Latest news with #JasonClare
West Australian
2 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
Labor to act on key cost-of-living promises like 20pc HELP debt wipe-out, paid prac, $150 energy rebate
Australians are weeks away from receiving a 20 per cent cut to their student debt, with Labor vowing to scrap HECS and HELP debt as the government's first priority once parliament resumes, following the government's landslide election victory. The changes will be applied to all student debts as they on June 1, 2025, with the average HELP debt of $27,600 set to receive a reduction of about $5520. The HECS reform will also reduce the repayment threshold for debts from $56,156 to $67,000. Rates of repayments will also be lowered then current levels, with someone on $70,000 paying $1300. Despite the Coalition not supporting the measure during the campaign, education spokesman Jonno Duniam said he expected the Bill to 'pass' parliament. Speaking to the ABC on Sunday, he said that while the legislation would still need to go through party room and shadow cabinet, he believed 'the Australian people spoke pretty clearly … around the policies the Labor Party took,' adding the party was 'not really in the business of standing in the way of cost of living relief'. Labor will also seek to introduce its cost-of-living election promises, including the $150 energy rebate top up, the 30 per cent discount on home batteries, paid prac measures for student nurses, teachers, social workers and midwives, plus a $10,000 cash bonus for trainee builders who finish their construction apprenticeship. It will also begin work on legislating a two-week increase for Government Paid Parental Leave and laws to add superannuation on government paid parental leave, while also increasing the Super Guarantee to 12 per cent. Education Minister Jason Clare will also use the first sitting week to introduce Bills to tighten protection settings in childcare centres, including provision to allow anti-fraud officers to inspect centres with a warrant or police supervision. The Coalition has also said it's open to working with the government to get the Commonwealth to pull funding on centres which fail to meet safety standards after a Victorian former childcare worker Joshua Brown was hit with more than 70 child abuse charges. While Labor holds a thumping 94-seat majority, out of a total 150 seats, in the Lower House, the government will still need to negotiate with either the Greens (which hold 10 seats), the Coalition's 27 senators, or the 10-member crossbench. After an election bloodbath, the Coalition will return with a significantly reduced 43 seats, while the Greens have been reduced to a single seat. Ahead of the official opening of the 48th parliament, Sussan Ley warned that while the Coalition would 'provide a constructive path for any legislation that makes Australia stronger,' it's 'good will is not a blank cheque'. As it stands, the opposition has already vowed to fight Labor's proposed superannuation tax on balances over $3m, with the Coalition also set to eye accidentally released treasury advice to Jim Chalmers which urged him to consider new taxes to increase the budget outlook. 'Anthony Albanese is yet to explain why his departmental officials secretly advised the Treasurer that Labor would need to raise taxes on Australians,' the Opposition Leader said. 'We will seek answers on behalf of Australian taxpayers, not one of whom should face a new tax that they didn't vote for.' It will also continue to attack Labor over its handling of Australia-US relations, following further fallout from Donald Trump's tariff trade war, with Anthony Albanese yet to secure a meeting with the US President.
West Australian
3 days ago
- Politics
- West Australian
Ben O'Shea: Forcing kids to be besties with bullies sends appalling message
It's staggering to think some WA schools are dealing with bullying incidents by encouraging the victims of the torment to become friends with their bullies. The West Australian education editor Bethany Hiatt had that scoop this week, based on a submission to the Federal Government's anti-bullying review by the WA Council of State School Organisations. WACSSO represents public school P&Cs, and its submission raised concerns that some schools either use policies that don't work or turn a blind eye to bullying altogether. Insisting victims of bullying not only let bygones be bygones, but actually try to establish a friendship with their tormentors is effectively doing both of those things simultaneously. National statistics show around one in four students in Years 4 to 9 have reported being bullied at least every few weeks, while one in five reported experiencing online bullying every 12 months. The prevalence and well-documented physical and psychological harm done by this scourge on our children motivated Federal Education Minister Jason Clare to announce a review into school bullying in February. The hope is the review will create a national framework that state education ministers can then implement to address the issue. But we shouldn't need to wait for that to happen to stop schools from forcing victims to become besties with bullies. Not only does it have the potential to re-traumatise victims, it diminishes the seriousness of the bully's behaviour and may even give the impression that there are no consequences for said behaviour. And for what? So the school can avoid the formal process it must undertake if a bullying allegation is raised by a student? Or to avoid a difficult conversation with a parent of a bully, who, based on scientific probability, is likely to also be unpleasant. Either way, this is entirely about benefiting the school and does nothing to help the victim. The victim is essentially told to grin and bear it, as if they're the ones in the wrong. It's easy to see how not being believed or taken seriously by those in positions of power and responsibility could do more damage in the long run than the bullying itself. Back in the day, you might have told a kid that the best way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them – sock 'em in the chin to show you won't be pushed around. It's patently terrible advice, but arguably more effective than being forced to befriend a bully. Here's an idea – why don't we not do either of those things, and schools just get with the times and recognise bullying is not about conflict resolution but rather an abusive power dynamic. Schools have rules and protocols for stamping it out, so just enforce it to make it clear that the oft-used 'zero tolerance' for bullying isn't just empty rhetoric.
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘No urgency' from Labor in tackling antisemitism crisis
Former Labor MP Michael Danby has urged the Labor government to 'take action' on the antisemitism crisis in Australia. Education Minister Jason Clare said he would wait for a report on stamping out Islamophobia before his government moved forward with its antisemitism response. 'There is no urgency; they don't feel this on their backs.' 'By inaction, they show what kind of people they are.'
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Atrocious decision' by Labor to delay response to antisemitism report
Sky News host Peta Credlin has torched the Albanese government for their 'atrocious decision' to delay their response to the antisemitism report. Education Minister Jason Clare said he would wait for a similar report on stamping out Islamophobia before his government moved forward with its antisemitism response. Former minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has branded the government's antisemitism plan as 'heavy-handed'.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Sussan Ley urges states to ‘step up' on safety at childcare centres, vows to work ‘constructively' with Labor
Sussan Ley says the Coalition 'stands ready' to work 'constructively' with Labor to enact stronger childcare policies and called on the states to 'step up'. This comes after Victorian childcare workers Joshua Brown, 26, was hit with 70 child abuse charges. On Wednesday, a 21-year-old Queensland man was also charged with indecent treatment of a child at a Brisbane childcare centre. Speaking from Moreton Bay, Queensland, the Opposition Leader said parents 'don't have the confidence' or the 'faith and trust' in centres to look after their children and keep them safe. 'Our children are precious and it is disgusting and unacceptable that these incidences have taken place, and it makes me feel physically sick every time I hear of something,' she said. 'It's our young children and babies who are at risk in childcare centres with these hideous individuals on the loose.' Education Minister Jason Clare is set to introduce new legislation that will allow the Commonwealth to pull funding from centres that are not complying with standards and allow anti-fraud officers to undertake snap investigations without a warrant or police presence. Ms Ley vowed to work 'constructively' to pass the legislation. While she held off commenting on whether she had confidences in Victorian police following reports authorities had been contacted after Mr Brown was sacked from a Melbourne childcare centre due to a complaint from a parent and alleged mishandling of an incident report, Ms Ley said states needed to do more. 'So I simply say this, we have to do better. State governments have to do better when it comes to the working with children checks, which I understand are the most lax in Victoria right now,' she said. 'So it isn't good enough for state governments to sit around the table and talk about uniform legislation so that individuals can be tracked across state boundaries but not actually act on that,' she added, backing a national register for childcare workers. Mr Clare has also supported a national database, which would be led by the states. On Wednesday, he said legislation for the stronger childcare laws was 'almost finalised' and the funding threat was the 'biggest stick that the Commonwealth has to wield'. 'What I'm hoping is that that threat is going to be strong enough to get the boards of these companies or the investors in these companies to sit up and listen and realise that we're serious here and if you don't meet the standard, then the funding will be cut off,' he told the ABC. Centres found to be not meeting safety standards would also be publicly named and shamed through an online register. The Coalition has also confirmed it's been briefed on the proposed legislation; however, opposition education and early learning spokeswoman Zoe McKenzie voiced concern the proposed Bill may not go far enough. 'The government's foremost responsibility now is to keep our children safe. Parents, who rely on early learning centres across Australia so they can participate in the workforce, are calling on governments to provide that confidence,' Ms McKenzie said. 'The government must ensure its proposed legislation improves safety and removes the risk of this ever happening again.'
