The Australian Greens are the only party fighting to protect the Great Australian Bight by standing up to mining companies seeking to drill in the pristine marine environment. Greens Senators for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young and Robert Simms on Thursday announce their plan to protect the Bight.

Under the plan the Greens will:

Australia's whole stock of public and community housing would be retrofitted with solar panels to ease power bills for low income earners and make them more comfortable to live in, under a Greens plan announced today.

The nationwide upgrade of Australia's 421,000 public and community dwellings by 2030 would cost $2000 per house to install a 2Kw solar PV system,  energy efficient appliances, as part of a host of refurbishments to make the homes cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in.

Greens Senator for SA Robert Simms has challenged conservative Family First Senator Bob Day to a debate ahead of the July 2 election following the launch of the website www.robnotbob.com.

"The final senate seat in South Australia is likely to come down to myself or Bob Day, and the choice couldn't be starker. The climate change denying, homophobia of the Family First party versus the progressive, forward-looking agenda of the Greens," Senator Simms said.

The Australian Greens have welcomed plans from a second company working towards building a solar thermal plant in Port Augusta.

"It's fantastic to see a second solid proposal to build a solar thermal plant in Port Augusta. The world is seeing what the community and The Greens have seen for years: Port Augusta is on the cusp of being a renewables powerhouse," Greens Senator for South Australia Robert Simms said.

Adelaide's Frome Street Bikeway would finally be extended to the River Torrens, under a Greens plan to invest more than half a billion dollars in public transport and cycling infrastructure in South Australia.

Greens Senator for South Australia Robert Simms said the Greens would allocate $18 million to fund the completion of the Frome Street Bikeway. "It's time to end the Frome Street Bikeway saga and see a clear commitment from government to extend the separated bikeway up to the River Torrens," said Senator Simms.

I move the amended motion:

That the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) the costs of political unrest fall disproportionately on the rights and wellbeing of women, and

(ii) the Support Association for the Women of Afghanistan (SAWA)-Australia was established in 2004, and that SAWA-Australia (South Australia) was set up in 2010 as its first state branch;