Category: Australian News

Australian Greens Senator and Education spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi has called on the federal government to protect the jobs of educators and child care workers. Child care is an essential public service and as enrolments fall and children are kept home, the government must intervene to ensure early learning and child care services survive COVID-19.
The government must:

• Guarantee wages for early learning staff for the duration of the pandemic, whether they are required at work or not;
• Give centres the resources they need for additional health and safety measures for children and staff;
• Ensure essential workers, such as health care workers, and others who need it, have access to care for their children, while working with the sector to ensure work from home options for carers and educators are available;
• Scrap the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test.

Senator Faruqi said:
“The last few weeks have been extremely destabilising for early childhood education and care in Australia. Child care and early learning services have been rattled by this public health crisis.
“As many families pull children out of care, the Government must intervene with funding and resources to ensure these essential education and care services survive this crisis.
“As funders of the sector, the federal government now must urgently intervene to save early childhood education from a complete disaster.
“The government must guarantee wages for child care and early learning staff for the duration of the pandemic.
“It’s also absolutely critical that workers’ health and safety is protected. Centres must have the resources they need for additional safety measures for workers and children alike. Both the government and employers must take responsibility for this.
“When this pandemic is over and families go back to work, we will need a ready-to-go workforce of carers and early childhood educators. Without guaranteeing the wages of those already in the sector, we cannot assume this will happen.
“I call on Minister Tehan and the government to work with early childhood educators to ensure the long-term viability of our education and care system.”

The Australian Greens condemn in the strongest terms the Chinese Government’s decision to formally indict Australian citizen Dr Yang Hengjun on espionage charges.
Leader of the Greens and foreign policy spokesperson Adam Bandt said the Australian Government had an important role to play in securing his freedom, and with charges now laid, the window of opportunity to get him free may be closing.
“The first duty of any government should be to keep its people safe, and while the government may be distracted, Dr Yang doesn’t have any time to spare,” Mr Bandt said.
“For more than a year, Dr Yang has been subject to appalling treatment by the Chinese authorities.  He has had no access to legal representation, he has been refused letters from family and friends, and has been denied the opportunity to meet with Australian officials.
“There have been periods where he’s been forced to sit on a stool for 17 hours straight – and now, Dr Yang could face the death penalty. We don’t even know what he is supposed to have done wrong.
“The fact that the Chinese Government has chosen to charge Dr Yang now, amidst a global pandemic, is a disgrace.  He must be released immediately and allowed to leave China with his wife.
“Calling for democratic reform in China should not be a crime. I welcome the strong statement from Foreign Minister Payne, and urge the Prime Minister to speak directly with his Chinese counterpart to call for Dr Yang’s freedom.”

The Australian Greens have joined calls for a full New Zealand-style mandatory stay at home lockdown to respond to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, backing health experts calling for a ‘go hard, go fast’ response to enforce social distancing.
Greens leader Adam Bandt and health spokesperson Dr Richard Di Natale have called on the Prime Minister and National Cabinet to adopt a lock down in line with New Zealand’s Stage 4 measures. This would require everyone, except those providing essential services, to stay home, and only make physical contact with those they live with.
“The government’s number one job is to save lives. This crisis is growing daily and the current social distancing measures are confusing and inconsistent. The Prime Minister needs to follow Jacinda Ardern’s lead and adopt a full lockdown.” Mr Bandt said.
“I am worried that the Prime Minister’s desire to keep business as usual going will place more lives at risk.
“While there may be a higher short term economic impact, taking strong measures earlier may limit the economic impact in the longer term.
“A lockdown must also be accompanied by adequate support for workers and the vulnerable, including a UK-style 80% wage subsidy, rent and mortgage holidays and a ban on evictions and foreclosures.
“The National COVID-19 Coordination Commission also needs to represent everyday people, not just big business. If it’s to be led by mining magnates, it should be balanced with the addition of someone representing the community and social services sector and the unions to speak up on behalf of people thrust into poverty.
“The lockdown must also coincide with a big boost to testing across the population and a massive effort to increase resources to hospitals and fever clinics.”
Dr Di Natale highlighted the need for stronger lock down measures in light of the rise in numbers across the country and the confused and fragmented response from governments.
“The government’s recent response to this crisis has been confusing, and the ‘national cabinet’ which was intended to provide a united national approach has clearly failed to do that” Dr Di Natale said.
“If we want to flatten the curve and give our health system a fighting chance, we must now move to this highest level of lock down, with a set of simple recommendations and Australians should expect that we could be in this position for some time to come.
“The AMA and other expert groups are now calling for stronger measures and it is time the government listened.”

Australia should look to the UK’s 80% wage subsidy as a model for getting workers through the COVID-19 crisis, Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt said today, warning that the Morrison Government’s current approach was failing and that Parliament may need to be recalled to fix it.
This call comes following Scott Morrison’s refusal to back the Greens push in Parliament on Monday for a jobs and wages guarantee, and puts the Australian Greens in unison with a growing number of business and workers groups, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
The Greens have also written to the National Cabinet urging a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures as well as rent and mortgage holidays, after the NSW and Tasmanian Parliaments over the last 2 days passed Greens amendments to protect renters.
“Scott Morrison’s trickle-down stimulus is failing to keep people in work because he refused to make jobs and wages guarantees part of his multi-billion dollar support package,” said Mr Bandt.
“The Greens moved in Parliament on Monday for jobs and wages guarantees but it was voted down.
“It is time for Scott Morrison to admit he made a mistake and implement a UK-style jobs and wages guarantees to protect 80% of people’s income. If he needs to recall Parliament, perhaps online, then so be it.
“We can’t just accept that Australia’s workers just have to join the queue for Centrelink until this is all over. Every job that we lose now we need to rebuild in future, so it’s vital that we keep people on the books through this lockdown.”
“Scott Morrison’s offering is a weak approach that like so many other Liberal policies, heavily favours people on higher incomes, because low-paid workers are less likely to get government support. If a worker earns less than the tax free threshold of $18,000, the employer gets no financial benefit, so those workers won’t be kept on.
“Adopting the UK model would result in employers receiving five times more for the average working Australian than the government’s current policy, and they’ll get it now, not in five months’ time.
“The ACTU has rightly pointed to the UK’s model as a far superior scheme, and the Greens back them in all the way.
“We’re also deeply concerned about reports of half measures around keeping people in housing. As of this morning, we’ve heard from tens of thousands of people who fear they will be kicked onto the streets.
“We need rent and mortgage holidays and a ban on evictions right now to ensure that people can keep a roof over their heads.
“We’re in a pandemic, and this is not the time for half measures.”

Overnight I joined G20 leaders for an extraordinary Summit, hosted by His Majesty King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The G20 has come together to tackle what will be one of the most difficult and severe crises any of us will face.
The COVID-19 virus respects no borders.
On behalf of Australia, I urged G20 leaders to do whatever it takes to fight this twin crisis: to save lives and overcome the pandemic, and to cushion the economic blow.
G20 HEALTH RESPONSE
Working together our countries can speed up research and the discovery of a vaccine and anti-viral drugs.
We will work in partnership on a vaccine.
We may be closing borders for now to stop the spread of coronavirus but we are committed to sharing ideas and collaborating on research.
Australia’s world-leading researchers are working tirelessly with international partners to strengthen testing, develop treatments and, critically, to find a vaccine.
The G20 will take all necessary health measures to contain the pandemic and protect the world’s citizens.
Crucially, we agreed to expand manufacturing capacity for medical supplies to ensure these are made widely available, at an affordable price, on an equitable basis, where they are most needed and as quickly as possible.
ECONOMIC RESPONSE
Collectively, G20 economies are injecting trillions into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy and economic measures to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic.
Australia has already announced economic measures worth nearly 10 per cent of GDP. I urged the G20 to act with resolve and urgency.
Collective G20 action will amplify our efforts.
We have also agreed to resolve disruptions to supply chains, to secure the flow of vital medical supplies.
SUPPORTING THE PACIFIC AND TIMOR-LESTE
I explained to G20 leaders that our Pacific island family must be a focus of international support.
There has never been a more important time for Australia’s Pacific Step-up as we all face these massive challenges.
Since January, Australia has provided support for laboratories and public information campaigns, medical equipment, health expertise and for the WHO’s regional preparedness plan. We are reconfiguring our development assistance to ensure critical health services can continue to function and to help our Pacific neighbours and Timor-Leste to manage the immediate economic impacts of the pandemic.
As we fight this virus on our shores, in our region or around the world, the G20 has committed to working together to stop the spread and to save lives.

Australian Greens disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called on Minister Ruston to urgently extend the COVID-19 supplement payment, announced as part of the government’s second round of stimulus, to disabled people receiving the disability support pension and to carers who receive the carer support payment.
“Minister Ruston has been given extraordinary powers up until the end of this year which enable her to introduce measures to ensure that Australians who receive income support can get through this crisis.
“The poverty rate amongst disabled people is extremely high compared to the rate amongst the rest of the population and we face significant barriers to entering the workforce. Now we are also dealing with extra costs for transport and medical supplies, as well as personal protective equipment to keep us safe.
“That’s why I’m imploring Minister Ruston to use those powers immediately to extend the coronavirus supplement to Australians who receive the disability support pension and the carer support payment.
“On Monday we saw government acknowledge they had left students on Youth Allowance, AuStudy and ABStudy out of their stimulus package and rectify it immediately. They need to do the same with the DSP and the carers support payment.
“Australia’s peak disability organisations have called on the Minister to urgently reconsider this decision because many services disabled people rely on are being closed or withdrawn, adding to the expenses people are already facing.
“It is unacceptable that disabled people have been excluded from this stimulus package and the Greens are calling on Minister Ruston to act urgently to ensure that people in our community who are at risk can access the COVID-19 supplement to help them get through this crisis.”

A Senate Committee Inquiry examining access to medicinal cannabis in Australia has made a series of landmark recommendations to significantly improve the lives of Australian patients.
The Committee heard from patients up and down the country who are unable to access the medicinal cannabis treatments they need due to regulatory barriers and enormous cost.
The Community Affairs References Committee inquiry, instigated by Dr Richard Di Natale, Greens health spokesperson, heard of the many failings of the current arrangements for accessing legal medicinal cannabis products in this country.
“From a lack of doctor education to confusion and overlap between the states and the commonwealth, patients are losing out,” Dr Di Natale said.
“This unanimous report has recommended a range of changes to the current system to give patients access to these treatments and to give Australia’s burgeoning medicinal cannabis industry a fighting chance.
“Crucially, the Committee has recommended that if the current arrangements are not improved sufficiently enough in 12 months, the government should consider establishing an Independent Regulator of medicinal cannabis.
“The Committee has taken a good look at the system, and we know it’s not working. There are a range of changes the government needs to make now, and if they don’t fix this mess, the system needs to be overhauled and an Independent Regulator put in place.
“Cost is a hugely prohibitive factor for many patients. It’s completely unacceptable that people can be out of pocket thousands of dollars for trying to access legal medicinal cannabis products through a regulated system when the black market is far cheaper.
“People should never have to consider breaking the law to access the medical treatments they need, especially when the government claims they support patient access through the appropriate channels.
“That’s why the government must urgently subsidise the cost of medicinal cannabis through a compassionate subsidy scheme for medicinal cannabis until these products are made available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule.
“Doctor education is also of critical importance. The Committee has recommended the inclusion of training for both medical students during their studies and for practising doctors who are seeking more information now.”
Senator Di Natale introduced a Private Senators Bill for an Independent Regulator in 2014, before the government set up their system through the TGA.
The full report and recommendations can be found here.

Tonight’s crisis National Cabinet meeting should be focused on housing relief to protect renters and tenants, the Australian Greens said today, with the Greens Leader and Housing Spokesperson today writing to heads of Governments to urge compassion through this crisis.
The letter comes following the unprecedented decision of NSW Parliament last night to pass a Greens amendment that enables the Government to ban rental evictions, empower tenants and limit the powers of landlords through the COVID-19 pandemic via regulation alone.
Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt and Greens housing spokesperson Mehreen Faruqi’s letter notes the growing joblessness throughout the country, warning that without serious action to keep people in housing, the health and economic crises may soon include a homelessness epidemic.
Key requests:

• Ban on evictions and foreclosures
• Rent holidays, or at least a nationwide rent freeze with no increase in rent for the duration of the health crisis
• Mortgage holidays provided for vulnerable homeowners
• Increasing rent assistance payments and expanding access to rent assistance if necessary
• Directing police and court officers not to carry out or allow any evictions
• Requiring public and community housing providers to immediately cease eviction proceedings against their tenants – unless they relate to perpetrators of violence
• Ensuring that housing departments and councils are working with shared accommodation providers, including boarding and rooming house operators, so that residents are not evicted into more severe homelessness and that their accommodation is healthy
• Urgently funding crisis housing.

Adam Bandt MP said:
“No-one should be evicted during a pandemic.
“We need an immediate ban on evictions and foreclosures, with rent and mortgage holidays for people who need relief and extra support for homelessness services.
“This pandemic will get worse if people face losing their homes because they can’t afford their rent or mortgage.
“You can’t stay home to ‘socially distance’ without a house. You can’t limit your shopping without a fridge. You can’t rest and recover without a bed.
“In just the past two days, we’ve heard from literally thousands of people concerned about their ability to pay rent. These are people who had a stable income until just days ago and now face being left with nothing.
“The passing of last night’s amendment in NSW is just the start. We need to roll out eviction bans and mortgage holidays across the country.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:
“We are on the brink of a serious housing crisis. Without swift government action, we could see many more people homeless or put under massive housing stress in the coming weeks.
“As jobs evaporate, so does the ability to pay rent or pay off a mortgage. Governments must intervene urgently to scrap evictions and foreclosures, increase crisis housing funding, freeze rents, and look after our communities in this public health crisis.
“We are all hearing terrifying stories about people on the brink of losing a roof over their head because they can’t pay rent anymore.  Governments must show leadership and take action now or risk a housing catastrophe unlike anything we’ve seen before.
“Housing is a basic and fundamental human right. It’s about time it was treated that way. There is no time to waste.”

The Federal Government must provide income support for temporary visa holders impacted by the coronavirus shutdown, Greens Immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says.
“There are about 1.5 million people in Australia on temporary visas, and the Government has an urgent responsibility to provide income support for those who need it,” Senator McKim said.
“Many of them have no income and no capacity to leave the country due to restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic, and face losing their homes and jobs.”
“Failure to provide income support would not only be inhumane and unfair, but would compromise their capacity to self isolate and comply with the government’s requirements for physical distancing.”
“You can’t self isolate if you are living on the street, and failure to urgently respond could cause a public health nightmare.”
“People who urgently need income support include people seeking asylum, people who hold temporary work or skilled visas, international students, people who hold working holiday visas and New Zealand citizens on non-protected Special Category Visas, who do not all have access to income support and in many cases cannot leave the country.”
“Legislation passed yesterday gives the government the levers it needs to respond. It is now just a matter of political will.”
“Many people will also need an extension to their temporary visas so they are not caught in legal limbo.”

Defence will formally cease Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-2020 on 26 March 2020, having completed the emergency and recovery tasks requested by state and local authorities.
Defence has been assisting with the bushfire efforts since early September 2019 by providing wide-ranging support as part of the national response.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked all personnel who provided direct support in the field, at sea, in the air, and from Defence bases as part of Operation Bushfire Assist.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way Defence has been assisting emergency services across the country in these challenging circumstances,” the Prime Minister said.
“The permanent and part-time Australian Defence Force members provided essential support to our emergency services across Australia. This remarkable hard work has made a significant difference to the immediate emergency response and the longer-term recovery which Defence will continue to support.”
Operation Bushfire Assist commenced on 31 December 2019 to support state fire and emergency services across NSW, Victoria and Queensland and later provided support to the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Tasmania.
At its peak, more than 6,500 ADF members provided support as part of emergency relief, response and recovery operations. This included around 3,000 Reserve forces.
Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds CSC said it marked the largest mobilisation of the ADF for domestic disaster relief in Australia’s history.
“I am so proud of the service our permanent and part-time ADF members provided as part of this response,” Minister Reynolds said.
“I am also very grateful for the support provided by the many additional international defence force partners from Canada, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and the United States. Their support demonstrates the strength of our relationships.
“Finally, I acknowledge and thank the families and employers of our Reservists for their understanding and support that has made this response possible.”
During Operation Bushfire Assist, Defence contributed to the response and recovery efforts through the delivery of the following support:

• Clearance of over 4,850 kilometres of roads;
• Clearance and repair of over 1285 kilometres of fences;
• Clearance of over 240 kilometres of fire breaks;
• Production of nearly 10 million litres of drinking water for Kangaroo Island and Bega; and
• Provision of over 77,000 meals on Defence bases to emergency services personnel and evacuees.

Defence will continue to provide support to non-emergency recovery operations.
The Government has committed $2 billion that the National Bushfire Recovery Agency is helping to deliver to ensure Australian families, businesses and communities can build back better.