Attorney-General Christian Porter continues to avoid a clear answer on whether his long overdue proposal for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission would have enough teeth to cover the rorts scandals.
 

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, and leader, Adam Bandt MP, called on the government to respond to today’s interest rate cut with stimulus spending, including for transformative infrastructure.

Senator Whish-Wilson said "this government must overcome seven years of surplus mania.

"We have the triple whammy of COVID-19, secular stagnation and a climate emergency, including recent bushfires.

"The government must use the latest record low interest rates and undertake stimulus spending.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Education spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that private schools will be able to spend the $1.2 billion ‘Choice and Affordability’ slush fund with enormous discretion. Flexible guidelines for the fund have been released as parliament debates handing out a further $3.4 billion for private schools.

Senator Faruqi said:

The climate crisis is heating Australia faster than other nations and answers to Greens questions at Senate Estimates today confirm Australia will warm by ‘closer to 4 degrees’, not the 2 degrees agreed to in the Paris Agreement on climate change, with Scott Morrison marching us on a path towards death.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt will introduce a Bill into the House of Representatives this morning, seconded by the Member for Waringah Zali Steggall OAM, to formally declare a climate emergency, require every government department to be guided by the declaration and mandate the establishment of a ‘war cabinet’ to tackle the crisis. 

Mr Bandt announced the Bill to a crowd over 2000 when opening the recent National Climate Emergency Summit.

Comment by Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP: 

Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP has slammed Angus Taylor’s dim-witted plan to ditch support for solar and wind in favour of unproven and ineffective Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology.

In a speech today, the Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister will signal a shift away from renewables towards Carbon Capture and Storage and brown hydrogen.

“Angus Taylor’s one KPI is in his job description and he can’t even meet it,” said Mr Bandt.

Senators Di Natale and Faruqi: To move—That the Senate—

(a) notes the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act in India on 10 December 2019, which legalised the granting of Indian citizenship based on religion but specifically excluded muslims;

(b) expresses deep concern that the Indian Government has created the legal grounds to strip millions of muslims of the fundamental right of equal access to citizenship;

The Greens support this matter going to an inquiry. Hundreds of workers at Holden are set to lose their jobs within weeks. We really need to look into the impact of this government's lack of future plans for our industry and manufacturing sector. Holden's shutdown should be a wake-up call to the Morrison government. We need to urgently deliver a coherent, forward-looking, clean and green industry, with decent jobs that value workers. Now is the time to ensure that Australia is on the path to be a renewables powerhouse.

The Greens support this order for the production of documents, given the lack of transparency in the Morrison government and how they have politicised research grants. It is absolutely shameful. It wasn't too long ago that the Liberals inserted a jingoistic so-called national interest test for ARC grants. It wasn't too long ago that Senator Birmingham vetoed research grants that had gone through rigorous processes to be recommended for funding. During the election, the Morrison government used ARC grant announcements to try to gain electoral benefit.

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) 3 baboons made a bid for freedom in Sydney this week,

   (ii) the baboons were from a colony bred for use in research,

   (iii) animal testing causes harm and suffering to animals, and

   (iv) the episode has highlighted the community's concern for the welfare of animals used in experimentation and research;

(b) wishes the baboons well; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to:

   (i) ensure national transparency and accountability in the use of animals in research, and