Big oil copped another blow to their plans to drill in the Great Australian Bight today, with the government agency NOPSEMA, rejecting Norwegian company Equinor’s application requiring them to modify and resubmit their environment plan.

Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has spoken to the tragedy of bushfires in her state and the Prime Minister's shameful silence on the the link between bushfires and the climate emergency. Senator Faruqi said:

"My heart goes out to the communities utterly devastated by the tragedy of losing their loved ones and their homes. It’s also horrendous to see hundreds of koalas dead and the bush destroyed.

Greens spokesperson for the climate crisis, Adam Bandt MP, has responded to the bushfires burning across NSW and QLD, saying Scott Morrison bears some responsibility and must apologise to the communities impacted. 

“We're deeply saddened by the loss of life and our hearts go out to all the families and communities impacted, as well as the firefighters tackling these terrifying scenes,” said Mr Bandt. 

The Australian Government’s push for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a low-emissions fossil fuel has been exposed with a new report finding no evidence LNG  is any ‘cleaner’ than coal.

The Greens have today referred the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party to the AFP over signs used at Victorian polling places during the federal election in May this year.

"The Liberals have admitted in the Federal Court this week that their signs were intended to convey the impression that they were from the Australian Electoral Commission,”  Greens Justice spokesperson Nick McKim said.

The Greens have condemned the Liberals for trashing democracy and deceiving voters after the party’s acting Victorian director admitted in court today that signs written in Chinese at polling booths on election day were designed to look like official Australian Electoral

Greens Senator for South Australia and Spokesperson for the Environment and Water, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young responded to the announcement SA is giving 100GL of Murray River water to NSW and Victoria and increasing use of the state’s desalination plant:

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale has once again called upon the Australian Government to intervene to ensure that Julian Assange is not extradited to the United States, following comments from the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture that Assange is showing acute signs of exposure to psychological torture.

“We have all seen the serious deterioration in Julian Assange’s health at his recent court appearances, and now the UN Special Rapporteur has warned that his life is at risk. This situation cannot be allowed to continue," Di Natale said.

Scott Morrison needs to stop listening to his big donors in the fossil fuel industry and pay attention to the 11,000 scientists who have jointly declared that we are in a climate emergency and must act urgently in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.

“We are now in a climate emergency and that is a fact. The scientists know it and the community knows it, but Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party still have their heads buried firmly in the sand,” said Di Natale.

Greens animal welfare spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the suffering of racehorses in today’s Melbourne cup. Rostropovich is reported to have suffered a cracked pelvis and was rushed to an equine clinic while Prince Of Arran was whipped to the point that jockey Michael Walker received a seven-meeting ban and $10,000 fine.

“When animals and gambling mix, animals always suffer,” Senator Faruqi said.