housing – each year, Shelter Tas is invited to represent the sector on housing and homelessness issues in the state government’s budget process. “As we have done for some years now, we advocated for a Housing First approach, and for 10% of Tasmania’s dwellings to be affordable social housing rentals,” they said. “In addition, we called on the government to increase the supply of affordable social housing beyond current commitments; act strategically to improve the private rental market and enhance the consumer voice; maintain a focus on housing as the foundation of health during COVID-19; and strengthen homelessness services, especially for younger and older Tasmanians.” You can read Shelter Tas’ updated budget submission here.

Southern Cross Care – the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) Tasmanian Branch called on Southern Cross Care Tasmania to implement the recommendations from the Aged Care Royal Commission alongside a new report entitled Caring for Growth, Australia’s largest non-profit aged care providers, which highlights the failings of Non-Profit Aged Care Operators around the country. “The latest Report shows that Southern Cross Care Tasmania stated a loss of $2.1 million in its residential aged care sector, but in the same year also paid its ten Board members $1.4 million and had $26 million in the bank,” said ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd. “The ANMF contends that Southern Cross Care Tasmania can easily address the deficits identified in the Report, which was prepared by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability & Research (CICTAR).”
The Report found that Southern Cross Care Tasmania:

    • Owns nine residential aged care facilities, 13 retirement villages and operates home care services.
    • Despite being one of the state’s largest employers, Southern Cross Care Tasmania stood out in the analysis as casual employees made up 64% of total full-time equivalent staff, higher than the eight other operators and nearly double the average of 31%.
    • In 2019, Southern Cross Care Tasmania reported a deficit of $3.5 million. However, losses in the retirement village segment outweighed losses in residential aged care. The provider received the lowest funding per place of all operators in the Report, but this may have been as a result of a cut in federal funding due to sanctions for failing to meet accreditation standards.
    • After the end of the financial year, hearings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care exposed serious deficiencies at Southern Cross Care Tasmania facilities and within a week the (then) CEO stepped down.
    • 132 former staff revealed that cuts mandated by the board and executive management as part of a “break even” strategy, left residents health and safety at risk.
    • According to government data, in 2019 Southern Cross Care Tasmania received total federal aged care funding of $42.4 million.
    • Funding for residential aged care at nine facilities with 686 places was $38.2 million or $55,633 per place.

telehealth – the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has written to Health Minister Greg Hunt, asking hime to extend temporary telehealth arrangements under Medicare that have supported patients to have a consultation with their doctor either over the phone or by video. These arrangements, which were put in place as part of the federal government’s COVID-19 response, are due to end on 30 September.
“The AMA has long advocated for Medicare-subsidised telehealth consultations, and the COVID-19 arrangements have shown the value of telehealth,” AMA President, Dr Omar Khorshid, said today. “They have supported the provision of care during these very difficult times and contributed to efforts to contain the spread of the virus. Telehealth has been embraced by doctors and the public alike. Telehealth remains fundamental to our national efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, and ending the temporary Medicare arrangements in September would be premature.” The AMA wants the government to extend support for telehealth until March next year, which aligns with the timing of its JobKeeper program extension.

electric vehicles – the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Electrical Vehicle Association celebrated their fifth anniversary with a gathering at Campbell Town of members from around the state. “In that time we’ve gone from a handful of cars in the state to several now,” said state treasurer Clive Attwater. He was also enthusiastic about the rollout of fast charging infrastructure across the state. Apart from being central, Campbell Town was chosen as a new electric vehicle charging station is about to be made operational there (see photo).
The Tasmanian Labor party is pushing the state government to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicles and charging stations to help drive Tasmania’s COVID-19 recovery. Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Alison Standen, said the opportunities from Tasmania becoming a national leader in electric vehicles were greater than ever.
“Labor’s COVID-19 Recovery Package supports the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations around the state,” Standen said. “We encourage the state government to partner with tourism operators to incentivise the installation of charging stations to complement the network that has slowly been growing in recent years. Labor is also calling on the government to work with rental car companies to add electric vehicles to their fleets. This would perfectly complement the tourism industry’s goal – contained within the T21 Visitor Action Plan – for Tasmania to become a carbon-neutral destination.”

Agriskills – the state government launched a new training program this week  to build skills in various agricultural industries. “The Agriskills Entry Program, developed between TasTAFE and Fruit Growers Tasmania, is an industry driven skill set package that will supply new workers with the skills our agricultural businesses need,” said Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training. It includes three groups of skill sets, with the price for each skill set discounted to be attractive to new entrants to the industry. Participants will receive a statement of attainment for the skill sets and credit if they enrol in the Certificate II or III in Agriculture. The Agriskills Entry Program is now open to enrolments with the first of the skill sets to start on 1 September; for more information on the Agriskills Entry Program, visit: https://www.tastafe.tas.edu.au/agriskills
Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Water Shane Broad said the Agriskills Entry Program is a cut and paste of Labor’s Ag Kickstarter program. “It’s nice to see the government adopting a Labor policy, one we have been advocating for on behalf of industry for two years,” he said. “Labor’s Ag Kickstarter program outlined a subsidised training pathway for workers to gain basic skills to set them up for a career in the sector – which is exactly what the government’s program does. With the industry facing more pressures due to border closures and restricted trade routes, there’s more demand for local labour to help farmers get produce to market.”

Major Projects Bill – the state government’s new planning process to assess development proposals in Tasmania is expected to be tabled in next week, with a House of Assembly vote on the developer-friendly approval process possible as early as Thursday. While changes to the draft bill, released for public consultation during the COVID lockdown, are expected in the final incarnation of the bill, community groups do not expect that fundamental concerns will be addressed and have been imploring Labor representatives to ‘put people first’ and vote against it.
“We need a balanced approach in development assessment processes which meaningfully engages the public and works for both the community and developers,” said Sophie Underwood, State Coordinator of Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania, a collaboration of almost 70 community groups from across Tasmania. “The proposed process will prioritise private commercial development over people and create division and conflict across the community, impeding social license. This process removes any oversight of the Parliament and diminishes the rights of people and communities to be meaningfully involved in development decisions. It is anti-democratic and we urge all parliamentarians to vote it down.”

Richie Porte – the Tasmanian cyclist has been back in action at the Critérium du Dauphiné in France. Wife Gemma has not been impressed with the COVID-19 awareness of some fans, in a country that has suffered over 30,000 coronavirus deaths.

barrister or not? – Senator Lambie’s ex-Chief of staff, and former QLD MP, Rob Messenger, has again called on the senator
to supply the Legal Profession Board of Tasmania (LPBT) evidence which supports her public claim that her former staff member (Norbert Keough, aka Norbert Basil Maclean III) has trained as a lawyer in USA and is a qualified barrister. “On 17 Oct 2017 Senator Lambie indicated 5 times in a 13 min radio interview that her staff member and Tasmanian resident was a trained barrister or ‘had a barrister’s ticket’,”he said. “And given that the LPBT Board Meeting on 24 August 2020 will formally discuss allegations that Keough is not a barrister or legally trained – it’s now up to Sen Lambie to supply evidence…about Mr Keough’s so called – ‘barrister’ legal qualifications.” He said he has supplied to LPBT evidence including US court documents, signed written statements from Australian veterans, statements from the American Bar Association, New York State bar association and other US States’ Bar
associations which directly contradict Lambie’s 2017 public statements and indicate that Keough was never legally
trained in America – or was ever a barrister. “Indeed, the documents I’ve supplied to the LPBT for their meeting, allege that
Senator Lambie’s former employee, associate and ‘barrister’ friend Mr Keough is a convicted US felon who was jailed for years
in America, after pleading guilty to serious crimes involving theft and dishonestly, before immigrating to Australia and changing
his name in 2007,” Messenger said.

rental protections – the Greens called on the government to recognise the ongoing difficulties faced by Tasmanian tenants and extend the state’s residential rental protections beyond their expiry date on 1 October this year. “Thousands of Tasmanian tenants are still struggling from the economic impact of coronavirus, but we’re already hearing stories of landlords threatening them with a choice of eviction or increased rent,” said Cassy O’Connor MP, Greens Leader and Housing spokesperson. “If action is not taken, we will have a situation where on September 30 the Morrison Government’s JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments are cut, and the Gutwein government’s rental protections expire. The need for action is urgent.” She argued that acting now to extend these protections will provide Tasmanian tenants with peace of mind. “On the other hand, delaying will place significant additional strain on the restricted income and mental health of people who are already under intense pressure.”