{"id":5801,"date":"2020-04-02T07:29:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T07:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=5801"},"modified":"2020-04-02T07:29:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T07:29:22","slug":"set-up-a-covid-response-committee-to-keep-democracy-healthy-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2020\/04\/02\/set-up-a-covid-response-committee-to-keep-democracy-healthy-greens\/","title":{"rendered":"Set up a COVID response committee to keep democracy healthy: Greens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThe Australian Parliament should set up a cross-parliamentary committee to oversee the government\u2019s pandemic and ensure democratic checks and balances are maintained, Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said today.
\nThe Greens Leader has written to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, as well as crossbench MPs and Senators, to request the formation of a Joint Select Committee at next week\u2019s sitting of Parliament.
\n\u201cWe need more democracy during this crisis, not less,\u201d said Mr Bandt.
\n\u201cThis pandemic is perhaps the greatest challenge Australia ever has faced on its home turf. Now is not the time to be putting democracy on hold.
\n\u201cThe Greens want parliament to resume and sit through this crisis, potentially online, as far as the health advice permits.
\n\u201cThe government has cancelled Parliament, but that\u2019s no excuse for rule by decree.
\n\u201cThe Greens\u2019 pressure in Parliament has already contributed to students getting increased payments and wages guarantees being legislated, and with continued oversight we can ensure even more people are helped and no-one is left behind.
\n\u201cA Joint Select Committee will help us make sure the government\u2019s response is fit for purpose and meets the challenge before of us.
\n\u201cA similar approach has been set up to oversee New Zealand through its lockdown. It needs to be cross-parliamentary and powerful, while not diverting resources that are needed to tackle the pandemic.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll only get through this crisis if we work together, but too many people have still been left behind by the government\u2019s stimulus package. Casual workers in new roles and migrant workers won\u2019t get a cent of the $130 billion Scott Morrison is offering businesses.
\n\u201cGiven the eye-watering amounts of public money being spent, the major changes to Australian law and people\u2019s lives, as well as the potential for unintended consequences, it\u2019s vital that we have an opportunity to scrutinise the government\u2019s actions.\u201d
\nA copy of the letter is attached.
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Letter from Adam Bandt – Establishment of Joint Select Committee on the Government’s Response to COVID-19<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Letter from A. Bandt – Establishment of a Joint Select Committee.pdf<\/span>PDF<\/span>201.51 KB<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian Parliament should set up a cross-parliamentary committee to oversee the government\u2019s pandemic and ensure democratic checks and balances are maintained, Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said today. The Greens Leader has written to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, as well as crossbench MPs and Senators, to request … Continue reading “Set up a COVID response committee to keep democracy healthy: Greens”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}