24 February 2006 – Media Release

Local heroes set to run with baton through Canberra

The Queen's Baton is on its way to Canberra and set to arrive in Belconnen this Saturday afternoon.

With just over two weeks until the opening of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, the Baton Relay gives all Canberrans a chance to share in the spirit of the Games.

I encourage the whole ACT community to get out and be involved in the Baton's journey which has encompassed all 71 countries of the Commonwealth.

This relay is about the Canberra region's unsung heroes in sport and the community sector. This is a chance to recognise and support our local champions I hope many locals take the opportunity to get out and line the streets.

The baton arrives at the Belconnen Town Centre at 3:40pm on Saturday and travels through the town centre and on past CISAC, University of Canberra, Radford College, the Bruce CIT and the ACT Academy of Sport before travelling past the AIS, the ACT Hockey Centre, along Northbourne Avenue  toward the city where it will arrive at a welcome ceremony in Garema Place at 5:30pm (celebrations in Garema Place take place from 4:30pm – 7:30pm).

The baton travels to Dubbo and Orange on Sunday before returning to the Capital for the morning on Monday.

Canberrans can get a glimpse of the baton from 7:00am in Yarralumla, then at Parliament House, Old Parliament House, Commonwealth Place, along Constitution Avenue, Anzac Parade, the Australian War Memorial, Campbell Primary, RMC, Telopea Park School, Manuka Oval and Manuka café precinct before heading along Canberra Avenue for a final stop at 11:20am at St Edmund's and St Clare's Colleges.

You can follow the baton and search for runners on the Queen's Baton Relay page on the Commonwealth Games website www.melbourne2006.com.au. For more details of the vantage points and street information go to www.sport.act.gov.au/qbrcanberra.html.

For further Information, please contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059 or 62773334

16 February 2006 – Media Release

Operation Payphone Protection

As a result of the Howard Government’s ongoing privatisation of Telstra and their collusion with the arrogant and contemptuous action by Telstra removing community payphones to cut costs, I am starting Operation Payphone Protection in the Canberra and the South East Region today.

Telstra under the Government’s hand picked CEO, Mr Trujillo has embarked on the most disgraceful exercise to deceive Australia citizens into thinking the 5000 payphones slated for removal are to be “relocated”. We now know this is a lie.

Telstra makes a lot of money from payphones generally so it is not acceptable that phones that don’t make enough money to cover costs be ripped out. In addition, Telstra receives a USO (Universal Service Obligation) subsidy to maintain many of them.

The Howard Government is to blame for ACMA (Australian Media and Communication Authority) weakening the USO so much so that Telstra are now claiming only certain phones are covered, and are therefore shielded from demolition.

What about the thousands of other payphones that people have come to rely on?

Mobile coverage is no excuse because many people use payphones when they are out of credit or batteries. The fact is that people with mobiles are used to making more calls than ever before and it follows that payphones are more important for community safety and convenience THAN EVER BEFORE.

Not the other way around, as Telstra will claim.

I urge people in the Capital Region to call my office on 02 6230 0411 and report whether their local phone box has been marked with one of the misleading BLUE Telstra “relocation” STICKERS. We will need the street address of the Payphone to check against the records of existing services.

Telstra have said that there are 120 phone boxes to be ripped out of the region and it is in the communities’ interest to find out which ones as soon as possible.

For further Information, please contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059 or 62773334

15 February 2006 – Joint Media Release

Senator Kate Lundy, Shadow Minister Sport and Recreation and Julia Gillard, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business

Howard Government grandstanding on obesity: 50,000 kids denied opportunity to get active

The Howard Government's $6 million 'Get Moving' advertising campaign to get kids physically active has been shown up to be nothing more than an expensive waste of taxpayers money and should have been used to create more places in existing Government activity programs which are under funded.

Senate Estimates questioning yesterday revealed that the campaign announced by Mr Abbott designed to encourage children to exercise, actually has no practical linkages with any Sport and Recreation programs currently run by the Australian Sports Commission – including the $90 million Active After School Communities (AASC) program. 

The 'Get Moving' advertisements do not even have a phone number which could direct parents and their children to physical activity programs, sporting organisations, or indeed its very own after school activity program. 

In fact the Howard government does not even have places for kids in their existing programs to accommodate any increased demand, with as many as 50,000 children having already missed out on an opportunity to participate in the program this term alone. 

This equates to a massive one quarter of all participants.  Some 986 schools and after-school care providers wanted to participate in the program this year but have been turned away because of a lack of funding.

Once again the Howard Government is too busy grandstanding on a popular issue to be concerned with good policy targeting actual change on an issue which is affecting hundreds and thousands of Australian families.

The Howard Government needs to ensure that they have a whole of Government approach and commit appropriate funding to the program to ensure ­all Australian children have the opportunity to participate in organised healthy activity after school.

It is Labor who has taken the lead on the issue of obesity and it is Labor’s Children’s Health Blueprint Goals for Aussie Kids which sets out long term goals necessary to build a healthy future for our kids and country.

For further Information, please contact: Adina Cirson - 0418 488 295 or 62773334 (Lundy) Kimberly Gardiner 0401553002 (Gillard)

13 February 2006 - Media Release

Federal Department confirms more investigations into under-payment of Philippino migrant workers are underway

As many as 6 Canberra restaurants are being investigated by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Workplace Services (OWS) relating to the underpayment and other problems concerning some 20 migrant workers in the ACT.

The employers are being investigated for possible breaches of their obligations under the 457 visa provisions, and discussions with the Embassy of the Philippines and the ACT Government have already taken place.

Immigration officers confirmed that the payment of migrant workers under the 457 visa provisions, must be as per the Australian Federal Award which includes penalty rates and payment for overtime worked.

This demonstrates that the ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (ACCI) knee-jerk response that the union's claims were "frivolous" was incorrect.

I urge the Chamber to pull their head out of the sand and work towards solving the problem, not pretending that no problem exists.

All workers in Australia, be they local or from overseas, are entitled by law to be treated with respect, dignity and be paid according to the Australian Federal Award. I encourage workers to keep coming forward and congratulate the LHMU for their advocacy of their member's rights.

I urge all parties involved to continue their negotiations and resolve these matters as soon as possible.

Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334

10 February 2006 - Media Release

All the Best for Aussies in Torino

Joint Release
Kim Beazley - Leader of the Opposition
Kate Lundy - Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation

Australia's largest winter team ever will begin competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, north west of Italy, late tomorrow (Saturday) night (AEST).

The Labor Party wishes these athletes all the best at the Games. They will do our country proud throughout the two weeks of competition.

We recognise the spirit and dedication required to pursue a sport which requires athletes to train and compete on the other side of the world for much of the year.

The 40-strong Australian team will compete in 10 of the 15 disciplines on offer at the Games - this diversity is exciting and a great achievement for winter sports in Australia.

Labor congratulates reigning Olympic aerial gold medallist, Alisa Camplin, who will carry the Australian flag proudly at the opening ceremony early tomorrow (Saturday) morning (AEST). Alisa is a terrific ambassador for winter sports and an outstanding role model for aspiring sportswomen.

Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059 or 02 6277 3334 (Lundy)
George Svigos 0417 196 836 (Beazley)

8 February 2006 - Media Release

Migrant Workers in Canberra Restaurants

1.00pm Matters of Public Interest Debate  Senate Chamber

Senator Kate Lundy will name and shame Canberra restaurants who have been the subject of serious complaints relating to human rights abuses and underpayment of wages of migrant workers in the Matter of Public Interest debate in the Senate

1.20pm Doorstop Senate Courtyard

Senator Kate Lundy together with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellanous Workers Union (LHMU) and three migrant workers who have lodged complaints with the ACT Human Rights Commission, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and Office of Workplace Relations regarding their employment conditions in Australia.

Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334

3 February 2006 – Media Release

Abuse of Migrant Workers to be Raised in Parliament

Despite serious complaints of Human Rights abuses and underpayment of a number of migrant workers being made public last week, the owners of these restaurants have failed to address these complaints or pay outstanding wages.

The complaints received by the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) which have also been lodged with Department of Immigration, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the ACT Human Rights office, include racial vilification, worker harassment, underpayment of award wages and failure to pay overtime or penalty rates despite the workers involved sometimes working up to 60 hours a week – for a mere $29,000 a year – some $10,000 less than the Federal Award.

The highly trained Filipino workers, many of whom have worked in world class restaurants in number of countries, were recruited from Manilla in 2005 and have been forced to work under appalling circumstances, becoming the subject of abuse by the owners and employees in at least 3 well known Canberra restaurants and cafés.

I am sure that Canberran's and indeed most Australians would be outraged and disgusted with the treatment of these workers, and I know that many people would think twice about dining in these restaurants if they knew workers were being forced to work under a constant barrage of racial abuse, work without meal or drink breaks and without proper remuneration and in the most extreme cases, the refusal of immediate medical treatment and being forced to eat scraps from the garbage.

The owners of these restaurants should be ashamed that they should treat any human being in this manner, let alone workers which they themselves sought to bring to Australia under a special arrangement with the Philippines Government. 

Unless a number of steps are taken by these restaurants then I will be left with no choice but to name and shame those who continue to shirk their responsibilities to these workers under the relevant visa provisions (subclass 457) and with total disregard of basic human rights.

Contact: Adina Cirson 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334

3 February 2006 - Media Release

Government obesity policy overlooks those actually at risk

Joint Release
Julia Gillard - Shadow Minister for Health
Kate Lundy - Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation

The latest attempt by the Howard Government to address weight problems and obesity has once again failed to deliver any practical solution to an issue that is affecting hundreds and thousands of Australian families.

It is Labor who has always taken the lead on the important issue of children's health and today we have once again seen the Howard Government trying to playing catch up with Labor.

The Howard Government's policies have always overlooked who is actually at risk. It is well-known that children, who are overweight or obese, generally have a low self esteem and are reluctant to participate in activity.

On 29 June 2004, Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Howard announced the Building a Healthy, Active Australia package, which included a $15 million grant programme through the Department of Health ‘to help schools, families and children develop healthy eating practices’.

To date we know that just $760,000 has been allocated to schools in the form of grants of $1500 for activities to encourage healthy eating.

Only programs tailored to meet the needs of those children who are overweight or obese will have any substantial impact.

The piecemeal approach offered today by the Howard Government is a direct response to Federal Labor’s Children’s Health Blueprint Goals for Aussie Kids which sets out long term goals to build a healthy future for our kids and country.

Once again the Howard Government is too busy grandstanding on a popular issue to be concerned with good policy targeting actual change.

Contact: Taryn Langdon 0417 148 059 or 02 6277 3334 (Lundy)
Kimberley Gardiner 0401 553 002 (Gillard)