Australian Government Media Releases

With the final Garnaut report due in late September, and the Federal Government's White Paper and exposure draft legislation due later in 2008, the pace of ETS policy development has been rapid. Professor Brook, and Deakin University's Dr Matthew Clarke urge more active and formal involvement from the scientific community in the rapid evolution of the final White Paper to avoid `crude' science and ensure relevant strategy elements are handled as well as possible. Ocean monitoring is a key scientific technique for measuring and predicting large-scale impacts of climate change on the planet.

Developed by CSIRO in collaboration with the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and Meat and Livestock Australia, the model combines data on several other countries' experience of FMD outbreaks with actual animal movements within Australia to create a realistic population epidemiology. 'The NLIS data set contains approximately 20 million individual cattle movements so, to model it, we used a Massive Agent Based Modelling approach that is grounded in Complex Systems Science. 'The model uses real individual animal movement data and simulates approximately ten million cattle, where every individual animal has an FMD natural history.

The Agreement covers a number of areas including the opportunity for joint PhD Scholarships, positions and research projects. AAHL scientists will also present lectures at Deakin in the areas of bioscience and infectious diseases. 'This agreement is enhancing educational opportunities in the Geelong region,' Mr Marles said. 'This collaboration provides the Geelong region with a powerhouse of future research,' he said.

Catchment Detox - Your Land...Your Water...Your Choice. Catchment Detox is a multi-platform project with a 'sim' style game at its centre where players must deal with the environmental challenges facing us all, said Ian Carroll, Director ABC Innovation. Catchment Detox is an ABC initiative in partnership with eWater, the CSIRO, the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research and National Science week.

Presented recently at the annual Australian Cotton Industry Awards, the win follows two previous industry honours for Mr van der Sluijs - the Cotton CRC ` Communication to Industry Award ' in 2004, and the ` Impact in Adoption award ' in 2007. In presenting the award, ACGRA Chairman Ben Stephens said Mr van der Sluijs' enthusiastic approach to advancing the marketing opportunities for Australian cotton post-farm gate was a key factor in the judging panel's decision. 'He has made a significant impact on our industry in the short time that he has been involved and his linking of R&D initiatives, BMP and extension through the Field-to-Fabric Course is a fine example of what can be achieved,' Mr Stephens said.

At its meeting on 15 August, the Payments System Board considered a number of issues including: the review of the card payment reforms the latest report from the industry on progress in implementing reforms to the ATM system and the no surcharge and no-steering rules imposed on users of PayPal. In April 2008, the Board released its preliminary conclusions from its review of the payments system reforms. Over recent months, the Board has received a number of comments on the no-surcharge and no-steering rules that apply to payments using the PayPal system as well as the mandated acceptance of PayPal on eBay's auction site.

Subject(s): Pacific Island Leaders Forum Commodore Bainimarama Climate Change Pacific Development Partnerships for development with PNG and Samoa Millennium Development Goals Fiji Pacific Island Guest Worker Scheme Environmental Refugees Relations between Australia-Pacific Island States. PM: It's good to be here in Niue at the Pacific Island Forum. And thirdly, therefore, I think this is a direct and deliberate slight and snub to the leaders of the Pacific Island countries assembled here in Niue.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) today urged Mayo electors who are going to be away from home on election day Saturday 6 September 2008, to make their vote count by voting early. The Divisional Returning Officer for Mayo, Mr Peter Verkerk, said people who were going to be outside the Mayo electorate should vote now at an early voting centre or by post, as there would be no voting outside the electorate on election day. * One exception applies: both early voting in person and voting on election day will be available at the AEC Divisional Office for the electorate of Lyne (NSW), due to the fact that a by-election will occur there on the same day.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support, the Hon. Lieutenant General Hickling retired as Chief of Army in 2000. He had a distinguished career of 40 years in the Army, which included postings as Land Commander, Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy and regimental postings with the Royal Australian Corps of Engineers. Colonel Woodroffe enlisted in the Australian Regular Army in 1978 undertaking officer training at the Womens Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) School at Mosman, Sydney, on graduation being the recipient of the leadership prize.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today signed Pacific Partnerships for Development with Prime Minister Somare of Papua New Guinea and Prime Minister Tuilaepa of Samoa at the Pacific Forum Leaders' Meeting in Niue. These are ground-breaking new initiatives, and a central element of our commitment to a new era of cooperation between Australia and our Pacific neighbours. These Partnerships commit Australia and our partners in the Pacific to work together to meet common challenges, in particular to make faster progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and our partners' development goals.

The symposium is an annual gathering of the International Tactical Data Link (TDL) community and it aims to improve interoperability between nations using and developing that capability, Mr Combet said. The support provided by DMO includes a demonstration, based on a real life Australian incident, to show the ability to network Defence and civilian Command, Control Communications and Computing (C4I) systems and applications. The DMO has also developed and is sponsoring the training and education stream at the conference to assist with the education and upskilling of Australian Defence and industry personnel working on TDL technologies and processes.

MISSING WORLD WAR ONE SOLDIER DISCOVERED IN BELGIUM. Warren Snowdon MP, today announced the remains of an unidentified Australian World War I soldier have been unearthed in Belgium. The Australian Government is firm in our commitment to honour our war dead, and is already undertaking historical research to establish any initial identification links, Mr Snowdon said.

The Minister for Defence, the Hon. The Australian leg of the journey includes visits to Sydney, Melbourne, and Albany with Her Majesty's Australian ships Darwin and Sirius acting as escorts throughout the visit. The Royal Australian Navy is thrilled to be part of this historic voyage and the crew look forward to showing our American friends the best Australia has to offer as we visit Sydney, Melbourne and Albany, Commander Craig Powell, RAN the Commanding Officer of HMAS Darwin.

PW 154/2008 TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP INTERVIEW, SYDNEY 19 August 2008 SUBJECT: FORESTRY CONFERENCE, CARBON POLLUTION REDUCTION SCHEME, NUCLEAR POWER E & O E PROOF ONLY WONG: It's a pleasure to be here today talking to the forest industry about the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. As we have said this is a whole-of-economy reform, and what is being asked of all parts of the Australian community is to take responsibility for the challenge of climate change. That means that industries and individuals as well as government need to take responsibility to make a contribution to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions.

Minister for defence meets USS john s. McCain for the visit. Who: The Minister will be available for interview.

Over $1 million funding boost to assist people with disability to speak out. Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Bill Shorten, today announced a $1.1 million boost for organisations representing people with disability across Australia. The Australian Government has committed $620,000 to disability advocacy agencies, and over $527,000 to disability peak bodies, to help them strengthen the voice of people with disability.

$2 m for carers of young people to access respite. The Australian Government will provide $2.1 million to give carers of young people access to emergency, unplanned respite care. The respite funding will support a further 2,000 carers of young people with a severe or profound disability during 2008-09.

Aussie Diamond sparkles on world disability stage. The Australian Government today extended its congratulations to Victorian Maryanne Diamond on her election as the President of the World Blind Union (WBU) in Geneva overnight. Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities Bill Shorten today offered the Government's heartfelt congratulations to Ms Diamond and also announced $350,000 over four years to support Ms Diamond in her role as WBU President.

Better information sharing to improve child protection. The Australian Government has appointed a specialist in child protection to investigate ways to improve information sharing within and between jurisdictions as part of its National Child Protection Framework. Ms Mary Ann O'Loughlin, who has extensive experience in the reform of child protection systems, will work with the states and territories to identify existing barriers to information sharing and ways these barriers can be overcome.

$24 M for new Indigenous Youth Centre in Redfern. The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, said the awarding of the construction contract was an important milestone. NSW Minister for Planning, and Redfern Waterloo, Frank Sartor, said that NIDC would provide a minimum of 20 new jobs and training opportunities for Indigenous people.

I want to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet the Eora people. THE NEW WORKPLACE RELATIONS SYSTEM. And it goes for workplace relations reform.

The Minister for Employment Participation, Brendan O'Connor, has urged the resource sector and education providers to work with Government in addressing Australia's skills shortages. Opening the SkillsDMC National Conference Tomorrow's Workforce for Tomorrow's Workplace ' in Sydney today, Mr O'Connor said the Rudd Government was working cooperatively with State and Territory Governments through the Council of Australian Governments to deliver solutions to the nation's skills shortage. 'Creating a more skilled and more productive workforce is essential for the resources and energy sector's sustainability,' Mr O'Connor said.

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. This is a great example of the flow-on benefits that broadband access provides. The Australian Broadband Guarantee will complement the roll-out of the Australian Government's National Broadband Network.

The Federal Government has taken further action against an Adelaide nursing home. Last week, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency gave Brighton until August 18 to respond to its initial findings before a final decision on the facility by August 25. Brighton Aged Care is a 71 bed high care facility located on Brighton Road at Brighton in South Australia.

PDF printable version of (PDF 18 KB). In the last seven months, the Australian Government has imposed sanctions on nine nursing homes in Australia - with three identified as a result of unannounced visits. On July 1, the Australian Government increased the number of unannounced visits by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency.

PDF printable version of (PDF 22 KB). Transition care places help older Australians recover and regain their independence after a major hospital stay. The 228 places are expected to benefit up to 1,710 older Australians - in a full year - as each funded place will be used by up to eight (7.5) different older Australians a year.

PDF printable version of (PDF 15 KB). New reporting procedures on residents who inexplicably go missing from nursing homes and new measures on infectious disease outbreaks in facilities are among the topics for discussion at the Ageing Consultative Committee. Mrs Elliot announced the new measures on missing residents from nursing homes and new measures on responding to infectious disease outbreaks in nursing homes on June 2 and July 15, respectively.

The Competition Policy & Consumer Affairs Minister, Chris Bowen MP today welcomed the consumer advice - Your Consumer Rights: Mobile phone premium services - put together by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Mobile premium SMS services offer entertainment, news, games, competitions and other content, and often cost more than standard SMS messages. The factsheet Your Consumer Rights: Mobile phone premium services includes important consumer information on:.

The Commonwealth Government, in partnership with state and territory governments, is currently developing a National Quality Standards Framework to improve outcomes and opportunities for children during their critical early years. The National Quality Standards Framework is part of the Rudd Government's $2.4 billion early childhood agenda. At the first Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting under the Rudd Government, state and territory governments agreed to work in partnership with the Commonwealth to develop a National Quality Standards Framework for early childhood education and care and an Early Years Learning Framework.

KIERAN GILBERT: The Government's facing a difficult six months ahead as it tries to negotiate a new look upper house. JULIA GILLARD: We will take our Budget measures to the Senate and we will do what we need to do to get our Budget measures through. JULIA GILLARD: We are a Government that delivers what we promised.

JULIA GILLARD: It's been a great pleasure to be here today for this industrial relations conference and to be able to describe the Government's plans for a fair and balanced workplace relations system and to complete the end of Work Choices. We want to turn that around. We did that for a reason.

Commonwealth Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace today met representatives of traditional owners to discuss options for broader native title outcomes in Cape York Peninsula. 'All the parties in native title will benefit from negotiating broader outcomes,' he said. Mr Wallace noted that most native title claims in Queensland are outside the Cape region.

The Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme is a win-win for both Australia and the Pacific region as a whole. 'The introduction of a seasonal worker scheme has been at the top of the agenda for many Pacific Island leaders,' said Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Duncan Kerr. The seasonal worker scheme is not a cheap labour scheme.

AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS. President Mwanawasa was a strong advocate of democracy and a committed fighter for better governance, both in Zambia and in Africa more widely. I have spoken to my Zambian counterpart, Foreign Minister Pande twice this year to discuss our mutual concerns about the situation in Zimbabwe and how to find a resolution of the crisis there.

It gives me great pleasure to make a few remarks about Rob to conclude the formal part of the evening.. And so we come to Robs Canberra Period where Rob brought with him to the Capital his experience of a professional services firm, a professional peak body, a state public service.. His calm demeanour was evident at his first AGs Christmas Party. Rob, as always, was impeccably dressed on this occasion in a pale suit and just before he was to make his speech to the department someone tipped a whole carafe of red wine over his shoulder..

Lynelle Briggs is the Public Service Commissioner. I should also say, on a personal level, that I have found Rob to be a thoughtful and supportive colleague, a defender of the public service, and a very decent person. He is joined today by his wife, Jan.

My appointment as a Secretary in the Australian Public Service was as much a surprise to me as it was to officers of the Attorney-Generals Department. As a result of the efforts of a lot of people, I was honoured to be made an Officer in the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2006. However, in all my time in Canberra, I knew I was only here while I held this position.

Eye problems accounted for nearly 250,000 (or 1 in 30) hospitalisations in 2005-06, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The AIHW report, Eye health in Australia: a hospital perspective , shows that the rate of hospitalisations for eye problems rose marginally between 2001-02 and 2005-06. The report also found the rate of hospitalisations for eye problems among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was similar to the total Australian population.

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Bill Shorten, today announced a $1.1 million boost for organisations representing people with disability across Australia. The Australian Government has committed $620,000 to disability advocacy agencies, and over $527,000 to disability peak bodies, to help them strengthen the voice of people with disability. This funding will help build their capacity and improve advocacy support to people with disability, Mr Shorten said.

The thirty year decline in the number of people dying on the nation's roads has stalled in recent years, according to the latest official statistics I'm releasing today: Road Deaths Australia 2007 Statistical Summary. Road Deaths Australia: 2007 Statistical Summary contains data on fatal road crashes including: the gender and age of road victims the time of day fatal crashes occurred and the speed zone vehicles were travelling in at the time of the crash. The number of road deaths in Australia increased by 1 per cent between 2006 and 2007.

The Australian Government today extended its congratulations to Victorian Maryanne Diamond on her election as the President of the World Blind Union (WBU) in Geneva overnight. Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities Bill Shorten today offered the Government's heartfelt congratulations to Ms Diamond and also announced $350,000 over four years to support Ms Diamond in her role as WBU President. Ms Diamond was WBU's First Vice President and is Vision Australia's international development manager.

Information sessions are available across South Australia from 27 August to help growers get the most from the new wheat marketing system. The Australian Government, in partnership with the South Australian Farmers Federation, is running the six free sessions across South Australia in August and September to explain the reforms that came into effect on 1 July. Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Tony Burke today urged growers to attend the sessions to get expert advice about the changes that give producers the right to choose who can export their wheat for the first time in 60 years.

The following media releases were issued by the Productivity Commission in 2008. Media Director (02) 6240 3239. Media and Publications Officer (03) 9653 2244.

We face many choices as a community. We have adopted a new tax system. Our tax system is important to our community.