“The Australian Greens have deep concerns for new migrants granted certain permanent visas after the Promoting Sustainable Welfare Bill (formerly Encouraging Self-sufficiency for Newly Arrived Migrants Bill 2018) was rushed through the House.

“Once again we have legislation by stealth – here we have one bill, Encouraging Self-Sufficiency for Newly Arrived Migrants – magically turned into the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Promoting Sustainable Welfare) Bill 2018 with significant amendments dumped on the cross-bench at the very last minute.

The Australian Greens are extremely disappointed by reports that the Government has done a deal with ALP that will mean newly arrived migrants will have to wait four years before they can access working aged payments like Newstart.

"The ALP have condemned newly arrived migrants who can’t find work to poverty, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

“This is an outrageous attack on our multicultural community and I’m frankly surprised that members of the Labor party thinks it’s okay for people to come to our country and basically receive no support when they need it.

The Australian Greens support First Nations peoples and their calls for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament before Australians are asked to vote in a plebiscite on whether to become a republic.

“We can’t move to become a republic before we have justice for First Nations peoples, that includes enshrining the Voice before we vote on a republic. We have unfinished business in this country that must be addressed. 

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Bill 2018 has today passed the Senate with Government amendments addressing concerns raised by the Greens and stakeholders during the committee process.

“While the Greens supported the Bill and were pleased to see the Government amend it, we are disappointed that some important areas remain unaddressed, such as specifically referencing older Australian’s human rights and reporting on staff numbers, Senator Rachel Siewert said.

The Senate has today supported a Greens motion for the Minster to provide the independent review by KPMG of the Serco pilot program at Centrelink by 26 November.

“If the Government is going to use this report to justify expanding the outsourcing of Centrelink jobs to private contractors, then the public need to see it, Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson on family and community service said today.

The senate has today supported a Greens motion to abandon the CDP Bill that is currently before the senate.

“The Government should not be pushing ahead with this Bill – they haven’t consulted on these changes and there are better options available which are proposed by First Nations peoples, but once again this Government have ignored First Nations peoples, Senator Rachel Siewert said.

“Minister Scullion failed to release the final evaluation of the CDP and says that they are still “consulting” with communities before releasing it.

The Australian Greens welcome the Government’s back tracking on their cruel and callous funding cuts to Foodbank.  

“The cuts were outrageous and it boggles the mind that the Government thought they could get away with cutting funding from Foodbank, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

“This is an appalling approach to policy making – seeing what you can get away with and then reversing the cuts when there is public outcry.

Last night the crossbench had the opportunity to reduce some of the harsh impacts of the Welfare Reform Bill that passed the Parliament in March this year by supporting the Greens’ disallowance motions on some of the legislative instruments that implement some of the measures. Measures that punish people in our community, simply because they are out of work or have a an addiction, Senator Rachel Siewert said.

The Australian Greens want answers and transparency on why on there is such a wide gap between what the Government is saying their “secret” KPMG report says about Serco call centre works and Centrelink staff are actually reporting.

“We know that Centrelink is hitting a crisis point and things are getting worse and worse but the Government is trying to hide behind their secret reports. We want that report released and will move an order for production of documents for its release,  Australian Greens spokesperson on community services Senator Rachel Siewert said.

The Australian Greens are deeply concerned for those that will be impacted by the significant funding cuts to Foodbank announced last week.

"These are callous and unnecessary cuts that will have a significant impact on children, young people and those living in remote and regional areas, Australian Greens spokesperson on Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

"The reality we have at the moment in this country is a Government who targets those with the least to make small "savings", right before Christmas.