Category: Australian News

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Indonesia, the Philippines and India in September to meet with regional leaders to discuss global challenges and advance Australia’s economic, security and climate agenda.

The Prime Minister will attend the 3rd Annual ASEAN-Australia Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit in Jakarta from 6–7 September. Australia’s close partnership with ASEAN and its members is critical to achieving mutual prosperity, security and peace in our region.

As part of the Government’s upgrade of relationships with countries of Southeast Asia, the Prime Minister will travel to Manila, the first Australian Prime Minister to undertake a bilateral visit to the Philippines since 2003. The Prime Minister’s meeting on 8 September with President HE Ferdinand R Marcos Jr will focus on strengthening cooperation on defence and maritime security, development and education.

From 9–10 September, the Prime Minister will attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. The G20 is the world’s preeminent forum for global economic cooperation. Leaders will focus on navigating the global economy back to strong, sustainable and resilient growth.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Deepening Australia’s engagement with Southeast Asia is a key priority for my Government. Our futures are intertwined – so it’s essential that we work together to achieve a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

“Australia is proud to be hosting a Special Summit to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Relations in 2024. I look forward to welcoming ASEAN leaders to Australia in March next year.

“Our partnership with the Philippines is built on close defence and security cooperation, increasing economic relations and warm personal ties, including through the vibrant Filipino-Australian community. I look forward to visiting Manila to meet with President Marcos and affirm our partnership.

“It is more important than ever that Australia works closely with international partners, including through multilateral economic forums like the G20, to address shared challenges and opportunities.

“Australia is invested in and committed to the Indo-Pacific to enhance growth and prosperity, stability and respect for sovereignty and lasting peace.”

The Greens have welcomed a Senate report on school refusal and have called on the federal government to work with states and territories to immediately begin implementing its recommendations.

The Greens last year initiated a Senate inquiry into what parents and carers prefer to call “school can’t”, the inability of a young person to attend school due to a severe negative emotional reaction, in response to growing calls for action from affected families.

The committee’s consensus report makes 14 recommendations, including:

• development by education ministers of a national action plan within 12 months, with input from health and education professionals, service providers and people with lived experience;
• establishing a funded independent peer support network;
• increasing the number of subsidised mental health care visits for students experiencing school refusal;
• improving child health and development screening to identify opportunities for early intervention;
• developing school refusal resources for parents, teachers and school leaders; and
• incorporating school refusal training within teacher education and supporting the use of trauma-informed practices in schools.

Australia Greens spokesperson on schools Senator Penny Allman-Payne said:

“The Greens are pleased that the committee was able to agree that school can’t is an urgent problem that requires an urgent response from the Commonwealth, states and territories.

“Despite the significant increase in students experiencing school can’t, it’s a problem that has largely gone unexamined to this point, with state and territory governments and school systems failing to collect comprehensive attendance data.

“As the inquiry heard, school can’t is an issue of inclusion. Too often students are required to adjust to the needs of educational systems and institutions, rather than the other way around.

“While disability and mental health are risk factors, a focus on disability as the cause of the issue overlooks the failure of schools and education systems to support inclusion.

“If we are to offer a truly inclusive education for all young people, including those experiencing school can’t, systems and institutions need to be prepared to adapt to meet those students’ needs. 

“We need to reduce the stigma and shame felt by students and their families and educate and upskill school administrators, teachers and the wider school community.

“Many students and their families are at breaking point. The need to act is urgent.”

School Can’t Australia said:

“Submissions to the inquiry demonstrated that school can’t is a significant issue that is impacting many families. Our parent peer support group has over 9000 members with 1600 waiting to join. We have been doubling in size every year.  

“Families in our community report significant stress accessing appropriate supports for their children and themselves. It affects their physical health, mental health and financial well-being.

“For many years, school attendance difficulties have been attributed to poor parenting or student mental health. Subsequently, intervention has focussed on parent training and the child’s avoidant behaviour.

“But it is School Can’t Australia’s lived experience that school can’t is a stress behaviour, not a misbehaviour. We need to identify the stressors that are impacting students and reduce exposure to them.

“Prioritising student well-being starts with prioritising teacher well-being. That means we need to resource and equip schools to respond to school can’t in ways that prioritise well-being, including encouraging collaboration with students and their families to identify and reduce stressors within the school environment.

“Our vision is that our children’s needs will be better understood and identified early, so that  support is provided before they reach crisis point, and that parents and their children no longer feel judgement and shame due to school can’t.

“School Can’t Australia welcomes the recommendation of funding for parent peer support.  Funding will help safeguard and develop this valued service.

“We thank the Senate for the opportunity to share our community’s lived experience. We also thank the many parents who shared their stories and completed surveys – their emotional labour was substantial.”

Link to the inquiry’s report

This weekend marks three years since Australian citizen Cheng Lei was detained in China.

Our thoughts are with Ms Cheng and her loved ones, including her two children.

I want to acknowledge Ms Cheng’s strength, and the strength of her family and friends through this period.

Ms Cheng’s message to the public makes clear her deep love for our country. All Australians want to see her reunited with her children.

Australia has consistently advocated for Ms Cheng, and asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met for Ms Cheng, in accordance with international norms.

We will continue to support Ms Cheng and her family and to advocate for Ms Cheng’s interests and wellbeing.

Anthony Albanese has been tearing his hair out because the more extreme activists who relish forcing the voice on Australia can’t stick to his sales pitch.

Part of the Prime Minister’s pitch is that the Uluru Statement represents a plea by every indigenous Australian for a voice in Parliament, and it “fits on an A4 page”.

The statement is much more than that, and it’s no wonder the ‘yes’ mob are keen to play this down. It’s 26 pages full of demands for money, racially-exclusive access to Australian land and water, special race-based rights, and self-government – an independent indigenous nation entirely by Australian taxpayers. It’s recommended reading for anyone concerned about enshrining racial inequality in the Constitution.

Prominent voice extremist Megan Davis, one of the authors of the Uluru Statement, has since 2017 said repeatedly it’s a lengthy document of “18 to 20 pages”. This week she’s been forced to write a newspaper column pretending she never said anything of the kind, but it’s too late.

This issue has been a trainwreck for the ‘yes’ mob this week. Labour and the ‘yes’ extremists spent years talking to sympathetic audiences in the voice bubble. They allowed this sympathy to convince themselves the voice would sail through a referendum with solid support.

Now they’re beginning to realise that the Australian people at large – to whom the pitch must be made because changing the Constitution is our prerogative – are not so gullible.

When the Prime Minister finally musters the courage to set a date for the racist referendum, I suspect that’s when you’ll see the big money behind the ‘yes’ mob flow into a blitzing campaign about ‘listening’ and ‘better outcomes’ with no mention of what the voice really is: a vehicle for a treaty and special rights that will make non-indigenous Australians second-class citizens in their own country.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to the United States from 23 to 26 October for an official visit hosted by President Joseph R Biden Jr in Washington DC.

The Australia-United States relationship is unique in scale, scope and significance, reflecting more than 100 years of partnership between our nations. This visit will be an opportunity for the Prime Minister and President to strengthen this important relationship and look ahead to the future.

Prime Minister Albanese and President Biden will build on discussions held in Hiroshima, Japan in May, including advancing ambitious climate action and the transition to clean energy under our historic Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transformation Compact.

The leaders will look at ways the economic relationship between Australia and the United States can be made fit for the opportunities of the future to the benefit of workers and businesses in both countries. They will also discuss regional stability and security, AUKUS, strengthening cooperation in science and technology and the importance of together shaping an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

This will be the Prime Minister’s first official visit to Washington DC as Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“I am honoured to accept President Biden’s invitation to undertake an official visit to Washington DC.

“Australia and the United States have a longstanding relationship, based on deep friendship and trust and a shared commitment to peace, the rule of law and the values of democracy.

“My visit is an important opportunity to discuss our ambitious climate and clean energy transition, and shared goal of a strong, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Australian farmers and regional communities will benefit from a major, long-term investment into drought preparedness, with $38 million in federal innovation grants announced today.

Through the Future Drought Fund, the Albanese Government will invest in six research projects undertaking long-term trials of new and emerging agriculture practices around cropping, grazing and mixed farming, to help farmers be more drought-resilient.

The 6-year Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Grants aim to help farmers prepare for drought by equipping them with the data and confidence to invest in technologies and practices which have been proven across different landscapes and production conditions.

The successful projects are:

• $6.23 million – Charles Sturt University will lead a consortium to investigate the interdependence and whole-system effects of cropping and livestock components and managing environmental and social impacts in response to seasonal variation, with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in New South Wales.
• $3.94 million – Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils – will lead a consortium to evaluate drought reliance in farming systems and soils through an established network of long-term trials across multiple sites in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
• $4.32 million – NQ Dry Tropic Limited will lead a consortium to look at the effectiveness of virtual fencing to enable rangeland graziers to implement fine scale, drought resilient grazing systems over large areas, with trials to be undertaken in Charters Towers (Queensland).
• $7.2 million – University of Melbourne will lead a consortium to consider the effectiveness of farming-systems adaptations thought to improve drought resilience of broadacre grains, grazing and mixed farming systems, with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in Victoria and Tasmania.
• $8 million – Flinders University will lead a consortium on the climate resilience of cropping, livestock, and mixed farms, assessed through a network of long-term trials across the pastoral, low, medium, and high rainfall zones of South Australia with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in South Australia.
• $7.99 million – Deakin University will lead a consortium to investigate the diversity in pastures to build resilience, and support 365 days of feed production in southern temperate grazing enterprises with trials to be undertaken across multiple sites in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

The program represents a new direction for the $5 billion Future Drought Fund in providing long-term funding to facilitate sustainable change in farming practices that will help strengthen the resilience of farmers to drought conditions and a changing climate.

For more information visit: Long-term Trials of Drought Resilient Farming Practices Grants

Prime Minister Albanese said:

“Australian farmers are always gearing up for the next drought – it’s a matter of when, not if.

“And I’m proud to say that Australian farmers are some of the best in the world at preparing for and managing drought, which puts them at the forefront of climate adaptation.

“We’ve listened to the industry and we will continue to make sure farmers and rural communities are ready to face the next drought.

“Being prepared for drought is not just good for farmers, it’s also important for rural and regional communities, supermarket consumers and Australia’s trade industry.”

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said:

“This program is about advancing projects that we hope will make a real difference in a future droughts.

“These projects – like crop rotations, soil management, grazing techniques and infrastructure – will arm farmers with robust information to invest in technologies and practices that have been proven across different landscapes and conditions.”

The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to Tamworth residents to help strengthen Medicare.

Following an Expression of Interest process, Northwest Health will be established as a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, treating patients from October 2023.

The Tamworth Medicare UCC will deliver on the Australian Government’s commitment to make it easier for people in New South Wales to get the urgent treatment they need – from highly qualified doctors and nurses – while taking pressure off Tamworth Hospital.

The Medicare UCC will be open extended hours, seven days a week and offer walk-in care that is fully bulk-billed.

Almost 63 per cent of presentations to Tamworth Hospital are for non-urgent or semi-urgent care.

The Tamworth clinic is one of 14 Medicare UCCs across New South Wales – located in Albury, Batemans Bay, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Cessnock, Coffs Harbour, Gosford, Lismore, Penrith, Randwick, Westmead, Wollongong and Wyong.

The Australian Government will continue to work closely with Primary Health Networks and the New South Wales Government to deliver the remaining Medicare UCCs, all of which will open this year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“The Tamworth Medicare UCC will make a big difference to patients in the region who will be able to walk in seven days a week and get free urgent care from a nurse or a doctor.

“The clinic will ease pressure on Tamworth Hospital, so that its hard-working doctors and nurses can focus higher priority emergencies.

“The Tamworth Medicare UCC is just another way the Government is strengthening Medicare and making it easier to see a doctor.”

Health Minister Mark Butler said:

“The UCCs will offer high-quality care for people who need to see a medical professional for a health issue that is urgent and requires treatment but is not life-threatening and does not require attending the emergency department.

“The Tamworth UCC will ease pressure on the local emergency department, and be much more convenient for our community – closer to home, at short notice, and free under Medicare.

“This is another example of the Australian Government delivering better healthcare for New South Wales.”

Today, the government has responded to the report by the Parliamentary Inquiry Into Conflict Decision Making by affirming its decision to refuse giving the parliament a vote, thus ensuring that Australians can be dragged into more illegal wars at the whims of the United States.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, Greens spokesperson for Peace and Foreign Affairs said: 

“The Government’s response to the War Powers inquiry is proof that the Albanese government is refusing to embrace meaningful reform of Australia’s archaic and unaccountable process for going to war.” 

“No other democracy in the world has an executive government that holds such unilateral power to send troops to war.”

“The Labor party took a promise to the election to conduct a fair inquiry into how Australia goes to war. The Defence Minister and Foreign Minister have spent the past two years doing everything in their power to unwind that promise; including stating their opposition to meaningful reform before the inquiry’s completion.

“We have seen over and over that the mechanism for sending Australians to war lacks accountability and results in significant human disaster. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions have been displaced, and, to this day, ADF personnel find themselves in overseas conflicts that were never subject to debate, vote, or scrutiny.” 

“Today ADF personnel are still deployed to conflict zones globally without any meaningful engagement done with the Australian people or the parliament about why they are there, the contribution to national interest or the flow on effects these conflicts have.”

“The proposed changes by the government leave our Australian community vulnerable to the whims of the United States. The decision to go to war should be a vote of the Australian Parliament. When Australians get dragged into the next war the Australian Labor party should spare us their feigned outrage because the truth is they had the opportunity to stop it and didn’t, the blood will be on their hands.”

The Australian Greens, in collaboration with the Australian Cleft Lip and Palate Community, are proposing amendments to the Health Insurance Amendment (Prescribed Dental Patients and Other Measures) Bill 2023. If supported, it will grant children with Cleft Lip and Palate  access to crucial speech therapy services under Medicare’s Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Scheme

The community has been advocating for improved access to speech pathology services for more than 13 years. Affordable access to speech therapy plays a pivotal role in the lives of children with cleft lip and palate conditions; boosting their self-esteem, and enhancing their overall quality of life. 

The current exclusion of speech therapy services from the Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Scheme places an unjust financial burden on families.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, Greens spokesperson for Health and Disability has said: 

“It’s beyond time for the Medicare Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Scheme to incorporate a greater number of speech pathology sessions for individuals with cleft lip and palate. The current provision of only five speech pathology sessions per year falls short. Today, the Greens are proposing amendments to expand the Medicare Cleft Scheme to encompass 26 sessions over a 12-month period.” 

“I have personally heard from parents of children with cleft lip and palate who have expressed that the current allowance of five speech pathology sessions per year is inadequate. The absence of additional Medicare-covered sessions forces them to incur thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. This puts them in the difficult position of choosing between providing their child with life-changing support, or meeting basic necessities such as rent and food. 

“The Australian Community is rallying behind this change. A change.org petition addressing the issue has immense public support, with over 14,000 signatures.

Statements from The Cleft Palate and Lip Society (ClefPALS) Community Advocates: 

Jessica Beckman, the campaign manager for CleftPALS and a mother of a three-year-old with cleft lip and palate vividly portrays the challenges faced by these families. 

“There are too many children suffering from developmental delays from not having access to speech therapy, which leads to other mental anguish. Australian kids shouldn’t be getting bullied at school for not being able to talk properly.”

“In 2009, CleftPals wrote to the then Parliamentary Secretary for Health, and now Minister for Health, Mark Butler, asking for speech therapy support. That request was ignored. Now is the time for Minister Butler to act; he should commit to providing fair and equitable access to speech therapy services for our cleft kids”.

Timothy Delivin, President of CleftPALS NSW, whose kindergarten-aged son Joshua struggles with clear speech, underscored the “significant financial burden that is placed on families with a cleft kid with sessions with a specialist costing up to $190 per hour!”

The Greens are in solidarity with tireless campaigning groups like End Rape on Campus, Fair Agenda, The STOP Campaign and the National Union of Students who continue to shine a light on sexual violence on campus, and support their calls for an independent mechanism to hold universities to account on sexual assault.

LActing Greens Leader & Greens spokesperson on Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“While it’s great that the Government has appointed Patty Kinnersly to their working group on uni governance, there is so much more they must do to keep students safe.

“The Government must establish an independent mechanism to hold universities accountable on sexual violence and commit to funding another student safety survey. A working group to examine the issues is just not good enough on its own, when we know decisive action is needed now.

“Every student has the right to study in a safe, respectful environment, without fear of being sexually assaulted or harassed.

“Sadly though, far too many uni students continue to experience sexual violence across the country, especially women, non-binary people, people with disability, and First Nations people. For many, these traumatic experiences can totally upend and ruin lives.

“Both governments and universities have failed to act, despite knowing for years about the shocking prevalence and damaging effects of sexual violence on campuses.

“The Greens stand in solidarity with tireless campaigning groups like End Rape on Campus, Fair Agenda, and the National Union of Students — who have bravely shone a light on sexual violence on campus, and who are holding the government and universities to account for their abject failures.”

Greens spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters said:

“There is an epidemic of sexual assault on campus and universities and governments need to stop trying to brush it under the carpet.

“Labor is in government, they have all the levers. Students need to know their safety is being taken seriously. Parents need to know their kids are safe in residential halls. Universities need to be forced to take action.

“End Rape on Campus, Fair Agenda and The STOP Campaign continue their calls for an independent mechanism to hold universities accountable on sexual violence, and the Greens support those calls.

“The 2021 National Student Safety Survey found that 275 students are reporting assaults on campuses across the country every week, but that survey was done in the middle of COVID lockdowns. We need to know the true extent of the epidemic of rape on campus once students are back to post-pandemic campus life.

“Universities Australia have said it is up to the vice-chancellors whether they run another student safety survey, and that they haven’t yet decided. That prevarication is unacceptable – student safety surveys must be funded and committed to by both government and universities. You can’t fix the problem by hiding it. These are the same vice-chancellors who canned the $1.5 million consent education program Universities Australia was funded to provide, because of the archaic mindset of a few old dinosaurs in charge of our tertiary institutions.

“We are still waiting on a response to Questions on Notice from Universities Australia regarding whose archaic opinions were relied on in the decision to pull the plug on its consent education campaign, but it’s pretty clear that if they don’t want to provide sexual consent education to the adults on its campuses, it should hand back the $1.5 million it was provided to do so.

“Despite the tireless efforts of advocates like End Rape on Campus, Fair Agenda and The STOP Campaign, who Minister Clare met with last week, far too many students, particularly women, still feel unsafe at uni. The Greens support their calls for an independent mechanism to hold universities accountable on sexual violence.”