Category: Australian News

Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John will join representatives from an alliance of disability, consumer and media organisations, researchers and audio description providers to advocate for the introduction of audio description on Australian television.
Senator Steele-John will today introduce the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Audio Description) Bill 2018 to the Senate, which if passed would enable equal access to television for the 385,000 people in Australia who are blind or have low vision.
Senator Steele-John will be joined by former Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes and representatives from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, Blind Citizens Australia, the Centre for Inclusive Design, the Australian Blindness Forum, audio description provider The Substation, Curtin University of Technology and Vision Australia.
 

Australia needs to step up its efforts to protect vulnerable and endangered species, including insects, to combat mass extinction and set an example for the rest of the world, the Greens say.
“The sharp decline in insect populations shows ecosystems across the world are struggling to survive. Insects play a vital role in our ecosystems and must not be forgotten in plans to save our threatened species,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“Insects that could be saved are headed toward extinction. If we don’t act swiftly this will be another great stain on our international reputation as well as the future of ecosystems we all depend on. We have an opportunity to be a leader in reversing the trend of extinction by protecting and preserving our ecosystems.
“Extinction is avoidable. Climate change and pesticides have been named as major contributors to the decline of our natural world. Not enough is being done to address these threats.
“Australia needs stronger environmental laws and to take serious action on climate change if we are going to do our part in protecting our natural world and the species that live on this planet.
“We could be world leaders, instead we have an anti-science, anti-climate change Prime Minister and Government while we hurtle toward this disaster. Its more clear than ever that need strong Greens representation in the Senate to hold the Government to account on environmental protections.”

Resopnding to the Morrison Government’s announcement on DV and family violence today, Greens spokesperson for women, Senator Larissa Waters said:
“Six months into the job, the Prime Minister has finally mentioned domestic violence. However the paltry amount of funding announced shows he still doesn’t understand the seriousness of the issue and still hasn’t realised that the real terror threat and national security crisis is against women in their homes.
“Add another zero to the announcement and the women of Australia might start to take it seriously. But this Government is still the one who slashed frontline domestic violence services in 2014 and continues to routinely underfund and ignore women fleeing violence.
“What Australian women need to be safe is paid DV leave, a massive funding boost for frontline DV crisis services so no woman is turned away, leadership to drive cultural change, and decent funding for primary prevention of DV.
“Today’s announcement of $78m of funding comes after the Coalition’s massive cuts to frontline services and falls well short of what is actually needed.
“The Greens have renewed their commitment from last election to budget for a $5 billion DV package over 10 years, to give frontline response services, prevention programs and research the long term funding certainty they need.
“We can afford to do this, and with six women killed already this year, we can’t afford not to.”

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Spokesperson for Education, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has welcomed the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) pre-budget submission, which has called for an end to the university funding freeze, an end to student fees and for better conditions for university staff.
Senator Faruqi has said that the Greens platform for higher education, including fee-free uni and TAFE, funding boosts for universities, more secure conditions for workers and expanded student payments fits well with the NTEU’s submission.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The National Tertiary Education Union’s pre-budget submission hits the mark for what needs to be done to remove the burden of debt from students and to support staff. I am pleased to say that the Greens five point plan, including fee free university and TAFE, increased funding to universities and better job security for workers,  is much needed transformative and education policy.
“For too long universities have been asked to do more with less. It’s been decades since the last real increase in funding to universities. Our plan delivers billions more to universities over the decade to improve learning and teaching conditions, reduce class sizes and and give researchers the resources they need.
“We are ranked 30th out of 34 in the OECD for public investment in tertiary education which shows how far behind we are globally. We need to properly fund our public university system and reverse the cuts imposed by the Liberal-National Government.
“As a former academic, I know that we will not begin to address the challenges of the years to come unless our best minds are given the time, resources and support to tackle them. We will work with universities to reduce casualisation in the sector and improve staff working conditions.
“I welcome the National Tertiary Education Union’s submission and call on the other political parties to get on board with proper funding of universities and to support our plan for fee free uni and TAFE,” she concluded.
The Greens plan for higher education is available here: https://mehreen-faruqi.greensmps.org.au/articles/fee-free-university-and-tafe-greens-launch-transformational-5-point-plan-higher-education

Today’s NSW Land and Environment Court ruling preventing a new coal mine in NSW is a game changer Greens climate and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP said today.
“This ruling is a game changer,” Mr Bandt said.
“A court has ruled that a coal mine can’t proceed because Australian coal, whether burned here or abroad, will make climate change worse.”
“Now we as law makers need to follow suit. I’ll introduce legislation when Parliament resumes to stop new coal mines and phase out coal mining.”
“From floods in Queensland, drought in the Murray Darling to fires in Tasmania, climate change is hitting Australia hard. It shouldn’t be left up to judges to act. Labor and Liberal politicians must join the Greens to pass a law to keep coal in the ground.”

A Shorten Labor Government will create 50 permanent full time Department of Human Services jobs to benefit the South Coast region including in Nowra, Ulladulla and Batemans Bay.
These 50 new, secure jobs will inject up to $3.6 million into the local economy each and every year.
It is a further example of Federal Labor’s commitment to the decentralisation of Commonwealth Government service delivery.
The 50 jobs will include local service delivery and call centre roles that will provide support for people across Australia.
Regional centres like Nowra have been ignored when it comes to decentralising Government service delivery.
The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has turned its back on Gilmore, with a campaign of cuts to Centrelink and Medicare that are leaving Nowra residents waiting longer to receive support.
Medicare and Centrelink services help the Nowra and surrounding communities when they need it the most – when people are sick, processing aged care pensions, child care support, disability support pensions and carers allowance payments.
These jobs will improve access to Medicare and Centrelink and reduce waiting and processing time for older Australians – important services that have been left to deteriorate under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government.
Income support is complex and that’s why it is important there are properly trained and permanent staff who are familiar with the personal circumstances facing income support recipients.
There are 27,700 age pensioners in Gilmore, who have faced lengthy phone wait times to Centrelink and for their pensions to be approved. There are also nearly 6000 recipients of Carers Allowance, over 7000 recipients of a Disability Support Pension and over 10,000 recipients of Family Tax Benefits in Gilmore – who will all benefit from the increased support as a result of these jobs.
The truth is Centrelink is in crisis under the Morrison Government. It’s under staffed and under resourced.
The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has cut and outsourced over 2,700 staff from DHS and Centrelink and cut thousands of public sector jobs in regional Australia.
These cuts have coincided with increased Centrelink phone wait times, and income support recipients being pushed to the edge of poverty waiting months for their payments.
These roles will be permanent and full time and staff will be properly trained to assist Australians on income support.
Labor can afford this because we have made the tough decisions to make multinationals pay their fair share of tax and will close tax loopholes used by the top end of town.
We will also clamp down on blowouts in spending on contractors and consultants, and unnecessary and unreasonable travel.
Labor is focused on more jobs and services for Nowra and the South Coast region – we’re listening to the local community and making the investments needed to build a stronger local economy and create genuine job opportunities.

Labor reiterates our call on Thailand to release Hakeem Alaraibi and return him to his family in Australia.
We remain deeply concerned by Mr Alaraibi’s ongoing detention in Thailand and the continuing threat of his extradition to Bahrain.
Senator Wong has raised Hakeem’s case directly with the Ambassador of Thailand and called for his release and return to Australia.
Labor also urges the Prime Minister of Thailand to exercise executive discretion in this case – a discretion that both Thailand’s office of the Attorney-General and the prosecutor have confirmed is allowed under Thailand’s Extradition Act.
Thailand is a good friend of Australia’s. We are confident the Thai people and Government understand the concern so many Australians have for the welfare of a person to whom we have offered sanctuary, and permanent residency.
We wish to thank all those showing their support for Hakeem, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, other governments, Mr Alaraibi’s local community in Melbourne and in particular Mr Craig Foster, the Football Federation of Australia, and the broader football community.

The Australian Greens have today released draft terms of reference for a federal Royal Commission into the Murray Darling Basin.
“We know our river is under extreme stress. Fish are dying and people are without clean water to drink. A Royal Commission is clearly warranted. It must be far reaching, take into account the effect the Plan has had on environment and river communities, and include the impact of climate change,” Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“Corporate and political interests have corrupted the Murray Darling Basin. The plan meant to end the water wars and strengthen our most important river system has failed.
“The Murray Darling Basin Authority has been steered towards political and corporate interests, and Australian taxpayers can have little faith that it is doing what it is meant to do.
“The health of river has long since ceased to be a priority, which both the South Australian Royal Commission and the Productivity Commission Report have showed. This has adversely effected regional communities who are watching their river die before their eyes, while governments continue to use drought as a scapegoat.
“South Australians are sick of being blamed for what is mismanagement of the system upstream. I will unashamedly stand up for my state and for a healthy Murray Darling Basin above all else.
“The South Australian Royal Commission was hampered by the Commonwealth, and the other Basin States refusal to participate. Ministers past and present and government agencies were stopped from giving evidence. We need a federal inquiry to hold people to account and drive the reforms we so urgently need.
“In the meantime we need to urgently lift the freeze on water buybacks and get some environmental flows back into the river system. Saving this river is not going to be easy, but if we continue with business as usual it will die. There are no jobs, no river communities and no agriculture on a dead river.
“I will be reaching out to my colleagues ahead of the next sitting of Parliament to discuss these draft terms of reference. If we are to get this river system on track to full health, we need a solution that is supported across party lines, one that leaves no stone unturned.”
Terms of reference

             (1)  The Commission must inquire and advise the Parliament in relation to the following matters:

                     (a)  any misconduct relating to, or affecting, the management of the Basin water resources;

                     (b)  the legislative and administrative framework for implementing, managing and enforcing the Basin Plan;

                     (c)  the impact that the implementation, management and enforcement of the Basin Plan has had on the environment, agriculture and communities that rely on the Basin water resources;

                     (d)  the suitability and effectiveness of the existing legislative and administrative framework for the management of the Basin water resources, including any adverse effects that framework has had on the management of the Basin water resources (whether or not those effects are the result of misconduct);

                     (e)  the allocation of funds by the Commonwealth and the Basin States to implement the Basin Plan, and the impact of funded projects (including water buybacks and efficiency measures) in facilitating environmental watering in the Murray-Darling Basin;

                      (f)  the likely impact of climate change to the Basin water resources, and any appropriate measures to take to adapt those resources in light of that impact;

                     (g)  any matter reasonably incidental to a matter mentioned in the above paragraphs.

             (2)  Without limiting paragraph (1)(a), misconduct includes any conduct of a person or body (whether or not a public agency):

                     (a)  that adversely affects, or that could adversely affect, either directly or indirectly, the honest or impartial performance or exercise of a public agency’s functions or powers; or

                     (b)  that constitutes or involves an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or a law of the State; or

                     (c)  that constitutes or involves a contravention of a civil penalty provision under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State; or

                     (d)  that would attract any other penalty under a law of the Commonwealth or a State, including a breach of a standard or licence condition; or

                     (e)  that constitutes or involves breach of trust, fraud in office, nonfeasance, misfeasance, malfeasance, oppression, extortion or imposition.

             (3)  The Commission is not required to inquire, or to continue to inquire, into a particular matter to the extent that it is satisfied that the matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by:

                     (a)  another inquiry or investigation; or

                     (b)  a criminal or civil proceeding.

             (4)  In inquiring and advising in accordance with subsection (1), the Commission may give priority to matters which, in the Commission’s opinion, have greater potential for harm.

Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has welcomed Prime Minister Morrison’s commitment to funding paralympic sport, but said that the funding was ever in question is just another example of government playing politics with disabled people.
“The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) had to put in a submission – which was way back in October last year – requesting funding for the Tokyo 2020 campaign and the long-term sustainability of grassroots disabled sport in Australia,” Steele-John said.
“Why was this funding ever even in doubt? The Olympic team recieve hundreds of millions of dollars every four years and even more is dumped into Australian sport, yet the APC have to put in a submission just to get a single cent!
“It’s great that Scott Morrision has announced today $12 million for the APC, but I’m disappointed that this essential – and frankly bare minimum – funding has come in the form of an election promise.
“If the Prime Minister was truly committed to advancing paralympic sport, and opportunities for disabled people in sport, then he would have made the commitment back in October. Once again, this is a government playing politics with disabled people as it continues to do with a Royal Commission into the violence, abuse and neglect of disabled people in institutional and residential settings.
“When it comes to a major international sporting event like the paralympic games, certainty is everything in the planning process and 5 months is a bloody long time!
“The Australian Greens made a commitment to fund the $15.85 million asked for as soon as we met with representatives of the APC back in October. Proper funding goes part of the way towards bridging that gap, ending discrimination and helping more disabled Australians get into sport!”