Greens Senators have reacted to the passage of the Government’s anti-protest ag gag legislation which passed the Senate with Labor support.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Animal Welfare Spokesperson, said:

“This bill is an absolute fraud. It’s nothing more than ag gag legislation aimed at protecting big agribusiness from scrutiny at the cost of animal welfare and the community’s right to know and protest.

“The Greens are proud to oppose laws aimed at stamping out protest and jailing activists and whistleblowers.”

(15:46):

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the New South Wales Liberal-National Government has granted amnesty to hundreds of farmers who cleared land illegally before the disastrous new land clearing laws came into effect; figures show land clearing rates more than doubled in the year prior to the introduction of new laws and tripled in the year after,

(ii) the decision comes after big cotton farms used their influence on the NSW Minister for Energy and Environment and the Minister for Agriculture to lobby for prosecutions to be dropped,

Greens climate and energy spokesperson, Adam Bandt MP, has said the latest IPCC climate report released today is a giant SOS for our forests and land, particularly in Australia.
 
The IPCC’s Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems report released in Geneva says that reforestation, protection of forests and a shift away from unsustainable intensive farming systems is critical to solving the climate crisis.

The Australian Greens have announced an eight point plan to grow Australia’s agriculture industry sustainably and prepare for a changing climate.

“The Greens agriculture plan will grow the industry sustainably, provide $100 million annual support for drought-affected communities, protect farmers’ land with a national ban on fracking, and support farmers with grants to increase production and protect land and soil,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens Agriculture and Rural Affairs spokesperson.

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Senator Janet Rice is looking for volunteers to join her Melbourne team from March until June 2019.

The Nationals are showing their desperation to not lose the state seat of Lismore to the Greens, following a motion introduced in the Australian Senate today.

“The motion over a Facebook post shows the National Party are desperate to hold on to the state seat of Lismore, a seat they very nearly lost to the Greens at the last election,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens agriculture and rural affairs spokesperson.

Funding cuts to Foodbank are cruel and will be a significant blow to Victoria’s regional communities doing it tough and suffering through drought, say the Greens.

"These cuts are unnecessary and cruel, and they will have a significant impact on people who are struggling in Victoria’s rural and regional communities,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens agriculture and rural affairs spokesperson.

Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will today write to the Auditor-General to investigate reports of more scandal in the National Party.

“Reports that the National Party executive was paid $850,000 for drought-proofing that never eventuated are serious allegations. Today I will be referring this to the Auditor-General for investigation,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

The final report of a Senate Inquiry into water use by mining operations has recommended expanding Commonwealth control over water use, and dramatically improving understanding of water use by mining industries to help reduce the conflict between water use by mining operations, and agriculture and the environment.