16 News

Food and fibre production worth more than $22 billion per year is now at great risk following changes to the Murray Darling Basin Plan, which were rushed through Parliament last week. 

It’s been nothing less than a return to the bad old days early in the development of the Basin Plan under the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments, when irrigators and river communities were facing savage reductions in the water they could use to grow 40% of Australia’s food and fibre. 

After already giving up more than 2000 gigalitres per year of water to the Plan—the equivalent of more than four Sydney Harbours—irrigators and their communities are about to be asked to give up another 700 gigalitres through buybacks. 

Buybacks have already devastated communities in the Basin, from Dirranbandi to Shepparton to Waikerie and everywhere in between. Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts have visited communities across the Basin and seen this devastation for themselves; there is no denying it. 

Desperate irrigators have left the system, leaving those who have remained to pick up the water delivery costs, which do not fall with the loss of farmers and their properties. The loss of food production in these areas means processors and packing sheds – the big employers in the basin—are left with no choice but to stand down workers. This forces more people out of Basin communities to look for work, and with less people needing their services, institutions like banks and schools also close down. It’s a vicious cycle, and every Australian will feel it as their grocery bills skyrocket. 

And where does most of this water recovered for the environment go? Down into South Australia’s Lower Lakes, where about 1000 gigaliters just evaporate into the air every year. These are not natural freshwater lakes; before the barrages were built near the Murray mouth in the 1930s, they were saltwater lakes, and seawater penetrated inland as far as Swan Reach, 250km upstream. 

Labor and the Greens did a very dirty deal to get this bill hastily passed, a deal also involving the Jacqui Lambie Network and newly-independent senator David Van. We don’t know what favours were traded, but it’s a fair bet they’re not in the interests of Australia. 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will welcome Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon James Marape MP, to Australia on 7 December 2023 for an official visit.

Connected through our shared maritime border and joined through our rich cultures and history, Australia and Papua New Guinea have a close and longstanding partnership underpinned by mutual respect and trust.

The Prime Ministers will meet in Canberra to discuss the enduring security partnership and broader issues impacting on Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific.

As near neighbours, our economic, trade, defence and security interests are deeply connected. Australia and Papua New Guinea have a proud history of working together in the region.

This visit will continue to strengthen the partnership between Prime Ministers, who last met at APEC in San Francisco in November, following the Prime Minister’s visit to Port Moresby and Wewak in January.

Prime Minister Albanese said:

“I am delighted to welcome Prime Minister Marape to Australia.

“Australia and Papua New Guinea’s partnership represents our shared priorities across a range of areas, including economic development, security, climate resilience and sport.

“Australia’s relationship with Papua New Guinea is special; we hold common history, values, and an enduring bond as neighbours, partners and friends.”

National Cabinet met in Canberra today and made important progress on key reforms that will strengthen our health system, secure the future of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and keep Australians safe.

Today we see the Commonwealth acting with common purpose, in the common interests of all Australians. The Federation is working for Australia.

Australia has world-leading health and disability support services, and National Cabinet agreed we must work better together to address growing pressures on our health system and the NDIS, to ensure the systems can continue to be delivered sustainably into the future.

Health reform

Health was National Cabinet’s top priority for 2023 and First Ministers remain committed to addressing the pressures facing our health system.

Strengthening Medicare

First Ministers have agreed to a further $1.2 billion package of Strengthening Medicare measures to take pressure off our hospitals. These measures will grow and support our health workforce, while reducing unnecessary presentations to emergency departments.

The Commonwealth will:

• Fund and implement, with states and territories, the health-related recommendations from the Independent Review of Health Practitioner Regulatory Settings (Kruk Review)
• Boost funding for Medicare Urgent Care Clinics; and
• Supporting older Australians through avoided hospital admission and earlier discharge from hospital

National Health Reform Agreement

Australians rightly want a whole-of-system approach to healthcare, where primary care and hospitals are connected and able to provide optimal models of care in the right place and the right time.

National Cabinet endorsed Commonwealth increasing National Health Reform Agreement contributions to 45 per cent over a maximum of a 10-year glide path from 1 July 2025, with an achievement of 42.5 per cent before 2030.

National Cabinet endorsed the current 6.5 per cent funding cap being replaced by a more generous approach that applies a cumulative cap over the period 2025-2030 and includes a first year ‘catch up’ growth premium.

As part of these reforms, agreed to a continued focus on addressing elective surgery waiting lists as a priority.

Health Ministers will commence the renegotiation of the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) Addendum to embed long-term, system-wide structural health reforms, including considering the NHRA Mid-Term Review findings.

These reforms will focus on the entire health system and move towards a more integrated, equitable, efficient and sustainable system. This will give Australians better access to health services they need, when they need them, and alleviate current pressures in public hospitals across the country.

First Ministers are committed to continuing to work together as these reforms progress.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

National Cabinet acknowledged the need for reforms to secure the future of the NDIS, ensuring it can continue to provide life-changing support to future generations of Australians with a disability.

Governments noted the forthcoming release of the final report of the Independent NDIS Review, co-led by Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM and Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM.

As an initial response to the NDIS Review, National Cabinet agreed to work together to:

• Implement legislative and other changes to the NDIS to improve the experience of participants and restore the original intent of the Scheme to support people with permanent and significant disability, within a broader ecosystem of supports.
• Adjust state and territory NDIS contribution escalation rates, increasing from 4 per cent to be in line with actual Scheme growth, capped at 8 per cent, with the Commonwealth paying the remainder of Scheme costs growth, commencing from 1 July 2028.

The National Cabinet agreed to jointly design additional Foundational Supports to be jointly commissioned by the Commonwealth and the states, with the work oversighted by the First Secretaries Group. Additionally, the Council of Federal Financial Relations (CFFR) will oversight costs of the reforms and report to National Cabinet.

An initial tranche of legislation will be introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament in the first half of 2024, with rule changes phased in as developed.

The delivery of Foundational Supports would look to be delivered through existing government service settings where appropriate (e.g. child care, schools), phased in over time.

Funding would be agreed through new Federal Funding Agreements, with additional costs split 50-50, and final details to be settled through CFFR.

The Commonwealth agreed to cap an additional expenditure for states and territories on new foundational disability services to ensure the combined health and disability reforms will see all states and territories better off.

These commitments demonstrate Governments’ ongoing commitment to the NDIS. Discussions with the disability community will continue over the coming months as we work together to make the positive changes needed for people with disability.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) No Worse Off Guarantee

National Cabinet agreed to extend the GST No Worse Off Guarantee in its current form for three years from 2027-28. This will ensure GST proceeds are shared fairly and equitably, providing funding certainty for states.

National Cabinet’s priority is safeguarding service delivery and achieving fiscal sustainability, and extending the GST No Worse Off Guarantee will help support this.

National Firearms Register

Ahead of the anniversary of the police shooting in Wieambilla, National Cabinet agreed to implement a National Firearms Register – delivering on an outstanding reform from the Port Arthur massacre response in 1996. This represents the most significant improvement in Australia’s firearms management systems in almost 30 years and will keep Australia’s first responders and community safer.

While Australia has some of the strongest firearms laws in the world, the Register will address significant gaps and inconsistencies with the way firearms are managed across all jurisdictions.

The register will be a federated model – state data connects with a central hub data allowing near real time information sharing across the country.

The Commonwealth will assist states and territories with funding the reforms, which will provide enduring benefits for decades to come.

National Cabinet agreed to work together to ensure that the Register is fully operational within four years.

Operation AEGIS

National Cabinet was briefed by the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Reece Kershaw and Acting Australian Border Force Commissioner, Kaylene Zakharoff on Operation AEGIS and the close collaboration between Commonwealth and State and Territory law enforcement.

This media statement has been agreed by First Ministers and serves as a record of meeting outcomes.

Today we signed a Bilateral Security Agreement.

The Agreement is a legally-binding framework to deepen our security cooperation – in traditional areas of defence, policing, border and maritime security, and also non-traditional areas of cyber security, climate change, gender-based violence and critical infrastructure.

It will elevate our security relationship to advance shared security interests while contributing to our region’s security.

The Agreement fulfils a commitment under our Comprehensive Strategic and Economic Partnership.  Consistent with our shared commitment to transparency, the Agreement will be publicly available.

As we sign the Agreement, we announce a commitment of $200 million in support of Papua New Guinea’s national security priorities.

We have agreed full circle support for Papua New Guinea’s internal security, from police to courts to correctional services. This includes initiatives that reflect the Bilateral Security Agreement’s focus on climate change, gender-based violence and cyber.

Papua New Guinea will establish a Port Moresby-based Police Recruit and Investigations Training Centre with Australia’s support.  The Centre will enable Papua New Guinea to recruit and train a larger and more capable force.

Papua New Guinea has offered to open the Training Centre to other Pacific police forces.  Papua New Guinea and Australia will continue to support the development of regional policing in the Pacific through the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police as our region’s policing institution.

We will continue to support economic security, including through support for trade, border security and increased engagement in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.

Reports that the Fyles Government political strategy is being advised and led by the same consultancy that is directly responsible for lobbying by fracking giant Tamboran Resources are alarming and outrageous.

The third major scandal within a month that shows the Chief Minister answers to the gas industry not her constituents. The Greens are calling on the Prime Minister to raise this clear conflict of interest with Chief Minister Fyles at tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on democracy Senator Larissa Waters said:

“It is outrageous for Mr Richardson to be in charge of political strategy for the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, while also lobbying for Tamboran Resources to unleash a carbon-bomb by fracking the Beetaloo Basin.

“This isn’t just a back door into parliament and influencing political decisions, it’s rolling out the red carpet for Tamboran to have all the information they need to get their way on Beetaloo.

“It’s bad enough when we see ex-parliamentarians and senior staffers heading straight into a lobbying role after they leave office – but in the NT, the lobbyists appear to be on the Parliamentary payroll.

“This is absolutely unacceptable and yet another case of poor decision-making from Chief Minister Fyles. The Northern Territory, democracy and the environment deserve better.”

NT Greens Convenor, Jonathan Parry said:

“The capture of the NT Labor government by big gas companies is disturbing and unethical. It is offensive to Territorians to have their elected members so blatantly disregard basic integrity.

“Frankly, I am disgusted that the Chief Minister would think it appropriate to spend taxpayers money getting political advice from the same firm lobbying for an expansion of fracking in the NT.

“It is becoming impossible to see where the Fyles Labor Government ends and the gas industry begins.

“We need a transparent lobbyist register for the NT that identifies those seeking to influence the government.”