Right to Know campaign

Labor believes a strong and independent media is vital to holding governments – and opposition parties – to account.  Labor congratulates the Right to Know Coalition for their historic, united campaign against the Morrison Government’s assault on media freedom and the public’s right to know.

Labor will continue to stand with journalists and the Right to Know Coalition to fight to defend and to strengthen press freedom.

All Australians, as well as friends in democracies around the world, were shocked earlier this year to see Australian Federal Police raiding the offices of media organisations and the home of a respected political journalist.

The Prime Minister dismissed widespread public concerns about these raids with a wave of the hand and a glib one-liner saying, “it never troubles me that our laws are being upheld.”

This is typical from a Prime Minister who is loose with the truth and repeatedly avoids answering even the simplest questions that seek to hold him accountable to the Australian people.

“Accountability” is a so-called “bubble issue” according to Scott Morrison.

What we are seeing with this third term Liberal Government is an ever-growing culture of cover-up and denial. Led by Scott Morrison, this Government:

• refuses to answer questions from journalists or members of the public;
• ignores its legal obligations to provide information to journalists or members of the public under freedom of information laws; and
• uses the criminal law to intimidate people who embarrass them, including journalists and whistleblowers.

This arrogant Government believes no one is above the law except them.

Scott Morrison and his senior ministers treat “press freedom” as if it were an inconvenience rather than as an essential pillar of our democracy.

When a parliamentary committee recently asked the Peter Dutton’s Department of Home Affairs to provide basic information on how many covert warrants had been obtained to investigate journalists, the Department refused.

When asked about the raids by a journalist, the Communications Minister even threatened to end the interview.

And such is their contempt for the public’s right to know, the Morrison Government refuses to even appoint a standalone Freedom of Information Commissioner.

Labor stands side by side with the Right to Know Coalition and calls on the Morrison Government to:

• rule out the prosecution of Dan Oakes, Sam Clark and Annika Smethurst
• better protect journalists whose only “crime” is doing their jobs
• fully comply with its obligations under freedom of information laws
• protect whistleblowers.

More information about this campaign is available at www.yourrighttoknow.com.au

It has been over a year since the historic gathering at Uluru and the release of the Statement from the Heart, and over a year since the Referendum Council released its final report into constitutional recognition of the First Australians.

Labor has made clear our view – we cannot call on First Nations people to give us their views on what form of constitutional recognition they want, and then reject those calls.

Yet that is exactly what Liberal Prime Ministers have done.

In the last year, both Turnbull and Morrison have rejected the calls for a Voice to Parliament, repeatedly claiming it will become a third chamber, and that any referendum will not get the support of the Australian People.

Labor has pushed for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to do further work on this issue, in the hope that there can be a return to bipartisanship.

Labor is proud that Senator Patrick Dodson, the father of reconciliation was the co-chair of that committee, continuing to work with patience and respect with First Nations people and the Parliament.

The Joint Select Committee Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2018, released its report at the end of November, calling for bipartisan recognition of the need for a Voice. The Final Report is available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Former_Committees/Constitutional_Recognition_2018/ConstRecognition/Final_Report

More than a year after the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Final Report of the Referendum Council, the overwhelming evidence to the Committee was that First Nation’s peoples want a Voice, and a more meaningful say in the issues that impact their lives.They have have reiterated their desire for a more meaningful say in the issues that affect their lives. They continue to call for a Voice to Parliament.  And they continue to call for a Makaratta Commission to oversee a process of truth telling and agreement making.

Labor has heard those calls and has committed to deliver.

It is clear that the Government’s handling of the Uluru Statement has set the nation back on the long overdue work of recognition of First Nations people.

Labor’s position is clear: we will work with the Government, but we will not wait for them. First Nations people have waited 250 years to be recognised for who they are, the First People of this country, and for recognition as sovereign peoples whose land was taken by force.

That is why, while the Government remains opposed to the call from Uluru, a Labor Government will legislate the Voice to Parliament as a first step towards constitutional entrenchment. Achieving this goal is the priority task for constitutional change should Labor be elected to office.

Labor is also committed to doing what we can to right the wrongs to the past, and ensure those wrongs are never repeated.

That is why we have committed to a compensations scheme for the Stolen Generations in Commonwealth jurisdictions, as well as the establishment of a Healing Fund. We will also convene a National Summit on First Nations Children, to address the extremely high rates of child removal.

We continue to commit ourselves to working with First Nation’s people every step of the way.

Sports Supplements

Labor understands that many Australians use sports supplements, and that their production makes an important economic contribution.

Labor also respects the independence and expertise of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which helps to ensure that the therapies Australians use are safe and effective.

For these reasons, Labor will monitor the TGA’s process on sports supplements closely.

Labor understands that the consultation phase opened on 22 October and will close on 3 December. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to make a formal submission to the TGA via https://www.tga.gov.au/consultation/consultation-proposed-clarification-certain-sports-supplements-are-therapeutic-goods.

Labor hopes that the TGA will consider feedback from all interested Australians when making its final decision.

5G

The Australian Government regulates public exposure to electromagnetic emissions (EME) from communications equipment such as mobile towers, including 5G deployments.

Exposure to EME is both an important health issue and a highly technical area. For this reason, governments appropriately rely on the advice of their scientific and technical regulators.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is the expert body on the health effects from EME produced by communications equipment and other sources.

Once ARPANSA set an EME safety limit, these safeguards are then incorporated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) into transmitter licence conditions that apply to mobile and other operators that use the radiofrequency spectrum. The ACMA is the regulator responsible for managing the radiofrequency spectrum, but the ACMA is not an expert body on the health effects of human exposure to EME.

Before building new mobile phone base stations, mobile phone companies must generally:

Consult with communities (the Communications Alliance industry code C564:2011 Mobile Phone Base Station Deployment)

Produce an environmental EME report—the reports are published at the Radio Frequency National Site Archive.

If you have questions or concerns about the adequacy of the ARPANSA limits, in minimising potential human health effects, including in relation to 5G, I recommend that you contact ARPANSA on 1800 022 333. ARPANSA do offer opportunities for members of the public to speak directly with their scientists.

More information from ARPSANA can also be found here.

NDIS

In government Labor legislated for the NDIS, successfully launched the scheme, and set out a ten-year funding plan to secure its long-term future.

Labor created the NDIS because we understood that the current system of disability support is completely broken.

Across the country, the NDIS is now transforming the lives of people with disability.

For the first time, people with disability have their needs met in a way that supports them to live with choice and dignity.

When fully rolled out, the NDIS will provide support to more than 460,000 people with disability.

NBN

Staying connected is vital for everyone across the North Coast, but time and time again bungled NBN installations are costing North Coast businesses.

As well as the financial impact of an unreliable internet connection, businesses, families and individuals often have to spend time dealing with issues that should be a simple fix – time that would be much better spent focusing on other things.

In 2016-17, there were almost 20,000 complaints about NBN faults in New South Wales to the Telecommunications Ombudsman, while more than 8000 complaints were made about connections.

Overall, there was a 43% rise in complaints about the NBN from 2015-16.

Having more uptime, less downtime, and greater accountability is an important step towards delivering a better NBN for all Australians.

Locals have a right to access fast speeds and services. But the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government have delivered a second-rate NBN that is both $20 billion over budget and four years behind schedule.

I encourage all locals who experience frustrations in dealing with the NBN, including connection drop outs, slow speeds or simply no access at all, to contact my office for assistance

Only Labor understands that real high-speed broadband is essential for jobs, for small businesses, world-class education and health care.

Live Exports

Labor wants to end the cruelty in the live sheep export industry.

Despite many chances, the live sheep trade has been unable to demonstrate it is capable of meeting reasonable animal welfare standards.

The Liberal National Government has chosen to ignore the advice of both the Australian Veterinary Association and RSPCA.  They say live sheep cannot be transported to the Middle East during the northern summer period without suffering extreme heat stress.

This is why Labor’ policy is to put a halt to the summer trade and phase-out the rest of the trade as quickly as is possible.

The Morrison Government has given the green light to the re-commencement live sheep exports in some of the hottest northern hemisphere summer months. The unfortunate decision runs against the Government’s own expert advice.

And now they plan to spend $2.2 million of taxpayers’ money on a research project in an attempt to work around the scientific conclusions of its own reviews of the live sheep trade.

The Government has gone from ignoring the science to fighting the science.

After investing in five costly reports including one by an Independent Heat Stress Risk Assessment Technical Reference Panel, the Government wants industry to invent a dehumidification machine to beat the wet bulb test which the experts say is the right measure of animal welfare.

The $2.2 million should be used to help sheep farmers make the transition to domestic processing and higher value product markets. That’s more jobs in Australia.

Policing

As a former frontline police officer I will always advocate for more police for our region.

Kingscliff High Rise

I stand with the community in opposing the overdevelopment of Kingscliff. Labor supports a three storey height limit in Kingscliff.

Aged Care

Seniors in Richmond are telling me that they are waiting for a home care package.  The Liberal Nationals Government cut aged care funding by billions over the past five years leaving more than 100,000 seniors on the waiting list.

I believe that seniors built our nation. I know our local seniors deserve better. I will continue to raise these issues in Canberra and I will always fight for a better deal for our seniors.

Penalty Rates

The Liberal National Government have cut penalty rates for weekends and public holidays.

Labor understands penalty rates aren’t a luxury. They are what pays the bills and puts food on the table for millions of families.

Local workers stand to lose up to $77 per week.

I will always fight for local workers and their rights.

Amazon Rainforest

Labor urges the Brazilian Government to act urgently to protect the Amazon rainforest from raging fires, which are increasingly occurring at an alarming rate.

The Amazon has often been described as the world’s lungs. Its protection matters to the whole international community.

We call on the Morrison Government to do everything they can to encourage Brazil to respond to this rapidly worsening global disaster.

Failure to defend against or prevent these fires stands to derail any international efforts against climate change.

Veterans

I deeply respect and honour the generations of men and women who have served, and continue to serve our country at home and abroad.

Labor is the only party of government that is committed to real action on climate change.

Strong climate action is needed, not only to protect the prosperity of future generations of Australians and to meet our international obligations under the Paris climate change Accords, but also to deliver prosperity today by modernising our economy and adapting to inevitable climate impacts.

After the disappointing result of the 2019 election, it is natural and necessary that Labor review all our policies taken to the 2019 election, but this review will not change the values that motivate and underpin our commitment to real climate action.

Labor’s approach to climate change policy will continue to be guided by the best science available, and be underpinned by Labor values of equity and fairness. Our approach will focus on the development of policies that will not only cut pollution, but ensure we maximise the jobs and economic opportunities of modernising our economy.

In contrast, the Liberal and National parties have paid nothing more than lip service to real climate action. Their approach to climate change is best demonstrated not by their rhetoric, but by their actions, including a commitment to provide taxpayer support for coal fired power.

As a result, it is no surprise that since the repeal of Labor’s climate change laws in 2014 by the Abbott Government, Australia’s carbon pollution has risen each and every year. In addition, it should not be a surprise that Australia’s official carbon pollution projections show pollution is expected to keep rising all the way to 2030, with Australia falling 19 percent short of the Liberal’s 26 percent 2030 pollution reduction target.

While the result of the 2019 election was disappointing for those seeking serious action on climate change, Labor will not walk away from the crucial task of tackling climate change and delivering a prosperous and sustainable Australia to future generation.

Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa are now  currently detained on Christmas Island.

There is only one reason the Morrison Government moved the family to Christmas Island – to try to get them out of sight of a sympathetic Australian public that wants them to stay.

Regardless of what happens in the courts, the Morrison Government can end this cruelty and callousness now by using their powers of ministerial intervention and allow this family to return to Biloela.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has used these powers over 4000 times – including to grant visas to au pairs at airports. Even Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce as well as Alan Jones believes the Morrison Government has this one wrong and want the family to be allowed to stay in Australia.

Labor believes Immigration Minister David Coleman must end this cruelty now and use his powers of ministerial intervention to allow this family to stay.

I encourage you to contact the Immigration Minister with your concerns at:

David Coleman MP

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

Phone: (02) 6277 7770

PO Box 6022

House of Representatives

Parliament House

Canberra ACT 2600

Australians are well-known for welcoming people into their community. Biloela exemplifies that spirit and want this family to return to this regional town where they have been working, contributing and building the fabric of the local community.

Coal Seam Gas

As your Federal MP, as a local resident and a mother, I share the community’s deep concerns about the impact of CSG in our area.

I have repeatedly called upon our State National Party representatives to do their job when it comes to CSG.

I do not support coal seam gas (CSG) mining and exploration in our area.