Greens acting Leader, Nick McKim says the confusion and mismanagement of the pandemic on a Federal level is symptomatic of a Government led by people who want government to do as little as possible.

The Morrison-Joyce ‘small government’ neoliberal ideology has contributed to failures on quarantine, vaccination rollout, aged care and massive pressure on state run health systems.

The Covid outbreak at the Park Hotel detention facility was a preventable crisis that is a direct result of Government negligence, the Greens say.

“The Liberals were warned repeatedly that this would happen, but because of their cruel indifference they left people in cramped and unsafe conditions,” Greens Immigration Spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“These are people who have been locked up for over eight years and were in Australia for medical treatment. It is a complete failure of duty of care at every possible level.”

The Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, has announced the Greens will move in the Senate next week for the Government to revoke its direction under the Biosecurity Act to ban and put in place criminal penalties on Australians and residents returning home from India.

“The ban is racist, it’s possibly illegal, it’s not based on health advice and it must be rescinded immediately.  The Greens will move in the Senate next week to overturn the ban and we believe it will have widespread support amongst Senators.”

Refugees that the Australian Government exiled to Papua New Guinea contracting COVID should prompt their immediate evacuation to Australia, Greens Immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says.

“For years, Labor and Liberal Governments have deliberately withheld adequate medical treatment from people in their care,” Senator McKim said.

“The refugees who have contracted COVID need to be medevacced to Australia, and all other refugees in PNG need to be brought to Australia to prevent them contracting the illness.”

The Greens have called upon the Prime Minister to boot Craig Kelly from his role chairing a parliamentary committee, following weeks of disinformation intended to undermine the medical response to coronavirus.

The Greens say that decades of decline in Australian manufacturing puts the nation at risk of having fewer options when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines, and have called for a publicly-owned vaccine manufacturer.

Both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are based on new technology (mRNA), and while CSL has capacity to manufacture the protein based vaccines it doesn’t at this time have the ability to produce mRNA.

The Australian government should develop and publicly release criteria for temporary visa holders to be allowed to return to Australia.
 
During the COVID-19 select committee hearing today it was revealed that Australian Border Force officials have no criteria for granting exemptions to the travel ban for ‘compelling and compassionate’ grounds.
 
“The decision making on this has been completely arbitrary, leaving hundreds of people stranded overseas, despite holding valid visas,” Greens Immigration spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
 

The Government’s shameful disregard for privacy continues with the release of its COVID-19 app.

“If the Government wants people to use this app, they need to put protections in law beforehand,” Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said.

“People have very legitimate concerns about how the data will be used and where it will be stored.”

“The reported storage of the data by a US company raises real concerns. When it comes to privacy, if there’s one person I trust less than Peter Dutton, it’s Donald Trump.”

The Greens welcome moves by some state governments to support temporary visa holders, but they show how people have been abandoned by the federal government, Greens Immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says.

“Moves by the Tasmanian and South Australian governments to support some temporary visa holders are welcome, but it should be the federal government taking this action,” Senator McKim said.

“The federal government has the resources to help and direct responsibility for Australia’s visa system.”

The government's response to temporary visa holders in Australia is cruel and callous, Greens Immigration and Citizenship spokesperson Nick McKim says.

"Temporary visa holders are guests in our country and many have lost jobs and income. They need genuine income support right now," Senator McKim said.

"The government is turning its back on people in their hour of need, just as it has done to people seeking asylum for years."

"Not all temporary visa holders have the financial capacity to simply leave. For them this is a sentence to poverty and hunger."