Australian Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will bring her Private Member’s Bill to ban oil and gas drilling in the Great Australian Bight to the Senate for debate today.
Calls for mass shark culls by conservative politicians would be an ineffective and irresponsible response to recent attacks in Queensland, according to the Australian Greens.
Queensland Senator Larissa Waters said a calm and sensible approach is needed and welcomed tomorrow’s roundtable on the issue in Airlie Beach.
“Our hearts go out to the families affected by recent shark attacks, but calls for mass shark culls are irresponsible, won’t work, and would not be supported by a majority of Queenslanders,” Senator Waters said.
The fossil fuels industry is spruiking an economic boon that would benefit them, not South Australians, if oil and gas drilling were to go ahead in the Great Australian Bight, the Australian Greens say.
“The fossil fuels industry wants drilling to go ahead because they are the ones who will profit – these multinational companies are seeking to risk the Great Australian Bight and send the profits offshore,” Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said.
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, the Chairperson for the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Inquiry into waste and recycling, provides the following comments on the release of the report ,“Never waste a crisis: the waste and recycling industry in Australia”.
The Inquiry was established in August last year following the expose by Four Corners, “Trashed”, into the then emerging waste and recycling crisis, that was later aggravated by China’s recyclables import ban.
Australia has unique and internationally renowned marine and coastal environments and the Australian Greens are committed to ensuring they’re protected for future generations. Our marine assets are the backbone of our tourism and sustainable fishing industries and are iconic to the way of life of millions of Australians.