As the Greens voted to support the establishment of a Senate inquiry into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Greens Agriculture spokesperson Senator Janet Rice reiterated the Greens’ call for the Coalition government to establish an independent and transparent review into the safety of glyphosate.

“Today the Greens voted in support of the inquiry into the independence of the APVMA, particularly to examine how Barnaby Joyce’s forced relocation of the authority has affected its ability to undertake chemical reviews,” Senator Rice said.

Following the ABC’s Four Corners investigation into glyphosate, the Greens Agriculture spokesperson Senator Janet Rice has called on the Coalition government to immediately instigate an independent and transparent review into the chemical’s impact on people’s health.

“The concerns over the safety of the chemical glyphosate raised by the World Health Organisation and now Cancer Council Australia are very serious. It is imperative that the Coalition government immediately instigate an independent and transparent review into the health effects of the chemical,” Senator Rice said.

A Greens motion calling for a formal review into glyphosate to be conducted by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) and calling on Monsanto to publicly release its scientific data has been defeated in the Senate. 

“I’m disappointed that Labor and the government rejected this motion, which comes in the wake of the court decision in the USA last week and has potentially huge health and legal liability ramifications here in Australia,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens agriculture spokesperson.



The Australian Greens will today launch their '5-Point Plan to End Cruelty and Expand Jobs' that would quickly transition the live sheep export trade to a boxed, chilled meat trade processed locally.

The plan has the backing of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU).

The Greens are standing up for farmers against the predatory behaviours of multinational corporations who are hanging canegrowers out to dry, says Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for agriculture and rural affairs.

The Australian Greens have today labelled Barnaby Joyce’s ill-advised move of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to his home electorate as pork-barrelling and are calling for the relocation to be immediately scrapped.

In the last 24 hours alone the move has prompted the resignation of the agency’s highly respected CEO as well as a Productivity Commission report slamming the proposal as costly and ineffective.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson is relieved to see the backpacker tax impasse finally resolved to provide certainty for Tasmania’s agriculture and tourism industries and to have helped deliver additional funding to landcare groups right across the state.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “What a bloody relief to get this finally done. It should never have gotten to this point, but I am relieved it to finally have it resolved.