Category: Australian News

The national security of Australia is paramount at all times.
We understand from briefings from the relevant federal agencies that all levels of government, critical infrastructure and the private sector are being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.
We support our security agencies and their efforts to address this serious and growing threat. We urge all Australians, Australian businesses and other organisations to listen to the advice that the Australian Cyber Security Centre provides to the public.
Individuals and business can visit www.cyber.gov.au to access up to date information and advice. We urge everyone to be proactive and vigilant when it comes to cyber security.
We acknowledge the first-class work of our intelligence and defence authorities and thank them today, and every day, for their hard work to protect our nation.
We take today’s news extremely seriously and we will continue to work with the Government to ensure Australia’s national security, including cyber security, is not only maintained but strengthened.

The Morrison and McGowan Governments will support construction jobs across Western Australia by jointly investing an additional $223 million to deliver shovel-ready infrastructure projects and urgent road safety upgrades.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said further investment in infrastructure would play a critical role in the Commonwealth’s JobMaker plan and help the West Australian economy as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Partnering with state and territory governments to invest in more major infrastructure projects across Australia is a key part of our JobMaker plan to rebuild our economy and create more jobs,” the Prime Minister said.
“This funding injection means we have brought forward or provided additional funding in excess of $1 billion Western Australian in the past eight months.
“This package builds on the fast tracking of $868 million for infrastructure in Western Australia which we announced last November, locking in priority upgrades that will bust congestion, improve safety and boost jobs at a time we need it most.”
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the Australian Government’s $176 million contribution builds on its nationwide $100 billion, 10-year infrastructure pipeline.
“Federal funding for this package has been drawn from the recently announced $1.5 billion allocation to priority shovel-ready projects and targeted road safety works.
“We are continuing to work closely with all levels of Government making decisions to create jobs and support our economic recovery,” Senator Cormann said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the Government had worked closely with State, Territory and Local Governments to identify shovel-ready projects to help reinvigorate the economy and get money flowing into jobs and businesses as soon as possible.
“In Western Australia, this will see us investing in critical shovel-ready projects along the Great Eastern and Bussell Highways, Exmouth Road and Toodyay Road while simultaneously delivering a dedicated road safety package for life-saving improvements right across regional WA,” Mr McCormack said.
“Overall this package is estimated to support more than 1,000 jobs during construction, which is absolutely fantastic news for locals and communities across the state.
“By investing in critical infrastructure projects across the country, we are doing more than just supporting local jobs and businesses at this critical time. We are investing in our future beyond COVID-19 by delivering lasting infrastructure which will kick-start our economic recovery and benefit Australians for years to come.”
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said the Regional State Road Safety Improvement Program would see the two Governments invest $100 million across the state to deliver improvements over the next year.
“The Road Safety Improvement Program will widen, seal or install audio-tactile line markings on more than 20 regional routes right across the state to reduce run-off-road crashes,” he said.
“These works will improve road safety, saving lives and bolstering the resilience of the state’s road networks, which is absolutely critical for our regional roads.
“The package will immediately help support economic activity and WA jobs, and is another sign of the State and Commonwealth Governments working collaboratively in the interests of Western Australians.”
Senator Cormann further said that bringing forward these key infrastructure projects is part of $13.8 billion in infrastructure funding for Western Australia that the Federal Government has committed to transport infrastructure projects to date.
“The Federal Government is committed to projects that get West Australians home sooner and safer. But particularly as we look to grow the West Australian economy on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis, we want to guarantee work for local trades and keep money flowing through local businesses throughout the construction phase and beyond,” Senator Cormann said.
Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the funding injection would also deliver shovel-ready fixes to Thomas Road.
“For Perth motorists that includes creating dual lanes for an extra kilometre between the Kwinana Freeway and Nicholson Road and a much-needed intersection upgrade,” Mr Tudge said.
“Thomas Road is used by around 19,000 vehicles every single day and this funding means shovels will be in the ground sooner to support local jobs and the economy.”
Western Australian Minister for Transport Rita Saffioti said the funding injection would support local jobs, businesses and the economy while providing lasting infrastructure to help the state bounce back as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
“This funding injection will help us start work on even more critical regional road infrastructure including the dualling of Bussell Highway, upgrades to key tourism roads in Exmouth and key freight roads through Toodyay.
“These projects will support our local regional economies, creating and supporting local jobs whilst also improving safety.”
The jointly funded package is supported by investments from the Commonwealth ($176 million) and WA Government ($47 million).

Protecting Australia’s economy, national security and sovereignty is the Government’s top priority.
Based on advice provided to the Government by our cyber experts, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated state-based cyber actor.
This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers, and operators of other critical infrastructure.
We know it is a sophisticated state-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the tradecraft used.
The Australian Government is aware of and alert to the threat of cyber-attacks.
The ACSC has already published a range of technical advisory notices in recent times, to alert potential targets and has been briefing States and Territories on risks and mitigations.
Regrettably, this activity is not new – but the frequency has been increasing.
Our objective is to raise awareness of these specific risks and targeted activities and tell you how you can take action to protect yourself.
Cyber security is a shared responsibility of us all. It is vital that Australian organisations are alert to this threat and take steps to enhance the resilience of their networks.
All Australian organisations who might be concerned about their vulnerability to sophisticated cyber compromise can take three simple steps to protect themselves:

• Patch your internet facing devices promptly – ensuring any web or email servers are fully updated with the latest software.
• Ensure you use multifactor authentication to secure your internet accessible infrastructure and cloud-based platforms.
• Become an ACSC partner to ensure you get the latest cyber threat advice so you can take the earliest possible action to protect yourself online.

The ACSC and the Department of Home Affairs has published a more detailed technical advisory with advice for Australian businesses and organisations to protect themselves, which is available here.
The ACSC has also been actively working with targeted organisations to ensure that they have appropriate technical mitigations in place and their defences are appropriately raised.
The Government’s 2016 Cyber Security Strategy – backed by a $230 million investment over four years – has strengthened Australia’s cyber security foundations, stimulated private sector investment in cyber security and positioned Australia as a regional cyber security leader. The Government will release a new Cyber Security Strategy in the coming months, which will include significant further investments.
The Government also invested a further $156 million to build cyber resilience and expand the cyber workforce as one of our election commitments and we invested additional funding for a whole-of-government cyber uplift program.
The work of the Government’s Critical Infrastructure Centre and Trusted Information Sharing Network has also been focussed on the threats to critical infrastructure and other systems of national significance.
But there is more to do and we must do this work together – cyber security is a whole of community effort – government, industry, and individuals.
The risks are present and will continue to be present. That is why these investments are necessary and the protections we put in place necessary. The Australian Government will continue to do everything to keep Australians safe.
The Government encourages organisations, particularly those in the health, critical infrastructure and essential services, to take expert advice, and implement technical defences to thwart this malicious cyber activity.
Further information on how you can protect yourself and your business from cyber threats is available at www.cyber.gov.au.

The Australian Greens have today announced that Lidia Thorpe will be the next Senator for Victoria, following a massive state-wide ballot of the Victorian Greens membership.
Lidia Thorpe, Aboriginal leader, activist and Gunnai-Kurnai/Gunditjmara woman will be sworn into Parliament in the coming months to fill the casual vacancy soon to be left by Senator Richard Di Natale.
Victoria Greens Co-Convenors Effy Elden and Ella Webb said thousands of members took part in the vote over two weeks, with Lidia Thorpe securing a decisive victory.
“We are delighted to announce the next Senator for the Victorian Greens, who was elected directly by our membership at the culmination of a fantastic grassroots preselection process. We are proud to be the only progressive party in Victoria whose members currently have a genuine say in their parliamentary representation.
“The Victorian Greens have over 3,600 members who were eligible to cast their vote in the state-wide preselection. With 65% choosing to participate, they have delivered a clear and decisive result in selecting Lidia.
“We look forward to seeing Lidia Thorpe join our fellow Victorian Greens MPs Adam Bandt & Janet Rice, as well as the rest of our federal team in parliament later this year.”
Building upon her work as the Member for Northcote, Lidia has a strong track record of fighting for environmental and social justice that benefits the whole community.
“It’s an incredible honour and a huge responsibility to be chosen by Greens members as the next Senator for Victoria. I won’t let you down,” Lidia Thorpe said.
“It’s so important for kids growing up today in places I grew up to know they can do what I’ve done. Kids in the Commission flats, or out in country towns, or single mums, or survivors of domestic violence. This isn’t out of your reach.
“I’m ready to fight for the issues we all believe in – climate, injustice, inequality. Now more than ever, we need to not accept the old ways – this is our chance to build back better, and I’m ready to bring us together to get it done.”
Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP said he was thrilled to be able to work with Lidia in the federal parliament.
“Parliament is due for a shake up, and Lidia’s fearless advocacy for economic and social justice will strengthen the case for a Green New Deal and provide a voice for so many people that have been let down by politics,” Adam Bandt MP said.
“From being the first Aboriginal woman elected to Victorian parliament, to winning renters rights, forestry protections and LGBTIQ support, Lidia has an incredible track record of fighting for change.
“With an escalating inequality and climate crisis, there has never been a more important time to make sure the Greens reach new communities to speak with everyone in this country and leave no one behind.
“I’m proud I’ll be working alongside Lidia in Canberra. She’ll be an incredible addition to the Australian Greens team.”

“Degrees should cost students zero dollars,” Greens spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said this morning in response to the “government’s pathetic uni fee hikes”.
“Arts graduate Minister Tehan’s jobs rhetoric is empty. He’s part of a Government that would rather throw a tantrum at humanities students and slam them with higher fees than do the hard work of creating jobs across the economy.
“The government’s juvenile Murdoch-driven loathing of students and the humanities is on clear display today. Education isn’t just about getting you a job – it’s a public good and it’s certainly not about punishing students who wish to study humanities and the law.
“This is the government recognising the abject failure of their 2018 funding freeze and crawling back with their tail between their legs and another disastrous approach to uni funding.
“We need free TAFE and uni for all students to meet rising demand during the recession and ensure access to education for all throughout their lives. Anything short of that won’t do.
“Our unis are in crisis with rolling cuts to jobs and courses around the country. Without a substantial funding increase thousands more jobs will go and education quality will suffer,” she said.

The Morrison Government will leave millions of Australians behind when JobKeeper is scrapped on September 27.
In just 100 days any JobKeeper recipient unable to return to work as a result of the continuing pandemic, or the economic damage it has caused, will be back to Centrelink to join the unemployment queue.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would give Australians the economic lifeline they will need in the many months ahead to make it through and to get on this bridge we’re building together to the other side.
In 100 days he is determined to push them off that bridge.
When the pandemic began, the Prime Minister told us we were all in this in together.
“Our JobKeeper plan sees every Australian worker the same way, no matter what you earn. There is not more support for some than there is for others. That is not the Australian way. If one person falls on a hard time, if anyone falls on a hard time, it’s the same hard time. We’re all in this together.” Scott Morrison 30 March, 2020
His message today is “In 100 days – you are on your own”

Labor’s support of the Morrison Government’s plans to fast-track approvals for major projects risks permanent destruction of our environment and the future of our native wildlife, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Labor is teaming up with the Morrison Government to green light environmental destruction.
“It is very naïve of Labor to think the process for environmental approvals won’t be shoddier as a result of this deregulation plan.
“The government has not laid out any plans to improve the standards by which these decisions will be made.
“The truth is this deregulation plan will mean corners are cut, state laws that are even weaker than the already weak federal environmental laws will apply and our environment will be worse off for the sake of corporate profits.
“The government isn’t just planning on cutting the time of assessment, it’s cutting vital checks meaning projects are approved regardless of the damage to the environment.
“Over the last 20 years only 2 per cent of projects under the EPBC Act have been knocked back. Labor’s support for the government’s plan will risk even more destruction.
“Australia has one of the worst extinction rates in the world and this shameful statistic was created on the watch of Labor and Liberal governments.
“We need stronger protections for our environment, not weaker ones. And we need a real opposition, not the Labor Party that keeps siding with environmental vandals.
“Australians will be extremely disappointed that Labor is sacrificing the environment and native animals in favour of mining profits and big developers.”

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the federal government and National Cabinet must act urgently to ensure renters and those in housing stress are not left in enormous debt or at risk of homelessness as the eviction ban ‘cliff’ rapidly approaches.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Over the coming weeks and months, renters face the prospect of eviction and possible homelessness as eviction bans come to an end across the states and territories.
“With unemployment skyrocketing, we must do everything we can to avoid a worsening of the homelessness and housing crises.
“The National Cabinet must work to implement waivers for rent arrears, with relief for those with rental debts. It must also agree on a national standard of renters’ rights and rental laws to protect people from unfair evictions.
“Rent increases should be frozen and lenders directed to give mortgage relief with no interest accrual for property owners.
“This is the time for massive investment in public and community housing, and to ensure we recognise housing as a human right.
“The COVID-19 crisis has further exposed existing inequalities in our broken housing system. It’s time to ensure that we not only make it through the pandemic, but fix housing in this country once and for all,” she said.

Federal Labor sent a clear message to the Australian people last night that they are more interested in protecting the rights of paedophiles than they are in protecting the safety of children.
Anthony Albanese’s Senate team voted down a key part of a Government Bill which provided mandatory minimum sentences for Commonwealth child sex offences to ensure perpetrators receive the jail terms they deserve.
But faced with a fierce public backlash this morning, Labor then reversed its position and agreed to support the Government’s Bill in its entirety when it was brought back to the Senate for another vote this afternoon.
“In all my years in politics I have never seen a greater display of hypocrisy from Labor, which claims on the one hand that it wants to protect our children, but then says it is opposed in principle to minimum terms of imprisonment, despite having supported mandatory sentences for people smugglers when they were last in government,” Attorney-General Christian Porter said.
“It shouldn’t have taken three years of opposition and a public relations disaster today for Labor to finally realise the hypocrisy of its position and it now needs to explain to victims whose lives have been ruined by these ruthless predators why it let them down in the Senate last night.
“The need for mandatory jail sentences could not be clearer. As I’ve said before, 39 per cent of offenders convicted of Commonwealth child sex offences last financial year were not sentenced to a single day in jail. That simply doesn’t fit with the community’s expectations and does nothing to deter offenders who know there is strong chance that they won’t go to jail if they get caught.
“The changes approved by the Senate today will ensure that the punishment is in line with community expectations and that offenders face the powerful deterrence of knowing a jail cell will be waiting for them when they get caught.”
As well as setting new mandatory minimum jail terms, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill, 2019, creates a new maximum life penalty for the most serious Commonwealth offences, and a presumption against bail to help keep offenders in custody while they face trial.
“The Bill reforms the full sentencing cycle, setting a presumption against bail when offenders are first arrested, through to increasing supervision when they are ultimately released and tougher penalties for breaches of parole and other supervision orders,” the Attorney-General said.
The Bill also creates:

• Increased maximum penalties across the spectrum of Commonwealth child sex offences, including up to life imprisonment for the most serious offences
• Presumptions in favour of cumulative sentences and actual imprisonment
• Ensuring that all sex offenders, upon release from custody, are adequately supervised and subject to appropriate rehabilitative conditions
• Preventing courts from discounting sentences on the basis of good character where this is used to facilitate the crime.

These measures complement a broad package of reforms already introduced by the Coalition during the last Parliament, which strengthened laws relating to child sexual abuse and created new protections for the community.
This included tough new measures to stop child sex offenders from travelling overseas to abuse children and the introduction of Carly’s law, which targets online predators who use the internet to prepare or plan to sexually abuse children.

Following an unsuccessful last-minute court challenge by Animals Australia, Australian Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the Agriculture Minister, David Littleproud MP, must urgently intervene to halt the departure of the RETWA live export ship from Australia.
Senator Faruqi will move a motion in the Senate this afternoon calling on the Minister to intervene and stop the RETWA ship from departing Australia.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Minister Littleproud should do his job and enforce the new rules that are designed to protect animal welfare. This whole farce has revealed that the ‘independence’ of the Department as the regulator is a joke.
“It’s outrageous that for this government, when business interests and animal welfare collide, profit wins out every time.
“50,000 sheep will face inevitable suffering and great risk of death if this journey goes ahead.
“This exemption makes a complete mockery of the new animal welfare rules which were only very recently introduced, to prevent animals being shipped during the dangerously hot northern summer conditions.
“We are now halfway through June, and it’s only going to get hotter as this ship makes its way towards the equator.
“We need an Independent Office of Animal Welfare, operating at arm’s length from other functions of government. Animal welfare should be protected on principle and not thrown out the window whenever there’s a buck to be made,” she said.
Motion 670 available on the Senate Notice Paper.