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Palaszczuk $21 million available to support First Nations Queenslanders

Sam Bernardo
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Palaszczuk $21 million available to support First Nations Queenslanders

Annastacia Palaszczuk 1 2

The Palaszczuk Government has made more than $21 million available to support the health and wellbeing of First Nations Queenslanders and communities during COVID-19.


Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Steven Miles said the measures aim to combat the spread of COVID-19 amongst First Nations Queenslanders to ensure the coronavirus does not adversely impact their communities or amplify existing health inequalities.


“From the moment the virus appeared in Australia we have been working to prevent outbreaks in Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities where we know it would have a devastating impact.


“This funding has gone toward preparing for possible future outbreaks in First Nations communities, while remaining committed to existing health services.



“We know that First Nations peoples, particular those that are aged 50 and over with one or more chronic health conditions may experience more severe symptoms of COVID-19.



“We have to remain vigilant and be able to respond early to COVID-19.”



Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Craig Crawford commended remote and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders for the work they have done to protect their communities from the spread of COVID-19.



“In March, the National Cabinet agreed to restrict entry into those communities under the Commonwealth’s Biosecurity Act 2015,” Mr Crawford said.



“I have heard the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mayors and leaders since the measures came into effect.  We know these decisions have raised challenges for the delivery of healthcare and essential wellbeing services.”



This investment is already delivering for First Nation Queenslanders and will help:



  • Facilitate partnerships between Hospital and Health Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Organisations to support local COVID-19 responses
  • Bolster the frontline health workforce to help people remain connected and continue their healthcare during this time
  • Roll out innovative models of healthcare in the home, from the home and close to home
  • Enable a surge workforce capacity to respond to community outbreaks
  • Provide funding for increased communication activities.



Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Chief Health Officer and Deputy Director-General Haylene Grogan welcomed this investment.



“I have been talking with community leaders and clinicians right across Queensland, we must do all we can to ensure people stay engaged in healthcare, especially in relation to chronic disease management. These measures are about healthcare in the home, from the home and close to home,” Ms Grogan said.



“This investment also provides an opportunity to drive health equity reform through enhancing the uptake of innovation.



“I know the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health sector in Queensland is doing a good job alongside our Hospital and Health Services and we want to see partnerships and innovation strengthened so that quality healthcare is provided to First Nations people in this state.”



Deputy Premier Miles said in addition to this investment, the Palaszczuk Government is also investing to expand the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH) existing IUIH Connect Program in South East Queensland.



“IUIH Connect works closely with Queensland Health, Public Health Networks, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health clinics, and community-based social support services to connect patients and families towards holistic supports when and where they need it, across multiple systems and organisations,” Mr Miles said.



“As part of the $28 million fund established by the Palaszczuk Government to support Queensland’s community-based health service groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, IUIH is one of the first organisations to benefit with a $1.4 million grant.”



Minister Crawford said it is critical that we back our community support services during these difficult times as they respond rapidly to the widespread impact of the virus in Queensland.



“Getting the level of communication right during this time is critical to keep communities informed. An SMS platform for COVID-19 First Nations communications will be rolled out to provide tailored information about COVID-19 via text messaging, that will complement a broad communications program,” Minister Crawford said.



“First Nations communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations know what is best for their communities, and we are continuing to listen and be informed by their advice.”



Attribution: Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services. The Honourable Steven Miles

Katter: Time to stop milking dairy farmers

Sam Bernardo
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Katter: Time to stop milking dairy farmers

Bob Katter 1


That the House:(1) notes that:

(a) on 6 May 2020 the Minister for Agriculture put out a media release titled “Time to stop milking dairy, fair go for farmers”;

(b) nearly 500 dairy farmers have left the industry in the past year;

(c) the ACCC in 2018 identified that there is a market imbalance between processors and farmers;

(d) in the state of Queensland alone the number of dairy farmers has dropped from 1,305 in 2000-2001 to 356 in 2019;

(e) Australia had 12,896 dairy farms in the year 2000;

(f) in 2018 there were just 5,699 dairy farms, a reduction of 57 per cent which is likely to have increased in the last 12 months;

(g) in the North Queensland dairy area before deregulation farmers got 60.4 cents per litre, but after deregulation they got 41.1 cents;

(h) Dairy Australia’s Situation and Outlook March 2020 report says dairy farmers have been impacted by the summer bushfires adding additional price pressures to their operations, including in:

(i) NSW, 32 dairy farms on the south coast and far south coast and eight on the mid coast;

(ii) North East Victoria, 35 dairy farms directly affected and 11 more operations significantly impacted;

(iii) East Gippsland in Victoria, approximately 30 dairy farms affected in the direct fire zone with varying degrees of impact, including two known to have lost major assets; and

(iv) South Australia, 12 dairy farms affected by fires prior to Christmas;

(i) Dairy Australia has also stated a range of factors weighed on economic growth last year, including geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainty, social unrest and stressed emerging markets and overall, growth in global output fell 0.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent, the lowest level since the 2008-09 financial crisis;

(j) the Australian Dairy Situation Analysis dated May 2019 states that Australian dairy farmers operate in a deregulated and open market, leaving them quite exposed to the product price adjustments induced by global market shocks and associated flow on impact to farm gate milk prices, which, coupled with increased volatility in the availability and pricing of key production inputs such as water and feed has undermined local farmer confidence in the long term dairy market outlook and the scope to extract reliable returns from their milk to build a longer term future; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) give more support to Australia’s dairy farmers;

(b) instruct the ACCC to develop a minimum farmgate milk price;

(c) enforce the minimum farmgate milk price through the Dairy Code of Conduct; and

d) as an interim measure, provide a mechanism for mandating the voluntary milk levy until the minimum farmgate price is established or create an offence to purchase fresh milk below the minimum price to farmers that will be set by an arbitration authority designated by the ACCC.

I represent one of the three areas designated in Australia as being the biggest and most at risk. Bega was another area that was designated as one of the biggest and most at risk. On the day before dairy deregulation, we were getting 60c a litre for fresh milk. The day after we were getting 41.1c a litre. Thirty per cent of our income was taken off us overnight. Every person in this room, imagine if you got a telephone call and were told that 30 per cent of your income was to be taken away tomorrow. That’s what happened to these poor farmers.

For those that advocate for free markets, I strongly advise that they sue the universities they went to for not telling them that free markets do not include a situation where two retailers have 80 per cent of the marketplace. That is called an oligopoly, and proof positive is the fact that within one day the price had gone from 60c down to 40c. That’s not a free market. That clearly is an oligopolistic pricing mechanism, where two, three or four people control the price. If further proof were needed, as Fred Cudor pointed out to me, if Coles and Woolworths could decide arbitrarily that they could put 20c a litre on milk to help drought affected dairy farmers then clearly they’re controlling the marketplace. Just two people in the marketplace could unilaterally decide to kick the milk prices up 20c, further proof that it is not the market setting the price but the two giant supermarket chains.

I’m not attacking them. They have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximise profits. The honourable opposition member who will be seconding this motion, Mr Joel Fitzgibbon, has pointed out on numerous occasions that they have a responsibility to maximise profits to their shareholders. They’re going to play by the rules, but we set the rules. The rules are based upon a free market when there is no free market, clearly. If overnight you can chop the price down 30c and then you can put it up 20c literally in one day, there is no free market. You’re just deciding whatever price you want to put on it and that’s the price it will be. That is the necessity for minimum pricing. Quite frankly, intelligent people—and there are a lot of unintelligent people out there—know that the government members are getting constant publicity because they are saying: ‘Oh, this is dreadful. Oh, we must have a code of conduct. We’ve got to put a code of conduct in.’ Well, they got the code of conduct in and we got 3c out of it. Consumers are paying 20c.

I can’t speak for every farmer in Australia, but there are only two factories left in Queensland. One is in Brisbane and one is in North Queensland. There are a million people in North Queensland, so it’s a very sizeable factory. For that area with a million people, I can say very definitely that we got 3.1c. So the consumer’s paid 20c and the farmer got 3.1c—and it was to help the farmers! I don’t know what farmers got helped, unless you consider 3c a help.

An arbitration commission—it was a fair claims commission, if you like—set the price for milk to the farmer at 60c a litre. If you extrapolate that price to prices currently, 20 years later, then you come up with a figure of 94c a litre. That’s what they should be getting, and they’re getting 60c a litre. I don’t want to get tangled up with figures, but you don’t have to be told that every dairy farmer in this country is going down. Some of the big boys think that, by getting bigger, they are going to be all right. I had discussions many years ago now with Tony Perich, the second biggest milk producer in Australia. He is in Penrith, outside of Sydney, and he’s milking over 2,000 milkers. That’s fantastic. I don’t think anyone in Queensland is doing 700, and he was doing over 2,200 at the time. He said: ‘We’re losing money. If you think you’re going to get bigger and that will somehow solve the problem, it won’t, because I’m as big as there is and I’m still going broke.’ For those stupids who think they can stay where they are, they will be gone because of their stupidity. You can take your free market and every intelligent person who believes in free markets—

The SPEAKER: Member for Kennedy, could you pause for a second. You have moved that standing orders be suspended, so at some point you really need to be saying why standing orders ought to be suspended.


Mr KATTER:  I take your point, Mr Speaker. We have lost 500 dairy farmers in the last year. If I had to put a figure on it, I would say we’re losing 30 a week. So do we stand here and do nothing—because this House maybe won’t sit for another month or two; I don’t know—and watch another 100 or 200 farmers hit the wall or move into a situation from which they can never recover? That is the urgency of this motion.


Quite frankly, I think there are probably some people over here who are not game to open their mouths but are praying that we get this through because, eventually, their farmers going to wake up. Eventually their farmers are going to wake up and say, ‘We’ve been voting for the country party, but we don’t think this mob are the country party anymore.’ Sixty per cent of New South Wales has made that decision. With the land mass in New South Wales, they have left. All of North Queensland, virtually, has left. The people are not dumb and eventually they will wake up and realise that the party that was formed to deliver a statutory market, a minimum price, is now the party— (Time expired)



Source:https://www.aph.gov.au/Attribution: Parliament of Australia website.

Hanson: We do not want migrants to return to Australia in the same numbers

Sam Bernardo
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Hanson: We do not want migrants to return to Australia in the same numbers

Pauline Hanson 11

Senator Pauline Hanson (Queensland) : One Nation submitted today’s matter of public importance: (Migration May 2020)

When Australia restarts our migration program, we do not want migrants to return to Australia in the same numbers and in the same composition as before the crisis.

I have to admit that they are not my words; they are Senator Keneally’s words, which she used in her article. It’s quite interesting. I’ve always said there should be a debate on this, and I’m pleased that we actually got to call on this debate.


Forcing debate about immigration and foreign workers is often a thankless task. No-one knows this more than me. When you bring up facts such as more than half of the nation’s population growth since 2005 has come from overseas migration, you get called a racist. When you explain that instead of flooding Australia with migrants to drive economic growth we should be increasing productivity or investing in skills and training, people call you xenophobic. When you make commonsense statements like, ‘Australians should get a fair go and the first go at jobs,’ people call you a white supremacist. When you argue, like Senator Keneally did the other day, that once Australia restarts its immigration program migrants must not return to Australia in the same numbers and in the same composition as before the coronavirus crisis, people might even accuse you of stealing One Nation policy.



This is why I today want to say thank you to Labor’s shadow immigration minister, Kristina Keneally. I know she will not be getting much support from her Labor colleagues. Reading through some of the recent comments made by Senator Keneally, I can only assume she has spent much of her time in quarantine reading through my speeches from 1996 and taking copious notes, because so much of what she said could have been taken from comments and arguments I’ve made over the past 24 years. Perhaps Senator Keneally may want to make an admission here today that she’s a closet One Nation supporter. I know it took Mark Latham a couple of decades to come out of the One Nation closet, but look how great he’s doing! He’s a new man and loving it, and so are the Australian people.



Today I want to reassure the Senate that if Senator Keneally wants to cross the floor in support of her own comments and finds herself thrown out of the Labor Party for breaking ranks, I will always have a position in my office for talented immigration speechwriters such as herself. I know I don’t often get a chance to congratulate my Labor Senate colleagues, but I always give credit where credit is due. Credit is due, because, by revealing herself as a convert to One Nation’s position on immigration, Senator Keneally has proven that what I have long said is true: so powerful are my arguments on immigration that even a staunch opponent of One Nation like Senator Keneally will eventually be dragged kicking and screaming to support cuts to immigration and cuts to foreign workers. I know there are many in the Labor Party, and even more among Labor’s allies and the unions, who agree with my position on immigration and foreign workers behind closed doors but refuse to speak the truth publicly out of fear of being called a racist or some other meaningless insult.



Right now, due to coronavirus, there are millions of Australians unemployed or underemployed. These are the people we need to look after, not foreign workers. This is the debate we need to have. We can’t go back to our old immigration program. Australians have a right to a job and to a way of life that is not tied to welfare handouts. For decades, the coalition and Labor parties have used mass migration and foreign workers to artificially pump up economic growth. For decades they have cynically used insults and slurs to try and shut down this debate. For decades they have refused to admit that this is creating problems with increased demand on our limited services, housing affordability, unemployment and underemployment, wage stagnation and congestion in our cities. Senator Keneally and I have now warned each and every one of you that if we continue down the same path, the path of mass migration and foreign workers, our economy will come crashing down. I moved a notice of motion today on the floor of parliament, and I’ll just read out some of the comments in this notice of motion:



… relying on high levels of immigration to boost the population to fuel economic growth is arguably a lazy approach letting lots of migrants come to Australia to drive economic growth rather than increasing productivity or investing in skills and training is a lazy approach instead of letting lots of migrants come to Australia to drive economic growth, we should be increasing productivity or investing in skills and training as at June 2019, there were 2.1 million temporary visa holders in Australia Australia hosts the second-largest migrant workforce in the OECD, second in total number only to the US one in five chefs, one in four cooks, one in six hospitality workers, and one in 10 nursing support and personal care workers in Australia hold a temporary visa …



Another one says: when Australia restarts its immigration program, we must understand that migration is a key economic policy lever that can help or harm Australian workers in the economic recovery and beyond …



Senator Davey talks about regional areas. It says here: we must also ensure that regional areas don’t only get transient people but community members who will settle down, buy houses, start businesses and send their kids to the local school …



The whole fact is that Labor said I was pulling a stunt. No. All those words were from Senator Keneally, from her article. That was from Labor’s shadow minister for immigration, yet they said I was pulling a political stunt. No, I wasn’t pulling a political stunt. The fact is that I called Labor out for what this is: they themselves pulled a political stunt. Keneally was the one that actually made those comments, but Labor clearly do not stand by them, because they did not support the notice of motion today. So who’s really pulled a political stunt? They use it when it suits them. As I’ve said, high immigration props up our economy and has been used by both the major political parties.



And I will make a comment about Senator Faruqi today saying that One Nation stands by white supremacy. At no point have we ever. I’m sick of the lies put across in this chamber with regard to One Nation, and I’m going to call that out for what it is. I encourage people to go to One Nation’s website and look at our immigration policy, which is nondiscriminatory. That is purely a lie. To talk about immigration policy, we need a debate; Australians want the debate. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Brockman ): That concludes this matter of public importance.



https://www.aph.gov.au/nAttribution: Parliament of Australia

Faruqi warns Senators we are not going back to White Australia policy

Sam Bernardo
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Faruqi warns Senators we are not going back to White Australia policy

Faruqi Sen Mehreen 1

Senator Mehreen Faruqi (New South Wales): Matters of Public Importance Migration I did ponder a bit whether speaking on this matter of public importance was worth it, because it clearly seeks to divide us. But, to be honest, I have had it up to here with One Nation, so I will have my say. This MPI is just another way for them to define who should be in Australia, who is deemed as ‘one of us’ and who is deemed as the ‘other’ because of what they look like or where they come from. Let me make one thing crystal clear: when One Nation talk about changing the composition of our migration program, we know what you mean. It’s not simply a technical or abstract debate about temporary versus permanent migration, or skilled workers versus family reunion. For One Nation, the party of the Muslim ban and decades of overt racism, it is about something else entirely.

Just two years ago, former Senator Anning, who was elected as a One Nation senator, said the quiet part aloud in his widely condemned first speech, calling for a migration program that reflects the historic European Christian composition of Australian society. That senator, thankfully, has gone, but unfortunately One Nation is still here. If you had your way, I would have never been allowed in this country that I call home, let alone sit in this parliament, in the Senate chamber. Shame on you. For all your talk about supporting good migrants who speak perfect English and assimilate completely, you would rather we just go back to the White Australia Policy. Well, we are not going back to White Australia.



It’s not just One Nation sitting here relentlessly pursuing their agenda of racism and xenophobia; it’s also the Liberals sitting over there and the Labor Party sitting over there who must cop blame as well. The Liberals have, for years, targeted and fanned the flames of hatred, from targeting the Sudanese community to Lebanese Muslim migrants to asylum seekers and refugees. The Labor Party’s hands are dirty as well, with its continual dog whistling Australian-first rhetoric. This posturing and rhetoric normalises and gives oxygen to One Nation’s racism and xenophobia. It hurts and damages us. We are not here as fodder for your inherent biases and white supremacy that you want to exert. We are proud upstanding citizens of this country and we work hand to make Australia a better place.



https://www.aph.gov.au/Attribution: Parliament of Australia

Hanson-Young The Arts and industry needs $ billions stimulus package

Sam Bernardo
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Hanson-Young The Arts and industry needs $ billions stimulus package

Hanson Young 1


Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (South Australia) 13/05/2020 Covid -19 Arts and Entertainment Industry: I rise today to speak about the impact that COVID-19 has had on hundreds of thousands of artists and entertainers right across Australia. We know that this has been a tough time for all Australians. From having to stay away from loved ones and find new ways to celebrate birthdays and have coffee catch-ups, to those who have lost jobs and livelihoods, with no idea of what awaits them in the future, or those who have tragically lost a family member or friend due to the health crisis of COVID-19, we have all felt these impacts in one way or another. There have been few things that have brought us together during these isolated times, but there has been one thing that we have all been able to turn to and take comfort from, and that’s our arts and our entertainment industry. A good book, our favourite TV show or film, musicians doing gigs via social media, and virtual exhibitions have all offered us an outlet to both escape and come together. This is not the first time, of course. We saw only recently, over summer, that it was artists and creatives that were there in the midst of the bushfire crisis and were the first to step up, help out and raise money at a much-needed time.



But there is no denying that this time around the people who work in these industries have been left behind by the government. There has been no targeted package for this sector like there has for others. No matter how many times the government insists that JobKeeper is there to help them, the truth is that a large number of workers in these industries have fallen and are continuing to fall through the gaps, left with nothing. ABS data has shown just how hard the arts and entertainment sector has been hit. Ninety-four per cent of arts and recreation businesses have been impacted. A huge 53 per cent of businesses have stopped operating entirely. Twenty-seven per cent of people in the arts and recreation sector have lost their jobs. Of the one million Australians who have lost their jobs during this time, one-third have come from arts and recreation. I want to make this very, very clear: we are at a very real risk of losing an entire generation of Australian artists and creative institutions if we don’t do something now to help them. This neglect is now taking a serious toll on the already underfunded sector.



I could stand here for my entire 10-minute speech and just list the numbers of artists, performers and businesses who have been completely stripped of their livelihoods. Just today the Woodford Folk Festival, Australia’s biggest music and cultural festival, have shared their concerns that, if the event doesn’t go ahead this year, it may be gone for good. This festival alone contributes over $20 million to its local economy each and every year. That’s a lot of jobs. That’s a lot of economic stimulus in that area. There is an endless list of festivals and events that have been cancelled right across the country, including the Byron Bay Bluesfest and Dark Mofo in Tasmania. These cancellations affect so many, from the participating artists to the tech support and the crew, but it flows beyond that: it’s the local tourism industry, the local hotels, the B&B owners, the restaurants and the other tourism businesses in those areas. The entire community feels a loss when festivals like this have to cancel and close down.



ABS data has shown us that arts, recreation, accommodation and food services have suffered the most from COVID-19. Sixty per cent of the jobs lost during COVID-19 thus far are in these sectors. These industries exist in an ecosystem, and one cannot live without the other. Without a healthy arts and entertainment sector, tourism and hospitality just suffer, and they continue to suffer greatly. We now risk entire organisations collapsing. Australian galleries have lost huge amounts of income, with regional galleries still reeling from the bushfires as well. This has been hit after hit after hit.



Contemporary art space Carriageworks in Sydney being forced into voluntary administration made the headlines in recent weeks. The list of severely wounded organisations and businesses grows. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is facing a $20 million hit to its revenue. That’s a lot of jobs. After recently being knocked back for funding, the Restless Dance Theatre in Adelaide has now had to suffer through the stresses of COVID-19. Adelaide’s iconic live music venue The Gov is also on the brink today of calling in liquidators. The owner recently stated that they just won’t be able to survive in the coming months. These closures filter down to every artist, performer and employee.



I was contacted earlier this week by an Adelaide woman whose husband works in the film industry in Adelaide and is out of work, with no clear pathway. They have an 18-month-old child and a second kid on the way. But right now they have no idea how they are going to recover from this devastating blow and they’ve got no help from the government programs already announced.



Arts and entertainment contribute $112 billion to our economy, yet they have been left out in the cold. We need to ensure that there is enough support for a smooth recovery and the opportunity for economic stimulus. Arts and entertainment are such a huge part of our lives. We need them. Arts and entertainment help us to process what we’re going through, to make sense of the world around us. We need our artists to be there at the end of this to help us heal. At the moment, they’ve been left out in the cold, left on their own, and there is no hope coming from the government. We will need them after this just as much as we’ve needed them during lockdown.



This is exactly why we need an economic stimulus package for the arts and entertainment industry. Earlier this week I announced a plan for a package to chart a pathway to recovery. The plan comprises three main elements. The first is an artist-in-residence program, a $300 million project that would see an artist in residence in every school and library across the country. This is about investing in the value of the next generation of artists as well as getting our artists and authors back to work. It would enable visual artists, authors and writers to engage their skills to help mentor Australia’s young people and students. The project would be focused on job creation and community development, building an enhanced appreciation for our creative industries.



The second element of this package is the billion stories fund—$1 billion put into an Australian content fund to kickstart the Australian screen industry. Productions are job rich, including creative, scriptwriting, IT, lighting, sound engineers, crews, costumes, tradespeople, marketing, logistics—the list goes on. Making sure we can tell our Australian stories when we get through this crisis, when we get to the end, is going to be essential. It is vital for our cultural identity, but it’s important for education and local jobs.



Finally, the third element that we need a stimulus package for is our live performance, live Australia. A $1 billion grant fund is needed to inject money into Australia’s festival, music and live performance sector, which needs cash flow right now to recover and restart—investing in and creating incentives for the planning and delivery of events, live music and performance projects for metropolitan, suburban and regional communities. These projects are job rich and provide the economic kick that is so desperately needed for instant stimulus in the communities where they occur.



This package would not only put artists and creatives back to work but it would build on our cultural capital that is so at risk of falling over at the moment. We are going to need to restore our social fabric as we come out of this crisis. We need to create jobs for those who have been hardest hit and we need to create hope for the Australian community, with stories that reflect the Australian identity and show the value of really coming together.



https://www.aph.gov.au/Attribution: Parliament of Australia

Waters; The COVID-19 recovery presents a genuine transition to renewable, jobs-rich future.

Sam Bernardo
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Waters; The COVID-19 recovery presents a genuine transition to renewable, jobs-rich future.

Larissa Waters 1


Senator Larissa Waters: The Greens support the aim of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Cross-boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Measures) Bill 2019 to strengthen and clarify the monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers of NOPSEMA during an oil pollution emergency. Earlier this year we celebrated Equinor pulling out of the Great Australian Bight. It was a huge win for environmentalists, coastal communities and the surfing community. For those who love our pristine beaches, the risk of an oil pollution emergency was not something to be monitored or managed; it was to be avoided at all costs. Thousands of people stood up, and Equinor stood down. My colleague Senator Hanson-Young will be moving amendments in the committee stage of this bill to secure the ongoing protection of the bight from the sorts of emergencies that this bill is designed to manage.


But what of the ongoing climate emergency? We’ve just experienced one of the hottest summers on record and a devastating bushfire season that claimed 34 lives. Regional communities are still struggling to recover from the impacts in the brief reprieve before the fire season starts again. But, despite the need for urgent climate action, Australia’s pollution from oil and gas production has increased a staggering 621 per cent since 2005, and it continues to rise each quarter. It’s no wonder that we’re on track for 3.4 degrees of warming.



The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis recently released a report comparing government and industry use of methane emissions data to the scandal of Volkswagen under-reporting its emissions. That report notes that methane from gas poses the greatest threat to the warming climate.



Peer reviewed studies have consistently shown that so-called natural gas emissions have actually been underestimated by at least 25 to 40 per cent, with some studies suggesting as much as 60 per cent. Methane leaks like a sieve from fracking for unconventional gas, and those fugitive emissions, when properly accounted for, make gas almost as polluting as coal, with damage to underground water supplies thrown in to boot. Yet the gas industry in Australia has no intention of reducing supply, and, therefore, its emissions. Instead, Australia’s gas industry has the enthusiastic support of government to keep polluting, with a long list of new gas projects, both onshore and offshore, from Narrabri to the Galilee, from the Beetaloo Basin to the Burrup Peninsula. Perhaps the regular donations from the gas industry—and they go to both sides of politics—are what shore up that enthusiastic support.



While the country’s attention has been on COVID responses, NOPSEMA, the regulator, has quietly approved the Scarborough offshore gasfield development. That development is part of Woodside’s proposed $50 billion Burrup Hub LNG project, which analysis estimates would have a footprint of six billion tonnes—that’s six gigatonnes—of carbon pollution, equivalent to four Adani sized coalmines. Emissions at that scale will jeopardise any prospect of Australia meeting its Paris climate targets. But most concerning is the statement from NOPSEMA that the project will be contributing to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. This is straight from the industry and government playbook that talks up gas as a transitional fuel. But there is little evidence that gas is in fact displacing coal globally. It simply adds to the carbon intensity in many countries, and it can divert efforts from a genuine switch to renewables. And no end date is being proposed for this so-called transition fuel.



Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity for a genuine transition to a genuinely clean renewable future. The International Renewable Energy Agency has estimated that a renewable energy driven transition to zero net emissions would boost global GDP by $155 trillion. Numerous business leaders have urged the government to use the recovery to invest in renewables to support a green steel manufacturing boom and to provide sustainable jobs for regional areas. And yet this government remains focused on a gas fired recovery, and so the carbon racket goes on.



Given the energy minister’s obsession with oil, gas and coal, it’s hardly surprising that the COVID-19 commission, tasked with guiding our recovery, is stacked with the government’s fossil fuel mates. The chair, Mr Nev Power, is the director of an onshore gas exploration company, Strike Energy. Catherine Tanna is the managing director of Energy Australia and, of course, was a former director of the BG Group, which led the charge to open up Queensland’s gasfields. The list of high-priority projects promoted by the commission includes a new fertiliser plant that is only possible if the Narrabri gas project proceeds. History shows that incumbent industries like the fossil fuel lobby use their power to convince governments that an economic crisis could justify the relaxation of climate change and environmental regulations. We will stand against such attempts.



My bill to give traditional owners, farmers and landholders the right to say no to gas companies—and coal companies, for that matter—has been before this parliament since 2011. We will continue to fight for those rights to protect land, water, the climate and people’s livelihoods. We’ll continue to push for the true cost of carbon emissions to be accounted for and for big emitters to be held responsible. That brings me to the Greens second reading amendment on sheet 8894, which I so move:



At the end of the motion, add:”, but the Senate notes that:



(a) Australia’s emissions from gas production has risen a staggering 621 per cent since 2005 to record high levels;



(b) the gas industry no longer pays for its emissions, and that regulatory attempts to require carbon abatement be purchased from farmers and land managers have been thwarted by the industry and their close financial and employment relationships with political parties; and



(c) letting gas companies pollute for free is denying new income streams for Australia’s farmers struggling through a deep drought, exacerbated by the gas industry”.



I move this amendment to recognise that polluting companies are currently not paying for the damage they do.



When the carbon price was first established, Western Australia removed its requirements for gas projects to pay farmers to abate carbon emissions. But, despite the scrapping of the carbon price, the abatement requirements were not put back in place. When the WA EPA introduced guidelines last year requiring resource projects to completely offset their greenhouse gas emissions, the usual suspects were outraged and demanded the guidelines be withdrawn, and they were. New guidelines have not yet been finalised. The gas donors called in their favours and used the Liberal and Labor parties to squash reform. If resource companies were required to buy Australian certified carbon units, it would not only drive efforts to reduce emissions; it would transfer wealth from gas companies to farmers, who desperately need the income stream. It will be interesting to see whose side the National Party is on. When we vote on my second reading amendment, which notes this, we invite the Nationals to come over and vote with us, to represent farmers instead of their coal, oil and gas donors.



Source: Parliament of Australia Website Creative Commons

ScoMo Getting people back into jobs, getting our economy moving again

Sam Bernardo
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ScoMo Getting people back into jobs, getting our economy moving again

PM Scott Morrison 13


PRIME MINISTER: Welcome back, colleagues, in this rather unusual setting but it’s good for us to get together in a COVID safe way. We’re back at work – we’ve never not been at work over these many months – we have been hard at work, but here we are, back today and in Canberra for the sittings today. Getting people back into their workplace and back into jobs, getting our economy moving again. That’s our task.


In the last four months, we’ve been fighting this virus and we’ve been doing it with some success, particularly when you look at it internationally. And over the course of this period, we have been following a very clear plan. It is our response to the COVID crisis that has enveloped the world. Step one of that way has always been to fight the virus. And we are winning, but we have not yet won. That virus is still out there, that virus still has a great potential to do enormous harm to the livelihoods of Australians and the lives of Australians. We need to continue to fight that battle and I want to commend Greg Hunt on the tremendous job that he has done in leading that health response.



Step two of that plan has to extend an economic lifeline to Australians throughout the course of this crisis. JobKeeper, JobSeeker, the cash flow lifeline to small businesses. The additional payments that are going to pensioners and to others on welfare benefits and will happen again in July. Making sure that we understand during this emergency time we have emergency responses. That is entirely appropriate. And our Government did not shrink from that, our Government responded to that in an effective and well-planned and well-considered way, consistent with the principles that we set out in early March. That we don’t commit Australians across the generations to high levels of spending into the future, that we do it with the time that is necessary to give the support that is necessary to help Australians through this crisis. And that’s what we’ve done. And to you, Josh, and the entire economic team and Mathias and others, it has been a very effective program, brought together in record time. 



The JobSeeker program has seen more than a million people, sadly, have to seek that support through the JobSeeker payments and the work that Stuart Robert has done through Services  Australia and the amazing work with the public service who have been part of that team. More than 5,000 additional people we had to bring and brought them into Services Australia to process the claims of more than a million Australians so they can get the help they need and that’s been an extraordinary piece of work to extend that economic lifeline, where it is needed, to ensure that Australians can move forward with confidence.



You know, from the day that JobSeeker and JobKeeper, I should say, together were announced, confidence surveys show that we’ve already covered some 70 per cent of the ground by having a plan, by having the commitment, by having the follow through. And most importantly, for delivering on the ground. That is so important. We can have policies, we can have all of these things. But it’s the delivery on the ground that has been demonstrated, whether it’s in processing more than a million claims, five and a half million people coming onto JobKeeper, thousands, tens of thousands of small businesses that have been given that cash flow lifeline that enables them to get and see the road ahead for themselves.



So I have great faith, as we all do, in the optimism of Australians and in their resourcefulness and in their tenacity and their determination. And they can work within that framework and they can work within that plan and that’s why the third step of the plan which I announced last Friday was that road back. Those three steps, working together with the states and territories in a way that we have never seen in our Federation through the National Cabinet. I thank the premiers and chief ministers for the work that they have done, working together as part of a genuine national effort, and we have led that effort as a Government. We’ve mapped out the road back to a COVID safe economy.



So Australians can go back to the workplaces, so children can be back in school. Both of my daughters are back in school today, in the classroom, in New South Wales. That road back is giving Australians hope. It’s giving them confidence. They can see down the road and they can see how we can get to that next stage.



But we cannot be complacent. States and territories are each pacing out this road back and that’s appropriate, because the circumstances of our great country and its broad reaches are very different. From Warren up in North Queensland to our friends in Tasmania, right across in the West where they’re well ahead down this plan. It’s a big country and it means the responses will be different across the country. But they’re all heading in the same direction and that’s what the national effort has done.



But as we reopen, which is that third stage, we now must work to build confidence and to build momentum. We cannot be complacent. While we very much look to the future as Australians are, as a Government we must remain absolutely focused on the right here, right now, needs of Australians. Australians are hurting now. Their businesses are still not open now. They’re still not back to their full time employment arrangements that they long to be back into. Not all of the kids are back in school. There’s still a long way to go, and so we can’t be distracted. By things that are further down the road because Australians need our help now, and we need to focus on their needs now, right here, right now, and that’s what we’ll be doing in this parliament this very week. 



But that fourth phase is about building that momentum. It’s about building that confidence, confidence figures are out today, as I said, a 70 per cent rebound. Despite the difficult circumstances, the country is still moving. But we can’t be complacent. As Australians go back out and re-engage in their workplaces and their communities as kids go back to playgrounds, and surfers get back on the waves and golfers get back on the course. And thankfully, the NRL returns to the field, and the AFL too I’m sure, and the netball. 



But we cannot be complacent that the virus is beaten as I’m sure Greg will tell us, the virus is still out there. It is still there to wreak havoc, to cause terrible illness, particularly to our most vulnerable Australians and deny Australians’ their livelihoods.



And so that’s why the COVIDSafe app is so important, because that is part of the protection that Australians have as we venture back out. We can open back up, not because the virus is defeated, we can open up, because of the tremendous work is being done in our health system to build up the ICU’s, to get the ventilators in place, to build up our testing regime, to get the COVIDSafe app so we can industrialize the tracing of cases and isolate those who will contract the virus as the economy opens up again. And then we can respond to individual outbreaks, whether they’re in a nursing home, and I congratulate you, Melissa, for the great work you’ve done out there in the community of Penrith with the Newmarch, it’s been a terrible, terrible, a terrible incident. And Richard, to you and all that time in the department, have done a great job in responding to these outbreaks. And they will happen, but we will respond.



And that is where our focus will be in the many months ahead, weeks and months of getting the momentum back into our country. And that’s where we must support all Australians in our electorates across the country, encouraging them, spurring them on. We’ve got the frameworks right, we’ve got the policy settings right. And we know they will get it right, if we continue encouraging them and showing the way forward. And of course, we will need to reset our economic policies and other policy frameworks to ensure that Australia grows itself out of this crisis.



The answer is not spending more or spending forever. The answer is that Australian businesses small, micro, medium, large will rebuild, will re-employ, will restart and engage in this COVID safe economy and do what they’ve always done. Theirs are the shoulders that Australians will stand on, those businesses that will provide the employment and provide the opportunities.



Governments can support that. But at the end of the day, it’s that economy. You know, governments, we have no money of our own. The only money we have is what is provided to us by the Australian people and the hard work of Australian people and the success of Australian businesses. And that is our road map to recovery. That is our road ahead. By spurring those businesses on to ensure that they can provide the livelihoods that Australians desire on the other side of this crisis.



So jobs, guaranteeing the essential services that Australians rely on, keeping Australians safe, looking after this amazing country that we have the responsibility to look after. That can only be done as we know, by ensuring that we rebuild our economy on the other side of this crisis and that between now and that point, we stand with Australians, giving them the support they need to ensure that they can put themselves in that position on the other side.



Now, from this point, during the course of this week, we’ll obviously deal with the legislation that’s coming before the parliament. And there are many Australians, I think, we need to thank, but one group in particular I want to thank, as I have spoken with leaders around the world and we’ve compared notes on how we’re dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, and Australia stacks up pretty well. One of the groups in our community here in Australia that was so important early on was the Chinese-Australian community. They have been instrumental. That first wave that would have come, the responsibility, discipline, the support for each other, demonstrated by the Chinese-Australian community when the border restrictions were put in place, one of the first places in the world to do that, and the cooperation, the willing, enthusiastic, patriotic cooperation we had with the Chinese-Australians here was magnificent. And we owe them a great debt as a nation. And I want to thank them for that. Because they set the mark for the rest of us to follow, which we all now have. And that means that Australia is in a better position than almost any other country in the world to deal with this crisis. So a big shout out to all of our community, those amazing Australians that join us here each year in Australia who dealt the first blow of this virus as it came in Australia.



So with that, I’m going to hand over to the DPM, and it’s great to have you all back here, the many times by telepresence and remotely over past months. It is good to have us back here in a COVID safe environment as so many other workplaces and schools and other organisations all around the country are doing this every day. This is the road back, we’re on it. Thank you all very much.



Source: Licensed from the Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.



The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the content of this publication.

PM Morrison “Coronavirus” Outlines a three-stage plan to reopen Australia by July

Sam Bernardo
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PM Morrison “Coronavirus” Outlines a three-stage plan to reopen Australia by July

PM Scott Morrison 10


PM Scott Morrison’s three-step roadmap to a COVIDSafe Australia with our aim to get through these steps and get Australia working again in July this year. States and territories will set their own pace and decide the timings for each step.


Road Map Covidsafe
Roadmap to a COVIDSafe Australia


The PM Morrison Liberal -National Party government has outlined a three-stage plan to allow businesses to reopen, large gatherings, and interstate travel by the end of July with ScoMo PM Scott Morrison declaring it’s time to (get out from under the doona).  Victoria Dan Andrews has his road map and Queensland Premier is on Board.

First Lady Melania Trump’s Message for National Nurses Day

Sam Bernardo
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First Lady Melania Trump’s Message for National Nurses Day

First Lady Melania Trumps Message for National Nurses Day 1

On this National Nurses Day, we should all take a moment to reflect on the dedication of America’s incredible healthcare workers. While their selflessness is evident each day, the risks and challenges of the job are on full display during this pandemic.


Watch on Youtube I


First Lady Melania Trump shared a video message today to thank nurses for slowing the spread of Coronavirus and saving many American lives.
 
“In addition to the work you do each day, you have gone above and beyond your call of duty in responding to our nation’s invisible enemy, COVID-19,” she said.
 
“You are an inspiration to us all, and your actions show us the true power of the American spirit. Thank you for your care and compassion. Our nation will continue to pray for your safety and strength.”
 
In the Oval Office today, President Trump recognized a group of exemplary nurses and signed a Presidential Proclamation in honor of National Nurses Day.

$1 billion Pacific Motorway upgrade from Varsity Lakes to Tugun

Sam Bernardo
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0
$1 billion Pacific Motorway upgrade from Varsity Lakes to Tugun

Pacific Motorway 1

Works have started on the $1 billion Pacific Motorway upgrade from Varsity Lakes to Tugun, the Gold Coast’s largest road project.


Concrete safety barriers have been put up, VMS boards installed and speeds reduced to make way for the mammoth jointly-funded project, which will see the M1 transformed into at least six lanes from Brisbane to Tugun.


It comes as another milestone is reached on the $218.5 million M1 upgrade between Mudgeeraba and Varsity Lakes with the new Stapley Drive bridge expected to open to traffic next week.


Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government had fast-tracked the project to help bust congestion and create a jobs pipeline to help in the recovery from COVID-19.

“We’re getting moving as quickly as we can to get shovels in the ground and workers on site,” the Prime Minister said.



“Our $500 million investment to upgrade the M1 will boost jobs and get workers home sooner and safer.



“This isn’t just a project with significant long-term benefits, it’s going to be delivering benefits right now with more jobs to help local workers as Australia moves past the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”



Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the project was not only about tackling congestion in Australia’s sixth largest city, but also keeping Queenslanders in jobs.



“This project will support more than 830 jobs and we’re going to keep delivering jobs and infrastructure for the Gold Coast and the whole of Queensland,” Premier Palaszczuk said.



“We’re starting before the current section is complete because we want to see progress and jobs continue.



“Getting started on this project sooner rather than later means when we come out of COVID-19, Queensland’s economy can support as many jobs as possible.”



Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the project would be divided into three packages, with the section from Varsity Lakes to Burleigh the first to be delivered.



“Start of construction has been fast-tracked because we know the delivery of major infrastructure projects like the M1 is essential to supporting jobs and economic growth at this time,” Minister Tudge said.



“It’s rare to see a project of this size start construction within several weeks after contract award but we know it is vital to get this project up and running at a time when creating and maintaining jobs has never been more critical.



“This is just one of our major infrastructure projects that will be essential in the post-pandemic economic recovery.”



 Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said close to 80 per cent of businesses currently working on the first M1 upgrade between Mudgeeraba and Varsity Lakes were local, and that Gold Coasters would see that level of local engagement replicated on an upgrade five times the size, benefitting the city for years to come.



“The Queensland Government has secured $2.5 billion to build a better M1, and to create more than 2,000 jobs and plenty of work for dozens of local businesses,” Minister Bailey said.



“Getting shovels in the ground now means that once works wrap up on the Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes section in mid-2020, there won’t be a pause in much-needed jobs.



“Attacking coronavirus means going at it from all angles. That includes the economic front, where major construction projects like this are crucial to keeping Queenslanders employed and assisting businesses as much as possible.”



Federal Member for McPherson Karen Andrews said it was a win-win-win situation, particularly as the Gold Coast feels the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 



“Getting this project started ahead of time is a win for jobs, a win for our economy and a win for Gold Coast drivers,” Minister Andrews said.



“By relieving the southern Gold Coast of the constant traffic bottlenecks, we can reduce travel times and increase freight efficiency.”



The project will feature the region’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange and more lanes for the 10-kilometre stretch between Varsity Lakes and Tugun and there will also be upgrades to the Burleigh Heads, Tallebudgera and Palm Beach exits.



It will also include building a new service road bridge over Tallebudgera Creek and connecting a new western service road (one lane each way) between Palm Beach (Exit 92) and Tallebudgera (Exit 89). The corridor south of Varsity Lakes will be preserved for a future rail extension.



The $1 billion M1 Pacific Motorway – Varsity Lakes to Tugun project is being jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments, with both governments contributing $500 million each.



Source: Licensed from the Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.



The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the content of this publication.



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