Category: Australian News

Ngarra ga Buku guru-pan Gumatj, Yothu Yindi nha go Yolgnu mala.

[Translation: I pay my respect to Gumatj, Yothu Yindi and Yolngu Mala.]

I acknowledge the people of the Yolngu nation. I recognise all the elders, leaders and families who have made great contributions to our nation.

In particular, I acknowledge the Gumatj clan whose lands we are meeting on today.

Last night’s Bungul was a deeply moving moment for me, it was an honour to bear witness to dance and song and story and tradition tracing back some 60,000 years. 

As the breeze came across me, your ancestors’ presence in these lands and waters makes real your 60,000 years and more, custodianship of this land.

And I was also grateful for the chance to meet, again, with Gallarwuy and share in his wisdom, to talk about the opportunities and the challenges in this special part of Australia.

Friends,

I am delighted to be back at Garma for my fourth visit – and I am delighted Garma is back.

Here – on what is, was and always will be Aboriginal land – Today, I re-affirm my Government’s solemn promise to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in full.

I’m joined by my colleagues:

• Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians
• Senator Patrick Dodson, Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart
• Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Health
• Attorney General Mark Dreyfus
• Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon
• Chief Minister Natasha Fyles
• And our new Member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour

And in the spirit of co-operation, which is so necessary – can I acknowledge the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Julian Leeser.

Thanks, Julian. I look forward to working with you.

We are all here, eager to work with you, to bring our commitment to Uluru to life.

To see Australia answer that gracious, patient call for respect and truth and unity.

The Uluru Statement is a hand outstretched, a moving show of faith in Australian decency and Australian fairness from people who have been given every reason to forsake their hope in both.

I am determined, as a Government, as a country, that we grasp that hand of healing, we repay that faith, we rise to the moment.

To work with you in lifting the words off the page and lifting the whole nation up:

• With a new spirit of partnership between government and First Nations people
• Through the work of Makarrata, treaty-making and truth-telling
• And by enshrining a Voice to Parliament, in the Constitution.

We approach these tasks and the work of constitutional change, with humility and with hope.

Humility: because over 200 years of broken promises and betrayals, failures and false starts demand nothing less.

Humility because – so many times – the gap between the words and deeds of governments has been as wide as this great continent.  

But also hope.

Hope in your abilities as advocates and campaigners, as champions for this cause.

And hope because I believe the tide is running our way. I believe the momentum is with us, as never before.

I believe the country is ready for this reform.

I believe there is room in Australian hearts for the Statement from the Heart.

We are seeking a momentous change – but it is also a very simple one.

It’s not a matter of special treatment, or preferential power.

It’s about consulting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the decisions that affect you.

Nothing more – but nothing less.

This is simple courtesy, it is common decency.

It recognises the centuries-old failure that my dear friend Paul Keating spoke of at Redfern, the failure to ask the most basic human question: how would I feel, if this were done to me?

And along with common courtesy, it is common sense.

Respect works.

When a government listens to people with experience, with earned knowledge of kinship and country and culture and community…

…when we trust in the value of self-determination and empowerment…

…then the policies and programs are always more effective.

We see it with:

• Justice Reinvestment
• Indigenous Rangers
• Respecting Homelands
• And the National Partnership Agreement process driven by the Coalition of Peaks and the remarkable Pat Turner.

There are success stories out there – but we know they are not universal. 

Enshrining a Voice in the Constitution gives the principles of respect and consultation, strength and status.

Writing the Voice into the Constitution means a willingness to listen won’t depend on who is in government or who is Prime Minister. 

The Voice will exist and endure outside of the ups and downs of election cycles and the weakness of short-term politics.

It will be an unflinching source of advice and accountability.

Not a third chamber, not a rolling veto, not a blank cheque.

But a body with the perspective and the power and the platform to tell the government and the parliament the truth about what is working and what is not.

To tell the truth – with clarity, with conviction. 

Because a Voice enshrined in the Constitution cannot be silenced.

Friends,

I believe the best way to seize the momentum is by settling – as soon as possible – on the referendum question that will be put to the people of Australia.

Now, I respect the fact that many people have done a power of good work to bring us to this point, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander campaigners, best represented by the delegates to the Uluru Convention in 2017.

I am grateful and I honour everyone who has made a contribution to the process.

And now, I am hoping we can draw those threads together.

I am hoping we can progress the efforts of good-willed, hard-working people who want to see the nation move forward and justice realised.

Recognising that this is one of the steps in our nation’s journey of healing.

Our starting point is a recommendation to add three sentences to the Constitution, in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Peoples of Australia:

1. There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
2. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
3. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

These draft provisions can be seen as the next step in the discussion about constitutional change.

This may not be the final form of words – but I think it’s how we can get to a final form of words.

In the same way, alongside these provisions, I would like us to present the Australian people with the clearest possible referendum question.

We should consider asking our fellow Australians something as simple, but something as clear, as this:

Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?

A straightforward proposition.

A simple principle.

A question from the heart.

We can use this question – and the provisions – as the basis for further consultation.

Not as a final decision but as the basis for dialogue, something to give the conversation shape and form. 

I ask all Australians of goodwill to engage on this. 

Respectfully, purposefully we are seeking to secure support for the question and the associated provisions in time for a successful referendum – in this term of Parliament.

If not now, when?

Back in 1967, not a single member of the House of the Representatives or the Senate voted against the referendum provisions.

In the same spirit – I hope that the Opposition and the crossbench will support the proposal, join the campaign for a Yes vote and bring their supporters to the cause.

We will seek-out every ally and every advocate from, to quote the Statement, ‘every point under the southern sky’.

Fundamentally, this is a reform I believe every Australian can embrace, from all walks of life, in every part of the country, from every faith and background and tradition. 

Because it speaks to values that we all share and honour – fairness, respect, decency.

Enshrining a Voice will be a national achievement. It will be above politics.

A unifying Australian moment.

There may well be misinformation and fear campaigns to counter.

But perhaps the greatest threat to the cause is indifference.

The notion that this is a nice piece of symbolism – but it will have no practical benefit.

Or that somehow advocating for a Voice comes at the expense of expanding economic opportunity, or improving community safety, or lifting education standards or helping people get the health care they deserve or find the housing they need.

Championing a Voice won’t stop us from upgrading all-weather roads, so communities can get the supplies and services they need.

It won’t delay our plan to train 500 new Aboriginal healthcare workers.

It won’t stand in the way of our new investments in lifesaving kidney dialysis treatment.

Let us all understand this, very clearly: Australia does not have to choose between improving peoples’ lives and amending the Constitution.

We can do both – and we have to.

Because 121 years of Commonwealth governments arrogantly believing they know enough to impose their own solutions on Aboriginal people have brought us to this point.

This torment of powerlessness.

• A life expectancy gap of 20 years.
• Some of the worst incarceration rates in the world.
• A broken system that burns billions of dollars and delivers precious little for the people who are supposed to be able to trust in it.

And if governments simply continue and insist they know better – then things will get worse. 

Friends,

In my lifetime, there has been an extraordinary and joyous change in the way Australians from all walks of life have embraced the privilege we have to share this island continent with the world’s oldest continuous culture.

We have cast aside the discriminatory fiction of terra nullius and offered a National Apology to the Stolen Generations.

We have said Sorry – and begun the task of making good.

States and territories are embarked on agreement-making, truth-telling, and the work of treaty.

First Nations people sit in our parliaments in record numbers and serve as Ministers.

Our environment benefits from the wisdom of people who have cared for it and thrived in it, through hundreds of generations.

The cult of forgetfulness, ‘the Great Australian silence’ that dishonored our history has been broken by a chorus of song and language and art and sport and celebration.

You haven’t just witnessed that change – you’ve fought for it, you’ve championed it, you’ve been the spark and carried the fire to every corner of this vast country.

And I believe Australians – as fair-minded people, recognise that if we want to share in the riches of 60,000 years of history and tradition…

…then we also share in the responsibility for helping First Nations people build and own a better future.

Because we are all diminished, all of us, when First Nations people are denied their right to a happy and fulfilling life, denied the chance to play a full part in the life of our country.

We are all diminished. And we are all involved. 

And soon – all of us – will have a chance to exercise our democratic right and our basic human responsibility to vote for something better.

To have a sense of ownership over the change that this country so desperately needs.

Friends,

A referendum is a high hurdle to clear, you know that and so do we.

We recognise the risks of failure – but we also recognise the risk of failing to try.

We see this referendum as a magnificent opportunity for Australia.

I am optimistic that this historic decision, this long-overdue embrace of truth and justice and decency and respect for First Nations people will be voted into law by the people of Australia.

The voice of the Australian people will create a Voice to Parliament.

All Australians have the chance to own this change, to be proud of it, to be counted and heard on the right side of history.

To vote the unique Australian gift of the wisdom of the world’s oldest continuing civilisation into the Constitution of our nation, into our birth certificate. 

My optimism for the success of this referendum derives from my optimistic view of the Australian character.

And I am hopeful, in years to come, when we gather here at Garma, we will be able to measure that success not just by the number of people who vote for a Voice…

…but by the lives that the Voice helps to change.

The communities it empowers, the opportunities it creates, the justice it delivers, the security it will bring to First Nations people around our country.

I am determined for us to succeed in this great project.

And – working together, with humility, with hope – I am absolutely sure we can.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Nick McKim, has responded to the Treasurer’s Ministerial Statement on the Economy.

“The Treasurer has just told Australians to brace for higher unemployment and further real wage cuts because interest rates are going to go up.

“But the Treasurer said nothing about what big corporations should brace for.

“The share of national income going to corporate profits are at record highs, and the share of national income going to wages are at record lows.

“Corporate profiteering is fuelling inflation, not wages.

“Yet the Treasurer was silent about profits in his statement today.

“Instead of giving them a free pass, the Treasurer should be telling corporate Australia to brace for a super profits tax.

“The Greens took to the election a package of super profits taxes that would apply to companies with a turnover of greater than $100m, mining projects, and oil and gas projects, the latter being a ‘fixed-up’ PRRT.

“Together, these three super profits taxes would raise $460B in additional revenue over the next decade that could be used to provide cost-of-living relief by funding the provision of high quality free public services, such as free childcare, truly free public education, and putting dental into Medicare.”

More disgraceful thuggish behaviour by the Labor Government’s paymasters, the CFMMEU, including disgusting homophobic slurs, has been exposed by the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Less than a week after Labor Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke neutered the ABCC by reducing its powers to the “bare legal minimum”, the Federal Circuit and Family Court yesterday fined the CFMMEU and two of its officials $151,200 for right of entry breaches on the Queensland Cross River Rail project.

Senator Cash said: ‘’The successful prosecution, brought by the ABCC before it was neutered by Mr Burke, is more proof that the tough cop on the beat is still desperately needed in the building industry.”

“Mr Burke and the Labor Government are running a protection racket for the CFMMEU by abolishing the ABCC,” she said.

“But that’s hardly surprising when the CFMMEU gives them so much money that the Labor Government should actually be considered a wholly owned subsidiary of the militant union,’’ she said.

The Court found that, on 15 April 2020, whilst at the Boggo Road site, CFMMEU official Andrew Blakeley aggressively “chested” a representative of the site occupier by walking towards him with his (Blakeley’s) chest puffed and arms bent at the elbows in an imposing and aggressive stance and later stood in the path of a truck to delay it from proceeding down a road and refused requests to leave the area.

Judge Vasta said that he had “absolutely no doubt” that Mr Gibson calling the safety advisor a ‘pumpkin eater’ was “meant as a homophobic slur”. In support of that finding, Judge Vasta referred to a subsequent offensive comment made by Mr Blakeley to the safety advisor that suggested that he was trying to look at Mr Blakeley’s penis whilst in a toilet block.

The conduct of the CFMMEU organisers on that day contravened the right of entry provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009. In penalising Blakeley and Gibson $12,600 respectively, the Court ordered that they must pay the penalties personally.

Judge Vasta said: “The antecedents of the [CFMMEU] are notorious. I have previously described them as the “greatest recidivist offenders in Australian corporate history” and many other judges have also noted their infamous past.

“There is no other “appropriate” penalty that will achieve the deterrent effect necessary other than the imposition of the maximum penalty.

“I acknowledge that this penalty will still be insufficient to deter the [CFMMEU] who will, as I remarked during the hearing, regard such a sum as “chump change”.

Senator Cash said: “Mr Burke and the Government should hang their heads in shame for leaving the construction industry and its workers unprotected from this sort of disgusting behaviour.’’

The Albanese Government is risking lives with mixed messaging on Australia’s border policies.

The Australian Border Force’s Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) has today confirmed four vessels carrying 125 people from Sri Lanka were stopped in June, 2022.

Alarmingly, the Sri Lankan Navy has reportedly stopped additional boats within their jurisdiction.

Some of these boats had children on board, facing treacherous conditions.

This is the harsh reality of what happens when a government signals it is weak on Australia’s borders.

I am calling on Labor to do the right thing by keeping Temporary Protection Visas – a key pillar of OSB – and protect lives, instead of preferencing ideology.

Last time Labor was in government more than 50,000 people arrived here illegally on more than 820 boats. Tragically, at least 1,200 people died at sea.

The question Labor needs to answer is why are all these boats arriving now?

Sending mixed messages – particularly in relation to Temporary Protection Visas – creates opportunity for people smugglers to prey on vulnerable people.

It is crucial to our national security and our sovereignty that we maintain the integrity of Australia’s borders.

Australia is a fantastic sporting nation and the best of our amazing athletes will begin competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this Friday.

From the 28^th of July to the 4^th of August, more than 420 elite Australian athletes will compete across all 21 sporting disciplines wearing the Green and Gold.

“I have no doubt Australians right across the country will be cheering our athletes by interacting on social media using #BeBoldinGold and even becoming inspired to take up a new sport,” Shadow Minister Ruston said.

“Australia’s representation at the 2022 Commonwealth Games is a credit to all of the coaches, support staff, families and importantly local communities who support our athletes to train and prepare for events on the world stage. I’m excited to soon be watching our Athletes make us proud to be Australians.

Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry congratulated Queensland athletes on achieving the impressive feat of being selected to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

“It is a great honour that my state has 122 representatives at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“I encourage everyone in Queensland to support our amazing Australian athletes,” Ms Landry said.For more information about our amazing athletes, and to keep up to date with their achievements, visit https://www.birmingham2022.com/

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Nick McKim, has responded to the release of today’s inflation figures.

“The government should introduce a corporate super profits tax to help ease cost of living pressures, including by fixing up the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT).

“And they should use the additional revenue to provide cost of living support, such as by putting dental into Medicare and making childcare free.”

“COVID disruption and energy price hikes are driving inflation globally.

“But inflation is also being driven by corporate profiteering.

“The share of national income going to profits is at record highs.

“But wages’ share is at record lows and workers are being asked to brace for further real wage cuts.

“Workers are not to blame for higher inflation but they are the ones feeling the pain.

“In particular, new homeowners and renters will be hit hard by expected further increases in interest rates.

“The Treasurer needs to be more than a reporter of bad economic news.

“Fiscal policy needs to be deployed to mitigate monetary policy overreach. 

“The Treasurer needs to heed the advice of the likes of Joseph Stiglitz and Rod Sims and tax excess profits to help cushion the impact of inflation.

“In particular, global gas giants are taking the Australian public to the cleaners while also fuelling the breakdown in the climate.

“On paper, the PRRT is already a windfall profits tax.

“But it is broken and being exploited, and the government should fix it.”

In the first week of Parliament, Labor and the Liberals have joined forces to deny the disability community the opportunity to have disabled person as Chair of the Joint Standing Committee of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Tonight, Senator Larissa Waters as Greens Leader in the Senate moved a motion to change the rules that govern the composition of the Joint Standing Committee of the NDIS. If that motion had been successful, it would have allowed Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John the opportunity to Chair the Committee. 

Senator Jordon Steele-John is the only physically disabled person in the Australian Parliament.

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, Disability Rights and Services Spokesperson said:  

“The Joint Standing Committee of the NDIS is the key Parliamentary oversight body of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. 

“It is an outrage that the Labor and Liberal Parties have worked together to block our Greens motion which would have ensured that a disabled person would have led that committee and the reviews it undertakes. 

“Right now the NDIS is failing so many people in our community. Urgent, transformative change is required. The only pathway we will get this change right is centering lived experience, putting disabled at the helm of reviews, and we must ensure disabled people are taking on leadership roles.=

“Shame on the old, two-party system denying our community this vital opportunity.” 

New data from the Productivity Commission reveals that this country is still failing to hit more than two-thirds of the Closing the Gap targets. Suicide, adult incarceration, First Nations children in out of home care and developmental milestones are among the targets that are not on track.

“If the Albanese Government has any backbone, they will implement all of the recommendations from the Bringing them Home report and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.”

“First Nations people are sick of hearing about the continued failures of Closing the Gap, we demand action from this so-called progressive Government who says that Blak Lives Matter.”

“We have the solutions. We’ve known how to Close the Gap for over 30 years.”

“First Nations people are taking their lives because they can’t see a future for themselves in this system. Survivors of the stolen generation are seeing a new generation of our children being stolen. Over 500 people have died in custody since the Royal Commission and no one has been held accountable. It’s devastating.”

“The Joint Council on Closing the Gap shows us that advisory bodies don’t work. Every year, they tell us how bad we’re doing. The Albanese Government needs to listen to the voices that have already spoken and go back to the incredible work that our old people have already done.”

“Everyone does better when we’re free to make our own choices. We can Close the Gap by putting First Nations people in charge of our own communities through Treaty. The area’s where we’re seeing progress shows us that putting First Nations people in the driver’s seat works.”

“The area’s where we’re going backwards are areas that successive Governments have chosen to ignore, for over 30 years. They have the solutions and they choose to ignore them. This is your chance to do the right thing, Labor.”

I have declared the unfolding situation regarding monkeypox (MPX) in Australia to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance.

This follows the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the global situation regarding MPX to be a public health emergency of international concern.

The latest data from 1 January to 28 July 2022 as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) indicates there have been 20,311 MPX cases in 71 countries (including Australia) that have not historically reported MPX.

In Australia, there have been 44 cases – the majority of which have been within returned international travellers.

It is important to note that although I have declared MPX to be a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance, it is far less harmful than COVID-19 and there have been no deaths reported during the current outbreak outside of countries where the virus is endemic.

MPX is also not transmitted in the same way as COVID-19 – and is far less transmissible.

The decision to declare MPX a Communicable Disease Incident of National Significance was made under the Emergency Response Plan for Communicable Disease Incidents of National Significance, in consultation with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Since May, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care public health experts have engaged with at-risk communities in partnership with key stakeholders and have been working very closely with their counterparts in state and territory health departments to ensure our response to MPX has been swift and coordinated.

The National Incident Centre has been activated to provide enhanced national coordination to assist states and territories to effectively manage the outbreaks within their jurisdictions.

MPX’s rash and flu-like symptoms are relatively mild, and in most cases, resolve themselves within two to four weeks without the need for specific treatments.

Most cases of MPX in Australia have been among people aged 21 to 40 years. The experience internationally and in Australia to date is most cases have been among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

Although MPX is not usually considered a sexually transmissible infection, physical contact with an infected person during sexual intercourse carries a significant risk of transmission and intimate physical contact such as hugging, kissing and sexual activities represent a risk of infection, with infectious skin sores being the likely mode of transmission.

The rash usually occurs on the face before spreading to other parts of the body, including the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. However, in this outbreak it is being seen especially on the genital and perianal regions of affected people.

The rash can vary from person to person and take on the appearance of pimples, blisters or sores. The flu-like symptoms often include fever, chills, body aches, headaches, swollen lymph nodes and tiredness.

The National Medical Stockpile has available stock of MPX treatments, such as antivirals, for states and territories to access on request.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has updated clinical guidance on vaccination against monkeypox using the ACAM2000 vaccine to include the use of MVA-BN vaccine to prepare for supplies of the third-generation vaccine being made available in Australia.

Further information about monkeypox is available from the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website www.health.gov.au/health-topics/monkeypox-mpx

Inflation figures out today confirm what many families are already feeling – the cost of everything is going up.

The ABS has confirmed The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.8 per cent this quarter. Over the twelve months to the June 2022 quarter, the CPI rose 6.1 per cent.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said Labor promised cost of living relief during the election campaign but is now telling struggling families they’ll need to wait.

“Families are feeling it at the bowser, in the supermarket, when they pay their power bills and when they renovate their homes,” Mr Taylor said.

“Labor went to the election promising to ease the cost of living, reduce electricity costs and increase real wages but it’s only getting harder for Australian households and the Government has offered no real plan to address these challenges.

“We haven’t seen inflation this high in more than three decades. The Government can make choices to address these pressures. The Treasurer should avoid being complacent about these real pressures on Australians and outline a proactive plan to address inflation.

“Australians are already paying the price for the lack of a Labor plan.”

Shadow Minister for Finance Senator Jane Hume said the Government needed to provide a clear and credible path forward to managing the budget, not just excuses.

“Jim Chalmers says that his statement tomorrow will be outlining why his job is hard. Labor had all the answers during the election campaign, but now at a time when Australians are paying more for their groceries, their petrol and their homes, there are no solutions in sight from the Government,” Senator Hume said.

“Australians are feeling the pinch in their pockets and need more than the same old excuses from Labor to afford basic necessities.

“The International Monetary Fund report released overnight has confirmed that the Government needs to act and plan for the future now.

“The former Coalition Government left Labor with the toolkit to continue Australia’s strong economic position. Record low unemployment, strong GDP growth, historically low interest rates and the largest turn around to the budget bottom line in 70 years.

“Anthony Albanese needs to provide Australians with a plan to help them deal with this cost of living crisis, not a list of excuses.”