Australian Greens Senator, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the Christchurch terrorist attack. Senator Faruqi is Australia's first Muslim woman senator.

Senator Faruqi said:

"What happened in Christchurch is deeply devastating and terribly distressing.

"I am heartbroken and quite frankly scared. First and foremost we are grieving and our thoughts are with the friends and families of the victims who have been brutally killed by a white supremacist terrorist from Australia.

I offer my deepest sympathies to the New Zealand Muslim community in the wake of today’s senseless right wing terrorist attack in Christchurch. I extend these sympathies to Muslims in Australia and indeed around the world. My heart aches with yours on this dark and terrible day.

We must unite, as one community, against the plague of hatred and violence that is ricocheting around the world. Silence is not an option. This is a time for us to call out racism and islamophobia in all its forms, and the politicians and media commentators who enable it.

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale has slammed the Prime Minister’s decision to formally recognise West Jerusalem as the Israeli capital as a foolish move that undermines genuine efforts at peace.

“The Prime Minister was roundly condemned when he first flagged this irresponsible thought bubble during the Wentworth by-election.  The fact that he has refused to back down in the face of overwhelming criticism, including from his own hand-picked advisory panel, is Trumpesque in its stupidity,” Di Natale said.

The Australian Greens are deeply worried by the deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh, in particular the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly against the media, students, activists and the opposition.

Leader of the Australian Greens Senator Richard Di Natale said problems were only worsening as Bangladesh approaches its general elections on 30 December. 

The Greens will move for responsibility and funding to be restored to the ABC to share content with the Asia-Pacific region in the Senate next week.

“It is high time the Morrison Government gave the ABC back its job, sharing its world-class content and journalism in our region. Next week in the Senate, I will call on the Government to do so,” Greens media spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

 “The ABC is creating high-quality Australian drama and kids TV that audiences love. If that wasn’t enough, we know it is also our most trusted news source.

As we get closer to the election, it becomes more and more obvious that the Prime Minister is trying to reinvent himself as a mini-Trump. After his party voted to support a white supremacist motion, he is now floating the idea of moving Australia's embassy to Jerusalem. This puts him in fine company with the far right of the Senate, with Senators Anning, Leyonhjelm and Bernardi. How deeply hollow, empty and nasty are the politics of the Liberal Party? Let's be clear: this is a deliberate strategy by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to pander to the extreme right.

Greens Leader Senator Richard Di Natale expressed his deep concern at news that 24 Yemenis of the Baha’i faith, including a child, continue to face serious charges for nothing more than their expressing beliefs and for conducting peaceful activities. Some of the charges may result in the death penalty.

Cambodia’s weekend elections are a ‘sham’ and an indictment of the corrupt Hun Sen regime, the Australian Greens said today, calling on the Turnbull Government to refuse to recognise the anti-democratic and bogus results.

“Cambodia’s election yesterday was a complete sham. Hun Sen has been systematically dismantling independent voices and political opposition in Cambodia. An election is completely illegitimate when you throw the Leader of the Opposition in jail and dissolve his party," Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale today expressed deep concern at reports that the vessel Al Awda – part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla coalition’s boat – was detained by the Israeli Navy in international waters late last night.

“I understand that the vessel and the crew, including Australian journalist Chris Graham, were intercepted in international waters, and that they have been towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod," Di Natale said.