Voters face a serious choice on September 7 and the choice they make will determine the direction this country follows, not just for the next three years but for a long time after, says Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro Catherine Moore.

“On the one hand we have an Opposition that has set itself up to take control, but whose policies are largely unknown and whose actions are all about making the rich richer. It is an Opposition that denies the need to act decisively on climate change and perpetuates fear and loathing of some of the most vulnerable people, including asylum seekers,” says Catherine.

“On the other hand we have  government that seems to be trying to match the Opposition’s position in a number of areas, including refugees, and that also lacks the courage to ask the wealthiest to pay a fairer share.

“Both are determined to hold onto power at any cost, and have lost sight of the need to make decisions for the greater good of the whole community, into the future.

“But it doesn’t have to be simply an “either… or” situation. (more…)

Our comprehensive election platform “Standing up for what matters” has been fully costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office and makes The Greens the obvious choice for all who want to see a change of focus in politics. If implemented, it would ensure a healthy, just and sustainable future for the people of Eden-Monaro.

Simple measures like a 0.2% levy on bank assets above $100 billion, the abolition of fossil fuel subsidies, an effective mining tax and 50% tax on all incomes in excess of $1,000,000 would raise $42.7 billion.

There is an urgent need to act on climate change. If we don’t, there is every likelihood we will see an end to snow this century, and farming will be even more difficult than it is now. The Greens want a swift transition to renewable energy, for which there is huge potential here, and which would create thousands of jobs. Imagine if Eden-Monaro became home to Australia’s first solar thermal energy plant!

Farmers are essential to our country’s future prosperity and a sustainable economy. We propose actions to strengthen the viability of farming and farming communities, and increase support for small business and local employment in general. (more…)

Without the efforts of community groups and sustainable industry groups, there would be nothing to celebrate today, World Environment Day, according to  Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro, Catherine Moore.

“Politicians are failing the community when it comes to looking after the environment, but people working in their communities – in environment groups and industries committed to sustainability – are another story altogether,” says Catherine.

“Right now in this country, we have a number of state governments including in NSW looking at opening up National Parks to logging, mining, grazing and shooting.

“To his credit, Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke is at least recognising that the Federal Government may need to step in to protect National Parks from inappropriate activities like these. He needs all the encouragement we can give him.

“But the Federal Government still has on the table plans to hand over environmental powers to the states, and plans by Tony Abbott go even further. (more…)

Hunting may begin in National Parks in the very near future, and Eurobodalla bushwalking and conservation groups are increasingly concerned about the dangers likely to be faced by their members - and by members of the public more broadly - in the months and years to come as result of this new practice.

“No-one will be able to enjoy a peaceful walk in their local National Park in the future,” said John Perkins, Convenor of the Friends of Durras.

“You’ll always be on guard, not knowing whether someone with a gun or a hunting bow is just around the next corner or behind that stand of trees. You won’t be able to let the kids run on ahead, because you’ll never be sure what they’re going to run into.

“And on top of this you’ll need to be very careful not to annoy any hunter you come across. Only last week, a farmer who challenged two shooters hunting kangaroos on his property near Orange without his permission won himself a threatening shot to the ground around his feet and had his mobile phone smashed - and this is just the latest reported act of aggression by hunters towards people seen as getting in their way.”    (more…)

To find out more about this rally, taking place in Sydney on April 18 with speakers Bob Brown and Bob Debus, visit the website.

and make history by putting the first woman of Muslim background in to any parliament in Australia.Greens NSW members have selected environmental engineer and academic, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, to replace sitting Greens MLC, Cate Faehrmann, when she resigns her seat to contest the Senate later this year.

Dr Faruqi was preselected by a postal ballot of all members of the NSW Greens, in a field of seven all-women candidates. (more…)

Workers in National Parks are being told by the O’Farrell government to apply for bullet proof vests to protect themselves from the amateur hunters being sent into their workplaces as part of the deal the government cut with the Shooters Party.

See page 1 of the Sydney Morning Herald report here.

Greens MP and firearms spokesperson David Shoebridge said:

“The government is proposing to have a kind of bizarre arms race going on in our forests by first arming the amateur hunters and then having to defend the forest workers with flak jackets.

“This is just the latest proof of how reckless the government’s deal is with the Shooters Party to open up National Parks to recreational hunters. (more…)

As the O’Farrell government enters the second half of its term, the Greens NSW MPs have put together a report card on the government’s worst failures, and the Greens’ top achievements for a more sustainable and caring NSW.

The O’Farrell government:

• launched attacks on wages and conditions of teachers, nurses and other public sector workers, and drastic cuts to our workers compensation laws
• overturned the 26-year ban on uranium exploration in NSW, prompting widespread community concern and condemnation
• savaged schools and TAFE, stripping a staggering $1.6 billion of funding from public education
• opened up national parks to recreational hunters for the sake of a political deal with the extreme Shooters Party to enable electricity privatisation
• broke an election promise to oppose mining in drinking water catchments with approval of massive coal mine in the Sydney catchment
• gave tunnel vision priority to more tollways with $1.8 billion committed to the WestConnex without traffic modelling or cost-benefit analysis
• launched a “dob-in a rorter” program that demonised public housing tenants, while failing to clear the maintenance backlog and left tens of thousands on social housing waiting lists.
• watered down coal seam gas policy, failing to protect our farming lands and water with a weak strategic land use policy
• proposed child protection reforms that focus on punitive approaches to parents in at-risk families and prioritising adoption under short time-frames
• eroded civil liberties and failed to deal with police accountability - from the expansion of the sniffer dogs program, the removal of the right to silence and the failure to ensure that police do not investigate police
• squandered opportunity to transition to low carbon clean energy economy throwing $11 billion of wind industry investment into doubt with unrealistic and unreasonable wind farm guidelines.
• trashed marine science with the closure of The Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre of Excellence and continuing the deal with the Shooters Party for a moratorium on new marine parks
• replaced one pro-developer planning system with another, failing to put planning decisions back in the hands of local communities

(more…)

Climate change is still the biggest issue facing the community, says Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro Catherine Moore, who has just concluded a week of attending events in the electorate.

“It’s been very inspiring to meet people concerned about some key issues important to The Greens and community groups, including the asylum seeker issue, putting a stop to hunting in National Parks, and the dominant theme of the past seven days, climate change.

“The week began with the Clean Energy for Eternity-hosted Climate Commission forum in Bega, where Professor Lesley Hughes gave a sobering presentation on global warming. She highlighted the high number of records that have been broken over summer, a dire warning of conditions that are approaching much faster than was predicted. (more…)

Subjects: Warragamba Dam, climate change adaptation, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF), coal seam gas

CHRISTINE MILNE: The Prime Minister’s announcements today concerning money to be spent on flood mitigation around the country demonstrates why we should have been dealing with climate change so much earlier. The reason that we are having so much Commonwealth money having to be invested in mitigation is the failure of both state and federal governments for a long period of time to listen to the scientists, to listen to Sir Nicholas Stern when he said the cost of not acting on climate change is going to far outweigh the cost of acting.

And that’s precisely what we are seeing. Since 2010 $6 billion has been spent in Australia trying to clean up after flooding, after extreme weather events. The Prime Minister’s statements today, the promise of extra money, the decision to put $50 million into the Warragamba dam and $50 million into other flood mitigation projects is couched in terms of insurance premium and cost of living. And it’s absolutely true that insurance premiums have gone through the roof in areas which are vulnerable to extreme weather events. What we need to do now is to recognise a) that we need to act on climate change and we need to maintain the National Climate Change Adaptation Research facility as a source of good information on which to make informed decisions about where best to spend the money so that we do protect communities into the longer term. It is essential that it’s not just the insurance industry dictating the terms, but that in fact that the science is in there so that people can make informed decisions and I’m calling on the Prime Minister to use some of that money to continue to fund the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility so it can work in conjunction with communities in interpreting the climate models so that we get the best value for money and real resilience built into the system. The Insurance Council of Australia in its submission to the extreme weather events inquiry that I established said that we not only needed to invest in mitigation from flooding to bring down premiums but also we needed to harmonise land use planning. And also building codes because if you are really going to anticipate the consequences of extreme events you have to make sure that you upgrade the building coded, you have to make sure that planning permission is not being given to building areas that are vulnerable to flooding in the first place, and then money is available to assist people in whichever way you can. (more…)