Greens MPs

So that was estimates.

One of the few advantages of being new to this job is appreciating it's strangeness with fresh eyes. Three times a year, while the Senate is in recess, an intriguing and largely overlooked ritual takes place in the airy committee rooms of Parliament House in Canberra. Senior public servants, heads of departments and a highly qualified army of advisers and minders converge for five days of cross-examination in front of the Senate's eight standing committees.

As the team at Hansard are struggling valiantly to catch up on the huge quantity of transcribing work coming out of Senate Estimates, it's going to be a little while before we're up to date here on what's been happening, but I thought I'd post a few key climate and oil-related transcripts now.

While the battle of petrol price populism between the old parties drags on, Christine plugged away once again last night at her favourite Senate Estimates sparring partner, ABARE.

Senate Estimates have shown the true lack of commitment from the Rudd Government on the fight against whaling in our Antarctic waters.