It’s been a huge end to the parliamentary year. I hope you will forgive the long email - but a lot has happened that I want to update you on while also taking this opportunity to thank you for the opportunity to represent our community this year and wish you a happy and safe festive season.
Major new support for the Upper Murrumbidgee
In the last parliamentary fortnight, I negotiated a $50m agreement with the Environment Minister to improve the health of the long neglected Murrumbidgee River. Over 90% of its natural flows are captured and diverted via Lake Eucumbene and the Tumut River, bypassing the ACT and leaving the Murrumbidgee to stop flowing completely at Tharwa Bridge in the most recent drought.
The government agreed to set aside $30m in the contingency reserve, to be drawn on to support additional water in the upper Murrumbidgee during drought like conditions. As well, $15m has been committed for on-ground projects to improve the health of the catchment, and $5m for science and ecological monitoring.
The research and monitoring will help inform a review of the Snowy Water Inquiry Outcomes Implementation Deed which governs water releases into the Snowy and montane rivers. The review is scheduled for 2024-2026, with fast tracking of measures to ensure adequate flow through to the ACT. $500,000 was included in the package to support First Nations participation in the review.
As well, the Snowy Hydro Board has formally recognised its role in managing water to meet environmental, social and cultural needs as well as renewable energy production. The government will reflect this in an updated Statement of Expectations for Snowy Hydro. To improve environmental outcomes, Snowy Hydro will work with NSW to time water releases to better meet environmental needs.
Bringing forward key worker safety provisions
As you may have seen, Senator Jacqui Lambie and I have been asking for the Government to split the Closing Loopholes Omnibus Bill to bring forward crucial changes to support workers’ safety and allow more time to work through the more complex and contentious parts of the legislation.
After months of pushing the government finally agreed and for the first time ever split their bill into two parts.
This meant that crucial changes to deliver more support to first responders suffering PTSD (more about that below), criminalising industrial manslaughter, criminalising intentional wage theft, delivering more protections against discrimination at work for people experiencing family and domestic violence, expanding the functions of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency to include silica and ensuring employees of large companies don’t miss out on redundancy entitlements as a business downsizes due to insolvency.
These are all measures with broad support that will make a huge difference to people across our community.
As part of the agreement, changes to stop the exploitation of labour hire as a means of undercutting people’s pay were also passed with some important amendments that carve out specialist service contractors, independent contractors, apprentices and small business host employers. There is also a default 3 month exemption to allow for surge workforce requirements.
Held over until next year are the far more contentious elements, including proposed changes to casuals and regulating the gig economy. I am committed to working through those remaining complex measures in good faith and with in-depth consultation.
Industrial relations changes are always fraught and deeply politicised but for me it is about finding the right balance that looks after workers and small business.
Changes to PTSD support + review of Comcare
Over the past 18 months, I’ve spent quite a bit of time speaking with our paramedics, police, emergency service workers and our firefighters about mental health.
Our first responders see things on a monthly, weekly and daily basis that, if we’re lucky, we’ll never see once in our lives. And this includes the people behind 000, who I know answer an alarming number of distressing calls each and every day.
This takes a toll over time, and unfortunately it’s not uncommon for our first responders to develop PTSD. It’s a wicked disease - early support makes a big difference, and so our compensation scheme needs to jump in as quickly as possible to fund what is needed to put our first responders on the best possible path to recovery.
Unfortunately, what I’ve heard is that Comcare and other insurers are just not stepping in quick enough because of what is required to “prove” that a first responder’s PTSD is linked to their job.
So we have now flipped the equation - insurers must presume PTSD was caused by a first responder’s job, and if they disagree, then it’s on the insurer to prove otherwise.
In negotiations with the Minister, we also took it a step further - we added the Australian Border Force to the new laws, agreed for new standards for independent medical examinations and got a commitment for a full, independent review of Comcare. I’m confident that all of these changes will put our first responders on better footing from here on, allowing them quicker access to essential medical services.
To all those first responders that have come to meet with me over the past year - thank you. I hope the passing of this Bill signals that the Parliament is there to support you, as you support us.
A permanent role for the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee
The Senate also passed the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee Bill 2023, permanently establishing the Committee.
This delivers on a commitment the Prime Minister made to me last year. The Committee has already delivered fantastic work, which earlier in the year led to an overdue increase in the rates of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Commonwealth Rent Assistance (with a bit of a nudge).
The Committee is now an important part of our social policy infrastructure, bringing social service providers, business leaders, unions and experts together to analyse trends in inequality and recommend ways to improve the financial security of those most in need in our communities, and remove barriers to secure, meaningful work.
What sets the Committee apart is its unparalleled access to the Budget process and to senior ministers. Few agencies could boast the level of engagement this Committee has with the Government, meaning we will hopefully see sensible social policy reform in every Government Budget.
I was disappointed that the Government did not accept amendments to ensure people with experience of living on a low income had a mandatory place on the Committee. People who have engaged with our social security system are often the best advisers on why the system doesn’t always work. Notwithstanding this, I’m confident the Committee will continue to deliver great work, in consultation with those in our community who live and breathe the challenges everyday.
The government did, however support a number of important amendments I put forward including requiring the government to publicly release the Committee’s report at least 14 days ahead of evert federal budget being handed down, requiring the Treasurer and Social Services Minister to meet personally with the committee and guaranteeing the Committee has independence in deciding what matters it inquires into.
Supporting people who are doing it tough in Australia will always be important to me, as I know it's also important to our community.
Nature Repair Market and Water Trigger and looking ahead to EPBC
The Nature Repair Bill, which had very little support from anyone in the Senate, went through due to a deal between the Government and the Greens that saw a water trigger added to the EPBC Act, bringing forward a Labor election commitment. The change will allow all forms of unconventional gas developments to be assessed under federal environmental law. Expanding the water trigger will mean that shale and tight gas developments will require the same consideration of their impacts on water resources as coal seam gas and large coal mine developments under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
This was an important Albanese Government election commitment which could have been addressed at any time in the past 18 months. Instead, it was tacked onto a broader bill aiming to establish a Nature Repair Market. While offset provisions were removed from this bill, I still have concerns that it risks replicating the integrity issues that have plagued the carbon market.
I was disappointed that the government was unwilling to accept sensible amendments that would have provided greater integrity, link nature repair to the government’s stated environmental goals, and ensure that the Nature Repair Committee would have at least one member who belongs to an Australian First Nations community.
I have also continued to highlight the importance of Australian Government investment in conserving and restoring nature. While private investment is welcome, governments must work to halt habitat destruction, protect and restore nature and stop fossil fuel projects, including export projects that shift emissions overseas. We’re a wealthy country and can afford to place a higher priority on nature and the health of our environment.
With wholescale reform of the EPBC Act on the agenda for next year it is crucial we all push hard to hold the government to a higher standard.
Migration changes
It was a huge final sitting fortnight for rushed migration legislation, with two Bills coming through the Senate that we were asked to vote on without sufficient time for proper consideration.
The first allowed for the Immigration Minister to apply to the courts to remove people’s citizenship at sentencing when they've committed serious terrorism offences. It was a response to two recent High Court decisions finding that criminal guilt cannot be punished by the Government - that it is a function reserved for the courts.
Ultimately I supported the Bill because the vesting of these powers in the courts presents a real improvement to the previous legislation, but I moved three important amendments which were referred for consideration by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS).
The first of these was to raise the age in these laws from 14 years to 18 years. I just don’t think a punishment as severe as the removal of citizenship should be applied to a child. The others were to ensure the Bill did not apply to people born in Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Despite these being pretty common sense, disappointingly they were not supported by the government or the opposition.
The second Bill was in response to the High Court decision that ended indefinite immigration detention. This Bill established a Community Safety Orders regime for people who present a real risk of committing serious violent offences, and to apply some pretty severe penalties for breaches of the visa conditions that were passed in the last tranche of these laws.
The debate on this was toxic, with a lot of dog-whistling by the major parties. However, it’s a problem that is not new - serious criminal offenders are released from prison every day. Some present an intolerable risk to the community because of their risk of re-offending, but others have been rehabilitated. Instead of dealing with this sensibly and with a focus on community protection, it instead became a debate focussed on migration status.
We don’t have a human rights charter in this country, and so preventative detention and restrictions on freedoms need to be considered with great care. This rushed legislation did not provide that. In response, I moved amendments to sunset the laws, which would allow the urgent community protection function to be stood up quickly, but force the Parliament to return to the issue for more detailed consideration in the new year. Unfortunately, despite these amendments providing 6 month and 12 month options - the major parties declined to support them.
Considering the climate impacts of new infrastructure
I was pleased to also get support for a small but important amendment to the Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Independent Review) Bill 2023. This amendment will require Infrastructure Australia to consider the climate impacts of new proposals, including emissions and consistency with our Paris obligations.
New tobacco laws and a new call to ditch tobacco donations
The Senate also passed a Bill to renew and completely update our tobacco control laws. The Bill extends plain packaging, closes a few loopholes that the tobacco industry have been skirting around and even bans the marketing of vapes.
While I’m still relatively new to Parliament, I was shocked to see the level of subtle and hidden influence from Big Tobacco. While details around passes to the building are not public, we know Big Tobacco is in the building.
I feel this is totally out of step with public expectations, and it seems to be out of step with our international obligations to diminish the political influence of the tobacco industry, who have caused so much grief within our community. So, I moved a motion calling on all political parties and politicians to stop taking donations from Big Tobacco and rip up any passes they may have given to tobacco lobbyists.
The motion succeeded, with the Government, the Greens and the Jacqui Lambie Network voting in support. The Coalition - who still accept money from Big Tobacco - opposed the motion.
New inquiry to probe lobbying
On a related note, I successfully moved to set up an inquiry into lobbying in Federal Politics.
While I don't necessarily take any issue with lobbying, I feel there should be far more transparency around it - particularly when it comes to access to Parliament House. We know of the 2,000 people with coveted “sponsored passes”, many will be lobbyists.
These passes give people 24/7 access to the building - meaning lobbyists can, and often do, set up shop in a break room and wander the hallways looking for chance opportunities to bump into MPs, Senators and Ministers.
The vast majority of Australians will never have this type of access to Parliament House - the House that they pay for and is there to represent their interest - so I feel a little bit of transparency is really the least that can be done to inject more integrity into the system.
The inquiry will shortly be accepting submissions and will look into the adequacy of these pass arrangements, as well as the adequacy of the Lobbyist Register, including whether it should include “in-house lobbyists” not just the big government relations firms that lobby on behalf of other corporates.
I want to acknowledge the work of Dr Monique Ryan MP who recently introduced a private members bill to regulate lobbying. If you want to have a look at the Bill or support her petition to clean up lobbying, you can do so via: https://cleanuppoliticsact.com.au/
Pushing for better consultation with small-business owners
A Treasury Laws Amendment Bill recently came before the Senate which, among other things, sought to address tax law loopholes that had been taken advantage of by a handful of big businesses. The Bill contained a measure, though, that risked producing unintended consequences for small and especially family businesses. One concern raised with me was that the legislation as drafted could prohibit standard practices undertaken when one generation hands the family business down to the next generation.
I worked with the Government to negotiate changes to the Bill's Explanatory Memorandum and moved a second reading amendment—which passed with unanimous support—to make clear that these common practices of small businesses were not intended to be affected by this measure.
I’ve been frustrated by the lack of consultation with small-business owners on the part of policy makers. On this occasion, the small-business community was apparently completely unaware of how this legislation might affect them. Thankfully some of the tax and accounting peak bodies raised the issue with my office.
In supporting the passage of the amended legislation, I spoke to the need for better consultation with small businesses, as well as reflecting on what we learned at our recent small business breakfast at Parliament House. You can watch my speech here and check out some photos from the breakfast below.
Inquiry into sovereign capability in the Australian tech sector
Over the last 18 months, I’ve heard from so many Canberra-based tech companies that are genuine world leaders in their fields. They’re producing innovative solutions to pressing problems, including in renewable energy, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, agritech and more.
When I ask the founders of these companies what governments could do to better support them, they say “let us compete for a government contract.” Mostly they’re not interested in grants; they just want a foot in the door for government work.
Unfortunately there seems to be an assumption across government that Australian tech is inferior to the tech being developed by big multinationals. But lots of these local companies are actually selling to foreign governments, proving they can compete on both price and quality when given the chance.
I successfully moved a motion in the Senate to establish a parliamentary inquiry into how to make government procurement work for local tech industry. The inquiry will look at a whole range of issues, including the adequacy of existing public procurement policy settings for supporting Australian tech companies, the challenges faced by smaller domestic firms in accessing procurement opportunities, and where the possibilities are for reform to help build homegrown tech companies.
I’m excited for my Senate colleagues to hear from the innovators I’ve been speaking with in Canberra–and others from across the country – about the role the government can play in setting Australia up as a major tech innovation hub. There’s so much potential here if we can just find the political will to support what’s already happening in Aussie tech.
You can find the inquiry’s terms of reference here. And if you’d like to learn more about what I’ve been hearing isn’t working in public procurement, and some ideas for potential solutions, you can read this recent essay I wrote for InnovationAus’ Capability Papers.
Pre-budget submission
Ahead of each Budget, Treasury invites individuals, businesses and community groups to provide input on funding priorities for the Federal Government. I am pulling together input from our community to present in a pre-budget submission to inform the 2024-25 Budget and would love to know your priorities. Please consider taking 5 minutes to let me know what you’d like to see in next year’s Budget by completing this survey.
Worst bill of the year
If there was an award for worst bill of the year then the Government’s ‘Sea Dumping’ bill was it. It absolutely stinks and I had a lot to say about it in the Senate as the government couldn’t get anyone on the cross bench to back it so needed the coalition. The bill is all about creating loopholes in our climate laws for companies like Santos.
Come join the team!
We are also on the hunt for someone to come and join our team as Chief Correspondence Officer. If you or someone you know is interested more details are available here. Applications close 8 January 2024.
Looking ahead to 2024
Next year will be another huge year. We’ve got massive federal environmental law reforms coming down the line, a new Aged Care Act, more industrial relations reforms, the government’s response to the gambling inquiry, electoral reform, a new school funding agreement and a new housing and homelessness agreement to land among other priorities.
Cost-of-living relief has to be front and centre of the government’s agenda and I will push hard to make sure it is.
For now though we will take a moment to recharge. My office shutdown will run from 22 December to 7 January, opening back up on the 8th.
Thank you for all your support this year,
David
David Pocock
https://www.davidpocock.com.au/