Month: November 2018

A Shorten Labor Government will establish a Voice for First Nations people, and seek the support of the Australian people for that Voice to be enshrined in the Constitution.
Reports today that Labor is walking away from our commitment to a Voice are nonsense.
We support the Voice. We support enshrining it in the Constitution. It is our first priority for Constitutional change.
When 250 First Nations Leaders convened at Uluru last year and called for a Voice to Parliament, Labor heard that call.
In government, we will work with First Nations to make it a reality.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People will deliver its report on Thursday. Labor is proud to have three Indigenous MPs on that committee. Nobody can doubt Labor’s commitment to Constitutional reform.
We acknowledge the work of the many First Nations groups, academics and legal experts who made submissions to the inquiry outlining their views on the best way forward.
It has been 10 years since the issue of Constitutional recognition was first raised. First Nations people have made clear that their preferred form of meaningful recognition is a Voice to Parliament. We cannot ignore those calls.
It is disappointing that the Coalition continues to peddle lies about what the role of a Voice would be.
A Voice would not be a third chamber of parliament. It would be a mechanism for First Nations people to have a greater say in the policy issues that impact on their lives.
We have nothing to fear from working with First Nations people to address the many complex issues that affect the first Australians.
Labor has made clear that we will work with the Government, but we will not wait for them.
If bi-partisanship cannot be reached, we will look to legislate a new body as a first step on the pathway to enshrining it in the Constitution.
We will move quickly following the election to agree on a process with First Nations people – including a clear pathway to a referendum. We will also work with them in establishing a Makarrata Commission for agreement-making and truth-telling.
This will be a genuine process of government and First Nations working together to achieve meaningful change.
We will examine options for ensuring local, regional and national representation so that First Nations communities have a genuine say.
The Coalition has consistently failed to properly engage with First Nations people on important policy issues – leading to a litany of policy failures in Indigenous Affairs.
Whether it is the disastrous Indigenous Advancement Strategy, Community Development Program or the Close the Gap Refresh, only by working with First Nations people can we fix the legacy of failed policies left by this government and achieve a more equal, more reconciled Australia.

The passage of laws to make it easier for Governments to use the army within Australia is a dangerous step for our country, Greens Justice spokesperson Nick McKim said.
“Armies are not primarily trained for policing situations. They are trained to fight wars,” Senator McKim said.
“It is police forces that are trained primarily to maintain order and to keep the peace domestically in our country.”
“This legislation further blurs the lines between police forces and the Australian Defence Force, and is certain to be abused by authoritarian governments in the future.”
“It is disappointing that Labor and the LNP have stitched up a dangerous deal to make it easier for the army to be deployed against Australian people in their own country.”

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.
“Instead of recognising that they’re on the nose in the Northern Rivers because they sold the farmers and farming communities out to coal seam gas, they are wasting the Senate’s time on a Facebook post.”
“Instead of recognising that farmers are fed up with the Nationals burying their heads in the sand when it comes to climate change while drought ravages regional and remote communities across Australia, the Nationals are focused on playing games in parliament.”
“Meanwhile the Greens in the Northern Rivers, as with Greens across the country, are standing with and supporting farmers. In fact the Greens in the Northern Rivers are farmers, including our excellent candidate for the state seat of Lismore, dry land rice grower Sue Higginson.”
Lines atrributable to Sue Higginson, Northern Rivers farmer and Greens candidate for the state seat of Lismore:
“The irony is that while Senators Williams and O’Sullivan are making hay out of a Facebook post and selling farmers out to their coal and gas lobbyist mates, I was out loading a semi-trailer with stock fodder grown on my farm to send to cattle farmers in the west of NSW who are enduring the drought.”
“If the Nationals want to really help farmers, that’s how they can help farmers, not clutching at straws over a Facebook post.”

“The Australian Greens support the Senate Inquiry recommendation to remove discrimination against LGBTQ+ students, but we must also act immediately to remove discrimination against teachers and other staff,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens LGBTIQ+ spokesperson.
“We don’t need any further delay before removing discrimination. Schools should be discrimination-free zones for all LGBTQ+ people, regardless of whether they are are a student or a staff member.”
“Our schools should be teaching our kids about respect and equality. What message does it send to young people if LGBTQ+ staff can be fired because of who they are?”
“Labor and the government promised the Australian people that they would remove discrimination in schools within a fortnight of the Wentworth by-election. It’s beyond time for the major parties to act on that promise.”

The Senate has backed  a Greens’ motion declaring climate change is the biggest threat to life on our planet, calling on the Liberal Government to implement serious climate and energy policy.
“The biggest threat to humanity and life on this planet is climate change, and still the Liberal Government don’t have a plan to reduce pollution,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“The consequences of the Liberal Government’s head in the sand on climate – and addiction to burning fossil fuels – are playing out before us now. We’re seeing more extreme weather, mass extinction, a planet under constant stress.
“The alarming recent research from Flinders University showed we are dooming species across the globe due to our inaction on climate change. This anti-science, anti-environment Prime Minister, Energy Minister and Environment Minister are standing in the way of real action on climate change.
“We have some of the most beautiful, unique flora and fauna in the world, but also one of the worst track records on extinction. The Liberal Government cannot be trusted to reverse this harrowing trend.
“The time to act is now. We can be the generation that saves the planet, instead of continuing to contribute to dangerous climate change.”
NOTICE OF MOTION
the Senate—
1.            Notes the Flinders University research published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, which shows that, “Climate change and human activity are dooming species at an unprecedented rate via a plethora of direct and indirect, often synergic, mechanisms.”
2.            Notes that climate change is, without a doubt, the biggest threat to life on our planet.
3.            Calls on the government to develop and implement a serious climate and energy policy, with a plan to reduce carbon pollution and overhaul our environmental laws to protect life on earth.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young