October unemployment figures clearly show that it is untenable to return Jobseeker back to $40 a day in March and that the further cut to the coronavirus supplement in December will drop more people below the poverty line. 
 
It’s just excuse after excuse with this Government when it comes to the Jobseeker payment, Greens spokesperson on Family and Community and Services, Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
Jobseeker was too low before this pandemic, so the “wait to see the economic conditions” excuse doesn't stand up. 
 

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says the Government is right to reconsider its 2030 climate ambitions, but needs to do far more than just drop the Kyoto-credits loophole if Australia is to join the rest of the world on climate action.
 
“The government’s terrible 2030 targets leave Australia exposed. We’re in the critical decade and domestic political games will provide no cover for Australia’s climate-pariah status on the world stage,” Bandt said.
 

Thursday 19 November 2020

Australian Greens Peace and Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said there was no question now that Australian special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan that are the result of a toxic warrior culture, facilitated by failures within the chain of command.

“The crimes outlined in the Brereton report - even in the limited detail we’ve been given so far - are horrendous and shameful,” Steele-John said.

The Greens have tabled a dissenting report to the inquiry into the Government’s Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020 saying that there isn’t evidence to justify the use of the card, that in fact the process adversely impacts people and should be abandoned.
 

The Greens say that it is imperative that the Commonwealth learn the hard lesson from the Victorian aged care COVID outbreak and take leadership before it is too late. 
 
"All providers must be focused on preventing the entry and spread of Covid-19 in aged care facilities", Greens spokesperson on Ageing Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 
What we learnt from the Victorian experience is that aged care providers cannot wait to act once an outbreak occurs. 
 

The Greens have slammed the two-week Senate Inquiry into major environment law reforms labelling it a ‘sham’ and are calling on the crossbench to refuse to pass the bill this year. 

The Greens are also urging the Environment Minister to immediately release the final report into the 10-year-review of Australia’s environment laws, which was handed to her by Professor Graeme Samuel on October 31.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

The Greens have welcomed the Productivity Commission report into Mental Health and say that it has provided a clear way forward for the Government in reforming Australia’s mental health system.
 
“It is a great shame that this report has not been released earlier and that the Government didn’t take the opportunity in the recent budget to start the process of reform that is so urgently needed.

The Greens welcome the settlement of $1.2billion in the Robodebt Class Action including that the Commonwealth must pay $112 million in compensation to approximately 400,000 eligible individual Group Members, including legal costs. 
 
"I am very pleased for the victims of robodebt today. This is yet another indictment on the abominable actions of the Government who went after the most vulnerable in our community to make savings", Senator Rachel Siewert said. 
 

The Greens have a very strong position that the Senate should insist on its amendments to this Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020. We've been here for the last two days debating the JobMaker hiring credit scheme which, in the legislation, is no scheme at all. There have been members who have stood up—many members over the last two days—and spoken about the bill. And many on this side have expressed their deep concerns about the bill and the implications of the bill.

The Greens have responded to new ABS data showing an alarming drop in women studying at university in 2020 as compared to 2019.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens spokesperson for Education, said:

“I’ve said from the very start that women have borne the brunt of the impacts of Covid-19.