TRANSCRIPT
- The Greens call for action on racism in Australia
- Australia's jobless rate remains at 4.1 per cent
- Central Coast Mariners captain Trent Sainsbury to remain on the sidelines for now
The Greens are calling on the government to fund a national anti-racism strategy following the release of a report revealing the entrenchment of systemic racism in Australia.
The report from the Australian Human Rights Commission interviewed over 1200 people across Australia and describes racism in the country as "ubiquitous, insidious and profoundly damaging".
Deputy Greens leader and spokesperson for anti-racism Mehreen Faruqi says the government should mandate anti-racism training for all parliamentarians in an effort to challenge white privilege.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman says a society wide response is needed.
"Unfortunately, we're in a society where often the person that calls out racism gets attacked far more than the racism itself. So it's a really difficult environment to talk about race, and we have very poor racial literacy across many areas of our society. So we need to build racial literacy and understanding how our systems and structures are affected by race, so that you can actually have a conversation about how those systems and structures need to be changed. That's the building block to actually improving the lives of people who are negatively racialised."
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Queensland L-N-P candidate for Gregory, Sean Dillon says he was physically assaulted and threatened by two people near his home.
Sean Dillon alleges he stopped on the side of the road to assist people he thought were having car troubles.
He says he was then physically assaulted and told to "shut [his] union bashing mouth."
Speaking to 4-B-C Radio, Mr Dillon says the pair gave him an explicit message.
"I was physically accosted at that point, and give it some pretty explicit, explicitly, expressly, clear instructions about what they thought around my continued involvement in politics and what I should and shouldn't do and and few pretty direct threats were made about the fact that they were aware of where my family were, and perhaps I should spend more time with them instead of on the road."
An investigation into the attack is ongoing.
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The latest job data shows the unemployment rate has held steady at 4.1 per cent, lower than the 4.2 per cent predicted by economists.
More than 61,400 jobs were added to the economy with around 51,000 of those being full time positions.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says more than one million jobs have been added to the economy since this government was elected and says a majority of those have been full time.
Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash says despite job growth, Australians are still struggling.
"And all the government does is pat themselves on the back and tell Australians how good they've got it. But when you look behind those figures, there are incredibly concerning trends. The public sector jobs growth is now outpacing the private sector, and that is because the Albanese government is great at creating public sector jobs, but not so good at motivating the private sector to create jobs."
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The Federal Government has announced it is investing $3.5 million in projects promoting and encouraging healthy perceptions of masculinity among school aged boys.
The funding is being delivered to three projects focussed on influencing and changing attitudes and behaviours that may lead to gender based violence.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth says the initiative is about making a generational change.
"The national plan is about a plan to change generations. We know that, for example, this program is about changing the attitudes and stereotypes that come along with rigid masculinities that can lead to violence. So, this is about making sure that we have adolescent boys that grow up healthy that, obviously, to see the benefits when it comes to violence will take some time."
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The Central Coast Mariners will be without new captain Trent Sainsbury for their A-League Men season opener against Melbourne Victory.
The former Socceroo tore a pec muscle while at the gym in the weeks leading up to the Friday night grand final rematch on the Central Coast.
Sainsbury has only played one game for the Mariners so far since returning to the club that kicked off his career following ten years overseas.
Mariners Coach Mark Jackson says it's a blow to both the team and to Sainsbury.
"Nothing, which any of the staff, or him could have done differently. It's just one of these freak incidents, that's what happens, there's never any injury comes at a good time. An injury is not a good injury but with him missing for that length of time you know it's a blow, but, we've dealt with that in our minds now we've dealt with that as a squad, we understand that that's the situation. "
