Workers losing hundreds over Easter: Bill Shorten’s pledge to restore penalty rates
Bill Shorten has accused the Libs of spreading “low-rent, American-style fake news” over a widespread social media campaign.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has attacked a campaign that has been carried on social media suggesting his party will pursue a death tax in government.
The Labor Party has written to Facebook demanding it take action on a widespread campaign spreading lies about a “death tax”.
“It is a lie. It is a lie. It is a lie,” he told reporters in Melbourne this morning.
“I think the Liberal Party need to be ashamed of themselves using low-rent, American-style fake news which is actually a lie and then trying to scare different communities throughout Australia.”
The party believes accounts on the social media platform have been sharing a link to a real press release issued by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in January, alongside claims Labor and the Greens would create a 40 per cent inheritance tax, the Herald Sun newspaper reported.
The Coalition told the newspaper it had no knowledge of the campaign.
‘IT’S JUST GARBAGE’: CASSIDY RIPS INTO POLLIES
Veteran ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy has ripped into our current crop of political leaders, saying their highly staged photo ops make them look like fools.
The Insiders host, who was the press secretary to Labor prime minister Bob Hawke in the 1980s, said media opportunities at factories were a big reason voters didn’t trust politicians.
“Every day now, they go out and their put on their vest and their hard hats and their goggles and they do door stops … every day!” Cassidy told ABC interview show One Plus One.
“I wonder when they get thrown out, do they sit back and think about that and say, ‘I spent the last three years of my life getting up religiously, early morning, and going to a factory somewhere and spinning the yarn and I got thrown out’.
“Can’t they see that this is just — a lot of the time it’s just garbage, it really is.
“It doesn’t sell the message; it makes them look foolish, and yet, do they ever sit back and say, ‘In retrospect is that the best way to go?’
“Or is it better to spend a bit more time in the office, meeting people, getting to know the country better, taking decisions that matter, rather than ducking the decisions and not determining that every day is critical. Every day is not critical!
“You can go a week without doing silly stunts like that. You can go a week without talking to the media, by the way and you could, once, get away with it.”
Asked whether our politicians could be trusted, Cassidy said voters had to be sceptical.
It’s a harsh assessment from the long-time political journalist, who has interviewed all of the prime ministers of the past decade.
SCOMO ANNOUNCES BIG BUCKS FOR HORROR DISEASE
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has zeroed in on health with a $165 million promise to help clinical trials in the country and find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
Clinical trials for medicines and treatment in remote, rural and remote Australia will also get $100 million if the Coalition wins the May 18 poll.
“Rural patients with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses often have it twice as hard, spending much of their life on the road to get the treatment they need and deserve,” Mr Morrison said.
Liberal campaign spokesman senator Simon Birmingham said historically regional Australians have missed out being able to participate in clinical trials.
“(They) will be a much larger component of those clinical trials in the future,” he told ABC television.
The coalition is also promising a $65 million for a dedicated cystic fibrosis specialist unit at Sydney’s Westmead Health and Education Precinct.
WORKING OVER EASTER? YOU’LL LOSE HUNDREDS
Those missing out on Easter festivities and working through the 10-day break will lose hundreds of dollars thanks to the Government’s changes to penalty rates, a cut Bill Shorten has vowed to reverse if he claims victory in next month’s election.
The Labor leader says he will scrap the industrial relations changes in the first 100 days in office, and legislate to prevent the decision from being overturned.
Mr Shorten told reporters this morning that low-paid workers in hospitality, retail and pharmacies would lose between $220 and $370 over the 10 days.
“Hundreds of thousands have had their penalty rates cut arbitrarily. They didn’t get an increase in the pay Monday to Friday; they just got a cut,” he said.
“Penalty rates is not a luxury; we’re not America where the penalty rate is an optional tip that you leave on the plate at the end of the performance of the service.
“We believe that the lowest paid workers in Australia, when they give up their time away from their family, when they serve and make sure the rest of us are having a great time, you shouldn’t have to pay for it with a cut to your own pay.”
.@billshortenmp: Labor want to make sure right across Australia all people who are working on public holidays, the long weekends, holiday periods and on Sunday’s get their penalty rates...
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 20, 2019
We believe in a strong safety net.
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The Opposition Leader says workers who rely on penalty rates will have their pay packets cut by varying amounts:
Fast Food: $218.22
Hospitality: $281.78
Retail: $276.55
Pharmacy: $369.41
Restaurant: $225.40
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Labor claims a re-elected Morrison Government will deliver bigger cuts to Sunday penalty rates due to be inflicted on July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020.
Scott Morrison’s eight votes in support of the penalty rate cuts paint a very clear picture for voters, Labor says.
SHORTEN GRILLED ON CLIMATE CHANGE COSTS
Bill Shorten has again failed to answer the question of what his climate change policies will cost the economy.
Asked whether he could provide a “single figure” on the cost of Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target, Mr Shorten said the assumption of the question “was not correct”.
“Our policy will not cost the taxpayer. The current government is paying billions of dollars in an emissions reduction fund,” Mr Shorten said.
“Over time, as companies reduce their carbon emissions, the cost for companies goes down, but every company has a different story and every company has a different approach to doing it. So there is no one mythical figure.
“The problem with answering your question is simply this: your question makes no allowance for the impact of climate change.
“Your question is only part of the equation.”
Mr Shorten said the cost to the country would be the same as the government’s policy, as it was using the same emissions safeguards mechanism but would also buy international carbon offsets to achieve its higher target.
In a series of press conferences this week, Mr Shorten has failed to explain the costings of his climate change plan.
Labor has a 45 per cent emissions reduction target, while the Coalition has a target of 26-28 per cent in line with the Paris Accord commitment.
COALITION TO SPLASH $100 MILLION ON HEALTHCARE
Potentially lifesaving clinical trials will be open to more patients in rural areas thanks to a $100 million funding boost from the PM’s party.
The Morrison Government will today announce $100 million for clinical trials in rural, regional and remote areas.
“Clinical trials offer hope for patients where often there hasn’t been any,” Mr Morrison said.
“We’re backing more clinical trials in more places across Australia to tackle life-threatening cancers, diseases and conditions.”
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The Coalition Government has said it would open a competitive grant round for expressions of interest on October 1 and close the round on November 30.
A peer-review panel selected by Australian Medical Research Advisory Board and the National Health and Medical Research Council would then consider and rank proposals with successful participants to be announced by March 31, 2020, for commencement after July 1, 2020.
The funding will come from the Medical Research Future Fund National Critical Infrastructure initiative and will be delivered over five years from 2020-21.
Mr Morrison said rural patients often spent a lot of time travelling to get the treatment they needed.
“This funding brings the trials to them but it also means more time can be spent at home with loved ones,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the funding was about making sure Australians, no matter their postcode, had access to lifesaving clinical trials.
“This funding builds on the $614 million from the Medical Research Future Fund for clinical trials for rare cancers, rare diseases and unmet needs,” he said.
It also builds on the Morrison Government’s $550 million Stronger Rural Health Strategy.
The battle over healthcare has been heated throughout the campaign, with Labor striking first. The Opposition announced a $250 million spending commitment earlier this month, aimed at cutting down hospital waiting times.
The notion was slammed by the Morrison Government, intent on highlighting how Labor planned to finance its ambitious cancer care pledge.
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