Australian government welcomes final report of inquiry into aged care sector

March 1, 2021

(See Translation in Arabic Section)

Canberra - M E Times Int'l: THE Federal Government has welcomed the final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, which has been tabled in Federal Parliament.

The report makes 148 recommendations.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was clear from the Royal Commission’s work that while significant progress has been made, there is a clear roadmap to improve respect and care for older Australians.

“I called this Royal Commission to ensure our oldest and most frail Australians could receive the respect and care that supports their dignity, and recognises the contribution that they have made to society,” the Prime Minister said.

“I warned when I called the Royal Commission there will be stories that will be hard to hear.  And that has been the case. At the same time, we have also heard heart-warming cases of dedication and with the challenges of COVID-19 in the past year ...

“The government is continuing to drive reforms with additional funding of $452.2 million to address immediate priorities in the sector.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to reformation of the aged care sector.

“The Royal Commission’s report is a significant document, the culmination of a two year inquiry, and demands a carefully considered response,” Mr Hunt said.

He announced that the government’s response will address five broad pillars: home care, residential aged care quality and safety, residential aged care services and sustainability, workforce, and governance.

“The five pillars will underpin the Australian Government’s response, along with its reform agenda and the implementation of those changes.”

In response to the Royal Commission, the government will invest $30.1 million to strengthen the governance of aged care providers and legislative governance obligations on the sector.

Mr Hunt also confirmed that work will immediately start to replace the Aged Care Act 1997.

First shipment of covid vaccine arrives in Australia ahead of vaccination

Sydney: In a boost to Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 300,000 doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Sydney.

Australia secured 53.8 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The first doses arrived from overseas ahead of 50 million doses to be manufactured by CSL in Australia.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will now batch test the vaccines to ensure they meet Australia’s strict quality standards.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said was a significant milestone for the vaccine rollout.

 “This is the next step as we ramp up the vaccine rollout,” he said.

“Most Australians will receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with the rollout of these due to commence from March 8 provided they clear the TGA’s rigorous batch testing process.”

The doses that arrived will be made available to priority groups. Another 50 million vaccines will be manufactured onshore and 1 million of these doses will be delivered each week from late March.

NSW needs vaccine guidance, says Berejiklian

Sydney: NSW has not received enough information to plan its vaccine rollout properly, according to Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Ms Berejiklian said health officials had only been able to plan a few weeks ahead because federal authorities had not delivered enough information.

“Our teams are ready and willing to step up and increase our capacity, we just need to know what we are getting beyond week four.”

NSW has entered week two of its vaccine rollout, with the premier confirming more than 10,000 people had received the jab so far.

Ms Berejiklian said frontline workers were willing to provide more vaccinations than initially anticipated. But this is challenging, given the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines need to be treated entirely differently.

“Timely information on how many doses we are receiving would really assist us in getting the vaccine to as many of our citizens as soon as possible,” she said.

Firefighting foam banned in NSW to safeguard environment

Sydney: PFAS firefighting foam will be banned in NSW except in catastrophic circumstances or where there are special circumstances.

Environment Minister Matt Kean said firefighting foam containing per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will be banned for all training and demonstration purposes from next month.

“Firefighting foam is the key cause of PFAS contamination in the NSW environment with concentrations detected at airports, defence sites, emergency service facilities, training facilities and their surrounding environments,” Mr Kean said.

“This ban on PFAS firefighting foam will reduce the impact on our environment but still enable emergency agencies to fight catastrophic fires.

“We have already seen some businesses and government agencies voluntarily phase out PFAS foam in their products and practices.” 

The ban follows extensive consultation with emergency agencies and industry stakeholders and will be introduced in stages over the next 19 months.

Little readers get ready for big challenge

Sydney: Students from kindergarten to Year 9 are being encouraged to jump into reading with the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge which starts on Monday.

The challenge encourages students around NSW to read between 20 and 30 books from a reading list of quality literature.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said last year almost nine million books were read during the challenge, a 5 per cent increase on previous years.

“It's important for children to discover what books have to offer because we know a passion for learning will set them up for the future,” she said.    

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the ability to read well was one of education’s greatest gifts.

“Everyone involved should be proud that the challenge continues to grow and encourages all students to explore the many benefits from a love of reading,” Ms Mitchell said.

Where is the Housing Market Going in 2021?

Sydney: House prices rose at the fastest rate in 17 years last month as Australia's real estate sector booms.

According to the latest CoreLogic data, values surged 2.1 per cent higher in February, the largest month-on-month change since August 2003.

Experts say the jump has been caused by a mix of record low mortgage rates, improving economic conditions, government incentives and low advertised supply levels.

The trend was seen in every capital city and across state regions.

Sydney and Melbourne were among the strongest performing markets, recording a 2.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent lift in home values over the month respectively.

While summer is nearing its end, property markets around Australia are still heating up for the year, according to John Healy.

Mr Healy told media “we are expecting more than 2,200 auctions around our major capital city markets this weekend”.

“That’s a 14 per cent increase on last weekend’s number.”

Malcolm Turnbull calls for inquest over minister rape claim

Sydney: Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for an inquest into the death of a woman who alleged she was raped by a current federal minister in 1988.

Speaking at an Adelaide Writers’ Week event on Sunday, Mr Turnbull said the woman had written to him and his wife Lucy in 2019 to ask for their advice.

“She described a pretty horrific rape that she said had occurred at the hands of this person,” he told the crowd on Sunday.

 “Among the things she noted, I might say, is that she’d kept extensive diaries, so I hope they’re still extant.

“We wrote back to her, obviously expressed our sympathy and, really our concern for her and what she’d experienced, but said ‘you’ve got a lawyer, you’re seeing the police, that’s the right thing to do’, and that was.”

China’s fresh swipe at Australia over Five Eyes

Your video will play after the ad

Chinese state-owned media has accused Australia of doing the US’s bidding and trying to “suppress China”.

The take-down came in response to an Australian Strategic Policy Institute article that declared the Chinese Communist Party had four critical flaws in its strategic thinking about China’s future.

This included using “thinly veiled threats and coercive actions” as well as wedge strategies, thinking international relations was about “binary choices” and conflating leadership and dominance.

However, an opinion piece published by the Global Times on Sunday said this described global power the US and not China.

“All these accusations can be applied to the US’s practices and are slaps in the Five Eyes’ own face,” Li Qingqing wrote.

“ASPI’s blaming of China for ‘threats and coercive actions’ is completely groundless.

“China has never required other countries to pick sides between China and the US, let alone imposing threats.

 “The US coerces other countries to follow Washington’s policies, including suppressing Huawei and confronting China on the Hong Kong and Xinjiang affairs.”

Australia, Canada and the UK – all countries of the Five Eyes network – have been accused of following the US and trying to “contain rising countries” such as China to maintain its global superpower status.