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 Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia and spokesperson for the environment:

“It’s clear that bird flu has now arrived in South Australia. We are deeply concerned that the cases detected so far could be just the tip of the iceberg.

“The positive case detected at Night’s Beach in Port Elliot is close to both the Coorong, which is already critically endangered, and Kangaroo Island, home to many native species including our precious sea lion population.

“If bird flu takes hold in this region, it could push some of our native birds and wildlife closer to extinction. South Australia’s coastal bird populations have already been devastated by the algal bloom. We cannot afford another ecological catastrophe. 

“Our native wildlife simply can’t catch a break. Between the devastating algal bloom and now the threat of bird flu, our iconic species are facing crisis after crisis.

“At a time like this, it makes no sense to keep destroying the habitat they rely on for survival. If we want to give our native animals a fighting chance, we must stop clearing their natural habitat and start protecting the places they call home.

“Our wildlife is facing an unprecedented crisis. We need a $200 million emergency response fund for wildlife protection now more than ever. This is no time for politics or delay. Our sea lions and albatrosses should not be paying the price for government delay when urgent action could help protect them. 

“We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of past ecological crises. Federal and state governments must heed the lessons of the algal bloom and move quickly to protect our wildlife while we still have time to halt the spread.”

A Greens-chaired Senate inquiry has slammed the government’s plan to terminate a critical feature of Australia’s aged care system, in yet another blow to Labor’s unravelling aged care reforms.

The consensus report recommended that the government not proceed with its plan to fold the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) into the newly created Support at Home (SAH) system, which after only eight months is already creaking under the weight of its flaws.

The CHSP is a program that supports more than 800,000 older people with entry-level in-home aged care support that helps them live independently. Funded by government grants paid directly to providers, it focuses on reablement, keeping recipients out of more intensive care for longer.

The scathing report, tabled yesterday, clearly spells out the catastrophic consequences Labor’s proposal will have for older Australians, particularly First Nations people and regional, rural and remote communities.

Some of the most pointed criticisms include:

“[I]f similar changes are made to the existing co-contribution model for CHSP 
services, this will significantly increase service costs, resulting in older people, particularly those who face the greatest vulnerability, foregoing necessary care when they need it in order to afford other basic essentials. This in turn would entirely undermine the preventative intent of the CHSP by further accelerating cognitive and physical deterioration, driving older people into higher cost and more intensive models of care and hindering independence.” – Natalie Siegel-Brown, Inspector-General of Aged Care

“Most CHSP providers are not-for-profits or charities and are often delivering early childhood services or homelessness services, saying: ‘We’ll just do those things. We won’t do aged care anymore because it’s too hard.’ That would be an absolutely devastating blow, particularly to small communities.” – Tom Symondson, Ageing Australia

“Small, specialised, and community-based organisations are particularly vulnerable. The loss of such providers would erode critical community infrastructure, remove local capacity, reduce choice for older people, and leave entire regions or communities without essential services.” – Australian Association of Gerontology

The inquiry also heard that the government had not produced any modelling to show that such a transition is even possible, let alone desirable, while they had also failed to produce a clear plan or timeline for its implementation.

Support at Home is already buckling, with a waitlist of over 200,000 and older people all over the country forced to abandon critical in-home supports because of soaring co-payments. 

Labor has been forced into several humiliating backdowns on aged care in the past 12 months, including being forced by the parliament to release 20,000 more home care packages, backtracking on some co-payments, and launching a rapid review into its disastrous assessment algorithm.

The Greens were alone in their opposition to Labor’s Aged Care Act when it passed through parliament in November 2024.

Australian Greens Older People spokesperson Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Labor’s reckless proposal to kill off the CHSP has no friends. Advocates, providers, unions, experts, First Nations organisations, local governments – no one wants this.

“By rushing into yet another massive change to the aged care system without adequate data or a clear plan, Labor is putting older people’s lives at risk.

“It is entirely inconceivable how Support at Home – a system already under massive strain – will cope with an additional 800,000 people being forced onto it as soon as a year from now.

“Nearly a million people will suddenly find themselves trapped in a rationed, market-based system, treated like revenue streams and forced to make choices about what essential care or support they’ll have to sacrifice.

“This model is more of the same right-wing market fundamentalism that Labor is in love with, despite the fact that it consistently fails to meet people’s care needs.

“The CHSP provides a vital service affordably to older Australians. Instead of eliminating it, Labor should listen to the evidence and start funding it properly.”

The Victorian Greens have called for a moratorium on all new large scale data centres in Victoria. 

It comes as mega data centre corporation, NEXTDC, bought $165 million worth of land previously earmarked for thousands of new homes on the outskirts of Geelong. 

There are currently eight large-scale data centres operating in Victoria but the state is expected to see at least twenty-one operating by 2035. 

The Greens have raised the alarm that impacted communities are not being meaningfully consulted. 

AI data centres have a huge environmental footprint. They use massive amounts of water and energy and impact biodiversity. They will keep Victoria hooked on coal and gas for longer and even require new gas turbines on site. 

The Greens are concerned that power hungry AI data centres are being built in communities, filling neighbourhoods with more trucks, air pollution, constant noise, and raising serious concerns about access to drinking water. 

The Greens say unregulated AI is leading to workers losing jobs, creators having their work stolen, and personal data being harvested by big corporations. 

The Greens have also raised concerns that these mega AI data centres are being used by massive tech companies, some of whom use their technologies for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons of war. 

The Greens are supporting a community led Town Hall Meeting on Thursday 26 June, to stop the Plumpton AI data centre planned for Melbourne’s West.

Greens Candidate for Western Metropolitan, Brittney Henderson: 

“We’re watching communities that will be most impacted by these AI data centres, learn about these projects in real time. People in the West are scared and angry, and they should be. The air we breathe, the food we grow, and water we rely on as a drought prone country is at risk.”

“Labor uses the West as its dumping ground. We will not be taken for granted. We’re talking to people on the ground, we’re making sure the community is armed with the information and confidence to fight these massive AI data centres. If Labor won’t represent us, it’s time to move aside.”

Greens MP for Western Victoria, Sarah Mansfield:

“The Greens are calling for a halt on all new AI data centres until communities are meaningfully consulted and there is a plan to prevent harm to the environment, cultural heritage, and our climate.”

“Jacinta Allan’s Labor Government has rolled out the red carpet for hyperscale AI data centre corporations with no regard for the impact on local communities, cultural heritage, renewable energy targets and the environment.”

Senator for SA and Chair of the parliamentary inquiry into artificial intelligence and data centres, Sarah Hanson-Young:

“The big AI companies are getting their hooks into governments at all levels and we need a pause to allow time for public consultation and proper parliamentary scrutiny.

“We need a moratorium on the building and approval of new data centres in Australia until we get the regulations right.

“Today we have seen the SA Malinauskaus Government show they are prepared to sell out South Australia’s clean energy reputation to build more energy sucking data centres.

“The SA Government’s announcement is nothing more than greenwashing, talking up renewables without delivering any commitment to power the new data centres with renewable energy. Their gas mates at Santos are no doubt lining up to ‘bring new energy supply online’ keeping polluting fossil fuels in the system even longer.

“We need a real plan to protect our drinking water and precious River Murray. As the driest state on the driest continent we cannot just hand our water over to big tech.

“Meanwhile in Canberra, Industry Minister Tim Ayres failed to rule out doing a deal with AI companies allowing them to have an exception to copyright laws. This would sell out Australian artists and creative industries.

“We are sleep walking into an AI crisis. Until Australia’s laws are up to the task of regulating the big tech bros and their power-hungry data centres, they should not be given the greenlight to drain our power and water.

“We failed to regulate the big social media companies and are now seeing the massive harm that they can cause. We cannot make the same mistakes with AI companies. Governments must regulate this industry.

“Power hungry data centres are going to be a massive setback in the country’s renewable energy transition. This will eclipse all the work, particularly done by South Australians, to install rooftop solar and build a grid based almost wholly on renewables.

“Until we have proper regulations for the use of energy and precious water and proper protections for Australian artists and businesses we cannot allow a tech bro free for all. Until the necessary safeguards are in place and Australia’s resources are protected, approval and development must be paused.

“Submissions to the Senate inquiry into data centres are currently open. This inquiry will bring some much needed parliamentary scrutiny to this rapidly growing industry.”

The Albanese Government is attempting to sneak a new union procurement regime through Parliament by using Fair Work Commission reforms as a cover for it.

These powers risk making procurement uncompetitive, adding a union tax to money future Governments spend.

Labor is seeking to gag debate and rush the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No 1) Bill 2026 through without scrutiny.

The Coalition supports practical reforms to help the Fair Work Commission deal with growing workloads and unnecessary delays.

We do not support the unrelated union procurement tax Labor has inserted, which would have governments to preference businesses with union-backed enterprise agreements when awarding taxpayer-funded contracts and grants.

Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Senator Jane Hume said these provisions risk embedding a national CFMEU tax through Commonwealth procurement. 

“Labor are trying to sneak a national CFMEU tax through this Parliament, a regime that has cost taxpayers when it has been implemented elsewhere,” Senator Hume said.

“We support measures that improve the functions and efficiency of the Fair Work Commission that are in this Bill. But Labor are attempting to use them to sneak through this dodgy union procurement measure.

“Minister Rishworth must explain why she is tying the right for the government to discriminate in favour of union mates, to clearing the backlog for workers and small business at the Fair Work Commission,” Senator Hume said.

Shadow Assistant Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Zoe McKenzie MP said Labor was ignoring the lessons from the CFMEU scandal.

“The Watson Report exposed serious allegations of corruption and misconduct linked to the CFMEU’s influence over enterprise agreement arrangements in the construction industry,” Ms McKenzie said.

“After Victoria’s $15 billion CFMEU corruption scandal, Australians have every right to ask: how many billions of taxpayer dollars is Labor prepared to expose to the same risks?

“Parliament should be closing the door on the culture that enabled corruption and inflated costs – not opening a new one through Commonwealth procurement,” Ms McKenzie concluded.

The Coalition will move amendments to remove the procurement provisions and will introduce legislation containing only the Fair Work Commission reforms.

If Labor is genuine about reducing delays at the Fair Work Commission, it should support those reforms on their own merits