Today, Liberal Senator Alex Antic used his two minute statement to complain about the “threat” of critical race theory and “victimhood.” Senator Lidia Thorpe called these comments racist. Senator James McGrath called for Senator Thorpe to withdraw her comments. 

Senator Thorpe refused, saying that she was simply stating a fact. Senator Mehreen Faruqi asked why those calling out racism were asked to withdraw, yet there are no consequences for being racist.

The following lines are attributable to Senator Lidia Thorpe:

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for education, has backed the early childhood educators action to Shut Down the Sector on Early Childhood Educator’s Day today and urged the Albanese government to act on wages and workforce shortages.

Senator Faruqi said:

“The Greens are right with early childhood educators as they shut down the sector today.

Vietnam-era Nasho Geoff Parkes to deliver his petition to Greens
Change.org/NashoFairGo

Geoff Parkes, a Vietnam-era national servicemen who was conscripted into the Australian armed forces is taking his #NashoFairGo petition representing other service personnel like him to Australian Parliament House tomorrow. So far, the petition has been signed by 25,000 Australians.

Today the Scottish government has announced they are freezing rents for all public and private rental properties until March 2023 and banning evictions over winter, to protect Scottish renters from the impacts of a devastating cost of living crisis.

Australians are facing a cost-of-living crisis. People are being smashed on all fronts: rising rents and mortgage repayments, rising food prices, rising education costs, rising health costs. Neither the Labor Party nor the Liberals and Nationals are interested in turning the tide around. In fact, they're actively committed to making it worse by refusing to invest in vital services, by refusing to lift income support payments and by backing in $243 billion of tax cuts for the super wealthy.

In response to a simple question from the Greens Member for Brisbane during Question Time - “How are Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts actually good for the economy?” - the Treasurer today failed to outline even one economic benefit of the tax cuts.

Quotes attributable to Greens MP for Brisbane, Stephen Bates:

“The Treasurer can’t make even one argument in favour of Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts.

“The Treasurer has just confirmed Labor’s Stage 3 tax cuts deliver no benefit to the economy.

During the Climate Change Bill negotiations, the Greens secured a commitment from the government to look at the destructive practice of burning wood from native forests and counting it as renewable energy under Federal legislation. The practice was legislated under Tony Abbott and was opposed by the Greens and Labor at the time.

Philip Lowe should resign as Governor of the Reserve Bank for misleading Australians about interest rate rises, the Greens say.

“Dr Lowe induced hundreds of thousands of Australians into taking out massive mortgages by effectively saying that interest rates would not rise until 2024,” Greens Treasury and Economic Justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.

“Having failed to keep that commitment, he should now resign.” 

“The preconditions that Philip Lowe set for increasing rates have not been met.”

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, will this evening move to reverse the weakening of the ban on live sheep export to the Middle East during the Northern Summer by disallowing the Export Control (Animals) Amendment (Northern Hemisphere Summer Prohibition) Rules 2022. 

Senator Faruqi said: