Category: Australian News

Today, I announce the appointments of Professor Sango Mahanty, Ms Audra Morrice and Ms Hayley Winchcombe to the Australia-ASEAN Council.

The new appointments bring together Australians from a diverse range of backgrounds, each with different perspectives and experiences in Southeast Asia.

Professor Mahanty is a human geographer studying the politics of social and environmental change, and has vast environmental and development expertise in Southeast Asia. Her recent Australian Research Council Future Fellowship explored these themes along the Cambodia -Vietnam border, a region of rapid social and environmental change.

Ms Morrice is a chef, author and a television presenter, and has long been an advocate for forging cultural connections. She is an Ambassador with the Singapore Tourism Board and an Ambassador for Sustainable Gastronomic Tourism for the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Ms Winchcombe will bring a wealth of experience as Chair of the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership; her appointment will ensure the next generation continue to forge long-lasting ties with the region. Ms Winchcombe is an Associate at Mandala, and was previously an economics, policy and business strategy consultant with Accenture Strategy.

I am pleased that University of Tasmania Professor Nicholas Farrelly will continue to serve on the board for another term. I thank the outgoing board member Ms Tamerlaine Beasley for her substantial contribution to the Council over the past six years.

The Australia-ASEAN Council generates opportunities to strengthen Australia’s connections with ASEAN member countries, comprising over 675 million people.

For more information visit the Australia-ASEAN Council.

The Greens have today backed an expert report from the Climate Council calling for climate change to be a key objective in new environment laws, as Labor signs off approval for the new South Wambo coal project in NSW. The Greens have slammed the Government for approving more fossil fuel projects as we head into a hot dry summer.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Greens Spokesperson for the Environment:

“Another day, another new coal project approved by the Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

“The Greens welcome the Climate Council’s expert report today calling for climate change to be a key objective within our environment laws. That’s why we are calling on the Government to work with us on our Climate Trigger Bill currently before the parliament.

“Every time the Minister approves a new coal or gas project it makes the climate crisis worse. That means more frequent and extreme bushfires and extreme weather events.

“Coal and gas approvals wreck our River Murray and our Great Barrier Reef

“Australia’s environment laws are broken. We need laws that stop pollution from new coal and gas projects. The Labor government should work with the Greens to fix them with a Climate Trigger that would new stop coal and gas in its tracks.

“Minister Plibersek has one job as the Environment Minister, but rather than protecting the environment, she keeps giving green light to big coal and gas mines and making pollution worse.”

Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald, said today’s Federal Court decision to overturn the regulator’s approval for a significant offshore natural gas project in Western Australia, was another example of Labor’s funding for green activists undermining Australia’s future prosperity.

Senator McDonald said that this Government’s failure to fix their broken offshore approvals process for natural gas, combined with their deliberate decision to fund green lawfare, has made their anti-gas agenda clear for all to see.

“The Government has sat on its hands and done nothing to resolve a known issue which has ground approvals for offshore development to a halt,” she said.

“The Prime Minister needs to apologise to the people of Western Australia for impeding investment and jobs in the west.

“Commonwealth funding for legal action to pick apart the Government’s own broken approvals regulations is a farce that will impact gas production and supply for both domestic manufacturing and energy firming as well as our international partners’ energy security.

“The Government claims it continues to support the gas industry, yet the millions it has spent on the Environmental Defenders Office will lead to more environmental legal activism, destabilising the industry and increasing Australia’s sovereign risk.

“The Government needs to come clean about how much taxpayer money has gone towards torpedoing the future production of Australian natural gas.”

The Albanese Government risks burdening Australian small businesses with more complexity and costs in their response to a review of the Privacy Act.

Shadow Attorney-General Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash said: “It would be appalling but not surprising if Labor’s new privacy regime targets small businesses by imposing more complexity and costs at a time when they are already struggling.”

“The Government’s own paper acknowledges that privacy laws “disproportionately and unreasonably” burden small businesses – but it has decided to impose those burdens anyway,’’ Senator Cash said.

“We all want better protection for our information, but we’re talking about imposing a complex and difficult regulatory regime on hairdressers, nail salons and mechanics, and potentially making them pay civil penalties if they make a mistake,’’ Senator Cash said.

“The Government has agreed-in-principle that organisations must appoint a senior employee to be responsible for privacy within the entity. How is that going to work for a small business, like a nail salon or a mechanic?” she said.

“We are talking about changing the rules for how we deal with personal information. If we don’t get it right there are potential far-reaching consequences for businesses and families across the country,’’ Senator Cash said.

“We want to know the Government’s proposals will adequately protect Australians’ personal information without creating additional red tape for people who are just trying to get ahead,’’ Senator Cash said.

“This Government has an ambivalent, bordering on hostile attitude to small businesses. They keep hitting small business with complexity, confusion and costs on multiple fronts – just look at the proposed industrial relations laws” she said.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) must be ready to defend Australia. They are the ones who are trained to fight and win our wars. The ADF has a vital mission, and failure is not an option.

To prevail in a crisis, the ADF need our support—from the Government, from the Parliament and from the Australian people. The ADF must have clarity from its elected leaders.

Clarity about the threats we face. Clarity about the national strategy. Clarity about the mission. Clarity about capabilities. Clarity about funding. Clarity about resolve. Yet, so far, we’ve seen little clarity from the Albanese government. Instead, we’ve seen dithering and indecision.

The Defence Strategic Review (DSR) painted a deteriorating strategic environment for Australia, yet the Albanese government response was underwhelming. There was no new money. Instead, there was cost-shifting. There was cannibalisation of capability. There were yet more reviews. The DSR hinted at a smaller, shrunken Australian army under Labor.

Today’s announcement about the relocation of Army units to Darwin, Townsville and Adelaide confirms that Labor intend to shrink and disperse the Australian Army. This will make us weaker.

We need to be investing in Army, our people, and combat power. Instead we are shrinking our land forces to one armoured brigade. That means we only have one hand to play in a high intensity conflict.

This decision disintegrates the Adelaide based 9th Brigade, through the redeployment of the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) to Darwin and the removal and consolidation of personnel and armoured equipment to Townsville.

The shrinking of armour is a consequence of the cuts imposed by the Albanese Government to the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) program from 450 to 129. These cuts to Australian armour degrade our land power and weaken our ability to win the close fight. Only fools would rule out the use of armour in future ground wars, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. We ignore military history at our peril.

The Opposition recognises the strategic importance of Northern Australia. We acknowledge our deteriorating strategic circumstances—as we did in the former Coalition government—through the Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan of 2020. Which is why we disagree with this weak approach by Labor.

The Australian Army will be impacted by this decision. Our soldiers and their families will face serious disruptions to family life, schooling, local connections, networks and spousal employment. This will damage morale.

The ADF is struggling to recruit and retain people. It is clear that Labor has no plan for our personnel and their families. We have no details on how the move will be supported by additional housing and infrastructure, and the impact on the communities affected.

Questions that need to be answered include:

• How will the Labor government recruit and retain people for Northern Australia?
• What incentives will be offered for service in the north?
• What is the plan to address the chronic housing shortage?
• What additional funding will be needed for base upgrades?
• What will the innovation and experimentation unit do?
• How will we retain our armoured warfare expertise without tanks?

Without clear answers to these questions, we can expect to see higher separation rates from the ADF. In 2022, ADF numerical strength was 2.7% below guidance. In 2023, that shortfall is expected to double to 5.6% below guidance. We are meant to see the force grow to 62,000 people but under the Albanese Government real numbers will be 3,500 short.

Our people must come first. They are our greatest asset in national defence. Investing in Army, retaining and bolstering presence in our capital cities, and giving certainty to our serving families should be Labor’s focus.

The Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) has reached a major milestone with the lodgement of an Environmental Impact Statement for a transmission project which will connect the REZ to the electricity grid. It is the first REZ to reach this stage of development.

Once complete, the Central West Orana REZ will deliver at least 3 gigawatts (GW) of transmitted electricity, which is enough to power 1.4 million homes. It will take NSW closer to the target of replacing 12 GW of renewable energy generation, and 2GW of long-duration storage by 2030. The transmission and generation projects in the Central West Orana REZ will deliver up to $10 billion in private investment to the region and around 5000 jobs at the peak of construction.

The Central West Orana REZ is approximately 20,000km², and takes in cities and towns including Dubbo, Dunedoo and Mudgee.

The Environmental Impact Statement is the result of more than 2 years of technical studies and community consultation. This includes detailed assessment of potential impacts on visual amenity, agriculture, roads, noise, biodiversity, water resources and cumulative impacts on community infrastructure and services such as housing supply and health services in the region.

The Department of Planning and Environment will publicly exhibit the Environmental Impact Statement between Thursday 28 September 2023 and Thursday 26 October 2023. EnergyCo will also be hosting information sessions to help the community learn more about the Environmental Impact Statement.

All stakeholders are encouraged to provide feedback via the NSW Planning Portallaunch before the Department of Planning and Environment makes a determination.

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said:

“The lodgement of the Environmental Impact Statement demonstrates our commitment to ensuring NSW households, businesses and industry can access clean, affordable and reliable energy as coal-fired power stations retire.

“It shows the NSW Government is getting the roadmap to renewables back on track, so we can ensure there is enough renewable energy to replace aging coal-fired power stations.

“The Central-West Orana transmission project will be capable of connecting at least 3GW of renewable energy generated by wind and solar projects, which is enough to power a quarter of the state’s energy demand, as well as another 2GW of firming storage.

“We will be working closely with communities through the Environmental Impact Statement process.”

The Greens have today backed an expert report from the Climate Council calling for climate change to be a key objective in new environment laws, as Labor signs off approval for the new South Wambo coal project in NSW. The Greens have slammed the Government for approving more fossil fuel projects as we head into a hot dry summer.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Greens Spokesperson for the Environment:

“Another day, another new coal project approved by the Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

“The Greens welcome the Climate Council’s expert report today calling for climate change to be a key objective within our environment laws. That’s why we are calling on the Government to work with us on our Climate Trigger Bill currently before the parliament.

“Every time the Minister approves a new coal or gas project it makes the climate crisis worse. That means more frequent and extreme bushfires and extreme weather events.

“Coal and gas approvals wreck our River Murray and our Great Barrier Reef

“Australia’s environment laws are broken. We need laws that stop pollution from new coal and gas projects. The Labor government should work with the Greens to fix them with a Climate Trigger that would new stop coal and gas in its tracks.

“Minister Plibersek has one job as the Environment Minister, but rather than protecting the environment, she keeps giving green light to big coal and gas mines and making pollution worse.”

Today’s monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) data has shown the impact of inflation on everyday Australians is real and it is acute.

The headline inflation rate of 5.2% remains well above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target band of 2-3%. Soaring prices of electricity, gas, insurance, rent and automotive fuel mean what Australians are feeling is far worse than the headline figure suggests.

Excluding volatile items, CPI also remains well above the headline rate at 5.5% with annual trimmed mean inflation at 5.6%.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said household budgets are being squeezed at every possible angle under Labor.

“Soaring energy bills, rising grocery prices, sky high mortgages and rents and now escalating fuel prices. How much more can Australians cop?” Mr Taylor said.

“Despite promising day after day to bring the cost of living down before the election, Labor has made a bad situation worse.

“The Coalition has been calling on the government for over a year to rein in its spending to take pressure off prices but Deutsche Bank analysis this week has shown Labor governments around the country increasing spending by 2% of GDP.

“Families are paying a hefty price for Labor’s failure to take inflation seriously.

“Energy companies told the Cost of Living Committee there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of Australians struggling to pay their energy bills with more people now accessing hardship programs than during the COVID pandemic.

“Despite the real pain families are feeling, the Treasurer started the week claiming balancing growth with keeping inflation low was a ‘narrow’ and ‘technical’ objective.

“This is a government missing in action on the fight against inflation and is distracted by its Canberra Voice and repaying favours to its biggest donors – the unions.

“Labor must treat inflation as priority one, two and three. Unfortunately that’s not what we’re seeing and it’s hardworking Australians paying the price.”

The number of Australians on energy bill hardship programs is now higher than the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the greatest concern for customers being the risk of another interest rate rise.

Representatives from EnergyAustralia, AGL Energy and Origin Energy told the Cost of Living Committee at its hearing in Perth that there has been a “significant increase” in the number of customers on hardship plans.

One energy retailer reported that the number of customers on hardship plans had almost doubled from the peak of the pandemic, and they expected the number to increase into the future.

The Committee heard that “more supply is critical” to reducing energy prices, but that the Albanese Government’s interventions in the gas market “tend to discourage supply”.

An “unprecedented demand” in the number of Australians seeking charitable assistance is also being reported across various organisations in the West Australian charity sector.

Foodbank WA said they were now providing food assistance to dual income households, a demographic they said they “never expected to support”, with the number of eligible Foodbank cardholders recently skyrocketing from 5,000 to 14,000 due to the cost of living crisis.

The Salvation Army said it had seen a 60% increase in wage earners seeking assistance, while the Anglicare WA said employed people coming to it for assistance had tripled in the last three months.

Exasperating the challenges charities are facing is the fact that the sector is not seeing donations increase at the same rate as requests for assistance, and it is harder to find volunteers.

Chair of the Committee Senator Jane Hume said that the increase in the number of Australians accessing hardship programs and charities, shows the very real impact the cost of living crisis is having on families.

“Labor went to the election promising a plan to lower the cost of living and reduce energy bills by $275, but the evidence we heard today is that energy bills are going up, and Australians are struggling to cope.

“The fact that there are now more Australians on hardship programs than during the peak of the pandemic and the fact that charities are now servicing dual income households, show that Australians are not better off under Labor.”

Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Dean Smith said the charities and non-profits sector is operating in a perfect storm of record demand and rising overheads.

“Charities are working in overdrive, but their own costs are up – one told us today they’ve spiked 66% – while both donations and the supply of volunteers are generally down,” Senator Smith said.

“And a light is now being shone on ‘hidden’ hardship, households with two working parents, not eligible for Government financial and housing support, but living in cars with their kids and relying on food support.”

“These are the very human faces of the Albanese Government’s cost of living crisis.”

Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism, the Hon Kevin Hogan MP said the Albanese Government should have moved earlier on extending the 35% customs tariff on Russia and Belarus.

“I called on the Government to do this more than a month ago, saying on August 3 that with no end in sight to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with Belarussian support, they had no choice but to extend Australia’s trade sanctions against these regimes beyond this month’s end date,” Mr Hogan said.

“Australia must continue to take whatever measures we can to denounce Russia and Belarus for their illegal aggression. This removal of most favoured nation status and the imposition of this customs duty is such a measure.

“Many Australians are becoming increasingly concerned that the Albanese Government is pulling back on Australia’s commitment to support Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as put in place measures that will support a future rebuild effort.”

Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham stated all efforts should be made by the Albanese Government to utilise the mechanisms at its disposal to support Ukraine and extending these sanctions was the obvious course of action.

“While prolonging these sanctions was the only course of action this Government could have taken their delays in implementing a double tax agreement with Ukraine have been more than disappointing,” Senator Birmingham said.

“This is a government which seems incapable of being proactive on these sorts of issues and instead has to be dragged to the table with reactionary solutions that risk coming too late.”

“Australia must continue to send clear and strong messages of condemnation for Russia’s illegal invasion and abhorrent actions against Ukraine.”

The Coalition introduced the 35% customs duty on goods that are the produce or manufacture of Russia and Belarus from 25 April, 2022.