Category: Australian News

For the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of general scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will fall.

Under a Bill tabled by the Australian Government today, from 1 January 2023 millions of Australians will pay almost 30 per cent less for PBS scripts, with the maximum general co-payment dropping from $42.50 to $30.

This means that someone taking one medication a month could save as much as $150 every year, or for two or three medications as much as $300-$450 a year.

The maximum cost to general patients for PBS medications has doubled since 2000. This change fulfils the Government’s election promise to cut the cost of medicines and ease cost of living pressures for Australians.

National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Professor Trent Twomey said “patients continue to tell community pharmacies of the increasing pressures of having to choose between food on the table and medicine for their family.”

“Community pharmacies around the country thank and welcome the action taken by the Government to cut the out of pocket cost patients pay for medicines on the PBS,” Professor Twomey said.

The Prime Minister said:

“I’m really pleased that we’re introducing this legislation to make many medicines cheaper for Australians.

“My Government is serious about delivering on our election commitments and easing the cost of living pressures left by the former government.”

Minister Butler said:

“The ABS advises that the high costs of medications meant close to 1 million Australians delayed or didn’t fill their medications in 2019-20. We must do better than this and we will.”

“Cutting their price by nearly one third will mean more people can afford to get the medications they need to stay healthy – without worrying so much about the price.”

“This change will put close to $200 million back in the pockets of Australians each year.”

Australia and Timor-Leste today signed a reciprocal Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA).

The DCA is a status of forces agreement that sets out the reciprocal protections, responsibilities and privileges each country will grant the military personnel of the other in its territory.

The DCA was signed by Defence Ministers following a meeting between Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP and President Dr Jose Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste.

President Ramos-Horta is visiting Australia this week as a Guest of Government, hosted by His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), Governor-General of Australia.

The DCA will allow Australia and Timor-Leste to increase defence and security cooperation, especially in the maritime domain, given our shared border and adjacent maritime zones.

It will enhance our ability to operate together as required, conduct exercises and training, and cooperate on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The Agreement means Timorese military members operating, exercising or training in Australia will receive the same protections, responsibilities and privileges as Australian personnel will receive in Timor-Leste.

During their meeting, Prime Minister Albanese and President Ramos-Horta also discussed common security, economic cooperation, labour mobility and skills, the green economy and Australia’s support for Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership bid.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:

“Australia and Timor-Leste share a special relationship as neighbours with a shared history and deep ties.

“We have been working towards a DCA for over a decade and today’s signing is a significant step forward in our partnership.

“I was pleased to meet with President Ramos-Horta to discuss how we can strengthen cooperation, including Australia’s continued support for Timor-Leste’s development.

“I look forward to meeting my counterpart, Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, at an early opportunity.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles said:

“The signing of the DCA heralds a new chapter in Australia’s close relationship with Timor-Leste.

“We are neighbours with a shared maritime domain, namely the Timor Sea.

“I look forward to seeing how the DCA will help enable joint maritime patrols between Australia and Timor-Leste.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong said:

“As a close friend and neighbour, Australia is committed to supporting Timor-Leste’s security and sovereignty, including through our enduring defence cooperation.

“Australia welcomes this DCA and the opportunity it provides to deepen our close defence and security partnership with Timor-Leste.

“This is a key milestone as we continue working together to maintain a stable, prosperous region.”

The Parliament of Australia has appointed members to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) in the 47th Parliament.

The PJCIS has elected Peter Khalil as its Chair.

The members of the Committee are:

• Peter Khalil MP [Chair]
• Andrew Wallace MP [Deputy Chair]
• Karen Andrews MP
• Senator Simon Birmingham
• Senator Raff Ciccone
• Andrew Hastie MP
• Julian Hill MP
• Senator James Paterson
• Senator Marielle Smith
• Senator Jess Walsh
• Josh Wilson MP

Mr Khalil has dedicated his career to advancing Australia’s interests and national security, including in roles at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence and as a foreign policy and national security adviser to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The PJCIS performs a critical role in providing oversight of Australia’s intelligence agencies, ensuring their effective operation as they work to keep Australians safe.

The PJCIS also reviews national security bills introduced to Parliament, and ensures national security legislation remains necessary, proportionate and effective.

At a time when regional and global security challenges are becoming increasingly complex, the work of the Committee is as important as ever.

Philip Lowe should resign as Governor of the Reserve Bank for misleading Australians about interest rate rises, the Greens say.

“Dr Lowe induced hundreds of thousands of Australians into taking out massive mortgages by effectively saying that interest rates would not rise until 2024,” Greens Treasury and Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“Having failed to keep that commitment, he should now resign.” 

“The preconditions that Philip Lowe set for increasing rates have not been met.”

“Australians are in a cost of living crisis that is being driven by global supply problems and corporate profiteering, not wages.”

“Today’s rate increases will not clear supply chains or bring down energy prices, but it will smash small business, mortgage holders and renters who are not responsible for the problem.”

“And instead of highlighting record high corporate profits, Philip Lowe has called for workers to shoulder the load and brace for further cuts to real wages.”

“The RBA Governor should not be jawboning down wages.”

“Philip Lowe has been captured by corporate interests.”

“The RBA themselves have said that inflationary pressures may be transitory.”

“Consumer sentiment is very low.”

“People are already walking on eggshells.”

“They don’t need to be hit with a sledgehammer.”

“There is no need for the RBA to blindly follow the US Federal Reserve.”

During the Climate Change Bill negotiations, the Greens secured a commitment from the government to look at the destructive practice of burning wood from native forests and counting it as renewable energy under Federal legislation. The practice was legislated under Tony Abbott and was opposed by the Greens and Labor at the time.

The Senate Committee enquiring into the Climate Change Bill heard evidence of damage being done to both forests and climate through the burning of native forest wood for energy and a majority of the Committee (both Labor and Greens Senators) recommended that the Minister review the use of native forest wood waste for renewable energy and undertake further consultation.

This morning in an interview with Tom Connell on Sky, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen accepted the recommendation and announced that the government would release a consultation paper on the matter.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP: said

“It’s time to end Tony Abbott’s practice of burning wood from native forests and calling it ‘renewable energy’.

“The Greens have secured important first steps from the Government, but we won’t rest until this terrible practice stops.

“I welcome the Minister starting this consultation process, but with our environment under threat and the climate crisis increasing, the only logical conclusion is to stop burning native forests. The Greens and Labor opposed this practice under Tony Abbott and it needs to end now.

“The Greens will continue to fight alongside Traditional Owners and land defenders to stop trashing songlines and endangering totems by burning native forests.”

Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for forests said:

“I welcome the government committing to review the use of native forest wood for renewable energy beginning with the release of a consultation paper on the issue.

“The Senate committee heard clear evidence that the burning of wood from native forest for energy is far from renewable and that in fact it actually creates more pollution than burning coal.  

“Our forests are worth far more standing both for our environment and for  soaking up carbon than being destroyed to fuel forest furnaces.”

“However I know that the fight’s not over, and we shouldn’t need a consultation paper to remind the ALP what their position was 2011 and 2015. We’ll make sure it’s not just talk: the government must take action to protect our forests, not allow them to be burnt for fake renewable energy.”

In response to a simple question from the Greens Member for Brisbane during Question Time – “How are Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts actually good for the economy?” – the Treasurer today failed to outline even one economic benefit of the tax cuts.

Greens MP for Brisbane, Stephen Bates said:

“The Treasurer can’t make even one argument in favour of Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts.

“The Treasurer has just confirmed Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts deliver no benefit to the economy.

“Labor is spending $243b on tax cuts for the wealthy without offering even one argument in support.

“It’s a massively expensive exercise that not even the government can justify. Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts must be axed now.

“Instead of giving tax cuts to billionaires and the wealthy, Labor should spend this money providing cost of living relief by getting dental and mental health into Medicare and wiping student debt.”

The Greens have today succeeded in gaining support from all sides of politics to initiate a long overdue Senate inquiry into the spread of invasive long-spined sea urchins that are ravaging lutruwita/Tasmania and Victoria’s coastlines and fisheries.

The inquiry will look into how to restore critical habitat such as lutruwita/Tasmania’s giant kelp forests which have been lost to urchins and other pressures.

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans and Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson said:

 “I moved for this inquiry because invasive NSW long-spined sea urchins have been range-shifting down our east coast with climate change over recent decades, decimating marine ecosystems and fisheries in their wake, yet virtually nothing has been done by the federal government to research, manage or mitigate this risk.

“It’s predicted that lutruwita/Tasmania has already lost 30 percent of its productive east coast reefs to the spread of invasive long-spined sea urchins, with entire swathes of critical habitat made totally barren of the biodiversity that is critical to our marine life and fisheries. 

“Scientific modelling predicts that by 2050 half of lutruwita/Tasmania’s reefs will be gone if we don’t take immediate action on climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

“There is much we can do to restore our vanishing marine forests and other habitats, but the good work already underway urgently needs federal government assistance.

“The Great Barrier Reef receives billions of dollars in federal funding to help restore its much degraded ecosystems, but its sister to the south – the Great Southern Reef – gets next to no funding.

“Both recreational and commercial fishing groups have been calling for federal government intervention on this critical problem. This inquiry will give these groups a chance to be heard, as well as hear from scientific, First Nations and other stakeholders about what can be done.”

Key housing affordability advocates have welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s commitment to expand the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to social and affordable housing.

Mr Albanese made the commitment in his closing address to the Jobs and Skills Summit. The policy makes it possible for $575 million dollars in the national housing infrastructure facility to invest in affordable housing by attracting financing from super funds and other sources of private capital.

The Prime Minister’s commitment  is an important recognition of the critical role social and affordable housing must play if Australia is to address core economic challenges such as productivity and labour mobility, according to Community Housing Industry Association, National Shelter, Homelessness Australia and Everybody’s Home.

Wendy Hayhurst, CEO of Community Housing Industry Association, said social and affordable housing was critical infrastructure. “Our existing housing policies are a handbrake on economic growth because they fail to provide the rental housing needed for our workforce. This initiative is a great start at attracting super funds into social and affordable housing and we are committed to working with the Government to build upon it.”

Emma Greenhalgh, CEO of National Shelter said giving people on low and modest incomes greater housing choice was critically important. “Regional Australia is screaming out for workers, yet low vacancy rates and skyrocketing rents prevent people moving to the bush or the coast to work in industries such as aged care and health. This announcement is a good start in recognising the economic centrality of providing affordable homes.”

“Homeless and housing stress are massive economic impediments,” said Jenny Smith, Chair of Homelessness Australia  “It is refreshing and reassuring to see the Prime Minister acknowledge and tackle this  with a concrete measure to expand the supply of affordable homes.”

Kate Colvin, national spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, said the PM’s announcement was especially welcome in the context of other policy measures. “Expanding skilled migration, training and industry bargaining are important, but without homes to live in, we will continue to see rising rents push real wages backwards. This is important progress that the Government can build upon with a plan to rapidly deliver the affordable rentals needed across Australia.”

A slew of recent reports have demonstrated the dire economic impact of Australia’s housing crisis. Impact Economics report last week showed how the affordable housing shortage gripping regional Australia is blowing a hole in local economies worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as employers struggle to attract staff due to low vacancy rates and skyrocketing rent.

In April Professor Andi Nygaard of Swinburne University revealed the foregone benefits of underinvestment in social and affordable housing. This found a cost to the national economy in areas such as health, justice, and education of  $676.5 million annually, rising to $1.286 billion by 2036.

And the Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot found only five of the 45,000 properties available for rent on 19 March 2022 were affordable for a single person on Jobseeker.

The Australian Government is pleased to announce its support for the candidature of Her Excellency Judge Hilary Charlesworth for re-election as a Judge of the International Court of Justice. The election will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York in late 2023.

The Australian National Group will formally nominate Judge Charlesworth as a candidate for the election when nominations open in early 2023. The Australian National Group is an independent body of esteemed Australian jurists who serve as Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Judge Charlesworth is an outstanding candidate, and an eminent scholar and jurist who has made an exceptional contribution to the study and practice of international law. She currently serves as a Judge of the Court after securing a decisive win in elections held in November 2021 following the death of Australian Judge James Crawford. Judge Charlesworth is the first Australian woman elected to the Court and only the fifth female permanent judge in the Court’s 77-year history.

Judge Charlesworth is a graduate of the University of Melbourne and has a Doctor of Juridical Science from Harvard Law School. She is currently a Member of the Curatorium of the prestigious Hague Academy of International Law. Previously, she has been the Harrison Moore Chair in Law and Laureate Professor at Melbourne Law School and a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University. She has been President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, as well as a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law and the American Society of International Law.

The Jobs and Skills Summit has brought Australians together to agree on immediate actions to help build a stronger economy and a stronger Australia.

Government, employers, unions and the broader community will take forward initiatives to help build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce, boost real wages and living standards, and create more opportunities for more Australians.

The Albanese Government will ensure full employment, productivity growth and equal opportunities for women are central objectives of its economic and fiscal policy.

We will work towards reducing barriers to employment so that all Australians have the opportunity to participate to their full potential.

Working with industry, unions and other stakeholders at the Summit, the Albanese Government has agreed to 36 immediate initiatives including:

1. An additional $1 billion in joint Federal-State funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places;
2. A one-off income credit so that Age Pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4,000 over this financial year without losing any of their pension;
3. More flexibly utilising $575 million in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to invest in social and affordable housing, and attract financing from superannuation funds and other sources of private capital; 
4. Modernising Australia’s workplace relations laws, including to make bargaining accessible for all workers and businesses; 
5. Amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible working arrangements, make unpaid parental leave more flexible and strengthen protection for workers against discrimination and harassment; 
6. Improving access to jobs and training pathways for women, First Nations people, regional Australians and culturally and linguistically diverse people, including equity targets for training places, 1,000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service, and other measures to reduce barriers to employment;
7. An increase in the permanent Migration Program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23 to help ease widespread, critical workforce shortages; and
8. Extending visas and relaxing work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour, and providing additional funding to resolve the visa backlog

We thank those who stepped up and spoke up at the Summit and the more than 100 roundtables held prior to the Summit in communities across the country, for their fresh ideas and open and constructive approach to addressing our nation’s big economic challenges.

Many of the ideas and suggestions raised will be explored further over the next 12 months as part of the Employment White Paper, which will further help shape the future of Australia’s labour market.

The Albanese Government will release the terms of reference for the White Paper and begin accepting submissions later this month.

The Summit and roundtables have proven there is a genuine desire across our country to come together to have a mature, forward-looking debate and to look for common ground.

The Albanese Government will seek to maintain this spirit of cooperation and collaboration in the months and years ahead.

The Jobs and Skills Summit outcomes document can be viewed in full at www.treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit