Latest news with #Pocock
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Business
- The Advertiser
Unions call for halt to government contracts with multinational tech giants
A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon. The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers. "These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states. Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services. SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia. "It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said. "We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with." Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities. "We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said. READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution' The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining. The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal. Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first. "The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock. Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate. "The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said. READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with. "It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'" Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law". "The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement. "We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar." Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing. Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually. A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon. The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers. "These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states. Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services. SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia. "It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said. "We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with." Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities. "We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said. READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution' The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining. The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal. Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first. "The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock. Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate. "The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said. READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with. "It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'" Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law". "The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement. "We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar." Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing. Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually. A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon. The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers. "These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states. Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services. SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia. "It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said. "We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with." Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities. "We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said. READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution' The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining. The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal. Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first. "The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock. Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate. "The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said. READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with. "It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'" Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law". "The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement. "We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar." Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing. Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually. A trio of unions have called for the federal government to cease doing business with large multinational tech corporations, including Amazon. The letter, from Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association (SDA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demands the re-elected Albanese government enforce the newly instituted Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct, and tear up contracts with global tech giants, accused of union busting, tax dodging and surveillance of overseas workers. "These rules should apply not just to a local subsidiary, but to the entire corporate group's activity around the world," the letter, co-signed by ACTU president Michele O'Neil states. Earlier this year, the government renewed its partnership with US software behemoth Amazon Web Services. SDA NSW branch secretary Bernie Smith told The Canberra Times that Amazon's actions overseas, including closing seven unionised warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec, according to local reports, should prohibit Amazon from gaining lucrative contracts in Australia. "It's disturbing if in one arm of a business the company can act ethically, but chooses not to act so ethically in the other," he said. "We encourage... the government as our collective consumer, to be conscious of who they contract with." Appearing before a Senate committee last year, Amazon executives said the company did not in any way surveil or monitor union activities in their Australian facilities. "We facilitate dozens of lawful union rights of entry in our sites around Australia all the time," head of public policy for Amazon in Australia and New Zealand Matt Levey said. READ MORE: Amazon to inject $20b into Australian 'AI revolution' The Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct states employees have the right to join unions, take part in industrial action and collective bargaining. The Code was part of a number of changes brought in by the Labor government following procurement misconduct such as the PwC tax leaks scandal. Independent senator David Pocock has pushed for the government to consider Australian companies first. "The tragedy of this is that, my understanding is that there's a whole bunch of Australian companies that are repeatedly overlooked, and companies like Amazon get big contracts from the federal government," said Mr Pocock. Mr Pocock said there were Australian companies that could have provided cloud computing services at a cheaper rate. "The idea that it's safe to go with multinationals just doesn't seem to actually be true," he said. READ MORE: Why more students are leaving school early in Australia Mr Smith said the government should reconsider the companies it enters into contracts with. "It's a time for us to think about, 'how do we as a community and a society be served by our economy rather [than] the other way around?'" Branch head for whole of contract negotiations at the DTA Nichole Bain said "the government expects all businesses to comply with Australian law". "The government has made significant improvements to procurement across government since coming to office," she said in a statement. "We will continue to work hard to make sure that government purchasing power is maximised and ensure that taxpayers get value for every dollar." Amazon Australia was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publishing. Amazon has previously said they plan to invest $13.2 billion into Australia from 2023 to 2027 which will support an average of 11,000 full-time jobs annually.
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Australia to be the ‘middle power' in achieving peace in the Middle East
Independent Senator David Pocock says he has been urging the Albanese government to place sanctions on Israeli ministers for over a year after he claimed the Israeli government's actions are 'unacceptable'. 'Given the concern amongst the Australian community, there's a real sense the Australian government can't end this war, but they can actually be a middle power,' Mr Pocock told Sky News Australia. 'I think it's totally unacceptable what is happening.'
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Bipartisanship': Albanese government has ‘blinkers on' in hope to get defence from US
Independent Senator David Pocock slams Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles for 'pushing forward' on the 'hope' Australia will get US submarines, following the Pentagon's review of AUKUS. Mr Pocock claimed the Albanese government has a 'bipartisan' view on this defence matter with the US. 'I think we should take this as an opportunity to actually do a review ourselves, I think that is long overdue,' Mr Pocock told Sky News Australia. 'I don't think that major parties have really made the case to the Australian people that we are guaranteed to receive this capability with the amount of money that we are already shovelling out.'
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Lurking creature — with more than 200 legs — found as new species in Thailand
The tiny island of Ko Phayam in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand is home to picturesque beaches and cashew plantations. Just a few miles across, the island is a tourist stop along the country's west coast. It's also home to a new species. Researchers on the island in 2022 looked around the bases of trees when they saw a creature lurking beneath the leaves, according to a study published June 6 in the peer-reviewed journal Zoological Science. Brown millipedes were 'found crawling and hiding underneath leaf litter of coconut trees, jackfruit trees and other native vegetation,' researchers said. The animals belonged to the genus Thyropygus, but a DNA analysis showed they were a species never seen before, according to the study. Thyropygus payamense, or the Payam (Phayam) Island millipede, is between 4.7 and 5.5 inches long, depending on the sex, researchers said. Their bodies are made from about 60 podous rings, or body segments that nestle together and allow the millipede to move and curl into a spiral shape, according to the study. Each podous ring is attached to four legs, meaning the animals have about 240 legs down the length of their bodies. 'Overall color of living animal (is) dark brown,' researchers said. The antennae, legs and other small appendages are 'reddish brown.' The species is differentiated from known millipedes by a 'small, slender pointed spine' on the base of a feature of the leg, which isn't found on other members of the genus, according to the study. 'The millipede genus Thyrophygus, (first described by) Pocock (in) 1894, is widely distributed across Thailand and Southeast Asia and currently comprises 67 recognized species, 46 of which are exclusively found in Thailand,' researchers said. Millipedes are not insects, but rather more closely related to animals like lobster, shrimp and crayfish, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The name 'millipede' directly translates to 'a thousand feet,' but no species has been found with quite that many. Millipedes consume organic matter and break down dead plant material that is then returned to the soil, bringing nutrients back into the landscape similar to worms, the National Wildlife Federation said. Ko Payam (Phayam Island) is off the western coast of Thailand, just south of the southern tip of Myanmar. The research team includes Piyatida Pimvichai, Henrik Enghoff, Karin Breugelmans, Brigette Segers and Thierry Backeljau.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Part-time parliament' sitting for fewest days in 20 years
MPs will sit in the House of Representatives for fewer days this year than any other in the last two decades, limiting time for scrutiny of the government's agenda and debates on legislation. Analysis of parliamentary sitting calendars from 2004 to the draft 2025 calendar revealed MPs in the lower house will spend 40 days this year passing laws, two weeks less than the average of 48 sitting days during previous election years. Independent ACT senator David Pocock accused the government of presiding over a 'part-time parliament' that will not sit again until late July, when the makeup of the Senate will change to reflect the recent federal election, making it more favourable for Labor. 'It's pretty light on this year, I would have thought Australians would want parliament to crack on,' Pocock said. Each year, and after every election, the government decides how many days each chamber of parliament will sit. In 2025, the total expected sitting days, including the Senate, will be 76, the second-lowest number of days in parliament for all MPs in the last 20 years. The lowest was in the previous election year, 2022, which had 75 sitting days. The current MP's base salary of $233,660 equates to about $5840 per sitting day this year. Sitting days are when parliament debates and passes legislation, and the government is scrutinised via question time, but MPs do extensive work outside sitting days, such as meeting with constituents and drafting policy. Labor's leader of the house Tony Burke, who is responsible for the party's tactics in that chamber, defended the calendar by saying the government had made structural changes to parliamentary procedure to make things more efficient.
