Category: Australian News

The Australian Greens share the serious concerns held by ABC chair Ita Buttrose regarding ongoing attacks on press freedoms and the Government’s flippant response. The AFP raids on a News Corp journalist’s home and the ABC Sydney headquarters must be investigated.
“This is a very troubling start to this Government. The timing is all very suss, and the heavy-handed, intimidating operations are chilling. ABC Chair Ita Buttrose is right when she says a free media is important to our democracy. Journalists reporting in the public interest should not be treated like criminals,” Greens media spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“This is an attack on our democracy and an attack on those who tell the truth – the journalists and whistleblowers we rely on to keep our governments accountable.
“The Prime Minister says he’s not troubled – well he should be, the rest of us are.
“The Prime Minister needs to come clean with the Australian people. Who ordered these raids, who referred the journalists and who signed off the referrals? What was Peter Dutton’s role in all of this?
“Over the past 6 years there has been slide toward criminalising journalism. The Liberal and Labor Parties have together passed laws that attack the freedom of the press and whistleblowers, and this is where it has ended up.
“An inquiry can help us understand the chilling decline in freedom of the press, what protections are necessary for those that speak truth to power, and what we can do to restore this pillar of our democracy.
“This is why we need an urgent inquiry into the attack on press freedom and democracy in Australia. Australians have a right to know what their government is up to. They should have faith that the journalists working at our public broadcaster, reporting in the public interest, are not going to be treated like criminals.
“A Government that shows contempt for press freedom and whistleblowers is a dangerous government.”

The Morrison Government is backing Australia’s cyber security sector to grow and create new jobs, with businesses to share in up to $8.5 million in funding.
Announcing the opening of the second round of AustCyber’s Projects Fund, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews encouraged companies that can make a significant contribution to the sector to apply.
“Australia’s cyber security industry is continually growing and this funding will further boost our ability to become a global leader in the field, creating more Australian jobs while also making the nation more cyber resilient,” Minister Andrews said.
“According to a report released by AustCyber last year, the global cyber security market is projected to be worth almost US$250 billion by the year 2026.
“This funding will assist the cyber security industry to upskill and expand the sector, and harness the enormous opportunities available to Australia.
“The Morrison Government is committed to supporting the cyber security industry to reach its full potential by capturing a significant share of the global market and creating jobs for the future.”
Matched funding for individual projects ranges from $100,000 to $3 million, totalling up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs.
Previous funding of $6.5 million has resulted in many innovative advancements, including unique smart barcode technology that enables people to identify and verify the quality of products they buy through their smartphone, and technology that allows for independent authentication of personal data stored and managed on mobile devices.
AustCyber was established in 2017 as part of the Australian Government’s Growth Centres Initiative.
The Industry Growth Centres are part of the Coalition’s plan to drive innovation and productivity to grow the economy and create 1.25 million new jobs over the next five years.
Applications close on Friday 12 July. For more information on the AustCyber Projects Fund visit www.austcyber.com/grow/projects-fund

The Morrison Government is backing Australia’s cyber security sector to grow and create new jobs, with businesses to share in up to $8.5 million in funding.
Announcing the opening of the second round of AustCyber’s Projects Fund, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews encouraged companies that can make a significant contribution to the sector to apply.
“Australia’s cyber security industry is continually growing and this funding will further boost our ability to become a global leader in the field, creating more Australian jobs while also making the nation more cyber resilient,” Minister Andrews said.
“According to a report released by AustCyber last year, the global cyber security market is projected to be worth almost US$250 billion by the year 2026.
“This funding will assist the cyber security industry to upskill and expand the sector, and harness the enormous opportunities available to Australia.
“The Morrison Government is committed to supporting the cyber security industry to reach its full potential by capturing a significant share of the global market and creating jobs for the future.”
Matched funding for individual projects ranges from $100,000 to $3 million, totalling up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs.
Previous funding of $6.5 million has resulted in many innovative advancements, including unique smart barcode technology that enables people to identify and verify the quality of products they buy through their smartphone, and technology that allows for independent authentication of personal data stored and managed on mobile devices.
AustCyber was established in 2017 as part of the Australian Government’s Growth Centres Initiative.
The Industry Growth Centres are part of the Coalition’s plan to drive innovation and productivity to grow the economy and create 1.25 million new jobs over the next five years.
Applications close on Friday 12 July. For more information on the AustCyber Projects Fund visit www.austcyber.com/grow/projects-fund

The literacy and numeracy test for teaching students is ensuring that graduate teachers have the necessary skills required in the classroom.
Teaching students are required to pass a literacy and numeracy test with a score that puts them in the top 30 per cent of the Australian adult population.
In 2018, 90.4 per cent of teaching students met the literacy standard and 90 per cent of students met the numeracy benchmark.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the test was working as intended by ensuring that graduate teachers had a high level of the essential skills needed to teach children.
“Our Government recognises the difference high quality teachers make to a child’s education,” Mr Tehan said.
“That is why we introduced a mandatory literacy and numeracy benchmark for teaching graduates. As the latest test results show, ensuring teachers meet the prerequisite standard is as important as ever.
“We have also introduced a high-quality teaching performance assessment that students must pass prior to graduation that demonstrates graduate teachers are classroom ready.
“Our Government will also ensure phonics is included in university teaching courses so that new teachers can use it in the classroom as well as investing $15 million in Teach for Australia to train more high-achieving teachers.
“Higher education providers need to take responsibility for the teaching students that do not meet the standards by ensuring they receive additional support to improve their literacy and numeracy skills. The onus is on universities to ensure the graduates they are producing meet the high standards expected by parents and the standards that our children deserve.
“In September I wrote to all vice-chancellors to remind them of their obligations to support students they enter into initial teacher education degrees to meet the test standard.”

Australian Greens Senator and Animal Welfare Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has described Senator Bridget Mckenzie’s appointment as Agriculture Minister as a disaster for animal welfare.
Senator Faruqi has been a driving force in the fight against live exports and for the protection of animals.
Senator Faruqi said:
“We thought that the welfare of animals was already at an all time low under the Liberals and Nationals, but with Senator Mckenzie, I am worried it will get much worse.
“This is a Senator who literally wrote to the Queen to try and have the word Royal stripped from the RSPCA’s title because of their work to protect farm animals from cruelty.  That is how much contempt she has for the individuals and groups fighting to protect animals.
“I have no confidence in this Minister to hold the live export industry to account. Senator Mckenzie is one of this cruel industry’s loudest advocates and now she will be responsible for regulating them, which is deeply concerning.
“It is clear that our work for the next three years is cut out for us. The movement to protect animals is gathering strength and we must work to organise and expose animal cruelty.
“We cannot allow animal welfare to be at the mercy of politicians. We need an Independent Office of Animal Welfare to drive change to protect animals, free from political interference,” she concluded.

A state Memorial Service for the Honorable Robert (Bob) James Lee Hawke AC will be held at the Sydney Opera House at 11.30 am on Friday 14 June 2019.
Bob was a political giant and a national icon. It is fitting that a public celebration of his life will be held at such an iconic and beloved Australian Venue.
Members of the public wishing to attend will be able to secure complimentary tickets from midday on Wednesday 29 May via the Opera House website. The service will also be screened on the steps of the Opera House Forecourt and televised on the ABC.
Bob was a man who understood Australia and the people who call our country home.
I am pleased Australias will have the chance to say farewell
— Scott Morrison

Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for climate change and energy Adam Bandt MP today warned Labor against fast tracking Adani. Not only will this put lives at risk by making climate change worse, but Labor would be putting at risk inner-city seats in Brisbane and Melbourne.
“If Queensland Labor misreads the election results and starts hugging coal even tighter, voters in the inner city will punish Labor and shift to the Greens,” said Mr Bandt.
“Labor has tried to walk both sides of the street on coal, but if Labor now comes down on the side of opening new coal mines, expect a swift and brutal response from voters in the inner city who want action on global warming.
“If Labor sides with coal, Anthony Albanese will sign his party’s death warrant in federal seats like Griffith and Wills, where people want to be represented by politicians that stand for climate action.
“The Greens achieved a double digit swing in the state seat of South Brisbane against Jackie Trad in 2017. If the federal election results were mirrored at the next state election, the Greens would win the seat.
“By fast-tracking Adani, the Queensland Premier has just put her deputy’s seat at even further risk, and the Greens will redouble our efforts to win it.
“There is no ‘pro-Adani’ or ‘pro coal’ mandate from this election. In Central Queensland, the Liberal/National vote stagnated.
“I welcome moves from some unions to support a ‘green new deal’ to transition workers out of coal. If Labor and unions keep backing coal, they’re not just giving workers false hope, they’re keeping the LNP in government.”

Australia mourns the passing of its 23rd and third longest-serving Prime Minister, the Honourable Robert James Lee Hawke AC, GCL.
Profoundly Australian, Bob Hawke was a conviction politician who became a political legend.
Bob Hawke was a great Australian who led and served our country with passion, courage, and an intellectual horsepower that made our country stronger.
He was true to his beliefs in the Labor tradition and defined the politics of his generation and beyond.
He was the most electorally-successful Federal Labor leader in history: the winner of four successive elections and the longest-serving Labor Prime Minister.
Before arriving in Parliament, as president of the ACTU, Bob Hawke’s ability to build consensus not only with unionists, but with his opponents, employers and government representatives, cemented his reputation as a man of great skill, courage and tenacity.
We remember him for his unique capacity to speak to all Australians as one – from everyday battlers to business leaders. His larrikinism was a big part of that.
His popularity, coupled with his strong intellect and discipline, achieved many important reforms in the national interest, strongly supported by the Liberal and Nationals Opposition at the time.
On behalf of all Australians, I extend to Mr Hawke’s widow Blanche and to his family, our deepest condolences, and acknowledge the support and contribution of the late Hazel Hawke.
— Scott Morrison