This week, an imprisoned First Nations man was tested for COVID-19 at Bathurst Correctional Centre and was released before the prison received his positive Covid result.

The man then returned to his community in north-west New South Wales which has a high population of First Nations people.

“Mobilising the police and Australian Defence Force to treat a public health crisis is absurd,” said The Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations Senator Lidia Thorpe, as the ADF begins their deployment to Western Sydney. 

“Officers of the law are not experts in public health messaging, culturally accessible information and welfare support services that enable people to stay at home safely,” said Thorpe. Western Sydney has a significant First Nations and multicultural community. 

“Aboriginal people are dying from preventable deaths in police custody because the Morrison government is continuing Liberal and Labors’ legacies of inaction,” said Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman who is the Australian Greens’ First Nations and Justice spokesperson.

“It’s been 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Morrison government has failed to show leadership and implement all 339 recommendations. What’s the point of a Commission if you ignore its findings?”

Today's announcement of a Royal Commission into Veteran and Serving Defence Personnel Suicides is not only a huge win for the community, who have been calling for greater support and for government to address the mental health crisis that is facing our veterans, but also a relief to the families who have been searching for answers.

Further sickening revelations about the existence of an illegal drinking establishment at Tarinkot base in Afghanistan, and the involvement of senior commanding officers at that establishment, are yet more evidence of the culture that General's Campbell and Burr are not fit to implement the recommendations of the Brereton Inquiry report.

The Greens have again called on the Government to act urgently to end Blak deaths in custody, following reports today of yet another death of a First Nations man in custody  - the fourth in the past fortnight.

The Aboriginal Legal Service of NSW and ACT today reports that Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan, 37, died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill on Thursday 18 March. 

As the Black Lives Matter movement gains momentum around the world, the Greens have today called for lethal choking holds to be banned across all states and territories.

It follows media reports today that Townsville police used a lethal choking hold method when arresting a First Nations man, who died in 2018.

The Greens have again reiterated their calls for urgent action to tackle systemic racism in Australia, at news of a third Blak death in custody this past week. 

The Greens say that proper regulation of the gambling industry requires a ban on the industry donating to political parties.

“The gambling industry is just rife with conflicts of interest," Australian Greens spokesperson on Gambling Senator Rachel Siewert said. 

“We urgently need a national independent regulator, with gambling companies operating across the country we need a national body regulating them. 

"States which rely heavily on the income gambling generates cannot be in charge of regulating the industry as there is a clear conflict of interest.