Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young will drive a plan to manufacture electric vehicles in her home state and encourage a national incentive scheme to accelerate the uptake of EVs, as the party’s new portfolio holder.

Senator Hanson-Young said:

“I’m committed to taking up the fight for EVs in Australia. Today’s electric cars are smart, comfortable and better for the environment - and I can’t lie, the acceleration is awesome.

With the confirmation of new Senator for Western Australia Dorinda Cox today, Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has put the Greens on election footing with a reshuffle of the Greens’ ‘shadow Ministerial’ portfolios that prioritises the party’s key campaign areas and sets the party up for ‘balance of power’ negotiations in the likely event of a minority Parliament. 

New polling released today shows 87% of Australians are supportive of The Greens’ calls to change how Australia goes to war. 

The poll of 1500 people, commissioned by Mike Smith, a journalist, former Howard Government adviser, and supporter of Australians For War Powers Reform, found that support for war powers reform has jumped 4% in less than a year. 

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, Peace Spokesperson said:

The Greens say Christian Porter’s refusal to reveal who partially funded his defamation case against the ABC is the latest chapter in a sorry saga of blame-shifting and responsibility-dodging by the Morrison Government.

Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on women Senator Larissa Waters said:
 
“This is a farce. Christian Porter’s so-called ‘disclosure’ of who paid his legal fees makes a mockery of the register of interests and donations disclosure laws, and is just another instalment in a sorry chapter for parliamentary standards.

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has expressed alarm at the figures released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from their Residential Property Price Index. The release shows that there was an overall 6.7% rise in house prices for the June 2021 quarter with Sydney and Canberra experiencing an unprecedented rise of over 8%.

Senator Faruqi said:

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that a new report by the Centre for Future Work estimating 40,000 job losses is a devastating exposure of the extent of the insecure work crisis in higher education.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Tens of thousands of job losses amount to nothing less than complete decimation of large parts of our tertiary education sector.

A third First Nations person has died from COVID-19 in less than two-weeks. This comes as infections in western New South Wales have ballooned to 885 and 63% of cases are First Nations people.

Comment from Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Greens First Nations Spokesperson:

“First Nations people are in mourning because the Morrison government failed to follow their own guidelines and treat First Nations vaccinations as a priority. This level of incompetence and neglect is having devastating impacts on our communities.

“What do the NSW government want? More deaths in custody? Why aren't they applying safe decarceration strategies for non-violent offenders?” Said Greens Justice and First Nations spokesperson: DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.

"NATSILS and other justice advocates called for this over 12 months ago. We knew this was a risk then and now we're at a crisis point.

Greens around the world have lambasted revelations that Australia has vetoed Paris Agreement climate goals being included in a trade agreement, and that the UK acceded to those demands. 

But it’s not just progressive voices: UK Tory Lord Deben, who heads up an independent climate advisory body, decried Australia as “one of the recalcitrant nations” on climate action.

The second First Nations person to die from COVID-19 has passed away in Dubbo Hospital, this comes after an Aboriginal man in his 50’s died from COVID-19 on August 30.

Comment from Senator Lidia Thorpe, Australian Greens First Nations Spokesperson
“First Nations people have the right to live their lives without the negligent and incompetent Morrison government exposing them to disease,” said DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.