The Morrison Government must urgently deliver targeted and adequate funding support to the the Arts and Entertainment Industry, the Greens say.

Greens Spokesperson for Arts Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: 

“Australia’s Arts and Entertainment Industry has been pummelled by this crisis from the very beginning and it is still suffering. 

“The Morrison Government has failed to provide adequate support to help the Industry survive, to help workers put food on the table and pay rent, and to keep doors open in the future.

The National Vaccine Strategy should be adapted to reflect the changing nature of the pandemic, which is increasingly putting young people and casual workers at risk, the Greens have said.

The Greens also welcome the decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to provisionally approve the use of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged between 12 to 15 years old. This decision was made following careful evaluation of the available data supporting safety and efficacy.

Quotes attributable to the Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP:

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts and Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has backed calls today for greater support for the hard-hit industry:

"The Arts and Entertainment Industry was one of the first to be hit by Covid restrictions early last year and it continues to be pummelled by repeated lockdowns and social distancing requirements. 

"Despite being one of the hardest hit industries, the Morrison Government took months to deliver any support and it continues to underdeliver.

The Australian Greens say that ACOSS’ Report “Locked out in Lockdown: A report about people with the least trying to survive in lockdown” highlights that the Morrison Government has created a two-class income support response.  
 
“This Government has locked out people with the least. People who have lost paid work because of lockdowns are able to access the $600 per week COVID-19 Disaster Payments, while those on JobSeeker Payment are getting half as much at $315 per week”, Australian Greens spokesperson on Family and Community Services Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 

As the need to reestablish a large-scale JobKeeper becomes increasingly obvious, the Greens say the same coalition that dragged the Prime Minister over the line the first time can do it again.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:

“13 million people are under lockdown but Scott Morrison is fiddling with makeshift support packages rather than simply reintroducing a previously successful, well-understood JobKeeper scheme.

The Morrison Lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne are taking a political toll on the Prime Minister, but the Greens say the long-term damage of the mismanagement will land hardest on young people, and are calling on the Prime Minister to ensure no-one is left behind by lifting JobSeeker back to $1,100 a fortnight and implementing JobKeeper 2.0.

Quotes attributable to Greens Leader, Adam Bandt:

“These Morrison lockdowns are hitting many people just as hard as last year, so the Prime Minister must give people the same level of support as before.”

The Greens are calling on the Federal Government to commit to funding a pay increase for aged care workers saying the Government should have done this in the recent budget.

Thursday 1 July, 2021

Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said it was outrageous that less than 1 in 5 disabled people, and our support workers, in phase 1a and 1b had been vaccinated, more than 4 months after the rollout begun.

Senator Steele-John said the Morrison government should have made a plan to vaccinate disabled people and disability support workers in April when it was revealed that less than 10 per cent had been vaccinated.

The Greens say the Government need to address continuing uncertainty over the vaccine roll out. There are supply, delivery and hesitancy issues plaguing the rollout that need urgent attention and actions in the face of the delta variant.