Comment from Australian Greens' spokesperson for legal affairs Senator Penny Wright on news the Abbott Government will adopt the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on the Foreign Fighters bill:

"The recommendations of the Liberal-Labor committee are not enough to save this from being a very bad bill that will trample on long-held civil liberties and democratic rights.

"The committee's recommendations are just tweaking around the edges - they do not fix the substantive problems of this bill.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Chinese Government to respect the calls from tens of thousands of protestors in Hong Kong who are campaigning for democracy and universal suffrage.

"The right to peaceful protest is a hallmark of democracy, as is the right of people to nominate for election. A free vote is not truly free when there are only vetted candidates to choose from," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.

"The people of Hong Kong aspire to a healthy and prosperous future based on their commitment to democracy.

On behalf of all Australian Greens Senators who had the pleasure of working with Harry Evans during his time as Clerk of the Senate, I wish to express my sincere condolences to his family.

Harry was a fierce defender of the Senate. He was an outstanding advocate for democracy and democratic principles, and with a keen understanding of constitutional history he was not afraid to call out the excesses of executive power.

The Australian Greens will today vote against federal legislation backing up Campbell Newman's draconian G20 laws, Senator Penny Wright and Greens Deputy Leader Adam Bandt MP have announced.

Senator Wright, Australian Greens spokesperson for Legal Affairs, said the Queensland laws were a gross breach of human rights.

"Campbell Newman's G20 laws take away basic freedoms for thousands of Brisbane residents - even allowing people to be excluded from their own homes or businesses," Senator Wright said.

The Australian Greens today launched a plan to keep federal politicians honest. "Voters must be able to trust politicians, but you can't trust Labor or Tony Abbott to be honest unless it is in their own interests, or in the interests of their big business mates," Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said.

"It is time we restored honesty and integrity in politics which is why the Greens have a plan to lift the standards of government.

"The Australian Greens want to end the ‘deals for mates' culture.

The Greens believe that Private First Class Bradley Manning's trial and sentence sets very dangerous precedents for whistleblowers, journalists, publishers and democracy itself. 

"After more than three years in prison, initially in an animal cage and sometimes stripped naked, Bradley Manning has been sentenced for 35 years (with 1294 days credit) for telling the truth about dirty wars," said Senator Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Communications spokesperson.

Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam has urged voters who are not yet enrolled to spend a few minutes to enrol online, after new figures show WA lags behind most of the nation in voter enrolment.

"The latest statistics from the Electoral Commission show WA has the highest percentage of unenrolled voters after the Northern Territory and Queensland, and this is especially true of those aged 18 to 25, nearly a quarter of whom are not enrolled," Senator Ludlam said.

"This compares to Tasmania, where the young lead the nation at 86% enrolled to vote.