Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Lowering Voting Age and Improving Democratic Participation) Bill 2018

JSJ – Second Reading Speech

For far too long, politics has failed to properly represent young people or the issues they care about.

There are many within this place, and beyond, who think young people don’t care about our world or haven’t earned the right to participate in our society, from a perceived lack of life experience or maturity.

South Australians will lose $554 million in funding for essential services after Nick Xenophon’s Centre Alliance voted with the Government and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Australians, including politicians and millionaires.

“Centre Alliance has sold out South Australia and enabled the Government to dismantle our country’s progressive taxation system, making the rich richer, the poor poorer and inequality worse.

The Centre Alliance party has let down South Australians by voting with the Turnbull Government to force unfair tax cuts for high income earners including politicians and millionaires through the Senate tonight.

Australia has much to lament this World Refugee Day, Greens Immigration Spokesperson Nick McKim says.

“There are still hundreds of men, women and children trapped in detention on Manus Island and Nauru because of Labor and the Liberals’ cruel policies,“ Senator McKim said.

“Meanwhile, Australia’s refugee intake remains completely inadequate.”

“This government is also attacking refugees and people seeking asylum here in Australia by cutting financial support.”

Wednesday, 20th June 2018

After a week of national service outages, Telstra have announced they will be cutting a quarter of their Australian workforce in a bid to improve customer service, a move labelled by the Greens as “nonsense”.

Australian Greens Telecommunications spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today’s announcement from Telstra was the inevitable result of the company’s privatisation over the last two decades.

The Australian Greens congratulate local councils around Australia for supporting a motion to increase Newstart at their recent national conference. 

“Local councils are the closest level of Government to the community and they are seeing firsthand the devastating impacts that the current rate of Newstart is having on people trying to find work. 

MEDIA RELEASE – 20 June 2018

Greens call for live export transition plan in wake of LSS summer sheep export suspension

Greens spokesperson for Animal Welfare Senator Lee Rhiannon has called on the Turnbull government to legislate a transition out of the live sheep export industry in response to the temporary suspension of summer sheep exports from Western Australia by Livestock Shipping Services (LSS).

Alinta misleading consumers shows why we need to re-regulate electricity prices: Bandt

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today said that Alinta’s conduct shows what happens when electricity is run for profit rather than for the public good.

“When you treat an essential service like a stockmarket, companies put profit before the public interest,” said Mr Bandt.

“Big power companies have been making a motzah selling what should be an essential service.

Monday, 18 June 2018

Senator RHIANNON (New South Wales) (11:15): I'm very pleased to co-sponsor the Animal Export Legislation Amendment (Ending Long-haul Live Sheep Exports) Bill 2018 today with Senators Derryn Hinch and Tim Storer. This bill sets out a framework over five years to transition away from the very worst of the live-export sea voyages, those long-haul live sheep and lamb shipments that sail into the Northern Hemisphere summer months and into the riskiest of shipping routes through the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.