Category: Australian News

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the Liberals have sensationally backed down and sent their university fee hikes and funding cuts legislation to a Senate inquiry.
This followed a Greens motion on Tuesday which showed Labor, Greens and crossbench support for an inquiry.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This is a sensational backdown from the government. The Liberals had every intention of pushing this legislation through before the budget.
“Not only did the Liberals gag debate in the House to ram the bill through, they voted against my inquiry referral motion just two days ago. They’ve now been dragged to the table, kicking and screaming.
“It’s critical that the Senate hear from universities and everyone who is impacted by this dud legislation.
“An inquiry will help take this rotten bill apart so we can block it once and for all in October,” she said.

Lidia Thorpe has today been confirmed by the Victorian Parliament, clearing the way for the Greens Senator-Elect for Victoria to make her first appearance in the Senate in October.
With Victoria’s ongoing Stage 4 lockdowns leaving Victorian Parliament sitting on a reduced schedule, the last-minute confirmation was made possible through a joint sitting.
“This is a proud day not just for me, but for Aboriginal people across the country,” Senator-elect Thorpe said.
“It’s now official. I’m bound for Canberra in October as the first Aboriginal person elected to the Senate to represent Victoria. But the work doesn’t wait until then, and it doesn’t just start today.
“Black women fight for their community from the day they’re born. When I was growing up in public housing, the thought that someone like me could be in Parliament was laughable. My promise to the people of Victoria is that I will fight for you, no matter who you are. I know what it’s like to go through the hard knocks and I will never forget where I came from.
“I have fought my whole life for those without a voice – no matter what your background or where you come from. I’m proud to be able to take that fight to the highest office.
“While days like this are just boring parliamentary procedure to some people, to Aboriginal people across the country, it’s a sign of hope. It shows that our parliament can be representative, and that Blak voices can be heard.
“This couldn’t have come at a more important time, and there’s so much to be done when I’m sworn in.
“Aboriginal communities across the country are being hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic. We’re being shut out of talks about how to fix the crisis and the government’s plans for a gas-led recovery would frack and destroy more of our precious heritage and drive the climate crisis.
“After caring for this country for more than 60,000 years, our land is being destroyed by unprecedented bushfires driven by climate change.
“Too many people are being left behind by this government. It’s time for leadership. It’s time for a parliament that truly represents the Australian community,  and understands the challenges we face.
“I’ll be fighting for action on climate change, an end to entrenched economic disadvantage and of course, Treaty and justice for First Nations people.  I can’t wait to get into Parliament to shake things up.”
Lidia Thorpe is a mother and grandmother from the Gunnai and Gunditjmara nations. She was the first Aboriginal woman in the Victorian parliament, is the first Aboriginal Senator for Victoria and first federal Aboriginal MP for the Greens.
The confirmation process occurred 3:00pm today, via a joint sitting of the Victorian House of Representatives and the Legislative Council.
Lidia Thorpe will now be sworn in to Federal Parliament during the October sitting, pandemic allowing.

The Australian Government will extend the human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015 by an additional three months.
The emergency period, which has been in place since 18 March 2020, will now be in place until 17 December 2020.
The extension of the emergency period was informed by specialist medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
AHPPC has advised that the international and domestic COVID-19 situation continues to pose an unacceptable public health risk.
The extension of the emergency period is an appropriate response to that risk.
The human biosecurity emergency declaration ensures the Government has the powers to take any necessary measures to prevent and control COVID-19 and protect the health of all Australians. These powers have been used on a limited basis on expert medical advice.
There are currently four Determinations under section 477 of the Biosecurity Act which are in place to protect Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• Restrictions on the entry of cruise ships into Australia
• Protections for the supply and sale of certain essential goods
• Restrictions on overseas travel
• Restrictions on retail stores at international airports

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the Catholic Schools NSW documents leaked to the ABC that confirm their practice of taking funding meant for disadvantaged schools to subsidise fees in wealthy areas.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Private school rorting of their disadvantaged students like this should be illegal. It’s an indictment on our education system that it’s not.
“This is galling confirmation of the dirty open secret of Australian school funding.
“Liberal and Labor governments have been running a protection racket for private schools for years.
“That this went on was well known, but the major parties have spent years avoiding putting in place transparency requirements that would have confirmed it.
“For too long, private schools have benefited from opaque reporting requirements that mask where public funding is going. Every last public dollar spent in the private system should be reported and justified at a school level.
“It’s clear the NSW Catholic Schools are more concerned with losing enrolments to public schools than they are about giving disadvantaged, First Nations and regional students the funding they are allocated.
“The ethics of this aren’t just between the Bishops and God. The Bishops were fully aware they were ripping off low-SES families to help the wealthy. It’s public money. They must apologise and be held accountable.
“This is the system that successive Labor and Liberal governments have lavished with billions in special deals while they starved hardworking public school teachers and students of basic funding.”

The Greens condemn the major parties for voting to create a backdoor for dirty donors to bypass state donations laws.
Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
“Once again, we see the major parties going to every length to keep the dirty donations flowing to their coffers.
“These new laws allow donors to bypass state donations laws. If we leave this backdoor wide open, we will see big money flowing to state parties under the guise of ‘federal purposes’.
“Thanks to pressure from the Greens, Queensland Labor has banned the corrupting influence of donations from property developers. Yet both Labor and the Libs just voted for laws that will undermine those protections.”
Labor sided with the government to oppose Greens amendments that would have lowered the disclosure threshold, capped donations at $1,000 each year, and stopped all donations from industries – such as mining, banking, and gambling – with a track record of trying to buy political outcomes.
“We had a chance today to stop corporations from buying their seats at the table; but the big parties remain all too willing to sell democracy to the highest bidder,” Senator Waters said.
“Corporate money should have no place in parliament. It’s time the government cleaned up legalised corruption and put public need ahead of party greed.”

The Australian Government is backing several Australian research projects aimed at finding breakthrough treatments, diagnostics and – the ultimate – a vaccine in the fight against COVID-19.
Our Government has allocated $10.4 million for 13 early stage biomedical projects through Biomedical Translation Bridge (BTB) program, which forms part of the landmark Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Five of them are COVID-19 research projects receiving $4.1 million. A key project, conducted by the University of Melbourne, involves developing an innovative ventilated hood for patients in isolation.
The Hood provides better respiratory treatment for patients, reducing the need for invasive ventilation, and also gives hospital staff greater protection from COVID-19, reducing viral levels in the immediate surroundings.
The novel hood is effective, comfortable, reusable and can be rapidly improved for urgent supply to Australian hospitals, clinics, GP surgeries, and beyond. A smaller, mobile version under development will have significant health benefits in developing countries and for patient transport.
Other COVID-19 research projects include a vaccine candidate being developed in South Australia, a new treatment for respiratory complications of COVID-19, a preventive nasal spray, and a rapid response test to predict how severely the disease will progress.
The remaining eight projects, receiving $6.3 million, will help patients of the future with new treatments and diagnostics for conditions such as muscular dystrophy, breast cancer, metabolic and fibrotic disease, prostate cancer, ataxia, antimicrobial resistance and the Zika virus.
Industry partners have contributed a further $28 million to the 13 projects, complementing our Government’s investment of $10.4 million – this means a total of $38.4 million is being invested into the biomedical sector.
The BTB is a four year $22.3 million MRFF program, operated by MTPConnect.
It helps researchers transform their ideas into new treatments to help tomorrow’s patients. These investments are from the second and third rounds of the BTB program.
Research is a key weapon in the fight against COVID-19.
The emphasis of the BTB program is on rapid translation of ideas into new products and treatments that will make a real difference to patients, both in Australia and globally.
Research is also about jobs and exports – which is particularly important as we tackle both the social and economic disruption of the pandemic to our lives and livelihoods.
Further details of the 13 successful projects are listed here.
BTB Round 2 recipients:
Bard1 Life Sciences Limited, VIC (ASX listed) is developing a novel high-throughput SubB2M-based liquid biopsy blood tests for breast cancer screening and monitoring based on a unique cancer-specific probe.
Cincera Therapeutics Pty Ltd, VIC/SA is developing a new drug treatment for Metabolic and Fibrotic Disease.
Envision Sciences Pty Ltd, SA is developing diagnosis and prognostic detection methods for prostate cancer, using blood and tissue samples.
LBT Innovations Limited, SA (ASX listed) is developing APAS®-AMR: An Automated Plate Assessment System for Anti-Microbial Resistance using Artificial Intelligence.
Pharmaxis Ltd, NSW (ASX listed) is developing compound PXS-4699 with tailored dual action to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
The University of Adelaide, SA is developing a world-first needle-free Zika virus vaccine.
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, VIC is developing a device for guiding therapy in ataxia and imbalance.
UniQuest Pty Ltd, QLD is developing first-in-class drug candidates for the treatment of prostate and other cancers.
BTB COVID-19 Round 3 recipients:
Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd, VIC (ASX listed) is developing a new treatment for respiratory complications as a result of COVID-19 in a global clinical study with a potential fast track pathway to clinical practice.
Starpharma Pty Ltd, VIC (ASX listed) is developing an intranasal spray, utilising an already-marketed, broad-spectrum antiviral dendrimer for COVID-19 and potential use in future pandemics.
SpeeDx Pty Ltd, NSW is developing the InSignia(TM) Respiratory Virus Host Response test – a rapid-response COVID-19 assay to enhance Australia’s current and future pandemic preparedness.
University of Melbourne, VIC is developing a novel ventilated hood for patient isolation to provide better patient respiratory treatment and protect hospital staff from COVID-19.
Vaxine Pty Ltd, SA is developing an Australian COVID-19 vaccine, COVAX-19®, which comprises of a recombinant spike protein antigen formulated with Vaxine’s proprietary Advax™ adjuvant.

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the Senate has fired a warning shot at the Morrison Government, voting 24-24 for a Greens motion to establish an inquiry into the Job-ready Graduates Package legislation.
Though the motion was defeated, it was supported by Labor, the Greens, and Senators Lambie, Griff and Patrick.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The Senate has sent a strong message to the Morrison Government today. This hugely significant legislation must go to a Senate inquiry.
“The government can’t just ram through whatever it wants, whenever it wants. The Senate has established processes to scrutinise bills. This is part and parcel of our democracy.
“Less than a week has passed since the final legislation was made public by the government. This is a once-in-a-generation change to university fees and funding. To try to push it through without an inquiry would be autocratic and shameful,” she said.

The Greens have said that Anglicare Australia’s latest Rental Affordability Snapshot update, released today, has shown that only a tiny percentage of rentals (1 percent or less) are affordable for Australians on low incomes, and this will only get worse if the JobSeeker payment is reduced in the coming months.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Housing spokesperson, said:
“Renters are doing it tough during the Covid crisis. With unemployment skyrocketing, many are struggling to make ends meet.
“As bans on evictions and rental increases are wound up across the country, we’re at serious risk of seeing more people pushed into homelessness.
“We need to extend eviction bans nationwide and invest urgently in social housing. Building 500,000 new publicly-owned homes will be critical to solving the housing crisis and ensuring everyone has a place to live.
“The pandemic has revealed that the government has the ability to implement powerful measures to tackle poverty and homelessness. What is lacking is political will,” she said.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens Family & Community Services spokesperson, said:
“The Government has no plan to manage the rental stress that is coming in just weeks when JobSeeker is back below the poverty line.
“Anglicare highlights yet again how important a permanent increase to the JobSeeker payment is in ensuring that no one is living in poverty.
“Even with the temporary JobSeeker increase there are still very few affordable properties to rent for people on income support.
“Everyone in our community should have safe, affordable housing and an income to ensure this,” she said.

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the Catholic Schools NSW documents leaked to the ABC that confirm their practice of taking funding meant for disadvantaged schools to subsidise fees in wealthy areas.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Private school rorting of their disadvantaged students like this should be illegal. It’s an indictment on our education system that it’s not.
“This is galling confirmation of the dirty open secret of Australian school funding.
“Liberal and Labor governments have been running a protection racket for private schools for years.
“That this went on was well known, but the major parties have spent years avoiding putting in place transparency requirements that would have confirmed it.
“For too long, private schools have benefited from opaque reporting requirements that mask where public funding is going. Every last public dollar spent in the private system should be reported and justified at a school level.
“It’s clear the NSW Catholic Schools are more concerned with losing enrolments to public schools than they are about giving disadvantaged, First Nations and regional students the funding they are allocated.
“The ethics of this aren’t just between the Bishops and God. The Bishops were fully aware they were ripping off low-SES families to help the wealthy. It’s public money. They must apologise and be held accountable.
“This is the system that successive Labor and Liberal governments have lavished with billions in special deals while they starved hardworking public school teachers and students of basic funding.”

The Morrison Government is proud to have invested more than $1 billion in ground breaking medical research through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.
As part of this investment, more than $16.9 million has been awarded to researchers to study women’s health issues and aspects of primary health care, and to facilitate more and better clinical trials of new and improved treatments.
In the lead up to Women’s Health Week (7-11 September 2020) the MRFF grants announced today are:

• $5 million over five years to the National Women’s Health Research, Translation and Impact Network, for research with strong potential to improve health outcomes for women and girls
• $5 million over four years to the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance to be a national partner providing specialised leadership and support to both investigator-led and industry clinical trials, and to Clinical Quality Registries
• more than $6.9 million to five projects to improve primary health care in the areas of contraception and abortion for rural women, health care for people in aged care, diabetes in Indigenous Australians, nutrition and heart disease, and the health of urban Indigenous people (details below).

Compared with men, women have a higher life expectancy but experience more disease burden from living with disease, rather than dying early from disease and injury.
The women’s health network will use the funding for research into nine priority areas, including reproductive health, mental health, and preventing cancer and heart disease.
The project will also boost national and international collaboration on women’s health, build health workforce capacity and develop leaders in women’s health.
In addition to these grants, I am today announcing new grant opportunities worth more than $86.5 million, for clinical trials and other vital research.
Clinical trials grant opportunities totalling $77.2 million will provide up to:

• $24 million for the Million Minds Mission Mental Health Research supporting access to new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and recovery
• $3 million for clinical trials to examine the benefits of medicinal cannabis for managing pain, symptoms and side effects for cancer patients
• $25.2 million for international clinical trial collaborations
• $25 million for clinical trials of new or improved treatments for rare cancers, rare diseases and other illness with unmet clinical need.

Other grant opportunities are making $9.3 million available for research:

• $4.8 million for primary health care research
• $4.5 million from the MRFF and National Health and Medical Research Council for research into silicosis, a preventable lung disease related to inhalation of fine silica dust from artificial stone bench tops.

Investing in health and medical research is a key priority of our Government’s Long Term National Health Plan. Research of all kinds is essential to improve our prevention of disease, health care and treatments, and to make our health system work better for all Australians.
The Morrison Government’s MRFF is a $20 billion endowment fund. The MRFF is a long-term investment supporting Australia’s best and brightest researchers. Further information about the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff.