Category: Australian News

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Education spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that private schools will be able to spend the $1.2 billion ‘Choice and Affordability’ slush fund with enormous discretion. Flexible guidelines for the fund have been released as parliament debates handing out a further $3.4 billion for private schools.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Private schools will have enormous freedom to spend this public money on practically whatever they want. Meanwhile, public schools continue to suffer without having their basic needs met.
“This latest handout reflects the Liberal government’s obsession with giving out cash to already over-funded private schools. The Greens have warned about this from the start.
“Now the Government has a bill before parliament that would gift a further $3.4 billion to private schools. I urge the Opposition and crossbench to oppose this bill and stop the handouts and special deals.
“It’s way past time to prioritise public school funding and stand up to the private school lobbies.”

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, and leader, Adam Bandt MP, called on the government to respond to today’s interest rate cut with stimulus spending, including for transformative infrastructure.
Senator Whish-Wilson said “this government must overcome seven years of surplus mania.
“We have the triple whammy of COVID-19, secular stagnation and a climate emergency, including recent bushfires.
“The government must use the latest record low interest rates and undertake stimulus spending.
“There’s no point achieving a surplus if the economy is on life support.
“I expect to see a conversion on the road to Damascus.
“Without government action the cheapest money ever will continue flow into ever higher house prices and other unproductive speculation.
Adam Bandt said the Greens have a plan to stave off a recession and transition to a clean energy future.
“We’re heading towards a cliff but Scott Morrison is refusing to grab the steering wheel.
“A looming recession means we need to stimulate the economy and there’s never been a cheaper time to do it.
“The Green New Deal means tackling the economic and inequality crises by lifting Newstart and Youth Allowance, increasing public sector wages by 4% and investing $6b to extend the electricity grid to Renewable Energy Zones.
“The only thing stopping the government from putting the economy back into gear is their own ‘surplus first’ rhetoric.
“Government needs to act now to stave off a recession or the public will never forgive them.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt will introduce a Bill into the House of Representatives this morning, seconded by the Member for Waringah Zali Steggall OAM, to formally declare a climate emergency, require every government department to be guided by the declaration and mandate the establishment of a ‘war cabinet’ to tackle the crisis.
Mr Bandt announced the Bill to a crowd over 2000 when opening the recent National Climate Emergency Summit.
Comment by Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP: 
“We are in a climate emergency. It’s time for Parliament to recognise the crisis and take urgent action.
“This Bill reflects the scale of the crisis we face and represents the scale of action that is needed.
“Winston Churchill was a flawed man and flawed Prime Minister, but in his greatest hours he reached across the aisle during WWII and formed a grand coalition, with the Labour party and others. That is what I am asking of Scott Morrison today.
“The Prime Minister must be a climate Churchill, not a climate Chamberlain.
“In October, I moved a motion for Parliament to declare a climate emergency and we fell just four votes short. We’ve just had a summer of complete climate devastation and it’s time for the Parliament to recognise the situation we face, join me in declaring a climate emergency and establish a ‘war-cabinet’ to take urgent action.
“It’s time for members of the Liberal Party, especially those that have called for climate action, to vote with their conscience and back this Bill.”

The Greens have referred the legislation to build a nuclear waste dump in South Australia to a Senate Inquiry for scrutiny of the laws and the process that led to this point.
“The Coalition has decided Kimba on SA’s Eyre Peninsula, home to some of the country’s best agricultural land, is the place to dump the nation’s radioactive waste,” South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The site selection process for a nuclear waste dump has been dodgy from the start. It’s ripped small communities apart and Traditional Owners have vehemently objected to the proposal. It’s clear there isn’t broad community support for a nuclear waste dump in Kimba, despite what former Minister Matt Canavan would have everyone believe.
“The Government’s plans will result in ships of radioactive waste passing through South Australia’s regional roads, streets and waters for decades to come. Port Augusta, Whyalla, Port Pirie and Port Lincoln and every town living along potential transportation route, should have been consulted and given an opportunity to have their say.
“A radioactive waste dump in the heart of our food bowl puts at risk our clean, green reputation and our state’s key grain export industry.
“The Greens aren’t leaving it to the community of Kimba to hold the line on their own. A Senate Inquiry will give the entire proposal the scrutiny it needs.
“South Australians have already said no to nuclear, but this government doesn’t listen. It’s far more interested in building a radioactive waste dump than investing in renewable energy and our growing potential for green industry.”

Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP has slammed Angus Taylor’s dim-witted plan to ditch support for solar and wind in favour of unproven and ineffective Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.
In a speech today, the Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister will signal a shift away from renewables towards Carbon Capture and Storage and brown hydrogen.
“Angus Taylor’s one KPI is in his job description and he can’t even meet it,” said Mr Bandt.
“The only energy sources in Australia that have cut pollution are wind and solar. Now is the time to be backing them in and supporting investment, not cutting support.
“CCS won’t save coal and it won’t save people from the climate crisis. For over a decade this has been hailed as the miracle cure, but it’s just snake oil.
“Australia could be a renewable energy superpower, exporting our wind and solar to Asia through green hydrogen. This is the vision we need from Angus Taylor instead of more of his CCS pipedreams.
“Angus Taylor should extend the Renewable Energy Target to drive the clean energy revolution that will save us from the climate emergency.”

The Morrison Government is actively subverting democracy by twice in the past two sitting weeks using procedural games to avoid greater transparency on rorts.
The Government has today blocked Greens Senate Leader Larissa Waters from postponing a motion which would require them to disclose when ministers have departed from advice of independent bodies under Commonwealth Grants Guidelines, with risk of pork barrelling.
Last week, the Government used its numbers in the lower house to narrowly avoid voting in the House of Representatives on a motion to pass the Greens’ bill for a national corruption watchdog with teeth.
“The Government has pulled some extraordinary manoeuvres recently to twist the procedures of parliament and cover up rorts,” she said
“When a minister doesn’t follow the Commonwealth Grant Guidelines or advice when allocating a grant, they have to tell the Treasurer why – but it stays secret.
“Today the government blocked a Greens motion that would have lifted the secrecy and exposed any pork barrelling of all grants funds covered by Commonwealth Grant Guidelines on an ongoing basis.
“The Morrison Government prefers to keep their rorts secret and gag any dissent.
“They won’t improve transparency over how grants are made, they won’t release the Gaetjens Report and they won’t vote for a Federal ICAC.
“The Greens won’t stop pushing for disclosure of other grants fund rorts.
“Taxpayer money is not just a slush fund for Ministers to further their own interests. If a Minister ignores the advice of officials, the public deserves to know why,” she said.
 

Senator for South Australia and Greens Environment Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“This is a huge win for the community, the environment and SA’s tourism and fishing industries. It is good for the planet and jobs.
“The community who cherish our pristine coastline, the tourism industry that depends on it, and the fishing industry that relies on clean waters have all fought so hard against these environment-destroying plans. Congratulations goes to them.
“They have proven there was no social licence for an international oil giant to drill in our waters, and that people power can win.
“South Australians love our gorgeous Bight and we want it protected for future generations and the rest of the world to come and experience.
“What we need now is World Heritage protection. The Greens’ Bill for World Heritage Listing would give the Bight the protection it needs and deserves from any other oil and gas companies proposing to put it at risk. I call on all other Members of Parliament to back it.
“This decision also shows this is the beginning of the end of fossil fuels. Opening a new fossil fuel basin in the middle of our ocean was always madness. Moving to net zero emissions by 2050 means we must reduce pollution now, not give the green light to new polluting projects.”

Greens MPs have used the Federal Parliament to demand justice for Julian Assange, as his extradition hearing begins in London.
In the House of Representatives today, Greens Leader Adam Bandt has called for Mr Assange to be brought back to Australia, while in the Senate, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson today questioned the government and yesterday moved a motion urging the Parliament not to be silent on the criminalisation of journalistic activity.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP said:
“The government needs to intervene to bring Julian Assange back to Australia.
“The criminalisation of journalism must end. If this government wants to show its commitment to protecting press freedoms and protecting democracy, it needs to bring Julian Assange home and protect him from extradition to the United States.
“It is a terrifying precedent that foreign nations could extradite and charge journalists who have exposed their wrongdoings. It’s time for the Foreign Minister to intervene.
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said:
“The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, yesterday labelled the treatment of Julian Assange a ‘modern showtrial’ because they want to make an example of him.
“The case of Julian Assange extends far beyond the case of one person on trial – it gets to the heart of how we uphold the tenets of democracy, human rights and press freedom.
“We must not let this debate devolve into one about the character of Julian Assange – he is an Australian citizen, a journalist, and urgently requires Government intervention.”

Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP, has commended Australia’s leading climate scientists for their courage in warning that both Liberal and Labor’s climate policies are dangerously inadequate.
Three of Australia’s leading specialists on climate change – Professor Will Steffen, Professor Lesley Hughes, and Dr Pep Cannadell – have today warned that Australia needs to hit net-zero carbon emissions before 2050, including significant reductions in the next ten years, if we’re to keep global warming well below 2 degrees and honour the Paris Agreement.
Professor Will Steffen was the scientific expert advising Labor on the carbon price as part of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.
Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP said:
“The verdict is in. Australia’s top scientists have said that the Liberals’ climate targets won’t stop runaway global warming but nor will Labor’s ‘net zero by 2050’.
“The scientists back the Greens in demanding real action by 2030 and a plan for coal, because otherwise it will be too late.”
“We need critical action in the next decade if we’re to protect ourselves and the planet from the worst impacts of global warming.
“At current rates, we risk hitting 1.5 degrees of warming by 2030. That’s just ten years from now.
“Beyond that, we’ll start hitting tipping points that will make it harder, if not impossible, to keep climate change under control.
“By the end of this decade, scientists fear we could see the collapse of ice shelfs in Antarctica that would lead to 3-4 metres of sea level rise, all in my children’s lifetime.
“This disastrous summer of fires happened at just one degree of warming and things stand to get worse. This should be a wake-up call that we need action now, not in decades to come. We don’t have any time to waste.”