The Australian government should develop and publicly release criteria for temporary visa holders to be allowed to return to Australia.
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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.
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“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.
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Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has backed a call from a coalition of peak housing and homelessness groups to ramp up social housing construction to help solve the housing crisis and generate jobs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senator Faruqi said:

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has labelled the government’s latest change to JobKeeper eligibility rules farcical and sinister as it bends over backwards to deny wage subsidy support to Australian universities.

In the latest twist, Sydney Uni has been denied access to the scheme despite having believed to have qualified due to a significant drop in revenue, and having paid staff additional money in anticipation of receiving government support.

The Australian Greens welcome the recent announcement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that she believes the court has jurisdiction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, so that it can investigate war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine since 2009.

“Australia appears to have found itself on the wrong side of international law in arguing that the court doesn’t have jurisdiction in Palestine," Greens Leader and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Adam Bandt said.

Young people starting their first job following the COVID-19 crisis will earn on average $35,000 less than their peers over the next decade – a 6% pay cut, or essentially working over 6 months unpaid, modelling from the Australian Greens has predicted.
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Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Family, Ageing & Community Services spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert have said that today’s 2020 Rental Affordability Snapshot, released by Anglicare Australia, has highlighted the dire state of housing affordability in Australia, as well as the need for a permanent increase to the JobSeeker Payment (which has been temporarily increased for six months).

Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

Australian Greens Senator and Education spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi has rejected the government’s bizarre cash incentives for private schools to re-open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senator Faruqi said:

“This is yet another special deal for private schools. Ninety-nine percent of public schools are underfunded as they work to support kids and families through this pandemic. Their students need urgent investment, not the 99% of private schools that are overfunded.

“What the Minister proposes is a bizarre approach to both school funding and public health.

The Greens have called on the Federal Government to push to end the global trade of wildlife, backing the calls of conservation and animal protection groups including Humane Society International and World Animal Protection, who want the commercial trade and sale in markets of wild animals to be banned.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“If the Australian Government wants to really lead from the front on this issue it will call for an end to the global trade of wildlife, not just an investigation into wildlife markets.