NEW YORK — The Open Society Foundations has announced the immediate creation of a $10 million Afghanistan emergency fund to support Afghans in grave danger — including champions of human rights, women’s rights, and journalists — by expanding immediate protection opportunities.
The Afghanistan Emergency Humanitarian Fund will help support sponsorship for humanitarian parole programs in the US that provide a pathway to temporary refuge for those in harm’s way.
It will bolster international relief organisations in their efforts to support Afghan citizens fleeing the Taliban advance. And the fund will aid other efforts to deliver humanitarian relief to internally displaced Afghans and those fleeing to other countries taking them in.
Open Society has invited other donors to join these efforts to address this humanitarian emergency.
“The Open Society Foundations have long worked in Afghanistan to promote human rights, culture, and freedom of expression,” Open Society Foundations president Mark Malloch-Brown said.
“We remain deeply committed to Afghans and their efforts to help the country advance toward a more open society. We call on funders to join us in our response to this urgent humanitarian crisis. There is truly not a moment to waste.”
ROD BARTON, the Victorian State Member for the Eastern Metropolitan Region, today claimed that the $3.3 billion budget blowout to Transurban's West Gate tunnel project was further proof of the consequences of privatisation.
He said that as the budget blowout reaches the headlines, Transurban was "vying for sympathy and seeking to share the burden with Victorian taxpayers".
"We will not forget that this project is already being cross-subsidised through a 10-year extension to tolls on CityLink until 2045 intended to fund the West Gate Tunnel," Mr Barton said.
"Now, Transurban expects Victorian taxpayers to further subsidize its shareholder returns. Transurban put the original proposal to government, they nominated the price, chose the builder and now they must get on with it and deliver on the contractual agreement.
"Yes, Transurban 'discovered' 3 million tonnes of contaminated soil. There are challenges, but this is not their first rodeo," he said.
"This is a fitting example of why major infrastructure projects need to be government owned.
"These large corporations are in it for the bottom line. It is glaringly obvious that they will use the power they wield across other road infrastructure to hold Victorian taxpayers to ransom," Mr Barton said.
"We have seen this with the airport rail project where a private consortium including Metro Trains Australia, Melbourne Airport, Southern Cross Station, and superannuation fund IFM Investors put forward a proposal to co-invest. It is clear these players intend to do more than just fund the project.
"The last thing we need is one consortium controlling airport rail prices, the rate of airport carparks and Transurban controlling the cost of Citylink tolls on the way to the airport. This is a recipe for disaster for Victorian taxpayers," Mr Barton alleged.
"Transurban has done us no favours. When we asked them to reduce the tolls on family utes unfairly being charged the rate of light commercial vehicles, they said no. When we asked them to apply the same conditions as they do in NSW and Queensland, they said no. When we asked them to reduce toll rates for taxi drivers during the pandemic, they showed no compassion," he alleged.
"Time and again, we build up these big corporates, creating dependencies that allow them to hold Victorians over a barrel. Transurban, it is time to do your job."
AN INQUIRY to investigate and analyse the current use of credit cards and digital wallets to fund online gambling will be held in Canberra on Friday August 13, 2021.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services will examine current online gambling behaviours of Australians and whether the use of credit cards and digital wallets is emerging as an area that needs additional scrutiny and possible regulatory or other forms of intervention.
Committee Chair, Andrew Wallace MP, welcomed the announcement of this Inquiry as a means to enable discussion on the current trends in online gambling and whether we are seeing an increase in Australians relying on credit to fund their gambling activity.
“It is important that this Inquiry firstly, has some insight into the prevalence of online gambling in Australia and what emerging behaviours we are seeing in our communities, particularly as many parts of the country are suffering from repeated lockdowns during the COVID pandemic," Mr Wallace said. "We can then begin to analyse the true extent of the issues and explore options for how industry, financial institutions and government, can implement changes to protect Australians from gambling with borrowed money.
“I am keen to hear from the banking sector, who will be represented by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) on the measures they have introduced to empower those Australians concerned at their personal gambling behaviours, to set up limits and website blocks when they feel their gambling is getting out of control,” Mr Wallace said.
This Inquiry will also consider the efficacy and appetite for a mandatory code in the online gambling industry and/or whether there is support for regulatory intervention, possibly via amendments to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
“I have made my personal views on gambling with credit cards known many times in my five years as a Member of Parliament. I have consistently stated that if you can’t use a credit card to support gambling in ‘real world’ casinos, clubs and at the track, I don’t believe we should allow it online.
“I am not advocating for a blanket ban on gambling. If people want to lose their own money, provided they can feed their families and pay their bills, that is a matter for them.
"What I believe should concern all Australians is when people borrow to fund their gambling habit, exacerbating the social harms that are perpetrated on not just them, but their innocent families as well. Ultimately, the use of credit to gamble online has cost consequences on families, society, charities and governments who often have to pick up the tab when the 'house' ultimately wins.
“It’s important that the committee closely examines the harms caused by the use of credit cards and digital wallets for online gambling, which remains the only forum legally open to Australians. It also important the committee makes appropriate recommendations to government as to what actions it should take to remediate those harms.
"The committee would have preferred to include the Big Four Banks, who continue to make considerable profits from credit card interest, in the evidence gathering for this inquiry. However, disappointingly, each of the Big Four Banks have declined to appear before the committee, despite repeated requests, citing competition constraint concerns.” Mr Wallace said.
THEFinancial Services Council (FSC) is initiating a process to consult with the superannuation and life insurance sectors, consumer advocates and other stakeholders with the aim of removing exclusions based on occupational classification within default group life insurance policies in MySuper.
The Federal Government’s ‘Your Future, Your Super’ reforms introduced an important consumer protection to ‘staple’ superannuation members to their fund, so that they take their account with them from job to job.
Stapling was a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry and the Productivity Commission’s report into the efficiency and competitiveness of the superannuation system. The FSC strongly supported the implementation of stapling as it would prevent the creation of duplicate accounts that cause the erosion of superannuation savings.
In a small number of instances, however, superannuation members can be stapled to a MySuper fund that has default group life insurance that contains exclusions based on occupational classification. In a small number of instances when an employee moves between occupational classifications, at time of claim they may find themselves unable to claim against their default insurance coverage in the MySuper product.
This concern was raised by stakeholders during parliamentary debate and the FSC and life insurance industry agreed that it was in the best interests of consumers to design a solution, now that stapling is legislated to take effect from November 1, 2021.
As part of this process the FSC is seeking feedback on the options outlined in the consultation paper to implement this solution. The FSC said it would also consult with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
The FSC today issued a policy proposal that the life insurance and superannuation industries could implement to address this issue. Stakeholders are being encouraged to provide feedback by Friday, September 3, through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
THE Trade and Investment Growth Committee is holding a fourth public hearing this Friday for its inquiry into the prudential regulation of investment in Australia’s export industries.
In previous hearings, the committee has heard from representatives of export industries, financial institutions and shareholder groups. The Committee Chair, George Christensen MP, said the committee was looking forward to discussing that evidence with Australia’s financial regulators and government agencies.
"Prudential advice plays an important part in ensuring a healthy and well-functioning financial system. In light of this, the committee is looking forward to hearing about how the Government and regulatory agencies can further support and enable investment in Australia’s export industries, which are so vital to Australia’s economy, particularly in regional areas," Mr Christensen said.
Witnesses include the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Export Finance Australia.
Public hearing details
Date: Friday, 13 August 2021 Time: 9am – 1.20pm
Due to the public hearing being held by teleconference, public access will be available via the live broadcast at aph.gov.au/live.
Further information about the committee’s inquiry, including the hearing program, is available on the committee’s webpage.
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