Category: Australian News

Increased financial support for hundreds of thousands of workers in New South Wales will be available from next week as part of the Commonwealth Government’s expanded national COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Payments will continue to support workers in every state and territory who lose hours due to a state government lockdown or public health order.
Eligible workers will receive $750 per week if they lose 20 hours or more of work while those that lose between 8 and less than 20 hours, or a full day of work, will receive a payment of $450 per week.
This new level of payment recognises the significant impact that the new COVID-19 Delta strain is having on communities, businesses and workers.
The Commonwealth Government will provide financial support to those in a declared Commonwealth Hotspot. The provision of financial support outside of these areas will be provided where requested at the cost of state or territory governments.
The new national payment rate will commence for payments processed week commencing 2 August and will be automatically updated for those already in the Services Australia system.
It will be available from day one of any potential lockdown in the future, with claims made from day eight in arrears for the previous seven days. A weekly payment will then be made for the duration of the hotspot declaration.
There will be no liquid assets test applied to eligibility for these payments and an individual does not need to run down personal annual leave.
Individuals who currently receive an income support payment through our social security safety net will receive a weekly payment of $200, in addition to their existing payment, if they can demonstrate they have lost more than 8 hours of work and meet the other eligibility requirements for the COVID-19 Disaster Payment.
Claiming this payment must be done through Services Australia and myGov and will be a separate stand-alone payment. It will be paid weekly for however long the lockdown and Commonwealth Hotspot remains in place.
Our Government will continue to support Australians facing the economic consequences of extended lockdowns.
The Commonwealth Government, through Services Australia, has processed more than 955,000 COVID Disaster Payment claims, paying out more than $490 million to workers in New South Wales and Victoria.
More information about the COVID-19 Disaster Payment can be found on the Services Australia website.

The Morrison and Berejiklian Governments continue to work together to support businesses in New South Wales during the current COVID-19 lockdown.
With Greater Sydney set to remain in lockdown until at least 28 August 2021, both governments have agreed to expand the COVID-19 Business Support Payment.
Under the expanded payment, eligible entities, which includes not-for-profits, will now receive payments of between $1,500 and $100,000 per week based on the level of their payroll with the maximum turnover threshold increased from $50 million to $250 million.
The payment will continue to be calculated based on 40 per cent of payroll for businesses that have suffered a 30 per cent or more decline in turnover.
For non-employing businesses, such as sole traders, the payment will remain set at $1,000 per week.
The expanded payment will now cover more than 400,000 businesses employing 3.3 million workers in NSW subject to eligibility.
The payment will also provide more substantial support for businesses to cover unavoidable costs such as rent, insurance and maintenance as well as employee costs during an extended lockdown.
The expanded support will continue to be conditional on businesses maintaining their employee headcount as at 13 July (covering permanent and long-term casual employees) by not taking active steps to terminate their employment.
This will help maintain the connection between employers and employees and in doing so support the economic recovery once restrictions are eased.
The expanded payment will take effect from 18 July 2021, the start of the program. Businesses that have already submitted an application will not need to do anything, their payment will be automatically adjusted consistent with the expanded program.
Workers who have lost hours will continue to be supported by the COVID-19 disaster payment with more than 812,000 claims granted in NSW to date with more than $411 million in weekly payments.
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison said as NSW’s restrictions looked set to continue, his government had been developing options to supercharge the partnership with NSW to support businesses.
“These businesses are the ones we all need still standing to drive the recovery on the other side,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our support has never been set and forget and even before Service NSW had started to deliver the support on Monday that we announced earlier this month, my government had been looking at what else businesses would require to strongly emerge on the other side of this lockdown.
“Whether you’re a worker who has lost their income or a business that’s suffering, even more help is on the way.”
The Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said as the virus and the situation in NSW continues to evolve so does the Morrison Government’s response.
“The expansion of the NSW COVID-19 Business Payment remains consistent with the approach we have taken throughout the pandemic in delivering temporary, targeted and proportionate economic support,” the Treasurer said.
“Up to an additional 1,900 businesses employing around 300,000 people could benefit from the expanded eligibility while increasing the cap will also make the payment more generous for some businesses currently accessing support.”
Businesses should contact Services NSW or visit https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/ for more information.

The Morrison Government is providing $3.3 million to support the approximate two million Australians living with a rare disease, providing them with support, raise awareness and create new educational programs.
The new funding will drive the development and delivery of awareness and education resources, and care and support services, for people living with a rare disease, their families and carers, health professionals and the wider population.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the funding would help to provide new supports to those living with rare diseases.
“Rare diseases are defined as those that affect fewer than 5 in 10,000 people. It’s estimated there are more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting about 8% of the Australian population. Most have genetic origins and many have no known cure,” Minister Hunt said.
“The Morrison Government took the first nationally coordinated step to address rare diseases with the release of the National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases in February 2020 and this funding helps to build on these key foundational steps.”
The University of New South Wales has received $1.9 million to deliver the Rare Disease Awareness, Education, Support and Training Project (RArEST). This project will develop and deliver rare disease resources, education and training which will include a focus on mental health, and social and emotional wellbeing.
Rare Voices Australia has received $1 million for its Rare Awareness Rare Education Project (RARE Project). This project will develop and deliver rare disease awareness, information and education activities including a national rare disease digital platform. This digital platform will provide specific information on how to access rare disease expertise, support and services in the health and disability systems, and elsewhere.
The Australian National University has received $198,000 over 2 years for work to enhance healthcare provider awareness to improve the timely and accurate diagnosis of rare diseases. The project will develop a diagnostic reasoning tool to support recognition of rare diseases with different presentations, based on 3 indicative diseases – myositis, primary immunodeficiency disorder and sarcoidosis.
The Morrison Government is also funding the Childhood Dementia Initiative with $185,000 for the National Childhood Dementia Awareness, Support and Education Project. This project will develop and deliver awareness, information, and education for families and health professionals about childhood dementia, a term used to describe over 70 rare genetic neurodegenerative disorders.
The National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases was developed by Rare Voices Australia in consultation with stakeholders, including people living with a rare disease, their families and carers.
The plan highlights three main pillars – awareness and education, care and support, and research and data. It can be found on the Australian Government Department of Health website.

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to Labor’s move to dump its commitment to winding back negative gearing.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This is a cowardly and pathetic backflip. House prices and rents are skyrocketing, and Labor is throwing fuel on the fire.
“In the middle of a housing affordability crisis, Labor has caved to wealthy investors and the Liberals. This is a shocking move and a betrayal of young people in particular.
“Not too long ago, Labor was calling out negative gearing and the CGT discount as ‘tax subsidies’ that ‘benefit the wealthiest Australians’ and are ‘skewed to high income earners’. What, exactly, has changed?
“It seems that for Labor, short-term, cheap politics have trumped any semblance of a commitment to progressive and equitable public policy. Shame!”

The Morrison Government must urgently deliver targeted and adequate funding support to the the Arts and Entertainment Industry, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“Australia’s Arts and Entertainment Industry has been pummelled by this crisis from the very beginning and it is still suffering.
“The Morrison Government has failed to provide adequate support to help the Industry survive, to help workers put food on the table and pay rent, and to keep doors open in the future.
“The Greens are calling for the RISE fund to be uncapped so that those who need support can get it.
“The Morrison Government had no problems uncapping the grants for the construction industry and extending initial funding even further, why won’t they do the same for the arts and entertainment industry?
“The arts, entertainment and tourism industries in particular, have not been able to recover and have had little support. JobKeeper should never have been taken away and should be reinstated immediately.
“The government must also establish a federal insurance guarantee for the Arts Industry.
“Gigs and festivals across the country have been cancelled or postponed and not for the first time. The industry needs to know it is insured for any losses incurred due to snap lockdowns and Covid outbreaks or it will struggle to reschedule events and recover.
“I wrote to the Treasurer and Arts Minister months ago calling for an insurance guarantee. It seems much like the pleas of the entire Industry, this has fallen on deaf ears.
“The support given by the Morrison Government to workers in lockdown states is insufficient and will not help many artists and entertainers due to the nature of their work.
“The Arts Minister needs to show he truly understands the Industry he is supposed to represent and start walking the talk, by making more money available and getting it out the door faster.
“We stand to lose a generation of artists and entertainers, many have been lost during the past year already, it will be on the Morrison Government if that happens.”

Labor’s Powerful, Transparent and Independent National Anti-Corruption Commission

An Albanese Labor Government will establish a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission.
The ever-growing list of scandals surrounding the Morrison Government shows why Australia needs a powerful and independent anti-corruption commission and why Mr Morrison and his colleagues will do everything they can to stop one from being established.
The Liberals deny there is a problem, make endless excuses, and have put forward a draft bill for a commission designed to be so weak, so secretive and so lacking in independence that instead of exposing corruption, it would cover it up.
Every state and territory in Australia has its own anti-corruption commission and Labor believes it is now long past time for a Commonwealth body to be established to tackle corruption in the federal government.
Anti-corruption commissions are powerful and independent investigatory bodies that serve the public by uncovering corruption and by ensuring that members of a government, including politicians, are held to account if they engage in corrupt conduct.
The Albanese Labor Government’s National Anti-Corruption Commission will operate as a standing Royal Commission into serious and systemic corruption in the federal government. It will have a broad jurisdiction to investigate and hold to account Commonwealth ministers, public servants, statutory office holders, government agencies, parliamentarians, personal staff of politicians and other Commonwealth public officials.
Labor’s National Anti-Corruption Commission will also be able to ‘follow the money’, meaning it can also investigate private individuals and companies involved in systemic and serious corruption by public officials.
This is in stark contrast to Mr Morrison’s weak and conflicted proposal which would be unable to instigate its own independent inquiries into Government corruption, prevented from holding public hearings into politicians or public servants, and banned from investigating any of the multiple past scandals of the Morrison Government.
After eight long years in office the Liberals have failed to take any action to tackle corruption, leaving the Commonwealth the only Australian government without a body dedicated to tackling corruption by public officials.
The Morrison Government’s refusal to honour its election promise is allowing corruption to go unchecked, enabling ministers to avoid being held to account for their actions and undermining public confidence in the Australian Government.
An Albanese Labor Government will put an end to the Morrison Government’s shameful inaction by establishing a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission.

An Albanese Labor Government will deliver the same legislated tax relief to more than 9 million Australians as the Morrison Government.
The Shadow Cabinet and Caucus have today confirmed that Labor in government will uphold the legislated changes to personal income taxes and maintain the existing regimes for negative gearing and capital gains tax.
Labor is providing certainty and clarity to Australian working families after a difficult two years for our country and the world.
Our focus is on making sure Australia emerges from this crisis stronger and more resilient – with an economy that works for working families not the other way around.
When it comes to the economy, the next election will be about the Prime Minister’s dangerous and costly failures to manage the pandemic.
His failures on vaccines and quarantines have caused lockdowns 18 months into this pandemic, and those lockdowns are causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.
Over eight long years in government, the Coalition’s record is clear in the lives of everyday Australians: stagnant wages, insecure jobs, increased costs for health care and childcare, longer waits to see a GP, and a trillion dollars in debt.
Their own Budget forecasts a decline in real wages over the next four years and independent analysis by the McKell Institute shows that their policies have made the average worker $13,000 a year worse off.
Improving the Budget is all about growing the economy, cracking down on waste and rorts, creating more opportunities for more Australians in more parts of the country, and creating a society that is stronger after COVID-19 than it was before.
It also means ensuring our broader tax system is fair and sustainable, especially when it comes to making sure that multinational corporations are paying their fair share of tax and we will have more to say about that.
After promising eight surpluses and delivering eight deficits – including the largest in Australia’s history – this Government’s only legacy will be generational debt without a generational dividend.

The Morrison Government has secured an additional 85 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, providing access to additional booster vaccinations that will protect Australians in the future.
Through continued engagement with Pfizer-BioNTech, the Government has secured 60 million doses in 2022, and 25 million doses in 2023. Delivery will begin in the first quarter of 2022 and enable booster coverage throughout the year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new supply schedule that the Government had successfully negotiated with Pfizer-BioNTech would provide every Australian with a booster vaccine if required.
“We have secured an additional 85 million doses of Pfizer, which brings Australia’s total Pfizer doses to 125 million,” the Prime Minister said.
“This is a significant shot in the arm for Australia’s vaccine supply. Every Australian will have access to a booster shot if it is needed.
“This will ensure individuals, families and communities have certainty about their continued protection against the evolving threat of COVID-19 over the next two years. We have turned the corner in Australia’s vaccine programme and this is another milestone on our pathway back to a normal life.”
Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said this reaffirmed the nation’s vaccine supply and provided additional capability to manage booster timing requirements if recommended by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
“These additional doses further expands and strengthens Australia’s vaccine capacity,” Minister Hunt said.
“More than 280 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have now been secured to support the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.”
“We’ve taken this step on advice from the expert Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group.”

The Australian Government is launching its 10th DonateLife Week today by calling on the country to take just one minute to join The Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week and register as organ and tissue donors.
Launching DonateLife Week today, the Minister responsible for the Australian Government’s national program to increase organ and tissue donation, Dr David Gillespie, said there are around 13 million Australians aged 16+ who are eligible to register as organ and tissue donors – but haven’t. People aged 25 and under, those born overseas, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are least likely to be registered.
“Having spent the majority of my career as a doctor, organ donation is a topic close to many clinicians’ hearts, including mine,” Minister Gillespie said.
“We know most Australians actually support organ and tissue donation, in fact, a recent poll of 60,000 Australians showed 4 out of 5 say they’d be willing to donate their organs when they die.
“So the problem isn’t that Australians are against organ and tissue donation – it’s that they’re not sure if they’re eligible to register, don’t know how to or simply haven’t got around to it.”
Last year saw a 12 per cent reduction in the number of people receiving a transplant, a 16 per cent decrease in organ donors and a 16 per cent drop in registrations due to the impact of COVID-19.
“With around 1,800 Australians on the organ transplant waitlist, including almost 40 kids and teens aged 18 and under, the demand for donors has never been greater,” Minister Gillespie said.
“I encourage every Australian to take a minute of their time and get online this DonateLife Week and register, and just as important – tell their family they want to be a donor.
“Any Australian aged 16 and over can sign up online. It doesn’t matter how old you are, your medical history, your lifestyle, what country you’re from or how healthy you are – you can still register as an organ and tissue donor.
“Don’t rule yourself out even if you think you’ve lived an unhealthy life or have suffered illness; let doctors make that decision if the time comes.
“Even if you are unable to donate your organs, you could still transform the lives of others by donating tissue, such as bone, skin or corneas which could help someone suffering burns, significant sporting injuries or facing blindness.”
The Great Registration Race for DonateLife Week runs through July and August with a big push from today for DonateLife Week, encouraging up to 100,000 more Australians to get their phone and Medicare card out to register and get involved.
“Imagine the hope this can bring to these 1,800 Australians waiting for a life-saving transplant if they see 100,000 people register as donors? This really could save and transform lives.”
DonateLife Week is the Australian Government’s key public awareness initiative to encourage people to register as organ and tissue donors and to tell their family they want to be a donor.
Registering is easy and only takes one minute at donatelife.gov.au/register

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts and Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has backed calls today for greater support for the hard-hit industry:
“The Arts and Entertainment Industry was one of the first to be hit by Covid restrictions early last year and it continues to be pummelled by repeated lockdowns and social distancing requirements.
“Despite being one of the hardest hit industries, the Morrison Government took months to deliver any support and it continues to underdeliver.
“Our artists and entertainers, their crews, the venues they perform and exhibit in, are suffering. Some artists have been lost from the industry entirely.
“In the Festival State – South Australia – we are in the midst of a seven-day lockdown that has closed the doors on our winter events and live music scene, directly impacting artists and entertainers and the industries that rely on them – hospitality and tourism.
“The Arts Industry Council of South Australia has today called for more support for artists and arts workers by lowering the earnings threshold for sole traders and for safety nets for festivals, live performance music and cultural events. The Greens back their call.
“The Greens also again urge Arts Minister Paul Fletcher to implement a federal insurance guarantee for the Arts Industry. Gigs and festivals across the country have been cancelled or postponed and not for the first time. The industry needs to know it is insured for any losses incurred due to snap lockdowns and Covid outbreaks or it will struggle to reschedule events and recover.
“The arts and entertainment industry has given us so much during this crisis, the Morrison Government can and must do so much more to give back to it and ensure it survives and once again thrives when the pandemic is over.”