Today is an extremely distressing day for the 1.5 million people on the JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments who have now had confirmation that the Morrison Government has made the cruel decision to condemn them to poverty. 
 
$44 a day is not enough to live on. This will mean people going without meals, without medication, without the funds to pay for heating or cooling.
 
This should not be happening in a country as wealthy as Australia.
 
This is an appalling slap in the face for all those people trying to survive on Jobseeker.
 

The Greens say that the Government will miss out on opportunities to expand and diversify Australia’s vaccine portfolio if they don’t invest in public capacity to produce mRNA vaccines

The Greens say quarantine facilities need to be established out of cities and that facilities must be publicly funded and run. 

“Our hotel quarantine system needs to be watertight. The UK, South Africa, Brazil variants are becoming the dominant variants in other parts of the world and we must keep these from getting out into our community”, Greens spokesperson on Health Senator Rachel Siewert said

The Greens say a so-called employment insurance scheme is an appalling idea and that Mr Morrison is being cruel to people on the Jobseeker payment, drip feeding potential plans for the JobSeeker payment through media leaks.

“This so-called insurance scheme would make an already appalling system worse, further entrenching poverty and homelessness”, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

“This concept is based on the assumption that has been disproven time and again, that poverty is an incentive to finding work. 

The Greens welcome the news that AstraZeneca has been provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for use in Australia.
 
“However we cannot put all our eggs in one basket. It’s clear with differing rates of efficacy and with new Covid-19 strains developing that we must continue to expand and diversify Australia’s vaccine portfolio”, Australian Greens spokesperson on Health Senator Rachel Siewert said.
 

Monday 30 November 2020

Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said he was appalled at findings by the Disability Royal Commission, released today, that cited "serious failures" by the Morrison government to make "any significant effort" to consult with disabled people during the early stages of response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The recommenations made by the Chair are a vindication of the outrage and distress felt by disabled people, and our families, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic" Steele-John said.

The Greens have slammed the Treasurer for forgetting the Arts and Entertainment Industry in the Federal Budget, an oversight that will cost more jobs and make recovery even harder.  

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Arts and Entertainment Industry was one of the first to be hit by social distancing restrictions, it has suffered enormously throughout the lockdown and will be one of the last to recover.

The Morrison Government’s changes to local content rules is a missed opportunity to support Australian stories and local jobs, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Communications, Media and Arts, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Government has failed to deliver real reform today and has let the global steaming giants off the hook. This is a decision that if not corrected will cost local jobs and undermine Australia’s creative and cultural heritage.