Category: Australian News

The Greens have written to  the Prime Minister requesting that he urgently update the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to examine the impact of profit-making corporations on the provision and quality of aged care services.
The Greens say it is a scandal that private aged care providers are making mega-profits while failing to protect their residents from the coronavirus with the sector raking in $1.7 billion in profit in the 2018-19 financial year, at the same time as many not-for-profit providers are struggling with chronic underfunding.
A survey by accounting firm StewartBrown found that in March 2020 almost two thirds of aged care providers were operating at a loss, more than at the same time the previous year and part of a continuing trend where financial viability is bringing about pressure on quality of care and the viability of services. The situation is even more challenging in rural and remote areas, leaving these older Australians particularly vulnerable.
The Greens are also calling for the inclusion in the October Budget of an urgent $3 billion investment in aged care to increase hours of care, increase the staff to resident ratios and ensure a minimum of at least one registered nurse is rostered on 24/7 in each facility.
Greens Leader, Adam Bandt said:
“It is time to rethink the privatisation of aged care.”
“Privatisation and deregulation, driven by thirty years of neoliberal ideology, have produced a perfect storm of a casualised workforce and substandard service, and it is causing heartache for residents and their families.”
“Big corporations are profiting from the misery of their residents and the failure to protect their workforce. Worse, the public is subsidising these big corporations’ mega-profits while standards of care keep slipping.”
“The Prime Minister must act. After the problems in NSW early in the Covid crisis and now in Victoria, the government is on notice that privatisation is failing older people and residents in aged care facilities across the country are particularly vulnerable,” Bandt said.
Greens spokesperson on Aged Care, Senator Rachel Siewert said:
“There must be an immediate injection of $3 billion dollars into aged care to ensure adequate nursing and staff to resident ratios ensuring proper levels of care for residents. The PM must also update the terms of reference of the Royal Commission to look at the impact of profit making corporations on this aged care scandal.”
“The next step is to implement recommendations designed to end clinical failures identified by many including a Senate inquiry in April 2019.”
“The government had plenty of time to act before Covid arrived to overwhelm a system that we already knew was failing our vulnerable older people and their families. Now they have no excuses.”
“It is an absolute scandal that while the taxpayer is propping up the giant profits of corporations,  residents and workers are not being properly protected from the coronavirus,” Siewert said.
Source quoted: https://www.stewartbrown.com.au/images/documents/StewartBrown_-_Aged_Care_Financial_Performance_Survey_Sector_March_2020.pdf

The Greens have welcomed a new report from the Grattan Institute today, Cheaper childcare: A practical plan to boost female workforce participation, which illustrates that government investment to lower the cost of early learning will improve gender equity and opportunities for women’s financial independence.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson on Education, said:
“Expensive childcare has held Australian women back for far too long. The reality is that child-rearing in Australia is highly gendered, and it’s women who lose independence and income when decisions have to be made about who will stay home.
“Government should invest in early learning and make it fee-free for all. This will benefit women, and it will benefit the whole community.
“Early learning and care should be recognised as a critical part of a child’s development, and funded as such by the government.
“It should be fee-free so every family can access it without barriers. It is an essential service,” she said.
Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Women, said:
“This report confirms what women have been saying for years: childcare in Australia is unaffordable and inaccessible, and mothers, more often than not, are paying the price.
“It also highlights that fairer parental leave and workplace flexibility for both parents are needed to give families more choices when juggling caring responsibilities.
“But instead of looking at these options, the Liberal government is trying to force women back into the kitchen.
“Women are bearing the worst economic impacts from Covid, losing more jobs or hours of work than men, and performing a much higher care load.
“And our Treasurer’s response is to tell the women of Australia to have more babies to boost the economy.
“You want a real economic stimulus? Help women return to work by making childcare permanently free and making it easier for parents to share care.”

Today’s Aged Care Employee Day is a timely opportunity to thank all aged care workers for their outstanding devotion to senior Australians in care.
Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians Richard Colbeck said there has never been a more difficult time to work in aged care.
“The impact of COVID-19 in Victoria and New South Wales particularly has been simply tragic and devastating,” he said,
“The commitment of everyone working in the aged care sector throughout our nation has never been so vital.
“It’s important we promote and recognise excellence across the diverse and dynamic fields of endeavour in the age services sector.
“The passion and achievements of organisations, teams and individuals in the service of senior Australians is paramount as we work to increase community involvement in aged care and services.”
Minister Colbeck encouraged all Australian to reflect on the dedication and sense of duty of aged care workers.
“They devote themselves to the care of our loved ones, each and every day,” he said.
“Aged care employees deserve our gratitude and can be assured that their work is highly valued.”

The Greens are calling on the South Australian Government to guarantee the state won’t lose a single gigalitre of water allocated to it under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan after a feasibility study into SA’s desalination plant showed the Liberal Party was gearing up to cut SA’s allocation.
Greens Spokesperson for Water Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The feasibility study – released more than a year after it was conducted – shows the Liberals have been gearing up to cut SA’s River Murray allocation permanently.
“Cutting SA’s water would be devastating for our river system, environment and our community’s water supply. The South Australian Government must rule out any moves in this direction, immediately.
“A reduction in water flowing over the border risks the health of the entire river system. Cuts to South Australia’s allocation is bad news for the environmental health of the Murray-Darling from top to bottom.
“Has Minister Speirs forgotten he is the representative for South Australia’s water and environment, not big upstream irrigators?
“The study shows the desal plant is not effective, not good for South Australia, not good for taxpayers and not good for the environment.
“Not only will it never be a substitute for water flowing down the river, it is outrageously expensive to run. The desal plant will cost taxpayers in the vicinity of 40 times the market value of water.
“This would make Adelaide’s water the most expensive in the country, and we’d still have a dead river.
“The Federal Water Minister finally released the review in the Water for Fodder program today too and together with the feasibility study it’s clear a second round of this program should be ruled out.
“The Greens will move to disallow the Water for Fodder Program in the Senate when the Parliament sits later this month. SA’s water supply needs to be protected, and we cannot afford to lose 60GL more, so upstream farmers can get some water. It puts the whole river system in jeopardy and will cost taxpayers an absolute fortune.”

Greens Leader Adam Bandt says today’s announcement that the government will expand JobKeeper suggests lessons have not been learned from the first round of JobKeeper, meaning millions in need will continue to miss out.
“The Government has shown today how easy it is to expand eligibility,” Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, said today.
“While we welcome an expansion, this was surely an opportunity to fill the gaps that see millions of workers unfairly missing out on JobKeeper.
“The biggest lesson we’re learning from COVID-19 is that you can’t leave anyone behind. It’s important that we provide everyone with the support they need to be able to cope with this pandemic and ensure restrictions have the best chance of working.
“JobKeeper must be expanded to include childcare workers, casuals, university staff and workers on temporary visas.
Don’t cut the rate
“It’s also very concerning that the Liberal/Labor agreement to cut JobSeeker continues unabated. We can never return to supports below the poverty line, and the Greens are the only party pushing for it to be retained at $1,100 a fortnight,” Bandt said.

Following the introduction of stage four restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and stage three restrictions across regional Victoria, the Morrison Government will help more businesses qualify for JobKeeper.
Key adjustments include:

• A change to the employee reference date – from 3 August 2020 the relevant date of employment for an eligible employee will move from 1 March to 1 July 2020, expanding employee eligibility.
• A change to the turnover reference period – to be eligible for JobKeeper post 28 September 2020, organisations will only have to demonstrate that their actual turnovers have significantly declined in the previous quarter.

As a result, organisations that are able to demonstrate a significant decline in turnover in the September 2020 quarter will be able to access the JobKeeper extension in the December quarter. An organisation able to demonstrate the requisite decline in turnover in the December 2020 quarter would be able to access the JobKeeper extension in the March 2021 quarter.
The combined effect of the economic deterioration in Victoria which will see more firms needing to rely on JobKeeper and the eligibility changes being made to the program will see the cost of JobKeeper increase by around $15.6 billion in 2020-21.
While these changes will apply nation-wide, it is expected that more than 80 per cent of the increased payments will flow to Victorian businesses and employees.
These changes, combined with a deterioration in the economy as a result of the stricter restrictions imposed in Victoria will see the total cost of the JobKeeper program increase to $101.3 billion.
It is now expected that around 4 million Australians will be benefiting from JobKeeper Payments at the end of the September quarter, falling to around 2.24 million in the December quarter and 1.75 million in the March 2021 quarter.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was doing whatever it took to save lives and save livelihoods.
“Australia is facing a situation that is constantly changing. Our response is to get the right support to all those Australian families, workers and businesses that need us, as these circumstances change,” the Prime Minister said.
“This means more support for more workers and more businesses for longer, as we battle this latest Victorian wave.”
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the introduction of stage four restrictions by the Victorian Government will have a severe economic impact on the Victorian and Australian economy.
“Already more than 270,000 businesses covering around 975,000 employees in Victoria are being supported by the Morrison Government’s JobKeeper Payment.”
“To help keep more businesses in business and Australians in jobs through this incredibly challenging period, the Government will ease the eligibility criteria to make it easier for organisations to qualify for the JobKeeper extension from 28 September 2020.”
“These change will add to the $15 billion the Morrison Government has already contributed to the Victorian economy through JobKeeper and small business CashFlow boost payments.”
Every arm of government is working to keep Australians in jobs and businesses in business.
The Morrison Government will continue to do what it takes to cushion the blow and help Australians get to the other side of the coronavirus crisis.

The Morrison Government’s $10million for Fox Sports to broadcast women’s and niche sports is part of its Covid Response Package, yet no extra funding has been given to the ABC or SBS during the pandemic, the Senate’s Covid Select Committee has heard today.
Under questioning from Greens Spokesperson for Media and Communications, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the Department of Communications told the Committee the program which has already seen $30m given to Murdoch, was extended to help get women’s and niche sports broadcast once they’re back up and running.
“It’s extraordinary the government has tried to justify this corporate welfare by calling it a Covid response measure,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“This is just another example of the Morrison Government using the pandemic to justify giving public money and free passes to their corporate donor mates.
“The public broadcasters should’ve been given this money so that taxpayers who can barely afford to eat and pay rent let alone subscribe to Fox Sports, could watch women’s and niche sports for free.
“The Department officials confirmed to me despite the enormous increase in traffic to the public broadcasters, no additional funding has been given to the ABC or SBS during Covid19.
“Giving $40m to Murdoch when the ABC is laying off staff and small and regional publishers across the country are closing up is a kick in the guts. The ABC, SBS and small and regional publishers have played a vital role in getting life-saving information into our communities during this pandemic.
“This program makes a mockery of the Morrison Government’s Covid response measures and should be cancelled or redirected to ABC and SBS.”

Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has called for South Australia to be included in the Federal Government’s Paid Pandemic Leave scheme, with ABS data revealing 186,000 South Australian workers have no leave entitlements.
Senator Hanson-Young has written to SA Premier Steven Marshall asking him to make the request to the PM to add the tool of paid pandemic leave to SA’s arsenal in the fight against Covid19.
“Prevention is always better than cure. Paid Pandemic Leave would help prevent a further health crisis, like that engulfing Victoria, from happening here in SA. Steven Marshall shouldn’t wait till SA is in a state of disaster, we need to act now,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“Insecure work is spreading the coronavirus and with more than a quarter of the South Australian workforce having no paid leave entitlements, we are at risk of a second wave here.
“If people are sick, have symptoms or are waiting for the test results they must be able to afford to stay at home and take time off work. Paid leave for workers who is sick will help protect the rest of the community from further infection.
“80% of transmissions in Victoria occurred through the workplace. Paid leave could be the difference between South Australia continuing it’s relatively good run or a new outbreak.
“The PM should not be requiring states to wait until there’s thousands of infections like in Victoria before granting other states paid pandemic leave.
“Waiting until a state of disaster is declared in other states and territories is negligent. The PM should be offering support right now to help prevent the disaster from happening in the first place.
“These figures show that Scott Morrison’s unwillingness to grant paid pandemic leave across the board lifts the risk of another Victorian-style outbreak.
“Nationwide more than a million people are going to be pushed back to work without sick leave, which puts them at risk and jeopardises our nation’s social and economic recovery.
“Each one of those people risks having to decide whether that sore throat is worth cancelling the one shift they have that week. They’ll need to decide between following the health advice and keeping a roof over their heads, and we’ve seen in Victoria how that difficult decision leaves everyone worse off.
“The Greens were the first party to call for paid pandemic leave and we have a bill in Parliament to make it happen. Given the scale of the risk in virus-prone states and Scott Morrison’s unwillingness to act, the Greens will press ahead with our bill when Parliament resumes.”

The Greens are calling on the South Australian Government to guarantee the state won’t lose a single gigalitre of water allocated to it under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan after a feasibility study into SA’s desalination plant showed the Liberal Party was gearing up to cut SA’s allocation.
Greens Spokesperson for Water Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The feasibility study – released more than a year after it was conducted – shows the Liberals have been gearing up to cut SA’s River Murray allocation permanently.
“Cutting SA’s water would be devastating for our river system, environment and our community’s water supply. The South Australian Government must rule out any moves in this direction, immediately.
“A reduction in water flowing over the border risks the health of the entire river system. Cuts to South Australia’s allocation is bad news for the environmental health of the Murray-Darling from top to bottom.
“Has Minister Speirs forgotten he is the representative for South Australia’s water and environment, not big upstream irrigators?
“The study shows the desal plant is not effective, not good for South Australia, not good for taxpayers and not good for the environment.
“Not only will it never be a substitute for water flowing down the river, it is outrageously expensive to run. The desal plant will cost taxpayers in the vicinity of 40 times the market value of water.
“This would make Adelaide’s water the most expensive in the country, and we’d still have a dead river.
“The Federal Water Minister finally released the review in the Water for Fodder program today too and together with the feasibility study it’s clear a second round of this program should be ruled out.
“The Greens will move to disallow the Water for Fodder Program in the Senate when the Parliament sits later this month. SA’s water supply needs to be protected, and we cannot afford to lose 60GL more, so upstream farmers can get some water. It puts the whole river system in jeopardy and will cost taxpayers an absolute fortune.”

The Australian Government is providing an additional $12 million to ensure people in Victoria can access 24/7 mental health support through digital and telephone counselling services during this difficult time.
Our Government recognises the mental health impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on individuals and communities, particularly those in Victoria, where regrettable but necessary measures are needed to stop the spread of the virus.
The loss of freedom gained after the first lockdown, the challenges of isolation, fear for loved ones, and concerns about employment can all take a significant mental health toll.
The Government is making this additional investment to ensure that existing helplines can meet increased demand, and can connect clients to ongoing and more intensive support when needed.
This funding includes:

• $5 million for headspace to increase outreach services to young people in the community who are in severe distress.
• This will particularly focus on Year 11 and 12 students, young people who have lost their jobs, and tertiary students.
• This funding will be also used to recruit and train outreach workers who will connect with young people in the community under supervision of headspace staff.
• $2.5 million for Beyond Blue to expand capacity, extend counsellor webchat hours to operate 24/7, and boost the ability to refer people with severe and complex needs for five additional sessions.
• $2.5 million for Lifeline to deal with increased call volumes from Victoria.
• $2 million for Kids Helpline to increase its call answer rate and service responsiveness, deal with additional demand for services, and link to further support.

The latest boost for mental health services is addition to the 10 additional Medicare subsidised psychological therapy sessions for people subjected to further restrictions in areas impacted by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, announced on Sunday 2^nd August.
The additional Medicare support will allow people in eligible areas who have used their 10 sessions to continue to receive mental health care from their psychologist, psychiatrist, GP or other eligible allied health worker.
Our Government continues to work closely with the Victorian Government to ensure Victorians have access to mental health supports in these difficult times.
We have asked the Chief Executive Officer of the National Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan, and Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Mental Health), Dr Ruth Vine, to work closely with our Victorian counterparts on any additional measures needed to support people living in Victoria.
This builds on our Government’s earlier commitments, totalling more than $500 million, to support the mental health and wellbeing of Australians through the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes:

• $74 million to boost preventative mental health services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of a broader $1.1 billion package that included increased domestic violence support, telehealth services and emergency food relief;
• $48.1 million to support the implementation of the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan;
• $20 million from the MRFF for research to improve mental health care and reduce suicide rates in Australia; and
• $7.3 million providing an additional ten Medicare subsidised psychological therapy sessions for people who are affected by the further restrictions or who are in quarantine or required to self-isolate, and have used their existing 10 sessions. This applies across the whole of Victoria.

With expenditure for mental health services and suicide prevention estimated to be in excess of $5.2 billion in 2019-20, the Government continues to demonstrate its firm commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians.
The Beyond Blue Coronavirus Wellbeing Support Service is available to all Australians needing support through the COVID-19 pandemic and can be accessed via telephone at 1800 512 348 or online.
Anyone experiencing distress can seek immediate advice and support through Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or the Government’s digital mental health gateway, Head to Health.
If you are concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the Suicide Call Back Service is available  at 1300 659 467 or on their website.