Category: Australian News

One of New South Wales’ most historic roads is set for an overhaul, with the Australian Government committing $100 million for safety works on Bells Line of Road.

The funding will allow for safety upgrades, such as overtaking lanes, making for a safer journey for the thousands of locals and tourists who use the scenic route between the Blue Mountains and Richmond each day.

Stretching from Richmond in the east to Bell in the west, the road was heavily impacted by extreme weather in March 2021 and subsequent bouts of record rainfall.

This funding injection comes as Transport for NSW continues to undertake investigation and repair work following the damaging weather events.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Bells Line of Road is an important part of the history of Greater Western Sydney, and remains a vital piece of infrastructure for locals, transport operators, and tourists exploring the beautiful Blue Mountains.

“Today’s announcement means a safer journey for everyone using Bells Line of Road, and will help ensure its future.”

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said:

“Bells Line of Road goes through the heart of the beautiful Blue Mountains and is critical to residents who live in this region. Sadly, it has taken an absolute battering from the weather in recent years and is in desperate need of urgent safety upgrades.

“These upgrades will ensure local residents, primary producers and tourists will be able to travel safely along Bells Line of Road into the future.

“This is demonstration of the Commonwealth and the NSW Government working together to deliver world-class and safer roads across our state.”

Federal Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said:

“The impacts of extreme weather on Bells Line of Road have taken a serious toll, and the funding we’re announcing today will make it safer in the short-term and restore it for the longer term.

“This is another example of the Australian Government working collaboratively with our state counterparts to deliver projects that make a real difference to our communities.”

NSW Minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said:

“The Bells Line of Road is a critical route over the Blue Mountains, connecting Greater Sydney to regional NSW.

“This upgrade compliments our commitment towards improving safety along this major corridor and supports our plans to upgrade Richmond Bridge for the people of Sydney’s North West.”

NEW POLLING by the Climate Council, supported by Beyond Blue, has revealed the profound impact more frequent and intense disasters are having on the mental health of Australians.

The survey of 2,032 Australians found that since 2019, the majority (80%) reported they had experienced, at least once, heatwaves (63%), flooding (47%), bushfires (42%), droughts (36%), cyclones or destructive storms (29%) or landslides (8%).

Half of Australians said their mental health had been detrimentally affected by the extreme weather event they experienced and one in five reported a major or moderate impact.  

A follow-up community-level survey with people who had experienced a disaster found the most common mental health symptoms were anxiety, followed by symptoms of depression and PTSD.

More than one-third of survey participants (37%) said there was too little mental health support available to them. 

Climate Councillor, climate scientist at the Australian National University and author of Humanity’s Moment: a Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope, Dr Joelle Gergis said: “The results of this poll are confronting. It’s heartbreaking to realise that many Australians are living with significant levels of distress related to the reality of our changing climate. It shines a light on this invisible mental health crisis that is undermining the stability of our local communities all over the country.

“We need to have a national conversation about climate change adaptation and listen to the experiences of people who have lived through these disasters.

“Extreme weather events are going to escalate as our planet continues to warm, so the impacts we have witnessed in recent years are really just the tip of the iceberg. We urgently need to develop plans that protect and support our local communities as climate change-fuelled disasters continue to upend the lives of countless Australians.”

Beyond Blue’s Lead Clinical Advisor A/Prof Grant Blashki – who supported development of the mental health-related survey questions – added: “It’s clear that climate change is not just a physical threat, but a mental health threat as well. And yet, despite the high levels of need, many people affected by climate disasters find it difficult to access the mental health assistance they need.

“We must strengthen our mental health systems to cope with the demands of these extreme weather events. This involves the whole system approach rather than piecemeal band-aid approaches during a crisis. We need to prepare the mental health system for early support of those affected, and co-opt a more diverse workforce, from local mental health first aid all the way through to highly specialised mental health care.”

“By acknowledging and addressing the mental health impacts of climate change, we can build stronger and more resilient communities, better able to weather the storms – both literal and figurative – that lie ahead. It’s time to put the mental well-being of our communities front and centre as we respond to the public health challenges of climate change.”

A/Prof Grant Blashki added: “We wanted to better understand people’s personal experience of disasters and undertook a separate in-depth survey of almost 500 people who had been caught up in extreme weather events since 2019.  

“It’s as much about broken spirits as damaged buildings. People say they have been left feeling helpless, have experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression, trouble sleeping, and have children who worry when it rains, or the wind picks up. It’s important we get on top of these issues early and get people the appropriate support at the right time.”

For support please contact Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36 or explore the Phoenix Australia’s Disaster Mental Health Hub online with some excellent resources or check in with your GP or local mental health services.

****

About the research

The National survey data comes from a National YouGov Poll conducted from 2-16 December 2022. The sample covered Australians aged over 18 including representatives of different genders, generations, geographies (states, city/rural, etc.), education levels, income levels, voting habits, and other characteristics.

From 1-16 December, in parallel with the national survey, the Climate Council and Beyond Blue invited Australians to share their experiences of climate-fuelled disasters with a Community Survey. This was by way of an online qualitative survey, advertised through the Climate Council and Beyond Blue respective networks.

Australian Greens spokesperson for social services, Senator Janet Rice, is again urging Minister Jim Chalmers to heed calls from the Greens, academics, peak bodies and the millions of Australians currently living below the poverty line, to raise the rate of income support in May’s budget.

Senator Rice said:

“After calls from ACOSS and other members of the government’s own economic inclusion advisory committee to raise the rate of Jobseeker, we’re hearing the same absurd lines from Jim Chalmers today as we heard ahead of last year’s October budget – that Labor would love to help struggling Australians, but it’s just so difficult to find room in the budget. 

“New research from Oxfam shows Australian billionaires’ wealth is 61% higher than it was before the pandemic, and the richest 1% of Australians now have a combined wealth of nearly $236 billion. It’s infuriating that Labor found plenty of room in the budget to give them another $9000 a year in tax cuts, but baulk at the idea of raising Jobseeker above the poverty line.

“The cost of living crisis has only worsened in recent months. People on income support can’t cover their most basic needs and a third of Australian households are struggling to put food on the table. 

“A government has a moral responsibility to ensure its citizens aren’t left starving. Poverty is a political choice.

“Labor should scrap the stage 3 tax cuts and invest that money into raising all income support payments above the poverty line and building a proper social safety net for all Australians.

“Parliament must respond to the cost of living impacts for people on starvation wages and income support. The Greens are fighting for a livable income guarantee that would raise payments to $88 a day, above the poverty line.

Australian Greens Senator Barbara Pocock has announced her sponsorship of two Iranian prisoners recently sentenced to death after they participated in protests against Iran’s morality police.

Two young men, Arshia Takdastan, 18 and Javad Rouhi, 35, are now awaiting execution following what supporters say were sham trials where forced confessions were used to convict them. Both men were charged with ‘spreading corruption on earth’ and sentenced to death on 3 January 2023.

Senator Pocock has written to the Iranian Ambassador to declare her political sponsorship of both men and urging that their death sentences be revoked. Iran is bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Senator Pocock requested that the men be granted fair and unbiased trials, pointing out that Mr Rouhi has a mental illness that may have affected his capacity to make decisions.

“If this was happening in Australia I, and many of my friends who attend, organise and support public protests, would likely be in jail potentially facing the death penalty,” Senator Pocock said.

“The international community, including Australia, need to increase pressure on the Iranian regime to bring these show trials to an end and stop the unjust killing of innocent Iranians,” she said.

Senator Pocock is working with the Iranian community in South Australia to provide support and advocacy for the two men. “Many Australian-Iranians are deeply distressed about the treatment of their friends and families in Iran and are desperate to enlist support for their cause,” Senator Pocock said.

“Contempt for international law and indeed for the most elementary principles of fairness and legality will further diminish the standing of Iran in the public opinion of other nations,” she said.

Mr Takdastan is accused of being a leader of the riots in Nowhahr and was convicted on the basis of a confession extracted under torture, according to his supporters in Iran. “Sentencing an 18 year old to death for participating in a protest with no more evidence than a forced confession is intolerable behaviour in any country,” Senator Pocock said.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Federal Government to expand sanctions against the Iranian regime and respond to calls from Iranian people around the world to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp as a terrorist organisation.

Last week on Thursday, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King visited the Kimba community to discuss her plan – mirroring the LNP’s previous plans – to store toxic nuclear waste in clean, green, prime farming country at Kimba. 

It is important that Labor visits, hears and listens to the voices that have so far failed to be heard by successive Federal governments: farmers, the Barngarla people, and the many locals who oppose the dump. 

Unfortunately, Minister King failed to acknowledge that the proposed waste dump for radioactive material at Kimba includes temporary storage of dangerous intermediate level waste, for which there is currently no long-term storage solution.  This waste will ultimately need to be moved from temporary storage at Kimba to be safely stored elsewhere for thousands of years. There is currently no plan for this long term ‘disposal’. The current plan kicks the cost and planning for this down the road to future generations.

Senator Barbara Pocock said in response to Minister King’s visit: “This ‘solution’ is far from a safe, long-term way of managing Australia’s nuclear waste and it ignores the opposition of so many local South Australians.”

Intermediate waste must be safely stored for 10,000 years, and this proposal involves long distance transport of highly toxic, intermediate nuclear waste and its temporary storage on prime, productive South Australian farmland, with no say for the vast majority of South Australians.  

“I’ve spoken with concerned farmers in that region who oppose this toxic waste dump and they tell me they fear for their livelihoods if produce from the region should be banned from international markets due to regulations around radioactive waste,” Senator Pocock said.

There is no social license for this dangerous proposal.  

Senator Pocock said: “Federal Labor is continuing an expensive, long-winded process begun by the previous LNP Government – a process which has divided the Kimba community and is strongly opposed by the Barngarla people, the traditional First Nations custodians of the land in and around Kimba. 

“Minister King should follow the lead of South Australian Labor Premier, Peter Malinauskas, who has clearly stated his intention to listen to the Barngarla people and to accept and support their opposition to the dump.

“Minister King should be consulting with all South Australians who, to date as a community, have had no say about the proposal to place a highly toxic waste dump in our state. South Australians have historically clearly indicated their opposition to nuclear waste in the state,” Senator Pocock said. 

“There are many ways to diversify the economy of Kimba and its surrounds that do not involve the creation of a nuclear waste dump on prime farming land. No South Australian community should have to take nuclear waste in order to get basic community infrastructure like a health facility.

“The Labor Government should listen to Barngarla people in a year where creating a voice for First Nations people is one of its most important priorities. The first rule of a voice for First Nations people is to do no further harm – to listen and respond to the wishes of First Nations people. Minister King and Labor should suspend all activities at the Kimba site, and find a safe, long-term solution for nuclear waste disposal, one that reflects the views of ALL citizens,” Senator Pocock said.

The Albanese Government is turbocharging Australia’s green hydrogen industry, with a $70 million investment to support the development of a hydrogen hub in Townsville.

The Government will today release guidelines for the competitive Townsville Region Hydrogen Hub program, which will deliver $70 million towards projects that accelerate the development of a hydrogen industry in North Queensland

With matched funding, the region will see a $140 million investment in renewable hydrogen for our own use or to supply the rest of the world as fuel, energy generation and storage, or as a chemical feedstock. 

The Townsville Hydrogen Hub will create regional jobs, support Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy, and encourage decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors, such as industrial processing and transport. 

The region’s port facilities, workforce capacity, and proximity to Asian trading partners make it an ideal location for a green hydrogen hub.

The Government’s investment in hydrogen hubs is now more than $525 million, including the $454 million Regional Hydrogen Hubs program for projects in places like Gladstone, the Hunter Valley, the Pilbara, Port Bonython and Bell Bay.

The Government is also investing $89.5 million to help the transport sector make the switch to hydrogen, including through hydrogen refuelling stations along Australia’s busiest freight routes.

By 2050, Australia’s hydrogen industry could generate $50 billion in additional GDP and create over 16,000 jobs, as well as an additional 13,000 jobs from the construction of renewable energy infrastructure to power the production of green hydrogen.

Producers, consumers, and potential exporters of hydrogen across industrial, transport, export and energy markets are eligible to apply for the Townsville Region Hydrogen Hub program. Guidelines are available at: https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/regional-hydrogen-hubs-townsville-region

Grants from $30 million to $70 million will be available under an open and competitive application process when applications open in March 2023.

Applicants will be assessed in two stages, with an initial open competitive process. This will be followed by a formal application process for shortlisted applicants.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will provide an information session for potential applicants in the coming months.

Please register your interest at hydrogenprograms@industry.gov.au.

Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia said:

“This is an important development for Australia and North Queensland. Australia is already one of the largest exporters of energy in the world; a thriving hydrogen industry here in North Queensland will be critical for us to become a renewable energy superpower as well.

“The hub will help secure jobs and economic growth in Queensland, delivering on one of our key commitments, and could also pave the way for exports to our valued trading partners in Japan, South Korea and across Asia.”

Hon Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy said:

“Green hydrogen will play a crucial role in Australia’s clean energy transformation and create jobs for technicians, tradespeople and engineers, as well as significant opportunities in related businesses and service industries.

“It is important that we support hard-to-abate sectors, including heavy industry and transport, to reduce their emissions and achieve net zero by 2050.

“These regional hubs will give our green hydrogen industry an early-stage springboard to scale, which will help to promote further growth and investment in clean technology.”

One of South Australia’s biggest tourism and sporting events, the Tour Down Under, begins today.

Santos, a major fossil fuel company and carbon emitter in the Asia-Pacific region, has been the naming rights sponsor of Australia’s premier cycling event since 2010.

Greens spokesperson for Resources and Tourism, Yamatji-Noongar woman, Senator Dorinda Cox said:

“The Tour Down Under is an internationally-regarded, much-loved event that showcases the natural beauty of South Australia and draws tourists to the state, like the cycling grand tours of Europe. I call on Events South Australia to look for alternative sponsorship arrangements that better align with the protection of that natural environment.

“Santos is a huge contributor to climate change, yet its sponsorship of important events like the Tour Down Under goes unchallenged.

“Holding the long-standing naming rights sponsorship of the Tour Down Under demonstrates how fossil fuel companies use the soft power of sport to greenwash their operations and climate action credentials.

“Saying no to new coal and gas projects and expansions, also means saying no to the invasive, greenwashing sponsorship deals that fossil fuel companies covet.

“Last year, we saw athletes and supporters from cricket, netball and Aussie Rules football speak out against sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies that don’t align with their values. 

“Tennis Australia ended its partnership with Santos with years left on their deal after bushfires and poor air quality impacted the Australian Open. This proactive climate-first approach was welcomed by the broader community.

“Transitioning away from coal and gas sponsorship is not impossible, as the move away from tobacco sponsorship shows. It’s time that we apply that same commonsense to fossil fuel companies sponsoring sporting, cultural and tourism events.”

This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese toured the flood ravaged Kimberley region with the Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Murray Watt, and Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan announcing funding for impacted families and individuals.

Upon seeing the extent of the damage and destruction, Prime Minister Albanese committed the Commonwealth Government to providing whatever support the Western Australian Government requires to rebuild and recover as quickly as possible from the unprecedented flooding event.

WA Greens Senator and Yamatji-Noongar woman, Dorinda Cox said:

“There’s a huge amount of work ahead to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of the communities in the Kimberley. We must guarantee that those families who lost everything do not suffer extended periods of displacement and are able to return home and be on Country as soon as it’s safe to do so.

“The individuals, families, organisations and businesses of Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing and the smaller communities along the Martuwarra, must be provided all the same support and funding opportunities that other flood affected Australian communities have received.

“The Disaster Recovery Allowance of up to 13 weeks of income support is currently available to those who are eligible, but the one-off, means-tested, Disaster Recovery Payment of $1000 per adult and $400 per child remains outstanding as the Commonwealth waits for data to be released by the WA Department Fire and Emergency Services before these much needed payments can be activated. Why are these families who have lost everything and are in crisis still waiting?

“Past recovery efforts in our cyclone-prone regional areas have been slow and have unduly impacted struggling communities. With the support of the Commonwealth, the McGowan Government can capitalise on the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, to ensure an effective, long-term recovery in the Kimberley.

“Immediate support for families and small businesses is important, but the region relies heavily on the $2 billion dollar tourism industry, and we need to start planning for its recovery now as well.

“Following two tourist seasons of border closures, Broome and the Kimberley are going to need significant sector-specific stimulus funding to ensure international and domestic tourists return to the region as soon as possible.

“This flood is unprecedented in scale, but it won’t be the region’s last natural disaster. We need a policy framework that addresses climate change adaptation and mitigates loss and damage for regional and remote communities.

“The Albanese Government is committed to supporting our Pacific neighbours on the existential issue of loss and damage associated with the catastrophic effects of climate change. Now it must demonstrate that commitment to the First Peoples of the Kimberley who are impacted by a worsening climate.

“The Australian Government took a leadership role in the final days of negotiation at the COP27 in Egypt, when delegates were struggling to agree on how to fund and support poor and vulnerable nations to adapt to climate change. Now, they need to come good and start funding impacted communities in their own backyard to do the same.”

The rental system is totally broken. 
 

Already exorbitant Sydney rents have risen yet again to record highs, according to new rental data released today.
 

NSW renters desperately need an immediate rent freeze – until longer-term rental reform can be implemented, including cutting rents and ending unfair, no-grounds evictions.
 

So far all we’ve heard from Labor and Liberal are hollow words that tinker around the edges of the housing affordability crisis and refuse to face this rental crisis head-on.
 

Greens are committed to putting renters first and pushing the major parties to freeze and cut rents.

Years of special treatment for greedy developers and big investors have created this crisis.
 

Renters are being forced out of their homes and neighbourhoods, queuing up with hundreds of people just for an inspection, giving up precious family pets and avoiding basic maintenance requests because of fear of retribution.
 

This crisis isn’t going anywhere until we cut rents, end unfair, no-grounds evictions, and stop the special treatment of landlords and big investors profiting from what should be a basic human right.
 

The Greens will push the next government to freeze and cut rents, stop unfair, no-grounds evictions, properly tax mega-mansions and trophy homes, and build a system of housing that works for everyone, not corporate profiteers.

Australian Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John has today written to the Iranian Ambassador stating his political sponsorship of Majid Kazemi following the Iranian authorities sentencing him to death on 9th January 2023. 

The Iranian diaspora in Australia is greatly concerned for Majid Kazemi, as the Iranian authorities have continued to carry out executions of people who joined protests following Jina Amini’s death. The United Nations Human Rights office has said that the recent executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini followed “unfair trials based on forced confessions”.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Australian Government to do more than the current sanctions that are in place on some Iranian officials. The current sanctions do not go far enough and are not as strong as those imposed by other countries, including Canada. 

The community is desperately calling for more to be done to show Iranian authorities that these abhorrent acts will not be tolerated. 

Senator Steele-John, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament said:

“Every day we wake up to the news that more Iranian freedom protestors have been sentenced to death. This must end. The international community must keep putting pressure on Iranian authorities to free those innocent civilians who are subject to fatal penalties because they were crying out for freedom in their country.”

“Today I have written to the Iranian Ambassador, stating my political sponsorship of Majid Kazemi. Majid Kazemi has family in Australia and he was sentenced to death on 9th January 2023. 

“The Australian Government’s response to Iran since Jina Ahmini’s death in September 2022 has been too slow and has fallen short of what the community is asking for. 

“The Australian Greens are calling on the Australian government to expand the Magnitsky sanctions, including financial asset freezing and further visa bans on people linked to the Iranian regime including key security officials, Basiji Militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp and the morality police.

“The Iranian diaspora community has been calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be listed as a terrorist organisation, and the Australian Government must start listening. This would send a strong signal that Australia will not stay silent in the face of human rights abuses and will act to punish perpetrators who are accountable for these heinous crimes.

“The Australian Greens will continue to call on the Iranian government to end its violent crackdown on protesters and request the release of all arrested protestors. We will continue to pressure the Australian Government to do more.”