Category: Australian News

The performances of our Olympic and Paralympic teams in Tokyo look set to leave a lasting legacy and improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.
Findings from Sport Australia’s Community Perceptions Monitor survey reveal more than half of all Australians were inspired by the performance of our athletes –  with one in five saying they were now more motivated to get active.
The survey, which captures public attitudes towards sport, found 55 per cent of Australians who watched the Olympics and 58 per cent who watched the Paralympics said they felt proud to be an Australian.
Minister for Sport, Richard Colbeck, said it underlined the positive impact the performance of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes had on the nation.
“We have always understood the power of sport to improve our health and reinforce communities,” Minister Colbeck said.
“But the Sport Australia survey showcases the tangible outcomes created as a result of the performances of our sports men and women.”
Participation in organised sport is also expected to benefit with 12 per cent of parents considering enrolling their child or children in a new sport after watching the Games.
While winning medals was identified by Australians as something that made them feel proud, we placed greater value on athletes who showed determination, worked hard and demonstrated good sportsmanship.
The survey also found 82 per cent of people surveyed watched at least some of the 16-day coverage of the Olympics.
And despite having a third of the free-to-air coverage and a 12-day program, the Paralympics proved popular with 68 per cent of survey participants tuning in.
Sport Australia Acting CEO Rob Dalton said the research highlights the pride that Australians have in our athletes and reinforces the important role they play as role models.
“As COVID-19 restrictions ease across the nation and community sport returns, now is the perfect time to get involved in organised sport as a participant, volunteer or official and enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits that sport offers,” Mr Dalton said.
“We know that volunteers remain key to ensuring sporting clubs and organisations can get back on track following the pandemic. For many Australians, community sport provides a first connection to sport and can help develop and unearth our future sporting talent.”
Minister Colbeck said the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games provided a perfect launching pad with a string of major sporting events locked in as we head towards Brisbane 2032.
“The report illustrates the lasting legacy major sporting events can have on generations to come,” Minister Colbeck said.
“We marvelled at the incredible efforts of our Olympians and Paralympians in Tokyo and I can’t wait to see what our athletes achieve next.
“As we look ahead to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2024 Paris Games and 2032 Brisbane Games there are plenty of opportunities for our athletes to shine and inspire future generations.”
Sport Australia’s Community Perceptions Monitor survey can be found here.

The Morrison Government is providing additional support, reducing the out of pocket costs for hundreds of Australians living with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder which requires specialised wound dressings.
Epidermolysis bullosa, which mainly affects children can be a painful and debilitating condition, resulting in extremely fragile and blister prone skin.
Around 260 Australians require specialised dressings and for those living with the most severe form of the disease, the dressings can cost them around $5,000 a month.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the Morrison Government has approved 46 new products to be listed on the National Epidermolysis Bullosa Dressing Scheme (NEBDS) Product Schedule.
“These new products will provide additional support for Australians, helping to manage their costs for dressings, reduce their out of pocket costs,” Minister Hunt said.
“Recommended by the NEBDS Clinical Advisory Committee, the 46 additions include new and improved technology designed to enhance wound care and accelerate healing.
“In 2020-21, our Government invested $3.35 million through the NEBDS, which continues to help Australian patients access wound dressings. Instead of paying thousands of dollars a month, patients will only pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card for each monthly order of dressings.”
Management of the Scheme is also being streamlined to enable recommended listings to occur sooner, which will improve patient access and support efficiency by enabling the Department of Health to approve minor changes and costs.
Access to the NEBDS is restricted to patients who meet the clinical eligibility criteria and are registered by a clinical expert. Patients participating in the Scheme are required to pay a contribution equivalent to the relevant PBS co-payment for each monthly order of dressings.
At 1 July 2021, there were 368 individual dressing/wound care products on the NEBDS Product Schedule.
More information about the NEBDS is available online – https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/national-epidermolysis-bullosa-dressing-scheme-nebds

The Morrison Government is securing Australia’s economic recovery by backing businesses to succeed and create jobs with a further $33 million to support Australian made food and beverage companies.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the funding was part of the latest round of the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI).
“Liberals and Nationals will continue to protect and grow manufacturing jobs to secure Australia’s economic recovery,” the Prime Minister said.
“More than one million Australians are once again employed in manufacturing and we want businesses to be successful and create even more jobs.
“Under Labor, one in eight manufacturing jobs were lost and Australians can’t risk this sort of economic mismanagement as we begin to open up again.”
Seven Australian companies will share in the funding, which will unlock new manufacturing opportunities, boost production, and create more jobs across the country.
The investment would boost manufacturing from Kingaroy in the north, to Hobart in the south.
Food and beverage production is the largest manufacturing sector in Australia, employing one in four manufacturing workers and contributing around $22.4 billion to our economy.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said these grants would bolster the thriving food and beverage sector and unlock further significant investment from the sector.
“This funding will help some of the most innovative producers leverage technology to increase their production, while meeting growing export demand and creating new local jobs,” Minister Taylor said.
“Not only will this funding help maximise the agricultural advantages we enjoy, but it will also help regional Australia and the supply chains that operate throughout it.”
The successful Food and Beverage recipients under the Initiative are:

• Sabrini Foods (VIC, NSW, SA) will use $1.4 million to become the first local manufacturer to transform Aussie dairy into extended shelf life and frozen paneer, overcoming one of the constraints to export.
• Bulla (VIC) will use $4.5 million for a purpose-built facility to make new ice cream lines such as cones and sandwiches from Australian dairy for sale here and overseas.
• Plenty Foods (QLD) will use its $9 million in funding to transform Australian nuts into locally-made protein nut flour.
• Turbine Sunshine Coast (QLD) will use its $8.7 million in funding to establish a research and development centre and large-scale contract beverage manufacturing facility.
• Mulgowie Fresh (QLD, VIC) will use its $5.1 million in funding to expand its processing capability and capacity in sweet corn and beans, increasing its supplies both domestically and in South East Asia.
• Sullivans Cove Distillery (TAS) will use its $3.3 million in funding to help build its new state-of-the-art production facility, which doubles as a world-class tourism experience.
• Ennio (SA) will use its $ 1.3 million in funding to develop its world-first patented technology for manufacturing nettings and casings specifically for the global meat and poultry industry.

The MMI is the centrepiece of the Government’s $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy, designed to position Australia as a globally recognised, high-quality and sustainable manufacturing nation.
Food and Beverage is the fourth stream of funding across priority areas identified under the MMI, and follows $100 million invested in Space, Medical Products, and Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing announced in July.
Funding across the remaining areas of Recycling and Defence will be announced soon.
To learn more about the Strategy and the MMI visit www.industry.gov.au/manufacturing

As the Glasgow climate summit comes to a head and the Liberals’ weak 2030 targets place Australia under increasing pressure, Scott Morrison is again readying Australia to sabotage a global climate consensus by blocking political momentum for a ‘ratcheting up’ of 2030 targets.
With Australia failing to raise ambition for 2030, the draft communique from COP26 is planning to specifically call upon nations who have insufficient mid-term targets to return next year to COP27 in Egypt with increased ambition consistent with the science.
The Liberal Party has a demonstrated history of sabotaging international climate talks by blocking consensus and demanding the right to keep polluting. The notorious ‘Australia clause’ loophole that allowed countries like Australia to increase its emissions under the Kyoto Protocol was added into the agreement at the demand of the then Howard Government.
“Scott Morrison is getting ready to sabotage global climate action just to save face,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said.
“Scott Morrison must not hold the rest of the world back from climate action just to suit his domestic climate denial.
“If we don’t do more by 2030, we won’t stop the climate crisis. The rest of the world gets that and they’re urging countries like Australia, Russia and Saudi Arabia to do more.
“Instead of trying to fudge the science and rip clauses out of the Glasgow agreement, Scott Morrison should sign on to the agreement and lift Australia’s 2030 targets, like the US and UK have done.”
“Removing clauses that recall nations who fail to increase 2030 ambitions may appease the coal and gas corporations in the lead up to the 2022 election, but it gives cover for other recalcitrant petrostates to join Australia’s lead and refuse to act.
“We’re in a critical decade for climate action and the rest of the world is no longer distracted by the Liberals’ accounting tricks. The only action that will count is urgently phasing out coal, oil and gas, the main causes of the climate crisis.
“This draft communique recognises the urgency from the latest IPCC report. Pushing back action to later decades is as dangerous as climate denial.”

Gomeroi man, Stanley Russell, a father, was shot dead by NSW police. His brother, Eddie Russell, died in police custody in 1999. “Violence against First Nations people is a national crisis and the Morrison Government is doing nothing about it,” said Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.
Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations, Senator Lidia Thorpe said:
“This is colonial violence. This is the continuation of the genocidal project that started in 1788. Over 470 people have died since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and we’re still waiting for true accountability. Is the system broken, or working according to its design?
“The police are supposed to protect people, not kill them. Why does being around the police have fatal consequences for First Nations people? My heart aches for this family. The police have a duty of care and that has been completely ignored for this family.
“We’ve had the solutions to end deaths in custody for over 30 years. The Morrison Government needs to work with the families of people who have died in police custody and implement all of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. How many more of us need to die?
“The Greens have listened to the families and we are joining their call for a national ban on spit hoods and lethal choke holds, greater transparency in reporting deaths in custody and more funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services and their peak bodies.
“As a matter of national urgency, we’re also calling for the full implementation of an independent prison oversight system under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). Without independent monitoring of places of detention, more First Nations people will die in custody.
“OPCAT is a critical instrument of international human rights law. It needs to be culturally safe, properly resourced and nationally consistent. The Liberal party signed onto it in 2017, and since then have done the bare minimum and called it progress.
“Everyone has the right to be treated fairly, no matter where they are. Humane treatment in police custody cannot be a game of chance. Every person in this country deserves to be treated with dignity and be free from torture. Always.” Said Thorpe.
The Office of Senator Thorpe has asked for permission from the family to speak on this, and use their names.
David Shoebridge, Greens NSW MP said: 
“Deaths in custody are not an accident, they are the result of a criminal justice system that is designed to be dangerous, often lethal, for First Nations people.
“Recurring deaths in custody send renewed waves of pain and hurt across communities. It never seems to have an end.“This is a national crisis that many political leaders refuse to recognise, because those that pay the cost are not the people they are in power to represent.
“Indifference, platitudes and empty gestures from politicians allow these killings to continue, and it’s well past time they were held to account for their inaction,” Said Shoebridge.

Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations, Michaelia Cash will today open a national forum hosted by Commonwealth work health and safety (WHS) regulator Comcare, focussing on the prevention, management and regulation of workplace sexual harassment.
“I am proud to launch this forum today as it brings together WHS regulators, professionals and employers across the country to promote cultural change in our workplaces. That’s reflected in the forum’s theme – Influencing positive change,” said the Attorney-General.
“Education is a central to the Government’s action to implement the ‘Roadmap for Respect: Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces’. The forum will help drive a national approach to prevention strategies, as announced in the 2021-22 Budget.”
Participants will hear from a range of speakers at the event including Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Chair of the Respect@Work Council, Kate Jenkins, who will focus on the findings of her landmark National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces.
The program has been co-designed in collaboration with Safe Work Australia and state and territory WHS regulators. It will help to ensure that WHS authorities are equipped to assist businesses and workers to understand their duties and obligations in relation to sexual harassment under WHS laws, and deliver best practice regulation.
The forum builds on the education resources Comcare has developed in collaboration with the Australian Human Rights Commission and aligns with the national Guidance from Safe Work Australia. These resources provide practical guidance for employers, managers, supervisors and workers to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment.
For more information on the event, visit the Comcare website.
If you need immediate assistance or support you can contact 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732.

At an event last night to mark the 10th anniversary of the carbon price being legislated, Greens Leader Adam Bandt – whose victory in the seat of Melbourne led to the establishment of a Multi-Party Climate Change Committee that developed a world-leading suite of climate policies – has released modelling showing the carbon price was operating so effectively that had it not been repealed, the Liberals weak 2030 targets would have been met in 2020, a full decade early.
As another power-sharing minority Parliament looms, Mr Bandt said Labor should be proud of their cross-party achievement under Julia Gillard instead of continually trying to airbrush the period out of history, and should instead join the Greens in directing their criticisms at the real enemy – the Liberals – who tore down the only climate policy in this country that actually worked.
MR BANDT said:
In just its first year of operations, the Clean Energy Act cut emissions by 10 million tonnes.
If the Liberals hadn’t torn up the carbon price, Australia would have stopped an additional 256 million tonnes of pollution going into the atmosphere.
Every tonne counts.
We’ve modelled it. If the price on pollution had not been murdered on the floor of the Parliament, we would have cut over a quarter of a billion tonnes extra of pollution over the last six years.
In 2020, pollution would be 464 million tonnes a year, compared with the 512 Mt we reached under the Liberals and the 529-585 Mt forecast under Kevin Rudd’s own poor first draft of a climate policy.
If we had kept the price on pollution, we would have met the Coalition’s weak 2030 targets in 2020.
Australia’s pollution would already be 26% below 2005 levels, meeting the Government’s insufficient 2030 target 10 years early.
We would be ten years ahead of where we are now.
We would not face, as a country, the humiliation and shame on the international stageScott Morrison inflicted on us these past weeks.
We would not be putting Pacific Islands at risk of going under.
We would be able to honestly and credibly say we are doing a fair share of what needs to be done to keep people safe.
We would be able to stand with our allies, the USA and the UK, to increase our 2030 commitments.
We could condemn the actions of Russia, but instead Scott Morrison has had Australia join them, holding back the rest of the world’s efforts to keep people safe.
The carbon price package wasn’t perfect and nor did everyone get everything they wanted. But it not only worked, it strengthened the economy, solved big problems we faced, and set us up for the future.
Julia Gillard’s achievements here are often ignored.
Not only by the political media, but often by the ALP too.
Ten years on, we can see clearly how these policies would have worked to reduce millions of tonnes of pollution.
Instead of spending all their time telling tall tales about the one that got away, Labor needs to be proud of the climate legislation we actually landed.
The real villains in this piece are the Liberal Party, the Murdoch media and the coal and gas corporations, who all joined together to tear down the only climate policy that actually worked.
As we head towards another minority Parliament, it’s a reminder of what we can achieve for the country when the Greens, Labor and independents work together.
Coal and gas corporations still have deep pockets, but the tide has turned.
As a result, at the next election, we will kick the Liberals out.
And the Greens are once again in a position to be in the balance of power.
If history and current polling are a guide, the Greens could hold the balance of power in the Lower House and the Senate too.
Indeed, pushing Scott Morrison into minority Parliament will only take a few hundred people shifting their votes, but Labor needs to defy recent history to win a majority in their own right.
So a power-sharing parliament is the most likely outcome.
In balance of power, the Greens will kick the Liberals out and push the next government to take climate action.
What we can push the next government to adopt remains to be seen.
Distressingly, in a time of climate crisis, Labor wants more coal and gas. And they still take donations from coal and gas corporations. Where they’re in power in the states and territories they’re opening up new coal and gas mines and federally they’re backing the Liberals to do the same.
Pushing Labor to act on coal and gas will be a priority for us.
The Liberals won’t act at all, but Labor won’t act on coal and gas unless the Greens are there to push them.
For amongst all the tales of alternative history that get told in politics, all the ‘if onlys’ and ‘could have beens’, one stark, historical fact stands out.
The only time that pollution has meaningfully come down was when the Greens were in the balance of power.
Fortunately, if only a few hundred people change their vote, that’s where we’ll be again after the next election.

The Greens have vowed to fight Scott Morrison’s move to bankroll carbon capture and storage, saying public funds should not be funnelled to billionaire coal and gas corporations for unicorn technology.
“The way to tackle climate change is to get out of fossil fuels, but Scott Morrison wants to funnel public funds to coal and gas corporations for a unicorn technology they haven’t been able to make work themselves,” said Greens Leader, Adam Bandt.
“Today, the UN has warned that we’re heading to over 2.4C of warming unless we take urgent action by 2030. It’s time to get out of coal and gas, not fund more of it.
“Public money should go to schools, hospitals and renewables, not to tax-dodging billionaire coal and gas corporations.
“Coal and gas are not ‘clean energy’.
“The Greens secured the CEFC during the 2010 power-sharing Parliament, we made sure it couldn’t fund CCS and we’ll fight this latest attack tooth and nail.
“The government doesn’t need legislation to take ownership stakes in new start-ups. The CEFC can do that already and an investment mandate from the Minister would put it beyond doubt. The only reason the Liberals want legislation is to turn the CEFC into a slush found for coal and gas corporations.
“This is nothing to do with stopping climate change and everything to do with Scott Morrison rewarding the coal and gas corporations that donate to the Liberal and Labor parties.”
“The simplest way to stop pollution is to stop digging up and burning coal and gas in the first place, not to hope unicorn technology will one day stop coal and gas pollution escaping.
“Here lies the big trick of Scott Morrison’s climate charade. He pays coal and gas corporations to dig up fossil fuels then pays them to fail at cleaning up their pollution. They win but the rest of us lose.”

Hundreds of students studying to be doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals head to Coffs Harbour every year for part of their training, consequentially creating jobs, boosting local investment and increasing access to health professionals for local patients.
Through the Australian Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) Program, students are exposed to many of the unique challenges facing rural patients, while experiencing the benefits of living and working on the mid-North Coast.
Federal Member for Cowper, Pat Conaghan and Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie today visited the Coffs Harbour Rural Clinical School, operated by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), to meet with students and staff.
Mr Conaghan said he was proud to be part of a government that recognised the benefits of rural medical training and the challenges associated with the health workforce maldistribution.
“UNSW receives more than $28 million from the Commonwealth for its RHMT activities across a number of sites, including Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, to give more students the opportunity to train in the regions and create local jobs,” Mr Conaghan said.
“This funding has a double benefit; students undertake part of their medical training here and in turn it creates jobs for local medical and administrative staff,” Mr Conaghan said.
“The clinical school in Coffs Harbour has 16 local staff, who supported more than 50 students to complete 12-month long medical placements last year.”
Dr Gillespie – who himself spent 10 years as Director of Physician Training at Port Macquarie Base Hospital – said the RHMT program encouraged more health professionals to practise in the bush.
“RHMT is a win-win-win for the students, the patients who can access care, and for the host communities,” Dr Gillespie said.
“There are valuable social and economic benefits, with support for local businesses through procurement of goods and services and job opportunities.
“It has been demonstrated that for every dollar spent under the RHMT program, another dollar is generated in the local economy.”
Mr Conaghan said in addition to the Rural Clinical School, UNSW’s Mid North Coast Regional Training Hub is based in Coffs Harbour, and employs seven academic and administrative staff.
“UNSW has partnered with local health organisations through the hub to assist and develop regional training pathways, support accreditation of training posts to meet community needs and improve the retention of medical trainees in the area,” he said.
Mr Conaghan said Federal Government investment also meant that around 100 medical placements were able to occur in Port Macquarie last year through UNSW’s Rural Clinical School in Port Macquarie, which employs 39 local staff.
The RHMT program also provides funding to the University of Newcastle (UoN) to operate a Department of Rural Health in Coffs Harbour. This campus enabled several medical students to undertake five-week placements during the previous academic year in Coffs Harbour.
“Last year, 120 nursing, midwifery and allied health students took part in this program, equating to over 800 training weeks undertaken locally,” Mr Conaghan said.
Twenty-one universities are currently participating in the RHMT program across Australia.
Dr Gillespie said by investing in the RHMT program, the Federal Government is highlighting the professional and personal benefits of practising in regional, rural and remote communities.
“And while the RHMT program provides short placements, there are many long-term gains, as more graduates head back to the bush to care for local communities,” Dr Gillespie said.