16 News

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with the President of the Czech Republic, His Excellency Mr Petr Pavel, today in Canberra.

This is the first visit by a Czech President to Australia in 29 years.

Australia and the Czech Republic are likeminded partners, our relationship is underpinned by shared values and a mutual understanding of contemporary global challenges.

Prime Minister Albanese and President Pavel reaffirmed their steadfast support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, and reiterated this support would continue from both countries for as long as it takes.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Czech Republic’s increased engagement with the Indo-Pacific, as well as President Pavel’s continued advocacy for European engagement in our region.

Strengthening ties between partners like Australia and the Czech Republic allows us to respond to the shared security challenges of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions.

This was the first meeting between Prime Minister Albanese and President Pavel since he assumed office in March 2023.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

“I am pleased to welcome President Pavel to Australia for this historic visit, the first by a Czech President in 29 years.

“Australia is fortunate to be home to a large and thriving Australian-Czech community.

“The relationship between Australia and the Czech Republic is underpinned by strong people-to-people ties and continues to grow to meet shared opportunities and global challenges.”

The Greens say both Labor and Peter Dutton have caved and failed on gambling ads, while their Bill honours the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations. 

Greens Communications Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young:

“Labor has no excuse for failing to ban gambling ads and Peter Dutton’s fake vibes are no substitute for what is needed: a full ban on gambling ads as recommended by the Peta Murphy Inquiry and supported by 70% of Australians.

“Everyone can see that Labor have caved, but no one should fall for Peter Dutton’s trickery: the Coalition was in Government for years and did nothing. Both are captured by the lobby while problem gamblers keep losing.

“Australians lose more per person to gambling than any nation on earth. We could pass laws to ban gambling ads by Christmas with the Greens Bill in line with the Peta Murphy Inquiry recommendations – but both Dutton and Labor have sold out to Sportsbet and refuse to support it.”

Senators Mehreen Faruqi and Lidia Thorpe have today moved a motion in the Senate calling for the Standing Committee on Procedures to conduct an inquiry into racism within Parliament.

See the motion here.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi:

“It’s been three years since the Set the Standard report, two years since the parliamentary behaviour codes were developed and 20 months since they were endorsed by parliament, but it seems to make no difference to how women of colour are treated in here.

“The highest office in this country should lead the way on safe and respectful behaviour but it is far from it. That’s why we are seeking a review of standing orders as recommended by the Jenkins review so we can finally move to eliminate the discrimination, racism and sexism that so many are subjected to and harmed by. 

“The Senate refused to censure Senator Hanson when I was racially vilified, but they are quick to shut me down for calling out racism. Politicians in here really need a good dose of anti-racism training.

“In here, it’s easy to fling around racism and racist commentary without consequence, but if you dare call out racism or white supremacy you are shut down, silenced and gaslighted.

“If there is any workplace that needs unpacking of white privilege and white fragility, it is this parliament. 

“Despite all the revelations of the past few years, parliament still has not reckoned with its whitewashed and exclusionary culture where discrimination against First Nations people, people of colour, people with disability and LGBTQI+ people is common in practice and policy.

“Just last week I was silenced in the Senate for calling out racism and white supremacy while speaking in support of Senator Thorpe. It seems those running this place have not really listened to what the Set the Standard report had to say about systemic inequality, entitlement and exclusion. 

“I hope the Senate will support our motion so we can move forward with consistent enforcement of behaviour standards so this can be a safe workplace for all.”

Senator Lidia Thorpe

“Racism in the Senate chamber is routine. Senators dogwhistle and demonise people of colour in speeches, and racist sledging and comments have been made towards Senators of colour, myself included.

“The President and many senators don’t have a good understanding of what is and isn’t racist, and consistently fail to recognise or call it out.

“It was confronting to see that I was kicked off a parliamentary delegation to Fiji and Tuvalu because I dared to call out the King for the genocide of First Peoples, while a Senator who made appalling racist, homophobic and ableist comments online was dealt a more lenient consequence by the Senate.

“It shows that if you speak up and demand justice for First Peoples, you will be punished, while racism, homophobia and ableism are not treated seriously by the Senate.

“Discussions of racism might make people uncomfortable, but these are real problems that need to be openly discussed. It’s racist in itself to prevent these issues from being raised in the chamber, or forcing senators to withdraw.

“For young people of colour wanting to move into politics, the level of racism we see in this workplace is a major barrier and turn off.

“Racism is still frequently used as a political tool by the major parties. They use it to create fear and distrust for their political benefit, and those attitudes flow through to the rest of society. The Prime Minister and opposition leader frequently partake in racist dog whistling.

“This inquiry is about taking a stronger stance on racism and holding this parliament to a higher standard.

“It aims to ensure that the recommendations of the Jenkins report are being taken into consideration in relation to racism, and that codes of conduct are strengthened.

“Parliament is my workplace. Racism is called out in other workplaces, and it should be called out in parliament too.”

The Greens say Labor has given up on renters and first home buyers by refusing to negotiate on the government’s housing bills, but have decided to wave the legislation through to focus on campaigning for renters and against Peter Dutton at the next election.

The Greens say renters should now vote Green to put them in balance of power in a minority Parliament if they want to end tax handouts for property investors and an end to unlimited rent increases.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP:

“There comes a point where you’ve pushed as far as you can. We tried hard to get Labor to shift on soaring rents and negative gearing, but we couldn’t get there this time.   

“We’ll wave the housing bills through and take the fight to the next election, where we’ll keep Peter Dutton out and then push Labor to act on unlimited rent rises and tax handouts to wealthy property investors.”

Greens Housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather MP:

“The Greens are waving through Labor’s housing bills after accepting Labor doesn’t care enough about renters to actually do anything meaningful for them, and that is deeply, deeply disappointing. 

“Last year the Greens secured $3 billion for social housing, six times what Labor originally planned to spend, and we hoped we could secure a similar outcome this time, but the tragedy is Labor decided they’d rather have a fight with the Greens than actually help people. 

“We have pushed as hard as possible to get Labor to do more than tinkering around the edges of this devastating housing crisis in this term of parliament, but in the end we just couldn’t get Labor to care enough. 

“We got close. Labor costed changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. We were inches away from the most significant changes to housing policy in a generation that would have helped hundreds of thousands of renters, but the Prime Minister blinked and that is deeply disappointing.

“It’s now over to the people of Australia at the next election. If you want to keep out Dutton, and push Labor to cap rent increases, phase out negative gearing and establish a public developer to build affordable homes, then vote Greens.”

In a submission to the Fair Work Commission, the Labor Government has argued for a delay in paying wage increases to nurses in the aged care sector. The government has pointed to a lack of allocated funding for the increases and wants to institute a new timeline that would see nurses in aged care waiting until October 2027 to received the full increase.

Lines attributable to Senator Barbara Pocock:

“What we see here is a Labor Government reneging on a promise to lift nurses wages immediately to compensate for historical underpayment and provide relief from cost-of-living pressures.

“I see a treasurer who is suddenly faced with a big deficit looking to kick the can down the road after making promises to bring more equity into a low-paid, highly feminised industry. These nurses have been waiting too long already for recognition of the valuable work they do, and they deserve a pay rise on 1^st January as set out in the Fair Work Commission’s schedule.

“Labor needs to decide whether it’s looking after workers or trying to deliver a surplus on the back of a broken promise to some of our hardest working nurses.

“Labor is now worried about the fiscal impacts of this wage rise and its flow-on effects but lifting wages for low paid workers should be the highest priority for any Labor Government. With a big decline in the corporate tax take looming, the focus should be on getting companies to pay their fair share of tax rather than asking underpaid workers to take a hit.

“The government has cited the risk of creating staff shortages in the hospital sector if the timing of the increases is not delayed but the opposite is also true. Putting off the full increase until late 2027 could lead to aged care nurses leaving the sector in droves.

“This could be a make-or-break issue for a Government heading into an election in a cost-of-living crisis. It’s about delivering fair wages and honouring your promises and workers particularly in low-wage and feminised industries will be watching very closely.

“If Jim Chalmers is prepared to throw nurses under the bus for the sake of reducing the deficit, he’ll be sending a dangerous message to the electorate.”