PROFESSOR of engineering at the Australian National University (ANU), Andrew Blakers, will appear at Wednesday’s third public hearing for the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy’s inquiry into the current circumstances, and the future need and potential, for dispatchable energy generation and storage capability in Australia.
Committee Chair Ted O’Brien MP said, "This public hearing is an opportunity for the committee to hear more about the requirements to balance an electricity market comprising more and more renewables, including through long-distance transmission, demand management, legacy generation sources and storage options.
Professor Blakers has significant expertise in energy matters. We are looking forward to discussing his research and his views on the future prospects and prerequisites for dispatchable energy in Australia," Mr O’Brien said.
Public hearing details
Date: Wednesday, 25 August 2021 Time: 10.15am to 11am Location: via videoconference
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, committee proceedings held in Parliament House are not currently open to the public. The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.
ISSUES such as country of origin labelling, regional infrastructure and regulatory pathways in aquaculture will be considered by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee at an upcoming public hearing.
The committee will hear from Seafood Industry Australia, the national peak body representing the Australian seafood industry, as part of its current inquiry into Australia’s aquaculture sector. The organisation will be appearing via videoconference.
Committee Chair, Rick Wilson MP, said Seafood Industry Australia represents a wide range of stakeholders in aquaculture throughout Australia and offers perspectives from across the industry on a broad range of topics such as policy, regulation, workforce, infrastructure and export market growth.
"While the committee has heard that there are many region-specific issues to be considered in this inquiry, it is valuable to understand how these are reflected on a national scale," Mr Wilson said.
For further information, visit the inquiry website.
Public hearing details
Date: Thursday, 26 August 2021 Time: 10.10am to 10:50am AEST
A live audio stream of the hearing will be accessible at: www.aph.gov.au/live.
THE NSW Government's decision to deny construction workers from LGAs of concern being able to use rapid antigen testing as a means of proving they are safe to work is discriminatory and a slap in the face to an industry that has met every challenge Covid has thrown at it.
Union leaderes say the current rules have caused "untold distress and anxiety to a group of construction workers already doing it tough as a result of an issue not of their own making".
“The CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers union have been calling for the Berejiklian Government to support a rapid antigen testing regime in the industry since the start of the pandemic, and as an alternative to mandatory vaccination, and it is shameful that some construction workers are going to be excluded from it. Construction workers are being unjustifiably punished,” CFMEU NSW construction secretary Darren Greenfield said.
“Until today the Berejiklian Government had consistently resisted supporting rapid antigen testing in the industry. Despite this resistance, rapid antigen testing has been adopted widely across the industry following the long-term advocacy for its use by the CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers Union as a means of detecting and managing the risk of covid on construction sites.
“It is bizarre and defies any sensible rationale that in announcing the rapid antigen testing regime for every other industry that the government has excluded construction workers living in the 12 LGAs of concern from being able to use it as a means of proving they are safe to work. Construction workers, in an industry that is such an important pillar of our economy, deserve much better," Mr Greenfield said.
“Construction workers who live in Sydney's Western and South Western Suburbs are being discriminated against by a government that ignores the evidence of how the industry has successfully managed Covid.
“The industry has effectively managed the risks posed by Covid-19 since this pandemic began by putting in place upgraded and enhanced safety measures, including staggered start, finish and break times, social distancing on sites, enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices, mandatory face masks, contact tracing and elevated testing regimes - including rapid antigen testing.
“Many builders have adopted the Contact Harold system which tracks where workers are on sites and assists in identifying close contacts of any case where a covid-positive person has been on a site," he said.
“The measures put in place over the past 18 months are over and above what any other industry has done in response to the risk of Covid-19 at the workplace. These measures have ensured that any time Covid has been detected on a site the industry has acted immediately and successfully managed the risk to construction workers and their families.
“If the government is serious about increasing vaccination rates, they need to make vaccines easily available, providing workers with choice and back it up with a clear and consistent public information campaign so workers can make an informed and confident choices about their own health.
“Now that tens of thousands of construction workers have been vaccinated, we demand of the government introduce immediately the opportunity for antigen testing, which is already in place, as an alternative to mandatory vaccination. We will continue to fight for all workers in the construction to return to work unconditionally and to be treated no less favourably than any other worker," Mr Greenfield said.
“Workers should not be forced to pay the price for the bungled vaccine rollout, mixed messaging on vaccine safety and the ongoing failure by the State and Federal Governments to give people the accurate information they need to make their own health choices.”
Employee share schemes are a means by which an employer can offer an employee shares or options in relation to their employment. In its report, the committee makes 18 recommendations to support the uptake and use of employee share schemes in Australia.
The committee’s overarching recommendation is that employee share schemes be treated as capital for the purposes of taxation, and that a tax liability would arise on the disposal of the assets granted, using the current capital gains tax regime.
The committee’s recommendations also include regulatory relief to reduce disclosure requirements in certain situations, enhanced collection and sharing of data relating to employee share schemes, a public awareness program, and an investigation by the Productivity Commission to identify how Australia’s existing arrangements in this space can be improved.
The Committee’s recommendations also include proposed amendments to the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment Employee Share Schemes) Act 2015 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, to simplify the complicated and restrictive current tax arrangements for employee share schemes, and support more individuals to access tax concessions for employee share schemes.
Committee chair, Jason Falinski MP, advocated for policy changes in this space.
"Employee share schemes matter because they support new businesses, innovation and start-ups, which are the engine of higher productivity in our country," Mr Falinski said.
"Higher productivity leads to sustainably higher wages, better products and services, greater competition and more choice. All these outcomes directly impact on the quality of life that hard working Australians enjoy. Productivity is what makes life better, more affordable and easier."
A full copy of the committee’s report can be found on the inquiry’s website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Tax_and_Revenue/EmployeeShareSchemes
SUSTAINABLE Population Australia (SPA) has supported the call of its Patron, former NSW Premier and federal Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, to allow in 10,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Mr Carr made the call on ABC-TV’s Q&A program last night.
SPA national president Jenny Goldie said the first plane load out of Kabul, of a mere 26 people, by Australia was pathetic and took no account of the scale of its obligation to the many Afghans who had worked for and beside Australians for 20 years.
“The scenes of people running in front of planes and even hanging on to the landing gear showed the desperation of so many,” Ms Goldie said.
“Despite the spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, in its press conference on Tuesday, assuring his compatriots who had worked with the US and its allies that they would not be treated with revenge, nevertheless, the fear of the people is clearly evident.
“The record of the Taliban is not good, particularly in its treatment of women and girls who thankfully have had two decades of respite from its excesses. For 20 years women and children have had access to school and family planning clinics, both of which helped bring the fertility rate down from 7.5 to 4.5 children per woman.
“Last month in two provinces where they had taken control, Taliban leaders issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for marriage with Taliban fighters.
“This is inhumane,” Ms Goldie said.
“While we cannot take every Afghan who is afraid of the Taliban, nevertheless, we must help the interpreters and others who have worked with our troops to get out and come here under our Humanitarian program.
“We are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and these people clearly fill the definition of a refugee, namely, someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution, war or violence in his own country.”
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