Thirty years since the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Australia has yet to reckon with its history and the reality that Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd couldn’t breathe - and across the world, his death sparked a renewed conversation around racial injustice, justice systems and police reform.

Wednesday 21 April 2021

The Australian Greens have called on the Morrison Government to urgently prioritise disabled people, and disability support workers, in the national vaccine roll out after it was revealed that just 6.5% of this cohort have received their first dose.

Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said:

"This is absolutely shameful. It's clear that the Morrison government has once again forgotten to include disabled people, and the people who support us, in their pandemic response.

Monday 19 April 2021

Today's announcement of a Royal Commission into Veteran and Serving Defence Personnel Suicides is not only a huge win for the community, who have been calling for greater support and for government to address the mental health crisis that is facing our veterans, but also a relief to the families who have been searching for answers.

 The Leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, says the National Cabinet agenda should include the Greens’ call for investment in publicly-owned domestic mRNA vaccine production.

The Greens have been calling for publicly-owned vaccine manufacturing for almost a year, and since February have been explicitly calling for Australia to be able to produce mRNA vaccines here. Top scientists and immunisation experts have also argued that Australia should have domestic mRNA production.

Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said Australia should never have got involved in the Afghanistan War and the decision today to follow the US lead, and return our 80 remaining troops by September, had come two decades too late.

"The Afghanistan War has been an absolute disaster," Senator Steele-John said, "Knowing what we know now, Australia never should have taken part."

"The complete lack of any overarching strategic objective from the very beginning meant that troops on the ground were left to their own devices. 

The Australian Greens are calling for the establishment of a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme in Australia.
 
“There are already 25 countries around the world, including the US, UK and New Zealand, that have no-fault vaccine compensation schemes in place and it’s time for Australia to join them”, Australian Greens spokesperson on Health Senator Rachel Siewert said.
 
“Having a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme in place will ensure people don’t need to pursue compensation through the legal system in the rare event of adverse side effects.
 

The release of a new report shows only the Greens have a climate policy in line with the science.

The Climate Council report, Aim High, Go Fast, which drew from new data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies the need for 75% emissions reduction from Australia by 2030 - in line with the Greens policy but 3 times the Coalition’s current target (26-28%). Meanwhile the Labor party has no articulated 2030 target at all.

Thursday 15 April 2021

Australian Greens Disability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today the Government's plans to stall the introduction of compulsory independent assessments was an acknowledgement of the broad opposition to the controversial changes from disabled people and peak advocacy organisations.

The Greens say the government should use unallocated discretionary funds set aside for COVID to begin work on a publicly-owned domestic vaccine manufacturer. If the government fails to act, the Greens plan to move in the Senate to demand action on domestic vaccine production when Parliament resumes.

Further sickening revelations about the existence of an illegal drinking establishment at Tarinkot base in Afghanistan, and the involvement of senior commanding officers at that establishment, are yet more evidence of the culture that General's Campbell and Burr are not fit to implement the recommendations of the Brereton Inquiry report.