Paterson repeats Israeli allegations about UNWRA
Senator Paterson is asked about the claims against UNWRA, the UN agency responsible for distribution of public services and aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and repeats a series of allegations made by the Israeli government regarding the agency.
My view is we shouldn’t tolerate a single Australian dollar going to a to potential terrorist. This is not the only accusation against them. There is a Hamas datacentre underneath their headquarters in Gaza, [getting] mains power from UNWRA, who admitted in the past their textbooks in UNWRA schools in Gaza had antisemitic [material] that promotes hatred against the Jewish people. Israel have been warning us for years about the behaviour of UNWRA and the warnings were ignored. And the employees participated then on the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
UNRWA has 13,000 staff; there were 12 people alleged by the Israeli government to have been involved in the 7 October attacks. UNRWA has admitted it fired those accused without investigating the claims as a pre-emptive measure in an example of “reverse due process”.
Israel has also claimed one-in-ten UNWRA employees are Hamas supporters and called for the organisation to be dismantled.
The Israeli government has been repeatedly asked to supply evidence to support its claims but has so far failed or refused to do so.
Key events
Aged care minister Anika Wells also fielded questions on the government-commissioned review into funding the aged care system.
The very sustainability of this sector stands at risk because there isn’t enough money going into a sector that needs more money when you look at the demographic trends before us.
It’s not yet clear if there will be reforms and funding arrangements in place in time for the May budget though Wells confirmed there would be no new levy on Australian taxpayers, nor changes to the treatment of the family home.
A key recommendation of the taskforce was for those with more savings to pay more for their later life care to take pressure off the federal budget.
– AAP
The sizeable pay bump for hundreds of thousands of aged care workers has been defended from inflation fears by the aged care minister.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Anika Wells dismissed the possibility of a wage-price spiral and says pay increases for the nation’s lowest-paid workers isn’t a major inflation driver.
We don’t have inflationary problems in this country because our lowest-paid workers are earning too much.
We have inflationary problems in this country because there is a war in Ukraine, there’s uncertainty across the globe, we are in an inflationary cycle.
Roughly 400,000 workers will receive a wage boost of up to 28 per cent after the Fair Work Commission delivered a landmark decision for the sector on Friday.
Personal carers will get an increase between 18.2 and 28.5 per cent, home-care staff will get a rise between 15 and 26 per cent and there will be a 6.8 per cent boost for those involved in support services.
Wells said neither the Reserve Bank governor nor the Treasury secretary believed Australia was experiencing a wage-price spiral, which is where inflation expectations cause workers to ask for higher wages and businesses lift prices to cover those costs, in a loop.
– AAP
Man dies on Sydney road
New South Wales police are investigating after a man was found critically injured on a road in Tamarama in Sydney’s east, this morning.
Emergency services were called to Fletcher Street shortly after 4am on Sunday but police and NSW Ambulance paramedics were unable to revive the man and he died at the scene.
Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command have established a crime scene and requested specialist assistance from the crash investigation unit.
Motorists are advised to avoid Fletcher Street between Glen and Silver streets.
The man has not yet been identified.
There has been heavy rain in the area overnight.
Hydrogen car sales down
Just six hydrogen-powered cars were sold in 2023 in a sign the transport technology is failing to find a place with the Australian public.
These sales are down on the 15 hydrogen cars sold the year before, amounting to lower sales than cars from luxury brands such as Maserati and McLaren.
Australia currently has 12 hydrogen refuelling stations under construction, according to the CSIRO, but electric cars, trucks and buses are already growing in popularity.
Electric vehicle sales in Australia jumped 120% in 2023, with more than 180,000 EVs on Australian roads and 98,436 bought the year before.
For more on this story, read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting:
– with AAP
Penny Wong marries long-term partner Sophie Allouache
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong and Sophie Allouache have tied the knot after nearly two decades together.
The couple were married in Adelaide on Saturday in a ceremony attended by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and senior ministers.
The couple’s two daughters – Alexandra, 11, and Hannah, 8 – were reportedly flower girls at the wedding.
In a post to Instagram on Sunday, Wong said:
We are delighted that so many of our family and friends could share this special day with us.
– AAP
Sunday’s Pro-Palestine rallies
Weekly pro-Palestine rallies are being held across Australian capitals. Here are the details of the planned protests for Sunday:
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Sydney: 1.30pm at Hyde Park
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Melbourne: 12pm at the State Library of Victoria
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Perth: A rally was held at 4.30pm in Forrest Place on Saturday
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Brisbane: A rally was held at 5pm in Queens Gardens on Saturday
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Adelaide: n/a
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Hobart: n/a
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Darwin: n/a
‘Government should apologise’: visas should never have been issued to Palestinians, says Patterson
Senator Paterson was asked about the decision by the Australian government to pull the visa of Palestinians seeking to escape the violence as they arrived in the country.
He says the visas should never have been issued.
They were granting visas to people that their own security advice says they shouldn’t and no wonder, they were rushing them through quickly. Some of the visas were approved in 24 hours. The ABC reported there was a visa granted in a single hour. It is not possible to do adequate identity, let alone security checks, of people coming from a war zone run by a terrorist organisation in that short time.
It’s hardly surprising we have had to cancel visas issued while the people were in the air. Frankly, the government should apologise. They assured us all the necessary checks were done, they were thorough and there was nothing to be concerned about. Clearly that was not true.
UNWRA not the only agency capable of providing aid to Gaza, says Patterson
Senator Paterson says there are other options aside from relying on UNWRA to distribute aid to Gaza, including airdrops and delivery by sea.
Let me come to that. That means we explore every alternative, the airdrops, the delivery by sea, the first delivery by sea happening overnight, by a United Arab Emirates delivery working with the World Central Kitchen. We heard there is no one other than UNWRA capable of delivering aid. That is clearly not true. The US is exploring sea delivery and options, other charities are operating there. We should do everything in the safest way to make sure the listed terrorist organisations of Hamas does not end up with Australian taxpayer funds.
The Israeli government has remained steadfast in its refusal to allow aid into Gaza and has expanded a list of items that it believes have dual civilian-military uses, directly hampering efforts to address the situation.
Attempts by the US to airdrop aid to Gaza killed five and injured 10 after the parachutes failed to open and the package fell on a the roof of a house.
Because so much infrastructure has been damaged during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the US government is considering building a floating port off the coast. Ensuring the success of this approach would, however, rely on infrastructure and equipment that does not exist.
Paterson repeats Israeli allegations about UNWRA
Senator Paterson is asked about the claims against UNWRA, the UN agency responsible for distribution of public services and aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and repeats a series of allegations made by the Israeli government regarding the agency.
My view is we shouldn’t tolerate a single Australian dollar going to a to potential terrorist. This is not the only accusation against them. There is a Hamas datacentre underneath their headquarters in Gaza, [getting] mains power from UNWRA, who admitted in the past their textbooks in UNWRA schools in Gaza had antisemitic [material] that promotes hatred against the Jewish people. Israel have been warning us for years about the behaviour of UNWRA and the warnings were ignored. And the employees participated then on the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
UNRWA has 13,000 staff; there were 12 people alleged by the Israeli government to have been involved in the 7 October attacks. UNRWA has admitted it fired those accused without investigating the claims as a pre-emptive measure in an example of “reverse due process”.
Israel has also claimed one-in-ten UNWRA employees are Hamas supporters and called for the organisation to be dismantled.
The Israeli government has been repeatedly asked to supply evidence to support its claims but has so far failed or refused to do so.
Government should not make ‘concessions of fact’ in immigration cases, says Paterson
Senator Paterson says that the Australian government should not make “concessions of fact” in immigration cases, noting that in previous cases, an acknowledgment that an individual had “no reasonable prospect” of being deported was “highly significant”.
I hope they don’t make mistakes like that again.
