Month: July 2019

Australian Greens Senator and Spokesperson for International Development, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has said that climate justice must be central to Australia’s development assistance program following reports that the Foreign Minister, Senator Marise Payne, received the climate change strategy six months ago but is yet to release it.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Climate change is an existential threat to our neighbours and must be front and centre of our foreign aid program. The poorest, who contribute the least to climate change, are often the hardest hit by rising sea levels, extreme weather events and environmental damage.
“Given our dirty hands in producing climate changing emissions, we have a special responsibility to deliver climate justice.
“I urge Senator Payne to urgently release the climate strategy and provide funding to support action on climate change, particularly for our neighbours in the Pacific and South-East Asia.
“The reality is Australia exports climate change. Once our coal exports are counted, we are the world’s sixth largest contributor to climate change. Every tonne of coal we ship out brings us and our neighbours one step closer to the climate precipice,” she concluded.

Australian Greens Senator and Spokesperson for Housing, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to today’s Australian Institute of Health and Research report which shows Australia has lost 20,000 public housing units in the last decade. She welcomed the increase in community housing, but said public housing must be a bigger part of the housing mix.
Senator Faruqi said:
“It is time for the Federal Government to step in and show leadership on the housing crisis. We know that social housing in general has not kept pace with demand.
“It is a national shame that 140,000 people are still on public housing waiting lists.
“The reality is that Government-owned public housing is an essential part of the housing mix, but State Governments have increasingly been shirking their responsibility to build it. Public housing is a crucial part of our social safety net that has been eroded over time. We need to reverse this.
“I am particularly disturbed to see waiting times for people classified as being in the greatest need increasing, rather than decreasing. The most vulnerable in our society shouldn’t be forced to wait over a year for the basic right of a roof over their heads.
“The Greens have a plan to build 500,000 new public and community homes through a Federal Housing Trust. Everyone has the right to a safe, secure and permanent home,” she concluded.

The government must rule out drilling in the Great Australian Bight rather than passing the buck to the regulator, Greens say.
“Pressure from the overwhelming majority of South Australian’s to protect the Bight must be acted on by the government,” Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“South Australians and increasing numbers of Australians around the country want a ban on drilling in the Bight.
“The Morrison government is grossly mistaken if they think a tick and flick ‘audit of the regulator’ will satisfy community concerns. It is the role of the government to represent the people and the people have made their wishes clear.
“This ‘audit is nothing more than a box ticking exercise. The terms of reference are so narrow that it makes a mockery of the real concerns of tens of thousands of South Australians who remain opposed to drilling in the Bight.
“All MPs have the opportunity to protect the Bight by supporting my Bill to ban drilling in the Great Australian Bight. They should think long and hard about what their constituents expect of them.
“The Bight is home to many threatened species, and responsible for thousands and thousands of fishing and tourism jobs. It must be protected, not exploited for more dangerous fossil fuels. Anything less is not good enough.”