Media Releases

More Action needed to prevent Extinctions: Brown

RussellKelly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:23:38 +1000

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says Australia must do much more itself, and to convince world leaders, to take action to reverse the trend towards ever-increasing wildlife extinctions.
"The release today by the United Nations of the detailed analysis of its Red List of Threatened Species reveals that numerous species on Earth are under serious threat."
"Not since the demise of the dinosaurs have we witnessed such an extinction crisis, with a third of amphibians, a quarter of mammals and one-in-eight birds threatened with extinction."
"In 2009, a new breed of dinosaurs is in charge," Senator Brown said.

Report shows life on Earth under serious threat

TimNorton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:11:54 +1000

The latest international report on threatened species shows that life on earth is under serious threat from increased extinction rates.

"The report Wildlife in a Changing World gives an extremely sobering prognosis for our planet's wellbeing," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert today.

The release today of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which is published every four years, comes just before the deadline world governments set themselves to evaluate how successful they were in achieving the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss.

"This IUCN report shows that the 2010 target will not be met, and that governments' current worldwide efforts to reverse biodiversity loss are not working," said Senator Siewert.

"Out of 44,838 species currently featured on the IUCN Red List, 16,928 are threatened with extinction. This equates to one third of amphibians, one in eight bird species and a quarter of all mammals found on earth. Even accounting for those species not yet known to us, this is a staggeringly large percentage."

"Australia is right up there near the top of the chart - with a staggering 788 species listed in the most threatened categories, including 40 known extinctions, 66 species critically endangered, 148 endangered and 519 listed as vulnerable."

"The analogy given by those in the IUCN should hit home for many world leaders who have just signed off on giant economic stimulus packages - the efforts put into saving the environment should at least equal if not exceed those put into bailing out the financial sector," she said.

"With our tourism, fisheries and agricultural industries and our Aussie way of life all threatened by environmental degradation and species loss, Australia is long overdue for an environmental stimulus package."

"Our nation leaders should not take this as an indication of our impending doom - far from it. It is time our governments, industry, communities and society in general recognise the fundamental importance of our biosphere, and act immediately to preserve our planet," concluded Senator Siewert.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Burke should explain to Parliament his copycat of Gunns' Pulp Mill Propaganda

RussellKelly — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:59:55 +1000

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has called on Forests Minister Tony Burke to explain to Parliament why he copied Gunns' propaganda in his major ministerial statement in the House of Representatives last week.
Analysis of Mr Burke's ministerial statement made in the House of Representatives revealed the extent to which the Federal Minister was repeating highly questionable claims about the pulp mill project.
"It appears he has simply parroted inflated Gunns' jobs propaganda – when in fact the proper independent role of a Minister is to carefully assess such claims, particularly when burning and pulping forests is a net jobs destroyer."
Senator Brown said that the closeness between the Minister's statements and those of Gunns called for a re-assessment of the suitability of the appointment of Gunns' chairman Mr John Gay to the Pulp and Paper Industry Strategy Group, announced recently.
"Minister Burke needs to get an independent, scientifically rigorous view of the value of Australia's forests – not one from vested interests who gain from their destruction."
Comparison of statements:
1. “At around $1.5 billion in capital expenditure, the proposed mill will be the largest ever investment by the private sector in Tasmania, and the largest ever by the forestry sector in Australia” (Gunns LTD) http://www.gunnspulpmill.com.au/factsheets/Facts_Update_Sep.pdf)

“At up to $2 billion in capital expenditure, the mill would be the largest ever private
sector investment in Tasmania, and the largest ever by Australia’s forest industry”. (The Hon Tony Burke, MP Wednesday, 24 June 2009)

2. “The project will add around $6.7 billion, or 2.5 per cent to the Tasmanian economy”.(Gunns LTD) http://www.gunnspulpmill.com.au/factsheets/Facts_Update_Sep.pdf)

“The mill will add an estimated $6.7 billion to Tasmania’s economy”. (The Hon Tony Burke, MP Wednesday, 24 June 2009)

3. “Construction of the Pulp Mill and flow-on investment will create some 8000 direct and
indirect jobs spread across the trades and other areas. A further 1500 to 1600 additional direct and indirect jobs will be created during the Pulp Mill’s operation”. (Gunns LTD) http://www.gunnspulpmill.com.au/factsheets/Facts_Update_Sep.pdf)

“Construction of the mill and flow-on investment would create some 8,000 direct and indirect jobs spread across the trades and other areas. Another 1,500 jobs would be created during operation.”. (The Hon Tony Burke, MP Wednesday, 24 June 2009)

‘Caring for our Country’: new benchmark for spin over substance

EloiseDortch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:13:44 +1000

The Australian Greens have condemned the Rudd Government’s announcement today of national funding for natural resource management under Caring for our Country.

“Minister Garrett claims that the new funding process under Caring for our Country is 'transparent' and 'cuts red tape' – but the more than 1,300 applicants groups have no way of knowing why the vast majority of their projects were not successful and on what basis the 57 funded projects were selected,” the Greens’ Natural Resource Management Spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert said.

“Far from reducing red tape, this process has led to thousands of groups putting in hundreds of hours to complete complex business plans with little chance of success.

“The Minister’s claim that this has 'revolutionised' natural resource management (NRM) funding has in fact taken us away from a longer-term strategic planning approach, where regional stakeholders worked together to establish their priorities, to a short-term scatter-gun, individual grants approach where there is no consideration of what has gone before or how individual projects link up to achieve landscape-scale goals.

“Of the $404 million in funding, $57.5 million was dedicated to individual projects – of this, $19 million going to the camel eradication project, leaving just $38.5 million spread across 56 projects. These are the ‘winners’ from a total 1,300 applications, who together sought a total $3.4 billion.

“The amount allocated is less than half of the $122 million that was promised for project funding by the Minister’s Department recently in Senate Estimates – who also neglected to point out to the Senate Environment committee that this figure included funding quarantined for the Great Barrier Reef.

“West Australian NRM projects have been largely overlooked in the current funding round, with a total of $60 million out of $404 million – equivalent to 14.8 per cent of funds to cover one-third of Australia's land mass.

“I am disappointed that the biggest biodiversity threat to biodiversity across southern WA has been overlooked with no funding set aside to tackle the alarming spread of Phytophthora dieback.”

For more information or media enquiries, call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

Rudd Government funding spells death for school trees

EloiseDortch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:37:45 +1000

Greens Senator for WA Rachel Siewert is concerned that trees in schoolyards across Australia are being cut down to accommodate
standardised new buildings under the Rudd Government's Building the Education Revolution funding guidelines.

"Concerned parents in Perth have told me that many trees have already been cut down while the future of others hangs on a thread, only thanks to the intervention of concerned parents," Senator Siewert said.

"This problem cannot be blamed on the school principals, who are stuck between a rock and a hard place, trying to secure Federal funding to
improve school facilities but not having the freedom to ensure that the new buildings fit into the school's existing surrounds.

"In some of the cases, trees under threat in Perth are tuarts, apparently hundreds of years old. Just by modifying the BER guidelines
slightly, the new buildings could be built without destroying them.

"There is plenty of scientific evidence to show that trees and natural vegetation have a beneficial impact on human thought and wellbeing,"
Senator Siewert continued.

"In addition, large, older trees also provide shade and a place to play.

"It seems utterly senseless to be cutting down trees in schoolyards just because of bureaucracy and red tape, when a bit of flexibility could
ensure new facilities are built while preserving existing natural attributes," Senator Siewert concluded.

To view schools in your State/Territory allocated funding under Rounds One and Two of 'Primary Schools for the 21st Century' BER funding go to: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Pages/default.aspx

For more information or media enquiries, call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

Widening gap in Indigenous disadvantage symptomatic of a failing approach - Greens

TimNorton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:53:28 +1000

The release today of a report showing that indicators of Indigenous social and economic disadvantage haven't improved and in some cases have got worse should be a strong signal to Government that the dictatorial, top-down approach taken by both the Howard and Rudd Governments simply isn't working and needs to change.

"Today's release of the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report is a sharp wake-up call for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"The report shows that incidents of child abuse are increasing, and literacy and numeracy outcomes have shown little change. At the same time there has been a significant increase in Indigenous incarceration rates, particularly for juvenile detention where Indigenous juveniles are 28 times more likely to end up behind institutional bars. This is unacceptable."

"The unprecedented level of investment of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) and the COAG 'Close the Gap' commitments have not resulted in any significant improvements in outcomes to date," said Senator Siewert.

"The Prime Minister has responded by saying we need to double or triple our efforts - but there is no logic in redoubling an approach that is not producing outcomes. We need to be investing in successful programs and initiatives with proven outcomes."

"The Brough-Macklin experiment with the 'new paternalism' has proven a dud. Its time we gave up on heavy-handed, top-down measures like compulsory income quarantining and invested resources in the basics of building community capacity and improving quality of life.

"Its time to start listening to Aboriginal communities and building effective new partnerships to deliver the kind of simple effective measures they have been crying out for, for decades - like appropriate housing, primary health care and decent schools," she concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

MPs' Gold Passes need Independent Arbiter

RussellKelly — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:11:45 +1000

The Australian Greens say that the free 'Gold Pass' travel scheme for former MPs should be reviewed by an independent arbiter.
Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said that many Australians would be surprised to learn that long-serving Federal MPs were given free travel for life and this could be used solely for personal purposes.
"Since 1994 there have been limits, but the scheme should be subject to independent assessment to ensure paid travel is only for legitimate community benefit."
Senator Brown said that an independent arbiter should be established with guidelines so that MPs and the public were protected.

Hospitals and schools should get ETS help instead of polluters: Greens

TimHollo — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:02:12 +1000

The States should use today's COAG meeting to urge the Federal Government to both lift its carbon pollution reduction targets and compensate the States ahead of polluters, otherwise front-line jobs in health, education and essential services are at risk, according to the Australian Greens.

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said new research from the Australia Institute showed that State Governments had been ignored by Canberra in drawing up the CPRS in favour of big polluters.

"The CPRS will give big polluters a massive $16 billion in compensation. Health and education should get precedence."

"Instead of handing out billions of dollars to help polluters, we should be investing in making our hospitals, schools and police stations more energy efficient, reducing carbon costs by reducing carbon emissions."

"The CPRS legislation means that State Governments will be faced with a $2.2 billion increase in budget costs for hospitals, schools and emergency services by 2013-2014, rising to $5.5 billion by 2020."

Senator Brown said that the Government's climate legislation was fundamentally flawed because its targets were too low to stop the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef and the Murray Darling Basin, but at the same time gave huge amounts of compensation to polluting industries.

"The CPRS locks in failure."

Further information: Russell Kelly 0438376082 ends

NB: Interview available online at http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2614286.htm

Christmas Island conservation welcome, but could be too late

TimNorton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:09:20 +1000

Moves by the Environment Minister Peter Garrett to address the environmental crisis facing Christmas Island are a step in the right direction, but might be too little, too late, warned the Australian Greens today.

"Biodiversity on Christmas Island is in deep trouble, as highlighted by the biodiversity assessment report released during estimates in May ," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.

"Today's announcement of a $1.5 million conservation plan could mean some real action for those species endemic to the island, including the Pipistrelle Bat, the Blue-tailed Skink and the Forest Skink, but won't be enough for a full recovery plan for the island".

"It is clear given the biodiversity problems on Christmas Island that no further mining should be allowed. The island needs significant long-term investment and a well thought-out recovery plan."

"Whilst this move by Minister Garrett is a step in the right direction, there is still a lot more that needs to be done," she concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Greens discuss international student welfare in India

GemmaClark — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:55:12 +1000

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has participated in talks with Indian parliamentarians and journalists about the welfare of international students in Australia, saying the issue is clearly of concern to India.

Senator Hanson-Young is in India this week as part of a cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Delhi and the Tibetan parliament-in-exile in Dharamsala (the first such delegation to do the latter).

“There is an understanding among the Indian parliamentarians and journalists that I have met with here that the issues affecting Indian students in Australia are more complex than just the recent vicious attacks in Melbourne and Sydney,” said Senator Hanson-Young from Delhi today.

“The Senate Inquiry I established last month will allow the Australian parliament to unpick just what those complexities are.

“The Greens hope the open, accessible and transparent process of a Senate Inquiry will throw a spotlight onto the realities, positive and negative, of Australia’s burgeoning international education sector.

“The Senate Inquiry should also highlight some solutions to move forward from the current situation, not only for the sake of international student welfare in Australia, but also our country’s reputation when it comes to international education.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the high level of concern in India over the treatment of its students in Australia was evident, with the Indian Supreme Court this week directing the Government there to investigate the safety of Indian students overseas.

“I look forward to returning to Australia with a deeper understanding of how Indian families feel about their children living and studying in Australia under the present circumstances,” she said.

Written submissions have opened for the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations’ Committee’s Inquiry into the welfare of international students. The Inquiry is due to report back by 16 November 2009.

More info: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eet_ctte/international_students/index.htm