16 News

The Greens are calling on the federal government to consider purchasing Rex Airlines to ensure the continued connectivity and economic stability of regional Australia.

“The collapse of Rex Airlines would be a devastating blow to Tasmania’s regional communities and our tourism industry,” Greens Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim said.

“Rex is too important to Tasmania to be allowed to fail.” 

“We cannot afford to lose such a vital service that supports local economies, jobs, and regional connectivity.”

“The federal government must step up  and investigate the possibility of buying Rex Airlines to keep it operational.”

“This move would safeguard essential transport links and prevent further economic disruption.”

“This is about more than just keeping planes in the sky. It’s about preserving jobs, supporting tourism, and maintaining the vital connections that keep our regional areas thriving.” 

“Federal Labor MPs and Senators need to step up and make sure the Prime Minister understands how critical Rex is to Tasmania.”

The ACT Government has announced two recipients that will receive the first share of $17 million in funding as part of the Energy Innovation Fund.

Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction Shane Rattenbury said the ACT Government is supporting innovative projects that will help achieve the Territory’s goal of net zero emissions by 2045.

“These two  projects that have received a grant under the Energy Innovation Fund will support the ACT on our energy transition journey, as well as invest in local jobs and expertise,” Minister Rattenbury said.

“The $17 million total funding pool will be allocated over a five-year period and there are three grant streams available under the Fund. These are the Technology Demonstration Grant, the Policy Challenge Grant, and the Innovation Ecosystem Grant.

“The projects funded today include a grant for New Frontier Technologies for a project to develop an innovative storage solution for hydrogen.

“Funding will also be provided to RenewMap to support further development of their web-mapping platform, better connecting projects across the Australian and New Zealand energy landscape.”

The recipients of the Energy Innovation Fund announced today are:

• New Frontier Technologies – $750,143 under the Technology Demonstration Grant
• RenewMap – $300,000 under the Innovation Ecosystem Grant

“The $17 million in funding has been contributed by industry commitments from the ACT Government’s Renewables Reverse Auctions – a nation-leading initiative that not only maintains the ACT’s 100% renewable electricity supply, but also provides investment in our local clean energy economy.

“The ACT has a world-renowned renewable energy sector and for more than a decade has been a leader in transitioning to 100% renewable electricity. These recipients showcase the continued innovation taking place right here in the nation’s capital.

“Congratulations to today’s recipients. I look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition and contribute to our shared goal of addressing the climate crisis and transitioning to a net zero emissions energy future,” said Minister Rattenbury.

The Energy Innovation Fund grants are open all year round. More information, including eligibility details and information on how to apply, can be found on the Everyday Climate Choices website.

Dr Paul Compston, Director and CEO, New Frontier Technologies:

“We are delighted that the support from the ACT Government’s Energy Innovation Fund program will enable New Frontier Technologies to demonstrate ACT-developed capability for innovative design and automated manufacturing of high-value carbon composite structures. We will develop lightweight, type V (liner-less) all-composite pressure vessels that will increase capacity for hydrogen storage and form a critical part of the infrastructure required to achieve local net-zero targets. This innovative pressure vessel design and scalable manufacturing approach will be the first-of-its-kind, making it highly marketable to the national and international hydrogen economy.”

Alex Thompson, Co-Founder and Director, RenewMap:

“RenewMap currently provides stakeholders in the energy industry with highly accessible, accurate and near real-time information on large-scale energy projects across Australia and New Zealand. Our aim for RenewMap is to create an up-to-date, national view of the energy landscape and contribute to a faster and more efficient renewable energy transition.

“The Energy Innovation Fund will accelerate the growth of our business and enable us to create new jobs in the ACT’s thriving renewable energy sector. The funded project will build on the success of RenewMap to date, empowering industry stakeholders with new analytical tools and valuable insights into the future pipeline of energy projects.”

The Greens have called for Labor to introduce a national rent freeze and measures to stop price gouging instead of sitting back and watching the RBA raise interest rates again.

Economic Justice Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim:

“There is no case for the Reserve Bank to raise rates again.”

“Raising rates will simply create more hardship for millions of Australians. It won’t bring rents down and it won’t bring food prices down.”

“We need Labor to get off the sidelines and start to take the urgent action needed to tackle the cost of existence crisis.”

“Labor could rein in inflation by introducing a corporate super-profits tax, breaking up the supermarket duopoly, making price gouging illegal and coordinating a national rent freeze.”

Greens Housing Spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather MP:

“Labor had the power to freeze rents through National Cabinet, but instead they chose to spit in the face of Australia’s 7 million renters and lock in unlimited rent increases.”

“Today’s CPI data is the consequences. Rents (7.3%) are increasing at close to twice the rate of inflation (3.8%).” 

“Behind these numbers sit countless devastating stories. Families evicted into homelessness cos they can’t afford the rent increase that Labor could have stopped. Single mums skipping meals. Pensioners sleeping in their cars. What will it take for Labor to freeze rents?” 

“Rent increases are driving inflation and interest rate rises have been passed on in rent increases. It is a spiral of pain for already overburdened mortgage holders and renters that the RBA cannot break. Labor could stop this by coordinating a rent freeze through National Cabinet.”

The NSW Forestry Corporation has today been convicted and sentenced in the NSW Land and Environment Court for offences relating to native forest logging in 2020, and has been fined $360,000 and ordered that they cover the legal costs of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

The breaches were as a result of the Forestry Corporation failing to accurately map two known Environmentally Significant Areas in the Yambulla State Forest and actual harm caused to 53 eucalyptus trees, and potential harm to 3 threatened bird species in the area.

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “The crimes committed by the Forestry Corporation on this occasion are not isolated, and their ongoing logging of native forests in NSW is regularly reported by the community as having occurred unlawfully,”

“This conviction has taken more than four years to complete and dozens, if not more, of other unlawful logging operations have been undertaken while the investigation and prosecution was underway. This makes a mockery of the lawful requirements that the Forestry Corporation must comply with, and demonstrates that the current system of enforcing compliance is failing to protect native forests and the threatened species that live within them,”

“The Court found that there is a high likelihood of the Forestry Corporation reoffending and that it does not have good prospects of rehabilitation. These findings are a damning indictment of Forestry Corporation’s integrity and demonstrates why we are calling for them to be barred from logging our public native forests,”

“This $360 thousand dollar fine is a significant part of the entire dividend that was budgeted to be returned to NSW by the Forestry Corporation, with just $9 million expected in 2024-25. This essentially means that 4% or Forestry’s entire expected return to NSW has been lost as a result of a single breach of the law – of which many more have been reported,”

“The Government is ultimately responsible for the Forestry Corporation, and have a duty to protect the people and environment of NSW from this rogue state-owned corporation. Everyday that this untrustworthy Corporation is doing more damage to the forests, and all at the expense of the people of NSW,” Ms Higginson said.

The Greens say Labor’s Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA) locks in public school underfunding for a decade and fails to provide a coherent roadmap to deliver on its objectives.

The BFSA, which replaces the expiring National Schools Reform Agreement, would commit the Commonwealth to funding only 22.5% of public school resourcing for most states and territories by 2029, leaving another generation of public school kids and parents behind.

And the agreement’s enabling initiatives, to which Commonwealth funding is tied, would ramp up student surveillance and testing, but are all but silent on student wellbeing and inclusion and don’t address the growing divide between the overfunded private system and the neglected public system.

Greens spokesperson on Primary & Secondary Education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“This is not a plan for full funding. This is a plan to lock in underfunding for another decade, ensuring another entire generation of public school kids misses out on the education they deserve.

“Labor claims that if all the states and territories sign up to its plan they’ll be able to deliver ‘full funding’ to public schools by 2029. This is plainly untrue.

“For one thing, the Gonski review never promised ‘full funding’ – it promised enough funding to get 80% of kids in a school up to the minimum NAPLAN standard. And for another, with the exception of the ACT, every state and territory is claiming a 4% deduction for non-school expenditure from their funding contribution.

“Labor has refused to commit to unwinding these dodgy Morrison-era deals despite being given multiple opportunities to do so.

“The BFSA reforms would require states and territories to do more surveillance, more monitoring and more testing. It does nothing to fundamentally reform our outdated education model, make schools more inclusive or reverse the growing inequities between the public and private systems.

“The Education Minister is waving the mission accomplished flag while teachers are fleeing the system, student disengagement and school can’t/school refusal is rising and cashed-up private schools draw more and more kids out of the public system.

“Even state Labor education ministers are begging Federal Labor to properly fund public schools, because they know that this is a make or break moment for the future of public schooling in this country.

“Labor needs to up the Commonwealth share of funding to a minimum of 25% in every state and territory, deliver 100% SRS funding to all public schools at the start of the BFSA in January 2025, and immediately end the overfunding of wealthy private schools that bank billions in public handouts every year.”

The Disability Community Royal Commission response was the opportunity for the Labor Government and the community’s work to achieve disability justice. They have failed.

The disability community has been waiting for the government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission for 11 months. Given the length of time, the disability community was hoping for a comprehensive and considered response. What they have received appears to be neither.

The Labor government has not committed to ending the cycle of segregation that so often leads to the abuse, violence, neglect, and exploitation of disabled people uncovered by the Commission. They made little to no mention of education, housing, or employment in their response.

Disabled people could have had genuine representation in government, but the Anthony Albanese government have confirmed that they will not support the recommendation to implement a federal Disability Minister.

There is also no action in sight from the government on issues such as forced sterilisation and marriage inequality for disabled people, which continue to plague our society in 2024.

The cycle of abuse, neglect and violence is ongoing and this response does nothing to set up a frame work to stop or even monitor it.

Senator Jordon Steele-John, Australian Greens spokesperson on Disability Rights:

“Labor claims there is no need to implement the core recommendations of the DRC, stating they are addressing these issues through other work. By ‘other work,’ do they mean cutting $14.4 billion from the NDIS? That clearly does not help disabled people.

“The only acceptable response to the profound injustices uncovered by the DRC is action. Labor’s continued inaction disrespects the immense contributions and emotional labour of the disability community to the DRC.

“We need the Government to commit funding for the radical transformation required to end ableism and discrimination in this country. We need a Minister for Disability to ensure this reform happens. We need collective liberation: to immediately raise the DSP, and end segregation in our workplaces, schools, and homes.

“Disabled people will no longer accept being kept out of view, restrained to our beds, locked in institutions, or subjected to ableism and segregation by government policies. Labor’s lacklustre response to the DRC shows they are willing to let these injustices continue, in order to balance their budget.

“Only 13 out of 222, or less than 6%, of the recommendations were accepted. Disabled people and our families gave so much to this commission, and this government has given so little in return.”

The Albanese Labor Government has handed a further $11 billion to the Australian subsidiary of a British weapons manufacturer to build just the steel hulls for three Hunter Class Frigates, making them some of the most expensive ships ever built, if we ever get them. 

The initial $2.25 billion contract was for just the design and “productisation” of the Hunter Class Frigate, however, it was amended without tender this month and jumped to nearly $15 billion. It is understood that the additional $11 billion provided by the Government is just for the hulls of three ships, not including any weapons, radar or other essential equipment.

At $4 billion each, the Albanese Labor Government is now overseeing one of the most expensive ships ever built. The ship’s design has also been plagued with issues, as it is significantly outclassed by other ships that cost significantly less.  

This contract change comes a decade after the project was initiated and following the review of the Australian Navy’s surface fleet earlier this year that slashed the number of ships from nine to six. The Greens referred the Hunter Frigates program to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) last year.

Senator Shoebridge, Greens Spokesperson for Defence, said: 

“The Hunter Frigate program is turning into a black hole for the Labor Government to pour billions of dollars into. 

“The Albanese Labor Government has now had multiple opportunities to course correct but they have doubled down on failure.”

“If we look at countries like South Korea they are manufacturing bigger and better-equipped ships for a fraction of the price. 

“This is not about investing in defence, it’s about rewarding failure by politicians who repeatedly prove themselves incapable of holding Defence to account.
 
“The Greens referred this program to the NACC because it showed clear signs of corruption, but this whole program also shows a complete disregard for the public interest, value for money and what is in the best interests of the defence of Australia.

“Over the next decade, the Albanese Government has planned for nearly three-quarters of a trillion dollars to be spent on Defence. If that spending looks like the Hunter Frigates program we will blow endless billions of dollars and end the decade far less safe.”