One Nation stands as an opponent to the race-based ‘Voice’ referendum that will divide Australia. Anthony Albanese and his elitist mate’s ‘Voice’ is the opposite of what Australia needs right now.
We are opposed to dividing Australia along racial lines. We are one, but we are many. We are not an elitist country.
One Nation proposes all Australians unite, and respect our nation as equal citizens, under one flag.
No one race is above another race, nor should one race get preferential treatment over another.
It is clear that the voice will be used to usher in new taxes, like the abhorrent race-based ‘Rent Tax’, aimed at non-Aboriginal landholders.
The Albanese and Malinauskas Governments are working together to fast track more beds at Flinders Medical Centre, as planning for the $400 million jointly funded upgrade commences.
An extra 26 new acute inpatient beds will open at Flinders Medical Centre in the next few weeks helping ease pressure on the hospital’s emergency department.
A further 16 beds – from the 136 that will be added as part of the $400 million upgrade – will be fast tracked to open in the first half of 2024, four years ahead of schedule.
The additional 26 acute inpatient beds will be rapidly brought online at Flinders in a space vacated by a less-acute ward shifting to a more suitable location at the Repat.
These beds are in addition to the State Malinauskas and Federal Albanese Labor governments’ 50/50 investment of $400 million for a 136-bed upgrade of Flinders.
These 16 beds will be created by clearing and refurbishing an existing admin area – which is being shifted to other spaces within or directly adjacent to the FMC site.
Clinical consultation and design for these fast-tracked beds will begin in coming days, with works expected to start later this year.
The $400 million upgrade also includes new surgical and procedural spaces, and updated site infrastructure.
Extra MRI and CT scanners are also due to come online in mid-2023 to improve access to radiography and reduce scan wait times for both the ED, inpatients, and outpatients.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said:
Our partnership to provide a once-in-a-generation upgrade at Flinders Medical Centre is part of Labor’s commitment to addressing the ramping crisis and ensuring Flinders is well-equipped to deliver high quality care.
My Government is committed to working with all State and Territory Governments to put patients first and strengthen Medicare.
We’ve already slashed the cost of PBS medications, saving South Australians more than $1.2 million over the month of January, and have opened up Expressions of Interest for five new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in South Australia.
Health Minister Mark Butler said:
The Albanese Government is working with the Malinauskas Government to strengthening Medicare.
People in the southern suburbs deserve the best clinical care and this will enable our highly trained staff to do their very best for the community.
We know how vital it is to open every extra bed that we can, to boost services for the expanding southern suburbs.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said:
Our Government has been clear that one of our main priorities is addressing the ramping crisis that we inherited from the previous Liberal government which failed to take any action.
We are delivering a generational investment to rebuild the health system.
We are building more than 200 beds in the south, and we are working hard to bring those beds online as soon as possible.
South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing Chris Picton said:
We know a major cause of ramping is bed block and hospital overcrowding, so this significant boost in bed numbers will help ease the strain on our health system.
While the Liberals’ solution to ramping at Flinders was to cut acute beds, only making the problem worse, we are delivering more acute beds, ensuring people who need hospital admission will be moved to a bed faster.
Our staff are so pleased that these much-needed beds are being fast-tracked for delivery.
The beds will enable our dedicated clinical staff to improve access to care by being able to move people from the emergency department into a bed in a timely manner.
The Albanese Government is working to unlock renewable energy jobs, energy security and job security for the Hunter region, with consultation now open on a new offshore wind zone in the Pacific Ocean off the Hunter.
This proposed offshore wind area sits alongside the Hunter, which is an Australian manufacturing powerhouse and home to the nation’s largest smelter. Establishment of an offshore wind industry in this region could support the decarbonisation and future of onshore manufacturing powered by cheaper, cleaner energy.
This new renewable energy industry has the potential to create 3000-8000 jobs in Australia every year. Where international offshore wind farms have been established, the main pathways into the industry have been from the energy sector and existing offshore industries.
The Hunter is already known for its strong industrial base, with mining, manufacturing, and agriculture, proving this region already has the skill base for the new industry.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said he’s looking forward to hearing from the community about the best way offshore electricity can be harnessed in the region and is encouraging locals to engage with community discussions and online submissions.
“The world’s climate emergency is regional Australia’s jobs opportunity, and the Hunter is uniquely placed to capitalise on this,” Minister Bowen said.
“An offshore wind zone in the Hunter presents significant opportunities to create new energy sector and manufacturing jobs, drive economic growth and reduce emissions.”
“I’m encouraging residents from across the Hunter to have their say on the proposed area and what they would like to see from this offshore zone.”
Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon MP, said:
“This proposed offshore wind zone presents an exciting opportunity for Newcastle to diversify and strengthen our regional economy, while also bringing new energy jobs.”
“Newcastle’s world-class infrastructure, skilled workforce, abundant resources and energy smarts means our region is poised to lead the nation as a renewable energy superpower.
“Newcastle and the Hunter has powered Australia for generations, and the Albanese Labor Government is committed to ensuring that it will continue to do so for generations to come.
“I encourage Novocastrians to have their say on offshore wind through the public consultation process.”
Despite having some of the best wind resources in the world, Australia doesn’t currently have any offshore wind generation.
The IEA classifies offshore wind as a “variable baseload technology” which makes it closer to the capacity of gas and coal-fired power plants, than onshore wind and solar PV. For context just one rotation of one offshore wind turbine provides as much energy as an average rooftop solar installation generates in one day, with less fluctuation than onshore wind.
The consultation process is an opportunity for all community members, workers, residents, industry groups and chambers of commerce to provide feedback. Submissions will run from February 23 to April 28.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will also facilitate community information sessions, which will be held throughout the region during the consultation period.
The Hunter is one of six priority regions around Australia with world-class offshore wind potential. The Commonwealth recently declared Gippsland off the La Trobe Valley as the first region in Australia to be home to a new offshore wind industry.
The government has previously announced a further four regions earmarked for offshore wind zones. These include the Pacific Ocean region off the Illawarra in NSW, the Southern Ocean region off Portland in Victoria, the Bass Strait region off Northern Tasmania, and the Indian Ocean region off Perth/Bunbury.
Almost a year since the devastating floods in Lismore, the committee heard from locals about the ongoing impact on their communities, and how they feel they’ve been left in the lurch by governments at both the state and federal level.
Greens spokesperson for social services and Chair of the Community Affairs References Committee, Senator Janet Rice said:
“Hundreds of people are still living in pod villages and there’s still a huge number of people in temporary accommodation, couch surfing, and living in cars.
“We heard evidence that rents in some areas have tripled since the floods, and it now costs the same to rent a room in a sharehouse in Lismore as it does in Sydney.
“We are seeing the housing crisis get worse across the country, and it’s being exacerbated in places like Lismore that are being hit by climate disasters and completely inadequate government support to help communities rebuild.
“We heard the same thing in Lismore as we’ve been hearing at every poverty inquiry hearing to date: people are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and they need help to make it through this cost of living crisis.
“Between low wages, no affordable housing, and starvation-payments of about $47 a day for people on JobSeeker, communities across the country are facing dire financial circumstances.
“Labor has a housing bill before the Senate that will make the housing crisis worse. The Treasurer is planning to give $254 billion in Stage 3 tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, while refusing to raise welfare above the poverty line for the people who need it most. Labor say they’re on the side of struggling Australians – it’s time they show it.
“That’s why the Greens are pushing Labor to invest $5 billion a year in public and affordable housing, and raise income support to $88 a day in May’s Budget.”
Greens candidate for Lismore, Adam Guise said:
“Over three thousand homes in the Lismore LGA alone were impacted by the 2022 floods, with thousands of people still displaced and homeless. People are living in tents, caravans or in the gutted shells of their houses.
“Rents have skyrocketed and people who have lost jobs since the flood are struggling to pay the bills.
“The government needs to urgently address this humanitarian crisis by acquiring land to build social, affordable and public housing.
“Leaving it to the free market to fix the housing crisis will not solve the problem. It will entrench further inequality and see people forced out of our community.
“The government needs to make affordable land available to flood impacted residents and businesses in order to enable landswaps, house relocations and affordable homes.
“Providing safe homes for people is about keeping our community together.
Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that a new NTEU report on $83 million of stolen wages at universities was a wake-up call for the federal government.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:
“These numbers are shocking but not surprising. Wage theft has been widespread and systemic in higher education, and I’ve pushed the investigation of this in a number of Senate inquiries.
“The link between wage theft and casualisation is undeniable. Not everyone who is underpaid at our universities is a casual, but if you’re a casual you are at much higher risk of having your wages stolen.
“The brutal reality is that the corporate university of today can only function on the back of the unpaid labour of thousands of casual staff. That must change.
“It’s time to get serious about tackling both wage theft and casualisation at our universities. I’m glad last week the Government confirmed that these issues are being looked at as part of the Universities Accord, but this shouldn’t prevent action right now. Staff have suffered the scourge of job insecurity, overwork and underpay for too long.
“The government should require universities to set publicly-available targets for increasing permanent employment, and link this to funding. There should be clearer reporting requirements with respect to employment statistics and improved rights of entry for trade unions.
“Moreover, our universities are in desperate need of a massive investment of public funding after years of neglect, and we need an overhaul of university governance to shift the balance of power from university management back to staff and students.”
Today I announce the launch of the inaugural Maitri Cultural Partnerships grants round to support greater exchange and collaboration between Australian and Indian creative industries.
Maitri – friendship – will underpin the series of partnerships and grants to promote Australia-India relations.
The Maitri Cultural Partnerships program will foster on-going relationships between Australian and Indian artists, performers and cultural organisations to deepen understanding and connections between our two countries.
The Maitri Cultural Partnerships grant round is divided into three programs supporting:
major Australian cultural organisations to engage Indian and partner institutions;
cultural collaboration that supports First Nations’ participation; and
small to medium sized Australian cultural organisations and community groups engagement.
Both Australian and Indian cultural and creative industries are major economic drivers with internationally renowned film, music and performing arts sectors. This funding will help the Australian creative sector collaborate with India’s thriving cultural industries.
The Cultural Partnerships are one of a suite of Maitri initiatives. This flagship program also includes Maitri fellowships, scholarships and grants.
The Maitri program will be administered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations which will open later this year.
The Centre will serve as a national platform to strengthen business, policy, institutional, cultural and community engagement with India.
Applications for the Maitri Cultural Partnerships grant round will open on 20 February and close on 3 April 2023. Grant guidelines are available on GrantConnect.
Six hundred high-achieving public school teachers from across NSW will be the first to earn salaries of up to $152,000, thanks to a $100 million commitment from the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government.
The first cohort of 200 teachers across more than 50 schools will start in 2023, helping shape the career pathway before it is expanded across NSW.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government was future-proofing education by attracting the best teachers into the profession, and keeping them in the classroom to lift student outcomes across the State.
“This is seismic reform that will modernise the teaching profession and ensure we have the best teachers in our classrooms to benefit students for generations to come,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We want our children to have the best start in life and that all starts with a world-class education. The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching career pathway recognises outstanding work and ensures teachers stay in the profession.”
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said if re-elected a NSW Liberal and Nationals Government would create 600 additional roles for highly-effective teachers over four years with a vision of growing the roles further.
“Our vision is for Rewarding Excellence in Teaching to be an integral part of the classroom career pathway in NSW schools, which is why we are doing the work now to get this right and making a clear commitment to delivering this reform longer-term,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Parents and students engage with amazing teachers every day in our schools and this commitment means those teachers stay in the classroom.”
Professor John Hattie, who has been the lead independent adviser on the reform, said the scale of 600 teachers over four years was the right step towards system-wide reform, based on extensive research and consultation.
“The best evidence says you need to co-design these roles in partnership with schools to get the biggest uplift in student outcomes. Over time, we would want to see this scaled up to around 10 per cent of teachers, or about 6,600 roles, to have the biggest impact,” Professor Hattie said.
“To help ensure these higher paid positions are as effective as possible, an initial group of more than 50 schools will be working with us to co-design the roles and what works best in different school contexts.”
The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Program has been the subject of one of the largest consultation processes ever undertaken by the NSW Department of Education, as detailed in the ‘Rewarding Excellence in Teaching – Consultation Playback Report’ published today.
The consultation included:
117 roundtables held across every school network in NSW
1,267 teachers from 849 schools directly consulted
4,554 online surveys completed
Schools involved in the first phase of the program represent a cross-section of school settings from across the State:
A re-elected NSW Liberal and Nationals Government will give principals at our top public schools greater autonomy over hiring teachers as part a plan to boost standards and learning outcomes for students.
The plan will involve a major expansion of the Government’s nation-leading Ambassador Schools program, which brings together our highest performing public schools so their methods can be applied to other schools.
An additional 40 schools will be added to the program, bringing the total to 50 across the state, with these principals to be granted specialised staffing arrangements to enable them to make their own hiring decisions for a period of three years.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said these changes would give principals greater freedom and flexibility to hire staff that align with the culture and values of their school.
“We are putting the power back in the hands of those who know best, giving our best principals greater autonomy to pick the right teachers for their school,” Mr Perrottet said.
“By providing them with more flexibility and freedom to make these important decisions, we’re empowering our principals to achieve the very best outcomes for their students.
“This is all about cutting bureaucratic red tape so that our kids get the very best learning experience and can thrive at school.”
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said this approach would ensure best practice is identified and shared across the entire school system.
“Our nation-leading Ambassador Schools program has already proven a huge success, bringing together our best schools so we can learn from their methods to improve the entire education system,” Ms Mitchell said.
“This initiative will see greater resources and support directed towards placing the right staff in the schools where they are needed. This is on top of the additional teacher supply being added to NSW through the Teacher Supply Strategy.”
As part of the expanded program, 20 schools will partner with universities to facilitate placements for teachers undertaking the Government’s recently announced one-year Masters degree, giving graduates the chance to undertake work experience at some of our best schools.
In addition, the Government will also create an annual ‘School Success Forum’ as the new flagship school summit for effective and innovative practice in NSW. This will become a major event in the education calendar that will help drive up standards across all school sectors in NSW.
The 40 new Ambassador Schools will be confirmed by the end of 2023, with the first School Success Forum held in early 2024.
High-achieving teachers in Riverstone will be some of the first to earn salaries of up to $152,000, thanks to a $100 million commitment from the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government.
Local teachers will be among the first cohort of 200 teachers across more than 50 schools will start in 2023, helping shape the career pathway before it is expanded across NSW.
The Riverstone school with teachers involved in the first phase is The Ponds School.
Liberal candidate for Riverstone Mohit Kumar welcomed the announcement and said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government was future-proofing education by attracting the best teachers to the profession, and keeping them in the classroom to lift student outcomes across the State.
“This is seismic reform that will modernise the teaching profession and ensure we have the best teachers in our classrooms to benefit students for generations to come,” Mr Kumar said
“We want our children to have the best start in life and that all starts with a world-class education. The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching career pathway recognises outstanding work and ensures teachers stay in the profession.”
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said if re-elected a NSW Liberal and Nationals Government would create 600 additional roles for highly-effective teachers over four years with a vision of growing the roles further.
“Our vision is for Rewarding Excellence in Teaching to be an integral part of the classroom career pathway in NSW schools, which is why we are doing the work now to get this right and making a clear commitment to delivering this reform longer-term,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Parents and students engage with amazing teachers every day in our schools and this commitment means those teachers stay in the classroom.”
The Rewarding Excellence in Teaching Program has been the subject of one of the largest consultation processes ever undertaken by the NSW Department of Education, as detailed in the ‘Rewarding Excellence in Teaching – Consultation Playback Report’ published today.
The consultation included:
· 117 roundtables held across every school network in NSW
· 1,267 teachers from 849 schools directly consulted
· 4,554 online surveys completed
“This is another great example of the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s long-term economic plan delivering for teachers, students, and families across Riverstone and NSW,” Mr Kumar said.
The Entrance’s Liberal candidate has welcomed the commitment by the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government to inject $23 million in to Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW), the biggest investment in the organisation in its 116-year history.
Candidate for The Entrance, Nathan Bracken, said the funding will significantly enhance SLSNSW’s capability with new rescue vehicles, jet skis and more.
“There are 21,000 volunteer lifesavers in NSW and hundreds of these are in our own region. Support frontline services is a key initiative from the Perrottet Liberal Team and it is only possible because of the strong economic record in NSW,” Mr Bracken said.
“I am proud to be part of a team that is delivering record funding to secure a brighter future for our volunteer lifesavers who are so integral to our community. They do an incredible job keeping our beaches safe.”
Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke said the funding commitment for SLSNSW comes at a critical time.
“This summer is not over yet but we’ve already experienced record numbers of rescues and sadly drownings. This extra funding will go a long way towards ensuring our volunteers are better supported to keep our communities safer and stronger,” Ms Cooke said.
SLSNSW President George Shales said an investment in lifesavers is an investment in community safety.
“I welcome today’s announcement, which is a significant increase on previous NSW Government support for our thousands of volunteers and staff. Every single dollar will make a difference to the equipment and resources our volunteers rely on, helping us to save more lives,” Mr Shales said.
The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s $23 million funding commitment consists of:
22 new rescue vehicles and 68 new jet skis, which can also be deployed during other natural disasters like floods;
40 additional Emergency Response Beacons, enabling lifesavers to remotely monitor unpatrolled sections of the NSW coastline;
Additional emergency management staff permanently based in Regional NSW;
Radio communications upgrades on the Far South Coast, South Coast, North Coast and Mid North Coast; and
An additional $5 million for the Surf Club Facility Program (taking it to $15 million in total), which is administered by the Office of Sport to develop facilities that increase participation in surf life saving for all people, increase usage and improve safety.
