Other positions and policy FAQ Other positionsand policy FAQ

This page lists party positions that are outside our major priorities but still official policy.

Climate Emergency FAQs

Disaster response

The bushfires of summer 2020–21 and recent flooding in NSW and Queensland have shown us how unprepared our government is to deal with climate-driven disasters in the immediate, short and longer term. Fusion will properly fund advisory and response entities that can help minimise the impact of these disasters when they occur, including purchase of the water bombers we are still waiting for.

Fair + inclusive society FAQs

Child-care costs

In line with Fusion's Education for Life position, we stand for quality, affordable child care for all Australians. Lack of available and affordable child care disproportionately limits women from returning to work. Choosing to work should provide the parent some financial incentive, and not just a little bit extra after paying child care costs. And all children should have the opportunity to benefit from quality child care. Free childcare for income eligible households with a sliding scale for those earning more has the potential to expand the workforce as more parents choose to return to work and provide a great educational start for all children (read more here).

Industrial relations

In line with Fusion's Fair and Inclusive Society position, Fusion fully supports the right of workers to formally organise in order to bargain with employers. The rights of all working people must be upheld. Extra effort is required to redress the imbalance for those in casual employment or the gig economy. Fusion recognises that workers should be paid more for working weekends and evenings and night shifts.

We support the award system and the right of a worker to withdraw their labour in a dispute with their employer and not face the sack or be fined as a result of formal strike action. We support the right for unions to hold secret ballots for member decisions.

Indue Card

Fusion strongly opposes forcing people who receive income support onto cashless welfare. This card removes agency, and is unreliable as a payment method. Cashless welfare initially underwent a policy trial which was badly designed and for which the results were inconclusive, and yet the government expanded the trial, claiming the trial was successful. Indue cards centralise control of money – a private company could cancel or block cards at any time. However, any Centrelink recipient should have the option to receive their benefits via a cashless welfare card.

Voting rights

Fusion supports lowering the option to vote to 16 years. The obligation to vote would not begin till 18 years. Electoral education would also be introduced to the high school curriculum.

Vaccines

Vaccines should be free and readily available. Vaccination mandates to work in caring professions are acceptable to protect public health and the vulnerable.

Drug reform

Fusion supports legalisation of cannabis, controlled and excised much the same way that alcohol is regulated.

Fusion provisionally supports legalisation of other currently controlled substances. Prohibition of specific substances has failed to minimise harms to individuals, communities and the economy.

Fusion proposes a model of harm minimisation based on that implemented by Portugal, where decriminalisation has provided net benefits to society as a whole. The Portuguese model includes no advertising of relevant substances and tax revenue resulting.

Fusion sees this as shifting issues from the Police and Courts to Health Care, reducing opportunities for police corruption and underworld violence, as well as improving quality control, and alleviating many of the social ills created by classifying specific substances as illicit.

Animal Welfare

Native animals: not only should we recommit to their survival but also strengthen the survival of their habitat and not allow areas to be decimated and justified through having environmental offsets.

Animal agriculture:

• Incentivise meat alternatives and alternative protein sources such as lab grown meat.
• End feed lots and factory farming.
• End live export of animals for food.
• Establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare.

Ethical governance FAQs

Media reform

Australia has the most concentrated media ownership in the OECD. In line with our Ethical Governance position, Fusion supports the reintroduction of stronger media ownership laws that cap ownership share by any one corporation.

Fusion supports restoring ABC and SBS funding. ABC alone has lost over 1,000 jobs over the past decade. ABC is well suited to provide additional regional news broadcasts and imperative for incubating local talent.

Fusion supports that any Australian news service should be properly regulated and held to account for misleading or false reporting. Fusion also supports a Royal Commission establishment of such a Royal Commission to ensure the strength and diversity of Australian news media.

Privatisation of public assets and services

Government is the ideal provider for:

• Essential services that should be available to all rather than on a user-pays basis (e.g. health care, education, job search services)
• Large IT projects where government services already hold private personal data (e.g. electronic health records)
• Natural monopolies, where the barrier to entry is so high as to prevent market competition (e.g. the electricity grid).

In some cases, it is likely in government interests to re-acquire or partially re-acquire certain assets, such as the national grid, where sound governance of the whole system is of the utmost importance as we transition to a zero-carbon grid.