Key events:
“We need to pull out all stops now,” Hanson Young says when it comes to environment
Greens spokesperson for the environment Sarah Hanson Young is currently speaking to ABC Radio about the State of the Environment Report released today.
Hanson Young says “in many ways the report is not shocking, it’s what scientists and environmentalists have been warning” for years.
She says there is a “wilful negligence on the part of government, particularly previous government who wanted to put this under the carpet.”
Hanson Young says Australia “can’t keep going on business as usual.”
She says the cumulative natural disasters will continue and it’s only continue to be “whammy after whammy after whammy.”
Hanson Young says “we need to pull out all stops now” and is calling for stronger environmental laws, stronger enforcement of those laws and for the government to stop approving projects that put environment at risk.
Plibersek confirmed the response to the report will include prioritisation of climate change action when the new parliament sits next week.
One of the most important things we can do is be part of the global effort to tackle climate change. That’s why it’s so important that one of the first acts of the Albanese Labor government when Parliament resumes will be to legislate that higher ambition on climate action.
But we also need to change our laws and change our systems. We’ve had some great suggestions, including from Professor Graeme Samuel, when he reviewed the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, he suggested a number of ways to get stronger protections and also incidentally faster decisions on major projects. They’re not protecting the environment right now but they’re also not meeting the needs of business.
Plibersek also told ABC Radio that she intended to push to put new Environment Protection Agency (EPA) laws in place.
Plibersek says environment report sat on former minister’s desk ‘for six months’
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, was on ABC this morning discussing the the state of environment report released today, which sounds an alarming bell for Australia’s ecosystems.
The overall story is the environment is in a bad state and it’s declining. If we don’t do something to change what we’re doing now, we’re going to continue to see the decline.
The previous minister, Sussan Ley, received this report in December last year and it sat on her desk for six months. She didn’t want to release it. The government didn’t want to release it. When you read the report you will understand why. It’s a shocking story.
You can read the full story on that State of the Environment report from environment editor Adam Morton and environment reporter Graham Readfearn here :
Tory Shepherd
Social services minister says reducing violence against women and children a ‘first order priority’
Those figures from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (Anrows) represent only those children able to access services – the real number of those needing support is likely to be higher.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were overrepresented in the “exposed” group. The authors said that could partly be explained by high rates of violence (including when perpetrators were non-Aboriginal), but also the fact that Aboriginal status increased the likelihood of police involvement.
It should also “be understood in the context of the multiple disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as a result of colonisation and not as an indicator of a racial determinant”, the authors wrote.
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth said reducing violence against women and children was a “first order priority” for the government.
As a former psychologist working in the delivery of mental health care, it is concerning that children who have experienced family and domestic violence are more likely to be diagnosed with a range of mental health issues, including a twofold increase in substance abuse,.
It is also of concern [that there is a] delay between police or health intervention for family and domestic violence and a child receiving a mental health service.
Rishworth, the minister for women Katy Gallagher and their state and territory counterparts will meet on Friday to discuss the plan to reduce violence against women and children.
Children exposed to family violence five times more likely to need mental health support, report finds
Tory Shepherd
The major report, from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (Anrows), also found children exposed to domestic or family violence were twice as likely to develop substance abuse disorders, and more likely than children who had no known experience of violence to be diagnosed with a wide range of other disorders.
The research, led by a University of Western Australia team, found there was an average six-year delay between authorities finding out about abuse and children being put in contact with a mental health service.
Anrows says earlier, trauma-informed interventions are needed to “buffer the risk of mental ill health” for children.
Chief executive officer Padma Raman says children need access to services that are “holistic and able to address multiple needs”.
Collaboration is the key to effective care – and to avoiding the potentially negative impacts of multiple services working in disconnected ways with children and families.
Even where there may be no or limited visible signs of mental distress, we should be encouraging everyone in a child’s network to take the opportunity to act early and buffer the risk of mental ill health.
Children shouldn’t have to be visibly struggling with their mental health before the trauma of violence is addressed.
Researchers gathered data from WA Police on about 16,000 children who were identified as being born to mothers who suffered domestic violence, then identified thousands more whose mothers were hospitalised with indications of family violence from health departments.
They then followed those children until they turned 18, and found 79% of children exposed to domestic and family violence had contact with a mental health service, compared to just 16% of those with no known exposure.
Good morning!
The government is today releasing its “shocking” state of the environment report, which has found ecosystems are showing signs of collapse because of the climate crisis and habitat loss.
The report is a five-yearly independent review that was handed to the Morrison government in December last year.
The federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek will later today speak at the National Press Club about how the government will respond to the report.
Children are returning to school today in most states and territories amid rising daily Covid case numbers across Australia, sparking a “blitz” of measures. Education officials are encouraging staff and students to where masks as term three gets underway.
And as Covid case numbers rise, pressure continues to mount on hospitals with 8,500 medical staff across four states in isolation.
If you want to get in contact you can ping me on Twitter @natasha__may or email natasha.may@theguardian.com.
Let’s kick off!
