Category: Australian News

As the extreme climate crisis cooks the planet, Greens Acting Leader Mehreen Faruqi has called on the Prime Minister and the Labor government to heed the UN’s warning and show global leadership by committing to no more coal and gas.

Fires and extreme heat waves are ravaging the Northern Hemisphere, as the UN and the World Meteorological Organisation warns July will be the hottest on record and describes the situation as “global boiling.”

Greens Acting Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“Coal and gas is fueling this extreme climate crisis and Australia is one of the biggest exporters of fossil fuels. Labor must show global leadership and act now.

“The Prime Minister and Labor must stop approving new coal and gas projects and push for the world to do the same.

“Greens pressure has got some climate action, but we need much much more and Labor is making the climate crisis worse with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approving one climate bomb after another with no signs of slowing down.

“What we are seeing in the Northern Hemisphere will hit Australia this summer and people will ask what did the Prime Minister and Labor do?

“Climate scientists, the UN and the International Energy Agency have all issued unambiguously apocalyptic climate warnings, and still, this year Labor approved three new coal projects.

“There is no room for new coal and gas if we want a liveable planet. The only forces that want new fossil fuels are the climate-wrecking, morally bankrupt fossil fuel corporations, and they’ve got both Labor and the Liberals doing their bidding.”

The Greens have slammed the Albanese Government’s decision to cut $25 million from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) as an attack on science. 

An email sent to AAD staff earlier this month shows the division is set to cut approximately 16% of its operating budget. 

As scientists warn of a reduction in Antarctic sea ice equivalent to a once every 7.5 million year event, the Greens are calling for the budget cuts to be reversed and for the Albanese Government to commit to increased funding for Antarctic science programs this summer, especially critical ice sheet programs. 

Greens Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson said: 

“The Albanese Government’s decision to cut $25 million from the Australian Antarctic Division is an attack on science and could undermine Australia’s important commitment to the Antarctic Treaty. 

“I’m hearing a number of concerns expressed about science programs in the Antarctic being cancelled because of these budget cuts. 

“There’s never been a more important time to increase Antarctic science funding. Scientists are currently warning of a reduction in Antarctic sea ice equivalent to a once every 7.5 million year event.

“Unprecedented low ice coverage has scientists stunned, and is of significant global concern. There couldn’t possibly be a worse time to be cutting the operating budget of the AAD, particularly with critical ice sheet scientific programs scheduled for this summer.

“The Greens want these budget cuts to be immediately reversed and for the Albanese Government to commit to increased funding for Antarctic science programs this summer, especially in relation to southern ocean and climate science programs. 

“If the Albanese Government can find $10 billion to spend on a new fleet of Hercules planes, it must guarantee, at a minimum, the promised $7.4 million for research focused on studying the destabilisation of Antarctic ice sheets.

“The Government must uphold Australia’s leadership and commitment to the Antarctic Treaty and the critical globally significant and internationally collaborative science programs that underpin this.”

Introduction:

A startling revelation has surfaced, shaking the foundations of Australia’s property market. Senator Malcolm Roberts of One Nation has unearthed evidence pointing to a significant disparity between official government statistics and the number of Australian homes foreigners purchase. This revelation has sparked urgent calls for an official investigation into the issue, raising concerns about housing affordability and national interests.

The Discrepancy in Numbers:

Official records from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) indicate that only 0.74 per cent of residential dwelling transactions in 2021-22 involved foreign buyers. However, a well-respected NAB survey of real estate agents suggests a different reality. The survey reveals that foreign purchases accounted for over two per cent of established homes and four to eight per cent of new dwellings during the same financial year.

Senator Roberts’ Call to Action:

Senator Malcolm Roberts insists that the FIRB fails to capture the full extent of foreign purchases in Australia. His urgent call for Treasurer Jim Chalmers to launch an official investigation aims to address the glaring discrepancy in statistics and shed light on the true state of the property market.

Implications for the Australian Property Market:

The emerging scandal has significant implications for the domestic property market:

1. Housing Affordability Concerns: If foreign ownership is more widespread than believed, it could exacerbate the already challenging housing affordability situation for Australian citizens. Increased competition from foreign buyers might drive up prices and limit locals’ access to the property market.
2. National Interest and Security: Foreign ownership of many residential properties raises national interest and security concerns. The influence of foreign entities on local communities and decision-making processes is a crucial consideration.
3. Policy Review: The government may need to reevaluate foreign investment policies and tighten regulations to ensure transparency and accountability in property transactions involving foreign buyers. Stricter controls can help protect the interests of Australian citizens and maintain market stability.

Conclusion:

Senator Malcolm Roberts’ exposure to the potential foreign ownership scandal demands immediate attention. The glaring disparity between official government statistics and real estate agents’ data requires a thorough investigation to grasp the true extent of foreign purchases in the Australian property market. Policymakers must strike a careful balance between encouraging foreign investment, safeguarding national interests, and housing affordability for Australian citizens. The nation can only address this pressing issue and ensure a robust and fair property market for all through comprehensive action.

Further revelations in the Nine papers today about corruption allegations and Pacific offshore detention reinforce the need for a Royal Commission into the operations of Home Affairs, Acting Greens Leader Mehreen Faruqi said today.

According to the reports, then Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was warned by the AFP about bribery risks associated with a businessman who was nonetheless awarded a multi-million dollar contract just weeks later. The allegations also show that money continued to flow to entities long after AUSTRAC warned about potential corruption and money laundering.

According to the reports, the company embroiled in the allegations continued to be contracted under the current Labor government.

acting Greens Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“The Prime Minister must establish a Royal Commission which examines the entire cruel history of our immigration detention system as well as this latest Home Affairs scandal.

“These allegations are deeply troubling. Peter Dutton must explain what he knew and Labor must explain why these contracts continued on their watch.

“At the same time as it was ruining the lives of refugees, the whole offshore detention system was clearly embroiled in questionable contracts and dodgy deals. There needs to be a full and open inquiry.”

“This is the true cost of Australia’s shameful obsession with offshore processing at all costs: money that could be spent establishing safe pathways for people seeking asylum  and refugees ends up lost in the rivers of gold flowing to questionable contractors all with the Australian government’s blessing.”
 

Despite the tireless efforts of advocates like End Rape on Campus and Fair Agenda to hold universities accountable, far too many students, particularly female students, still feel unsafe at uni.

The Greens support calls on the Albanese government to establish an independent mechanism to hold universities accountable on sexual violence.

Greens spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters said:

“The 2021 National Student Safety Survey found that 275 students are reporting assaults on campuses across the country every week. Without major changes, thousands of students are at risk. 

“Universities have a clear responsibility to provide a safe environment for students, with 275 sexual assaults in a university setting each week, it’s clear they are failing. 

“Universities can play a key role in ensuring students understand consent. If Universities Australia 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.

“A recent report showed universities have chosen not to provide the educational resources young adults need, because of the archaic mindset of a few old dinosaurs in charge of our tertiary institutions.

“Allowing the prudish nonsense of a minority of vice-chancellors to shelve a government-funded campaign is embarrassing enough, but Universities Australia attempting to hide the decision is outrageous.”

“An independent authority would be able to monitor what universities are doing to deal with sexual violence, whether those responses are working and have the power to impose consequences for those unis who don’t make the grade.”

Acting Greens Leader & Greens spokesperson on Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:
“Universities have been hotbeds for sexual violence for far too long, especially for women, non-binary students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and those with a disability. 

“The current system of self-regulation is completely failing students and causing lasting harm to so many people. Universities are failing in both preventing sexual violence and in responding to it.

“Universities must actively build and promote a culture that does not tolerate sexual assault, violence or harassment of any form.

“We need an independent authority with powers to not only monitor and evaluate universities on their work to end sexual violence on campus, but to also impose consequences for universities who are failing to protect students.” 

Australia’s biggest gas polluter, Woodside Energy is deploying its war fuelled profits to hound and intimidate peaceful Disrupt Burrup Hub protestors and force them into bankruptcy.

The use of SLAPP suits (strategic lawsuits against public participation) is a legal tactic to financially and emotionally wear down effective public protestors and intimidate and silence anyone else who might join the movement to stop new coal and gas projects. They were famously used in 2004 by Tasmanian forest logging company Gunns.

Protestors have targeted Woodside’s gas expansion plans in the Burrup Hub, which contains the oldest collection of rock art in the world and is a deeply sacred place for traditional custodians. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will have to accept or reject the plans over coming months.

Acting Greens Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“Woodside is a corporate villain, pure and simple. They are destroying the planet, reaping billions in profits, they have the Labor and Liberal parties wrapped around their fingers and now they are trying to bankrupt two women who dared challenge their dangerous expansion plans.

“These SLAPP suits are straight out of the playbook that Tasmanian native forest logging company Gunns used against Bob Brown and 19 other environmental campaigners. Thankfully the only one out of them that is bankrupt now is Gunns.  

“Woodside might have huge resources and the Labor and Liberal parties on their side, but the climate movement has a growing number of people desperately committed to stopping new coal and gas and preventing climate collapse.

“The Greens support disruptive peaceful protest that draws public attention to the reality that  coal, oil and gas companies are causing the climate crisis.

“We will be watching the conduct of the WA police closely. WA police have a chance to come to the right side of history, sever their cosy relationship as Woodside’s private law enforcers and not assist the fossil fuel giant in intimidating climate activists.”

Today, we are hosting a landmark Gender Equality Symposium on the sidelines of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brisbane.

The Symposium will bring together leaders from across our region and the world, emerging women’s leaders, human rights advocates, athletes and academics to advance Australia’s interests in gender equality and human rights.

Speakers will include the former Afghan women’s football team captain Khalida Poppal, Australian Olympic basketballer Patty Mills, Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario OAM and US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken.

The Albanese Government is determined to ensure the FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, drives progress, not just for women’s sport, but for women everywhere.

Clear and consistent dialogue, including at events like the Gender Equality Symposium, is key to the Albanese Government’s approach in shaping the world for the better.

The aspirations we champion in our region – peace, stability and prosperity – can only be achieved if we continue to see progress on gender equality.

When women and girls are empowered, and barriers to participation are removed, economies grow faster.

Pursuing gender equality isn’t just right, it’s a vital national interest.

The Albanese Government has grossly misled Alice Springs residents over a community safety emergency response package which has denied equitable funding to high-risk indigenous students in local schools.

In May, Education Minister Jason Clare announced that 46 Central Australian schools would share in $40.4 million for ‘On-Country Learning’ to improve school attendance and engagement as part of a package of measures to combat youth crime in Alice Springs.

The schools were asked to ‘develop tailored solutions to better engage children and young people in school and provide them with the wrap-around support they need to succeed.’

Indigenous independent school, Yipirinya School in Alice Springs, where 300 students are enrolled many of whom are vulnerable and suffering acute disadvantage, has been advised by Mr Clare it will receive only $329,000, not the nearly $1 million it was expecting.

It is understood that 10 independent and catholic schools, including Yipirinya School, will receive only $2 million while the lion’s share of the $40.5 million will go to government schools, funding calculated under the ‘Gonski’ School Resource Standard and not for the purpose of combating the Alice Springs crime wave.

“This funding was meant to keep young people in Alice Springs at school, off the streets and out of jail. The Albanese Government has disgracefully plugged a territory government funding hole rather than use this money to combat youth crime,” Shadow Minister for Education, Sarah Henderson said.

“In propping up the Northern Territory government which is providing only 59 per cent of the 75 per cent funding required under the School Resource Standard, Jason Clare has profoundly misled local schools.”

“Yipirinya School’s plan to build a satellite school at Burt Creek, 60 kilometres north of Alice Springs, is now in ruins. An ‘on country’ satellite school would have supported many aboriginal students who currently have to travel up to 300 kilometres a day to attend school. The money Yipirinya will receive will barely cover the running costs of school buses for one semester,” Senator Henderson said.

“The Albanese Government is all about selective voices. They have no interest in listening to local voices when they don’t like what they have to say,” said Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

“The Albanese Government has turned its back on Yipirinya School which is desperately seeking funding to build boarding facilities to keep children safe at school. Once again, some of the most high-risk students in Alice Springs have been betrayed by a government that is all talk, and no action.”

“The Alice Springs emergency response package was meant to combat the Alice Springs crime wave which has brought my home town to its knees. Yet, almost eight months on, Labor has barely rolled out a cent and communities are still in need,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.

“The government parades the schools funding as for On-Country Learning but they cannot tell us how this will get children back into schools. They still can’t even explain what On-Country Learning means or how it will get children back into schools and keep them safe,” said Senator Nampijinpa Price.

“Where is the fairness in slashing funding from schools which are most in need?”

“Communities in Central Australia can expect $2 million to be spent on CCTV cameras and lighting. Yet $7 million will go towards ‘strong governance.’ Which of these will help members of the community sleep safely at night?” Senator Nampijinpa Price concluded.

Introduction

Western Australia’s controversial new cultural heritage laws have sparked anger and frustration among hundreds of farmers and landowners. The legislation has faced significant backlash due to its vague and confusing nature, potentially costly land surveys, and fears of accidental breaches. It is essential to consider the unintended consequences these laws may have on the agricultural sector and rural communities before they were passed, with support from the opposition, by parliament

The most concerning aspect of these laws is the Western Australia government’s announcement today they will need change. Why is that concerning? Because federally the Labor government is wanting to enshrine an Aboriginal Voice to parliament in the constitution, and that cant be changed. It means that unlike in Western Australia, any federal laws like the Heritage Act can’t be undone.

Passed with Merry Applause and Assistance from Liberal and National Parties

In an astonishing turn of events, these cultural laws were passed with the support of the Liberal and National Parties. This Labor/Liberal/National coalition can only be stopped if members of parliament are elected from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation who will hold the grand coalition to account.

Proposal to Change Laws

In an astonishing about-face, the WA government has only recently admitted they may have to change these laws. One Nation will keep the pressure on the West Australian government to ensure that these laws are off the table, and not just mashed up and re-presented in the same way.

What we do know, is that the Liberal Party and National Parties can’t be trusted to scrutinise any changes.

The Problem of Vague and Confusing Laws

One of the primary criticisms voiced by farmers is the vague and confusing nature of the cultural heritage laws. The legislation’s complex three-tiered system, requiring permits for various routine activities on land, has created uncertainty and confusion. Farmers are concerned about the potential consequences of unknowingly breaching these laws, which could lead to hefty fines and even jail time. The lack of clear guidelines and communication from the government has left farmers feeling anxious and unsure about how to proceed with their everyday activities.

The Burden of Costly Land Surveys

Another significant concern for farmers is the financial burden imposed by the requirement to conduct cultural heritage surveys on their land. Farmers argue that they should not bear the entire cost of these surveys. The fees charged by Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Services (LACHS) for assessments and consultations can be exorbitant, putting additional strain on already struggling agricultural businesses. The prospect of paying thousands of dollars for cultural heritage surveys, even on land that has been cleared for decades, is simply untenable for many farmers.

Lack of Meaningful Consultation and Representation

Farmers also express feelings of frustration and betrayal over what they perceive as a lack of meaningful consultation during the legislative process. Many argue that their voices were not adequately heard, and they were not given the opportunity to contribute to the development of these laws. It is not uncommon for large governments with super majorities to be arrogant, and Labor’s governing style is certainly emblematic of an out-of-touch government.

A Call for Dialogue and Reevaluation

Rather than pushing forward with laws that have caused unrest and division, there is a clear need for open dialogue and re-evaluation. The Labor/Liberal/National laws must be scrapped in their entirety.

There can be no way forward other than to totally unscramble this egg.

Conclusion

During their life, a person may need the help of a doctor a few dozen times, an electrician half a dozen, and your hairdresser once every 8 weeks. But a farmer, a farmer is a person we rely on to give us nutrition morning, noon, and night, from when we wake to when we fall asleep.

We can’t live without farmers. And these cultural laws are making life for farmers impossible.

Western Australia’s cultural heritage laws were introduced by an arrogant government that rarely thinks of the unintended consequences of their actions. Their implementation has created a deep rift between the government and the agricultural community. The concerns raised by farmers and landowners are valid and warrant serious attention.

As the Senate inquiry into Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Assessment and Support Services in Australia enters a critical phase, a groundbreaking public hearing is scheduled to take place in Perth on Monday, 24th July. 

The hearing will provide a platform for West Australians with lived experiences of ADHD, ADHD advocacy bodies, First Nations organisations, healthcare professionals, and education advocates to present crucial evidence to the committee.

Approximately one million people in Australia are directly impacted by ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disability that is often misunderstood that can cause significant impairment and dysfunction in the lives of those affected. 

Lines attributable to Senator for WA Jordon Steele-John, Australian Greens spokesperson on Disability Services, Health and Mental Health. 

“People with ADHD have been left behind in this country for far too long. Over the past year of engaging closely with ADHDers, I’ve heard countless stories of people experiencing barriers around cost, wait time and stigmas associated with seeking ADHD assessment and support services.

“I am proud to be bringing the committee to WA. It’s clear that too many people in our community can not afford a diagnosis, and if they can, they’re being met with closed-books and long waitlists. The wait times are deplorable, and are leading to significant impacts on the quality of life for so many West Australians. 

“Particularly concerning is the impact on children and their families, with some children waiting up to two years to see a paediatrician to begin their journey of an ADHD diagnosis and support. 

“We are hearing from the community that more supports are needed following a diagnosis; including the need to have healthcare funded through Medicare and support hours available through the NDIS. 

“The goal of this inquiry is to create community-led recommendations that address the common barriers people encounter while seeing ADHD assessment and care. As this crucial inquiry advances, I remain optimistic that the committee’s findings will pave the way for a more accessible and compassionate system that benefits all ADHDers.”