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Today’s report showing two trillion litres of water is missing from the Murray-Darling Basin shows the Liberal-National Government has mismanaged the River and set it on a trajectory to a slow trickle and ultimately death, the Greens say.
Greens Water Spokesperson and Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The report by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists today is devastating.
“Two trillion litres of water is missing. Why? Because of theft, corruption, corporate greed, floodplain harvesting, mismanagement and lack of action on climate change.
“The Liberal-National Party has overseen seven years of mismanagement of Australia’s biggest river system.
“Environmental water is necessary for the survival of the River and should be the priority of all governments, not helping out upstream corporate irrigators.
“As a South Australian I’m very angry that once again we have another report showing the River is being ripped off.
“The Murray-Darling Basin has suffered on the watch of the National Party for far too long while River communities and small family farms are left high and dry.
“Their mess needs cleaning up and we need a Royal Commission to get to the bottom of what’s gone so badly wrong.”

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the Liberals have sensationally backed down and sent their university fee hikes and funding cuts legislation to a Senate inquiry.
This followed a Greens motion on Tuesday which showed Labor, Greens and crossbench support for an inquiry.
Senator Faruqi said:
“This is a sensational backdown from the government. The Liberals had every intention of pushing this legislation through before the budget.
“Not only did the Liberals gag debate in the House to ram the bill through, they voted against my inquiry referral motion just two days ago. They’ve now been dragged to the table, kicking and screaming.
“It’s critical that the Senate hear from universities and everyone who is impacted by this dud legislation.
“An inquiry will help take this rotten bill apart so we can block it once and for all in October,” she said.

Lidia Thorpe has today been confirmed by the Victorian Parliament, clearing the way for the Greens Senator-Elect for Victoria to make her first appearance in the Senate in October.
With Victoria’s ongoing Stage 4 lockdowns leaving Victorian Parliament sitting on a reduced schedule, the last-minute confirmation was made possible through a joint sitting.
“This is a proud day not just for me, but for Aboriginal people across the country,” Senator-elect Thorpe said.
“It’s now official. I’m bound for Canberra in October as the first Aboriginal person elected to the Senate to represent Victoria. But the work doesn’t wait until then, and it doesn’t just start today.
“Black women fight for their community from the day they’re born. When I was growing up in public housing, the thought that someone like me could be in Parliament was laughable. My promise to the people of Victoria is that I will fight for you, no matter who you are. I know what it’s like to go through the hard knocks and I will never forget where I came from.
“I have fought my whole life for those without a voice – no matter what your background or where you come from. I’m proud to be able to take that fight to the highest office.
“While days like this are just boring parliamentary procedure to some people, to Aboriginal people across the country, it’s a sign of hope. It shows that our parliament can be representative, and that Blak voices can be heard.
“This couldn’t have come at a more important time, and there’s so much to be done when I’m sworn in.
“Aboriginal communities across the country are being hit hard by the consequences of the pandemic. We’re being shut out of talks about how to fix the crisis and the government’s plans for a gas-led recovery would frack and destroy more of our precious heritage and drive the climate crisis.
“After caring for this country for more than 60,000 years, our land is being destroyed by unprecedented bushfires driven by climate change.
“Too many people are being left behind by this government. It’s time for leadership. It’s time for a parliament that truly represents the Australian community,  and understands the challenges we face.
“I’ll be fighting for action on climate change, an end to entrenched economic disadvantage and of course, Treaty and justice for First Nations people.  I can’t wait to get into Parliament to shake things up.”
Lidia Thorpe is a mother and grandmother from the Gunnai and Gunditjmara nations. She was the first Aboriginal woman in the Victorian parliament, is the first Aboriginal Senator for Victoria and first federal Aboriginal MP for the Greens.
The confirmation process occurred 3:00pm today, via a joint sitting of the Victorian House of Representatives and the Legislative Council.
Lidia Thorpe will now be sworn in to Federal Parliament during the October sitting, pandemic allowing.

The Australian Government will extend the human biosecurity emergency period under the Biosecurity Act 2015 by an additional three months.
The emergency period, which has been in place since 18 March 2020, will now be in place until 17 December 2020.
The extension of the emergency period was informed by specialist medical and epidemiological advice provided by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
AHPPC has advised that the international and domestic COVID-19 situation continues to pose an unacceptable public health risk.
The extension of the emergency period is an appropriate response to that risk.
The human biosecurity emergency declaration ensures the Government has the powers to take any necessary measures to prevent and control COVID-19 and protect the health of all Australians. These powers have been used on a limited basis on expert medical advice.
There are currently four Determinations under section 477 of the Biosecurity Act which are in place to protect Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• Restrictions on the entry of cruise ships into Australia
• Protections for the supply and sale of certain essential goods
• Restrictions on overseas travel
• Restrictions on retail stores at international airports

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Education, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the Catholic Schools NSW documents leaked to the ABC that confirm their practice of taking funding meant for disadvantaged schools to subsidise fees in wealthy areas.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Private school rorting of their disadvantaged students like this should be illegal. It’s an indictment on our education system that it’s not.
“This is galling confirmation of the dirty open secret of Australian school funding.
“Liberal and Labor governments have been running a protection racket for private schools for years.
“That this went on was well known, but the major parties have spent years avoiding putting in place transparency requirements that would have confirmed it.
“For too long, private schools have benefited from opaque reporting requirements that mask where public funding is going. Every last public dollar spent in the private system should be reported and justified at a school level.
“It’s clear the NSW Catholic Schools are more concerned with losing enrolments to public schools than they are about giving disadvantaged, First Nations and regional students the funding they are allocated.
“The ethics of this aren’t just between the Bishops and God. The Bishops were fully aware they were ripping off low-SES families to help the wealthy. It’s public money. They must apologise and be held accountable.
“This is the system that successive Labor and Liberal governments have lavished with billions in special deals while they starved hardworking public school teachers and students of basic funding.”