demolish and privatise Melbourne’s public housing while residents still remain in the towers.  

It follows reports in the Guardian that the Victorian Labor Government will sign a contract for demolition works to commence on or after 19 July at three towers that are the focus of a class action – 33 Alfred Street and 120 Racecourse Road in North Melbourne, and 12 Holland Street in Flemington. 

The Labor Government plans to demolish and privatise all 44 public housing towers across Victoria, which would displace over 10,000 residents, forcing people out of their homes and tearing communities apart. The majority of this public land looks set to be handed over to wealthy property developers for expensive private housing instead of retaining it for public housing. 

A class action to protect the North Melbourne and Flemington towers was launched in January and just last week the court ordered that it would go to a two-day trial commencing 28 October. A parliamentary inquiry into Labor’s privatisation plans is also set to begin within months.

Labor has previously used the awarding of demolition contracts to force residents to leave their homes using the threat of eviction and legal proceedings. This move shows a complete disregard for the existing class action and is a callous betrayal of residents still living in the buildings. 

Labor’s plan to demolish these homes while more than 120,000 people remain on the state’s public housing waiting list demonstrates its contempt for public housing. 

Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Samantha Ratnam: 

“Labor steamrolling ahead with this demolition and privatisation plan completely undermines the rights of residents who are being forced from their homes. People have called these towers home for decades and yet Labor is determined to rip these communities apart. 

“Since this project was announced, I’ve had hundreds of conversations with residents who are angry, heartbroken and want answers. 

“Labor fast-tracking this project while a class action is underway and residents remain in the buildings demonstrates a complete disregard for the rights and welfare of the residents and is a stark example of this government’s total contempt for public housing in Victoria.”

Today marks 10 years since the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and the tragic loss of 298 lives, including 38 people who called Australia home.

Ten years on, those killed that day remain in our hearts and in our purpose. Our thoughts are with their loved ones – the passing of time does not diminish the pain of their loss.

We acknowledge and remember the courage and resilience shown by those who responded to the disaster. We recognise the Australian Federal Police, Defence Force and Australian Transport Safety Bureau personnel whose work was central to the thorough and painstaking investigation.

Australia remains steadfast in our commitment to seeking truth, justice and accountability from those responsible for this horrific act of violence.

In November 2022, the District Court of The Hague found Russians Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy, and Ukrainian separatist Leonid Kharchenko guilty for their involvement in the downing of Flight MH17 and the murder of all 298 on board.

Australia has imposed sanctions against these three, as well as Sergey Muchkaev who commanded the Russian Brigade that provided the surface-to-air missile that shot down Flight MH17.

The Court unequivocally and conclusively established Russia’s responsibility for the downing of Flight MH17.

Australia continues to call for the Russian Federation to take responsibility for the role it played and to cooperate to ensure these perpetrators serve their sentences.

Australia and the Netherlands are pursuing accountability through a dispute against the Russian Federation in the International Civil Aviation Organization Council.

Today, the Foreign Minister will host a memorial service with victims’ families, along with first responders, investigators and officials, at Parliament House in Canberra.

The Attorney-General will attend an event in the Netherlands hosted by the MH17 Air Disaster (Next of Kin) Foundation with representatives from victims’ families and loved ones.