Last week I travelled to Gamilaraay land to hear from community members in Coonabarabran and Gunnedah living on the front line of coal seam gas expansion in the central west of New South Wales. These communities have been fighting against dirty coal seam gas drilling for years now. It was a privilege to reconnect with locals and activists who have had their lives upturned by coal seam gas.

Tonight’s Budget is a pre-election sweetener that fails to make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share of tax, while growing inequality and fast-tracking climate collapse.

While on the surface the budget may appear to do away with the Liberals’ years of austerity politics, it continues the myth that largesse to the super-wealthy will trickle down to everyday people.

My heart goes out to the people of India, who are basically experiencing immeasurable suffering at this moment. We are thinking of you. We are trying to do everything we can to support you and are pushing the Australian government to meet its moral obligations. The government's disregard for the lives and the health of people overseas has become striking over the past couple of weeks. The Morrison government's threat of jail time for stranded Australians trying to return home from India is absolutely horrific, it's discriminatory and it is racist.

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (14:19): My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Cash. Globally, thousands are dying from COVID-19 each day because they don't have treatment or vaccines. At the same time, majority-white Western countries like ours are hoarding vaccines and ordering more than they will ever need.

Plans to spend nearly $60 million more of taxpayers money on gas projects will result in a slower transition to renewable energy in Australia. Budget plans leaked today show the government is determined to undermine any efforts, market or otherwise, to reduce emissions.

This comes a day after an executive veto by a Minister on a Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to invest in a renewable energy project in Queensland.

The Australian Greens have welcomed today’s release of the positive evaluation of Our Watch’s primary school education program, Respectful Relationships Education to Prevent Gender-Based Violence, and called on the government to fund a national roll out.
 
Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for women, Senator Larissa Waters said: 
 
“Spoiler alert, evidence-based respectful relationships education works - not milkshake metaphors.
 

The Greens are calling on the Morrison Government to support the patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines.

The Greens say that the United States’ announced support for the waiver of intellectual property provisions on COVID-19 vaccines has put further pressure on Australia to back the proposal.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for International Aid and Development, said:

“Australia must immediately follow the United States and back the TRIPS waiver. We are one of the hold-outs and it’s morally indefensible.

The ‘Implementation of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Partnership’ audit report has confirmed longstanding concerns from the Greens of a dodgy $443.3 million government grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF).

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:

“The audit report confirms long-standing concerns relating to the proficiency of the GBRF and its capacity to deliver on the grants objectives.

“The GBRF is essentially a private organisation with no track record in managing large scientific programs.

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has called out the increasing greenwashing of the government’s gas agenda.

The Greens have emphasised since the proclamation of the ‘gas-led recovery’ that gas is as dirty as coal and that plans such as building new gas plants would lock-in climate failure.

“Morrison’s so-called ‘gas-led recovery’ is a shameful exercise in corporate welfare for yesterday’s technology. 

“Adding as little as 5% hydrogen, which is the target for Energy Australia’s mooted ‘hybrid’ plant, is a comb-over for generators of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.

The Greens say fixing Australia’s mental health crisis must be a budget priority.