16 News

Today I am pleased to announce a pilot program that will harness the knowledge and experience of Asian Australians to deepen our understanding of our region and make Australia stronger and more influential in the world.

Australia’s diversity is one of our strengths – it gives us broader perspectives, deeper connections and a better ability to engage with our region on issues that matter to all Australians.

The Asian Australian Voices pilot program will equip professionals with the training and skills to contribute to public life.

The program will help to ensure Australians with deep expertise and personal experience of our region are part of the national conversation on the economic, security and diplomatic challenges and opportunities shaping our future.

It will also ensure we are using our strengths to Australia’s advantage, building Australia’s Asia literacy and creating a pipeline of senior Asian-Australian representation in civic life.

In partnership with Asia Society Australia, this initiative is a collaboration between DFAT’s National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, Centre for Australia-India Relations, and ASEAN-Australia Centre.

It reflects the Albanese Government’s commitment to ensuring all Australians can contribute to our engagement with the world.

Details about the pilot program can be found here: Asian Australian Voices.

The Greens have welcomed comments by former secretary of the federal Department of Education, Dr Michele Bruniges, examining disadvantage in Australian schools.

Greens spokesperson on Primary and Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Dr Bruniges’ work on disadvantage in schools confirms that public schools are doing more and more of the heavy lifting in terms of educating disadvantaged students.

“Our current system of schooling is hollowing out many of our public schools, particularly in growth areas, and forcing parents to make tough decisions for their kids.

“It’s not a real choice for parents when both the local private and public school receive taxpayer money, but only one is expected to cater to disadvantaged kids.

“I strongly welcome a national conversation about disadvantage in schools and I thank Dr Bruniges for her work with all sectors on this research.

“We need to start asking all schools that receive public money to cater to the needs of the public. That could mean a serious conversation around common standards or catchment areas for any school that receives taxpayer funding.

“In my view, every proportional increase in private school enrollments is a public policy failure, especially when they are publicly funded schools too.

“I was a public school teacher for over 25 years, and I know that the vast majority of parents and carers would prefer to be able to send their kids to a properly resourced local public school.

“Australia’s future relies on public education. Only the Greens fully support public schools – we’ll fund them, build them, and make them free for all kids.”

The Victorian Greens say that no one would have to pay more on their bills and we wouldn’t have to risk blowing our emissions targets in a climate crisis if Labor pulls it together and gets renewables online faster.

In recent years we’ve seen significant delays on getting renewable energy online and now a new report from Infrastructure Victoria has warned that these delays will prevent Victoria from hitting its emissions targets and could make energy bills more expensive until 2035 when more renewables come online.

More than a third of what Australians hand over to energy giants like AGL and Origin for electricity is pure profit for the companies and the Greens say that people shouldn’t have to pay more money to greedy energy companies for climate-destroying fossil fuels because Labor are dragging their feet on getting cheaper renewables online.

The Victorian Greens say we can’t risk more emissions that will supercharge climate change which we know creates even more expenses for people, with insurance premiums as one of the first costs to skyrocket.

Victorian Greens spokesperson for coal transition, Dr Tim Read:

“Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy and if we got them online faster everyone would actually be paying far less on their bills sooner.

“Labor must prioritise getting Victoria off dirty coal and expensive gas and properly support and invest in fast-tracking our clean energy transition.

“We know that climate change is going to cost people. Insurance premiums are already going through the roof. We can’t risk blowing our emissions targets that we know will supercharge climate change and create even more everyday expenses for people.”

The Victorian Greens have second read their Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill today to urge the Labor Government to consider further reforms that could be made to improve access to VAD in Victoria.

It follows the Labor Government’s recent announcement that they will amend Victoria’s legislation, including removing the gag clause that prevents doctors from discussing VAD with their patients.

The Victorian Greens have strongly welcomed the announcement but say that these changes will only just bring Victoria into line with other states and still behind some jurisdictions and there is more that can be done to make our laws more compassionate, by removing barriers and improve access.

As the first legislation of its kind in Australia, Victoria’s VAD laws took a very cautious approach and what were initially intended to be safeguards are now barriers preventing people who should be able to access VAD from being able to access it.

The Victorian Greens first introduced their VAD Bill to Parliament last year and have extensively consulted with stakeholders, now following the government’s announcement they’re calling for a full scope of reforms to be considered to improve access.

One key difference in the Greens’ Bill is expansion of the type of practitioners allowed to provide VAD assessments and support by enabling more GPs and nurse practitioners to provide these services. The Greens say that strict requirements to see certain types of specialists is creating barriers, especially for regional Victorians.

The Victorian Greens health spokesperson who is from regional Victoria and a GP herself, Dr Sarah Mansfield, said that the opportunity to update these laws doesn’t come around often and that we want the best possible laws to be passed swiftly.

Victorian Greens health spokesperson, Dr Sarah Mansfield:

“We’ve been really heartened to see the Labor Government’s commitment to update these laws, but the changes they are proposing only go so far, and we could be doing more to make our laws more compassionate and remove barriers to accessing voluntary assisted dying in Victoria.

“The opportunity to amend these laws doesn’t come up often, and we don’t want to just see this as yet another thing on Labor’s to do list. We are ready to work with the government now to make much needed changes to our VAD laws so that people who want to access choice and dignity at the end of their lives can do so.”

Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) in Western Australia is at crisis levels and getting worse. Every day, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape violence, yet frontline services remain critically underfunded and unable to meet demand. 

An estimated 30% of women in WA have experienced physical, sexual, or economic abuse by a partner. In 2022-23, WA Police attended nearly 60,000 call-outs related to family and domestic violence—an increase of approximately 6,000 from the previous year.

The Greens WA are committed to a full reform of the family, domestic, and sexual violence response systems in WA and to fully funding the services required to keep women and children safe. 

WA Labor has recently committed to large-scale reform of the FDV response system, which is a welcome step, but greater resourcing and more tangible commitments are needed to ensure this reform is a top priority in the next term of government.

The Greens will work with Labor to ensure that the reform is implemented, along with monitoring and compliance, and make sure that life-saving services get the full funding and support they require.

While FDV is beginning to receive the urgent attention it desperately needs, sexual violence remains overlooked, with both major parties missing in action.

Every month, 600 sexual offences are recorded by police, yet research shows that 91% of victims never report. In spite of this epidemic, WA employs only 12 full-time sexual assault service workers statewide, and access to forensic and medical examinations is location-dependent. 

Many areas of WA have no access to sexual assault services at all. Women and children across this state are being left without the support they need to report sexual violence or receive care.

The Greens WA will make freedom from fear for women and children a priority in the next government. 

The Greens WA will:

• Fully reform the Family and Domestic Violence system as a priority, ensure ongoing monitoring and compliance measures.
• Take a collaborative approach where health, education, justice and police work constructively together to make perpetrators visible, share information and take action to protect victim survivors.
• Fully fund the Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing.
• Fully fund the development of a specialist workforce, as well as crisis services, transitional and long-term housing for victim survivors, and evidence-based perpetrator interventions. This includes through Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations (ACCOs) services that are culturally safe and led by First Nations women.
• Reform sexual assault response and services across WA, including law reform, multi-agency collaboration and full funding of services to prevent and respond to sexual assaults across the state including in remote areas.
• Invest $432m over 4 years in family and domestic violence and sexual violence specialist workforces, crisis and frontline services and preventative programs. 

WA Greens Legislative Council candidate, Jess Beckerling:

“The sheer scale of family, domestic, and sexual violence in WA is horrifying, yet governments continue to underfund the very services that are meant to keep women and children safe.”

“We need urgent and comprehensive reform of WA’s response to these crises, including stronger action to hold perpetrators accountable and full funding for frontline services, crisis accommodation, and long-term housing for victim survivors. The Greens will fight to ensure women and children across WA don’t have to live in fear.”

WA Greens candidate for Churchlands, Caroline McLean:

“It is completely unacceptable that WA has just 12 full-time sexual assault service workers for the entire state, leaving thousands of victim-survivors without access to critical support.”

“We cannot continue to ignore the epidemic of sexual violence in WA. The Greens will push for major reforms, including full funding for specialist services, increased workforce capacity, and justice system reforms that ensure victim-survivors are supported, not silenced.”