The Greens have said that the Coalition government can’t be trusted to rebuild our vocational education system or create jobs, ahead of the Prime Minister’s address to the National Press Club today.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens spokesperson for Education, said:

“Free TAFE and uni for all and new investment to rebuild publicly-delivered training in our TAFEs are the crucial first steps needed for any skills overhaul. That's the benchmark for the Prime Minister today.

Given that the government now has $60 billion unspent in the JobKeeper program, Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called for JobKeeper to be extended to university staff and international students, a new funding package provided for higher education, and for free childcare to made permanent.

Senator Faruqi said:

“This ‘mistake’ by the government must be used to provide a lifeline to the many sectors and workers who have been left high and dry during this pandemic.

Australian Greens Industry spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has responded to a leaked report of the COVID Commission’s Manufacturing Taskforce, which prioritises gas expansion as the way to rebuild manufacturing and create jobs.

Senator Faruqi said:

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that up to 30,000 university jobs will be lost if the federal government does not provide a new funding package for universities and extend the JobKeeper payment to university workers.

The Greens support the National Tertiary Education Union’s National Day of Action (NDA), taking place today, which calls on Education Minister Dan Tehan to step up on university funding and save thousands of jobs.

Senator Faruqi said:

The Greens have backed a community call to retain free childcare in light of the Education Minister’s strongest indications yet that the government would revert back to a fee-paying model, potentially as early as next month.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for Education, said:

“Free childcare has been a huge step forward for access to childcare for families. It should be made permanent.

“The government may think it will save money by going back to the fee-paying model, but we know the social and economic benefits of free childcare are enormous.

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that all states and territories have put the federal government to shame over its lack of support for international students.

I, and also on behalf of Senators McKim, Siewert, Whish-Wilson, Waters, Hanson-Young, Steele-John, Lines, Urquhart, Wong, Keneally, Pratt, Brown, McAllister, Ayres, Bilyk, Walsh, Sheldon, Carr, Watt and Polley move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the passing of trailblazing unionist and environmental activist, Jack Mundey AO;

(b) extends its sincere and heartfelt condolences to Jack Mundey's family, friends and comrades; and

(c) acknowledges and pays tribute to Jack Mundey's extraordinary legacies, including:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) over 550,000 international students currently study in Australia, contributing immensely to our community and economy,

   (ii) many of these students are suffering enormous financial hardship at the moment due to unemployment, wage losses and instability during COVID-19,

   (iii) students have been forced to queue at food banks, live in cramped accommodation, and rely on the charity of others in order to eat and make ends meet,

The Greens support this motion. We have been strongly pushing for a massive investment from the federal government to build 500,000 public and community homes to provide much-needed roofs over people's heads. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed even more how broken our housing system is. It's time for the federal government to lead from the front with a multibillion-dollar investment to construct high-quality, climate-conscious public and community housing as part of the economic stimulus. This will also create tens of thousands of thousands of jobs and thousands of apprenticeships.

The Australian Greens have joined an international delegation signing onto a letter calling for extensive debt forgiveness from international financial institutions, including the IMF and World Bank, for International Development Association countries. The letter was initiated by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and signatories include Jeremy Corbyn, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Yanis Varoufakis.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Adam Bandt MP are the sole Australian signatories to this unprecedented letter.