The Australian Government is reactivating live music across Australia, with Archies Creek Public Hall getting a share in more than $2.5 million, in round two of the Live Music Australia Program.
The Australian music industry has faced considerable pressures in light of the severe impacts of COVID-19. Round two of the program is funding venues in every state and territory, from pubs in the remote outback, to clubs and theatres in major capital cities, assisting them to re-open as restrictions on public gatherings and live music performance are lifted.
Federal Member for Monash Russell Broadbent said the funding will provide critical support for local live music venues and help support communities to recover from the pandemic.
“I’m pleased to announce that Archies Creek Public Hall Trust have received $33,825 for the transformation of the hall into a unique and intimate professional live music venue in regional Victoria,” Mr Broadbent said.
President of the Archies Creek Community Hall, Ric Oldham, said “Receipt of the Live Music Australia Grant is fantastic news for the Archies Creek Community, the Bass Coast and indeed Gippsland as Archies Creek grows in popularity as a centre known for live music events.”
“As regional Victoria emerges from the effects of COVID the reputation of the Archies Creek Hall known as a small town hall owned by community for community will be greatly enhanced with improved performance stagging, lighting and audio provided through this substantial Federal Government Grant.”
“We are excited with the growing popularity of the hall and the prospect of the hall to professionally stage all forms of live music and other creative arts with such enhanced amenity. This is now only possible through this grant enabling the live music industry having purpose venues to perform combined with the huge efforts of our volunteers and our Community Partnerships,” Ric Oldham said.
Applications for round three of the program will open later this year. For the list of round two recipients and for information on how to apply for round three, visit: www.grants.gov.au or www.arts.gov.au.
The Australian Government’s Charter of Aged Care Rights states:
I have the right to:
If we delete aged care specifically, my question is this, why can't these principles apply to all Australians now?
Respect for all.
This is just as I see it.
It was a great relief to me that the government finally acknowledged legitimate concerns about independent assessments for people on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I commend Minister Reynolds for delaying the introduction of the new independent assessment process. She needs a chance to fully understand the scheme and assess feedback about the trial.
An NDIS participant told me he saw this as a sign of respect that his and many other voices had been heard. They have been deeply concerned about the potential for adverse and distressing impacts of the proposed independent assessments.
Respect is always a powerful motivator. It’s a value that should underpin genuine consultation processes and it is essential if the NDIS is to remain a fair, equitable and sustainable scheme.
The independent assessment process proposed the mandatory use of standardised tools used by NDIS appointed assessors. But a person’s unique circumstances cannot be properly assessed using a cookie cutter. Every person, every case is different. Making funding decisions within a limited time frame is similarly fraught. It pays little heed to the complexities of individual cases.
I’ve said before that people with disabilities and their families deserve special care and consideration. Important eligibility assessments should not be reduced to a tick and flick exercise. Privatisation where profit is the primary motivator.
By its very definition, the NDIS supports people that have highly complex needs that affect them, their families and carers and society generally. If we do need to tinker with the model the guiding principle should be to identify solutions that strike a balance between the provision of appropriate high-quality service and a sustainable level of funding. The 450,000 Australians with disability relying on the NDIS deserve no less than that.
That’s just as I see it.
Thirty years ago, this week a Royal Commission recommended a raft of changes to prevent Aboriginal people dying in custody. Amongst those were measures to prevent incarceration in the first place – to lift Indigenous people out of poverty, close the gap in opportunity, increase young people’s access to education.
Today Aboriginal people are still thirty times more likely to be incarcerated than non-indigenous people. Five Indigenous people died in Australian jails in the last month. 470 since the Royal Commission recommendations three decades ago. And against the recommendations of Attorneys-General across the country, the two jurisdictions with the greatest Indigenous populations - in the Northern Territory and Queensland – are looking at ways to make it easier to lock up Indigenous children.
As a country we must do better than lock up our most vulnerable at the times they most need their communities and the support of a compassionate society. Ten year-old's have no place in Australian jails and remand centres. Aboriginal children are more malnourished and despite advances in education in regional and remote areas far less likely to have access to secondary and tertiary education opportunities. They still die at a faster and younger rate than their non-indigenous brothers and sisters and they live in communities that have greater rates of violence, poverty and social dislocation.
These troubling social problems are humanity’s problems, and they are our problems to solve as a society. Let us all use the commemoration of the Royal Commission findings to look at our communities and look into our hearts. How can we do better as a society to help the most vulnerable and make our society better? We cannot call ourselves decent while these injustices are allowed to continue.
That’s just as I see it.
Last week I wrote to the Prime Minister to clarify my call for a gathering in response to the call from the women of Australia to be heard. The gathering was then called a summit in the shorthand of the media, but the two are very different in nature.
There are other proposals about, but this is mine.
I intended that women from across the nation be engaged in regional meetings so a grassroots expression of the issues faced by women would be heard. To that end, I believe representatives from each Local Government Area would host regional gatherings and bring forward issues that are particular to their area. There are major differences between a gathering and a summit. The gatherings would include no politicians, the summit would. The gatherings are grass-roots, the summit will draw on the previous Commonwealth/State format. The gatherings would be regional, the summit would be held in Canberra I expect. The gatherings would involve local governments, the summit would focus on the States and Territories. The gatherings are about deep listening and understanding, the summit about new strategies and funding. The gatherings will focus on local prevention strategies, the summit on national strategies and support for those currently in crisis and those who need assistance following abuse. There is no reason that these two initiatives could not complement each other.
I was pleased to read this morning that the Prime Minister has gone part way to receiving broader input by inviting all Australians to voice their views via an online questionnaire, available on the government’s Engage website: engage.dss.gov.au/
And I encourage everyone to take up this opportunity. However, I maintain that embracing the voices of women who, by reason of location, often feel they are not heard is extremely important. This would be a direct response to the calls of both women and men who are demanding immediate action to address Australia’s shameful levels of violence against women and children.
That’s just as I see it.
Your life is precious – not only for you but your loved ones. You’ve heard this before but safety on our roads is paramount and should be at the forefront of your mind coming into this busy holiday period.
Gumbuya World is a popular adventure park located in my electorate in country Victoria. They have a permit to see 8,000 cars through an intersection crossing the Princes Highway every day. These cars intersect with cars travelling at speeds of 100 km/h near the entrance of this popular tourist attraction. The intersection has low visibility, and multiple accidents have occurred here as a product of these factors. As a community, we have seen too many lives lost and too many mistakes made at a place that is meant to spark memories of joy and laughter – not of trauma and regret.
I recently met with the federal Minister for Road Safety and Transport, Mr Scott Buchholz to discuss plans about how we can best alleviate this issue. I also met with state member Gary Blackwood and the CEO of Gumbuya World Ron Weinzierl to consider the constant danger this intersection facilitates, and how the state and federal governments can band together to bring safety back to this part of our highway. Creating a permanent fix to this intersection will take time. But you can take action now to prevent any more lives from being lost.
We must drive to the conditions of this busy intersection at this busy time. We must turn our attention back to safety on our roads, safety for our community, and safety for our loved ones. Small mistakes made when driving come with big consequences. We must keep the focus on road safety front and centre.
That’s just how I see it.
