Month: January 2025

A new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation, ACF’s “Extinction Wrapped” , has revealed that more than half of the Australian animal species newly threatened with extinction live in NSW. The report also highlights that the total number of new species threatened with extinction has risen by 41 to a total of 2,138 (as well as 107 ecological communities being threatened with extinction).

Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “This report absolutely slams the promise from the NSW and Federal Labor Governments that there would be no new extinctions on their watch,”

“The truth is, the Albanese Government more than doubled the area of threatened species habitat approved to be cleared between 2023 and 2024 – as well as walking away from their proposed National environment regulator,”

“The Minns Labor Government in NSW is fully culpable for abandoning our environment and nature, with the Great Koala National Park still being logged almost two years after Labor were elected to protect it, and changes to biodiversity offsets that were pushed through Parliament on the last sitting day of 2024, will still allow critically endangered species’ habitat to be cleared. It’s political failure,”

“The decline in biodiversity in NSW and Australia is a crisis for all of us, we rely on a healthy environment to live. It’s shocking that neither NSW or Federal Labor understand nor care enough about this,” Ms Higginson said.

NSW Species:

Pugh’s Frog

Alpine Water Skink

Hunter Valley Delma

Granite Belt Leaf-Tailed Gecko

New England Leaf-Tailed Gecko

Common Greenshank

Black-Tailed Godwit

Latham’s Snipe

Grey Plover

Ruddy Turnstone

Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

A family with two kids in a public school would be almost $2,500 better off every year under the Greens plan to make public schools truly free, and also provide $800 ‘back to school’ payments to parents.

With a minority Parliament looming and the Greens holding three seats in inner-city Brisbane, the announcement is the latest in the series of the Greens’ ‘Robin Hood reforms’ that will be put on the table in any post-election negotiations. 

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP will make the announcement today at Coorparoo State School in the electorate of Griffith, alongside Greens spokesperson for Primary & Secondary Education Senator Penny Allman-Payne and Griffith MP Max Chandler-Mather.

The bold cost-of-living package would see an annual payment of $800 made to families at the start of the school year for each child attending a public school, helping to meet growing out-of-pocket costs like uniforms, technology and school supplies.

And in order to abolish public school fees and charges and help reverse the cost-shifting that has occurred under Labor and Liberal governments, additional funding of $2.4 billion over the forward estimates will be given to public schools. This is on top of the 100% Schooling Resource Standard funding commitment previously announced. 

Public school fees, charges and contributions rose 20.58% from 2021 to 2022, and school supplies are set to cost an estimated $694 for primary school children and $1,149 for secondary students.

This massive cash boost for working families would be funded by making big corporations pay their fair share of tax. The previously announced Big Corporations Tax frees up $514 billion across the decade to help fund dental & mental health into Medicare, a cap on rent increases & low-rate mortgages, and the Greens’ plan to see the GP for free.

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP:

“In a wealthy country like ours, everyone should be able to afford the basics: a home, food, and world class health and education. 

“Parents are forking out thousands on ‘voluntary’ fees, uniforms and out of pocket costs, but meanwhile 1 in 3 big corporations pays no tax. 

“Governments are underfunding our public schools and shifting the costs onto parents already struggling with the cost of living.

“We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result. If Brisbane voters return their Greens MPs, they can keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act on the cost of living crisis. 

“When a nurse pays more tax than a multinational corporation, something is wrong. Taxing the big corporations to fully fund our public schools, scrapping so-called ‘voluntary’ fees and securing back to school payments will be on the table in a minority Parliament.

“In the last shared power Parliament, the Greens saved families thousands by getting dental into Medicare for kids, and now we want more relief for people doing it tough.”

Greens spokesperson on primary and secondary education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:

“Public school should be free, but families are having to dig deeper and deeper as fees have increased and the cost of uniforms, school supplies and education technology has soared.

“The situation is so bad that teachers are increasingly having to dip into their own pockets to pay for classroom basics that many families simply can’t afford.

“When I was a teacher I regularly spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of my own salary to give my students the resources they needed, and I know parents do the same.

“Every child deserves a free, world-class public education, and that’s what the Greens are committed to delivering.

“Getting your child ready for the school year is always a hassle, but it shouldn’t cost thousands of dollars, and our public schools shouldn’t need to rely on the generosity of parents.

“Public schools typically get more than $400 from parents for each student enrolled – not because they want to charge fees, but because they aren’t adequately funded. 

“World-class public education is the foundation of a strong and caring society, and it should be accessible to everyone.”

Greens MP for Griffith Max Chandler-Mather:

“Families in my electorate of Griffith paid over $14 million in public school fees and charges in 2023. That’s about $500 per child. 

“At a school like Balmoral State High School, parents paid nearly $1,500 in fees per student. At Whites Hill State College it was over $2,000. That’s not the fault of the schools but of systemic underfunding from our governments.

“Familes here care deeply about their local public schools, but at the moment it’s getting harder and harder to afford even a public education. 

“Why is it in a wealthy country like Australia, we let 1 in 3 big corporations get away with paying no tax, but we can’t even provide free public education? Getting your child ready for the school year is always a hassle, but it shouldn’t cost thousands of dollars.”

South Australian parents are paying the 2nd highest out-of-pocket fees for public schools in Australia – but today the Greens have announced a national plan to make public education actually free by abolishing public school fees and delivering an $800 back-to-school payment for each public school student as the school year returns.

The Greens will push to give the schools cost-of-living relief package to South Australian parents in the likely event of a minority Government post-election.

Key Points:

• SA public school fees are 2nd highest in Australia, $548 per student in 2022  second only to Victoria – or $94.4m per year across the state
• Greens would abolish public fees & deliver $800 back-to-school payments for each public school student 
• A family with two kids would be around $2,500 better off every year under the Greens plan
• Policy costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office & funded by the Greens suite of tax reforms to make big corporations pay their fair share 

 Sarah Hanson-Young is Greens Senator for South Australia:

“Public education should be free, but SA parents are getting slugged with some of the highest school fees and costs in Australia, second only to Victoria. In a cost of living crisis this is one cost the Government can help families with. The Greens will deliver relief to parents by abolishing school fees and delivering an $800 back-to-school payment for each student.

“A family with two kids in a public school would be over $2,500 better off every year under the Greens plan.

“Beyond abolishing fees, the $800 ‘back to school’ payment to parents will help with all the additional costs at the beginning of the school year.

“Governments are underfunding our public schools and shifting the costs onto parents. The pressure of back to school bills is extreme at this time of year and our plan will help cover costs like a new uniform, a new set of books, school shoes and those other expenses so that kids can participate fully in their education.

“This investment in our kids’ education has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office and will be funded by making big corporations like Santos, Qantas and Netflix pay their fair share of tax under our fully costed suite of tax reforms.”

In order to abolish public school fees and charges and help reverse the cost-shifting to parents that has occurred under Labor and Liberal governments, additional funding of $2.4 billion over the forward estimates will be given to public schools. This is on top of the 100% Schooling Resource Standard funding commitment previously announced. 

In a balance of power position, the Greens (WA) will negotiate for an end to forest mining in Western Australia and greater protections for our forests. 

WA has some of the most beautiful and biodiverse forests on earth yet bauxite mining is the number one cause of deforestation in these forests, with over 33,000 hectares already lost to this strip-mining practice and huge expansion proposals before government.

These forests are vital for wildlife, biodiversity, water and climate and the Greens will prioritise their protection.

While aluminium and critical minerals are essential to the energy transition, the destruction of any more of our forests is a net loss for our climate and our state’s dwindling biodiversity – mining must be off limits in native forests.

In 2023, the community was appalled when Environment Minister Reece Whitby and the Cook Government took the extraordinary step of granting Alcoa a special exemption to continue clearing forests even while the WA  Environmental Protection Authority undertakes  an assessment of the company’s impacts on the environment.

The Greens will hold the Cook Labor government to account and call an end to the prioritising of corporate profits over our precious forests and the endangered wildlife who call them home. 

In a balance of power position, the Greens will push for:

• All new forest mining and expansion proposals to be rejected.
• The immediate and permanent exclusion of mining from Reservoir Protection Zones. 
• The immediate protection of critical habitat and other high conservation value forests through the creation of mining exclusion zones. 
• A rapid phase out of forest mining and a just transition for all workers in the sector. 

Greens WA Forest Spokesperson Jess Beckerling:

“We have some of the most beautiful, biodiverse forests on Earth, and we’re treating them like a giant quarry. This has to come to an end.

“It is impossible to restore a jarrah forest after bauxite mining. The science is very clear that once they’re gone they’re gone forever.

“The community was appalled when Minister Whitby and the Cook Government recently granted Alcoa a special exemption to keep clearing even while the EPA finally assesses its impacts.

“It’s staggering that the Cook Government has allowed clearing to continue even in the face of the Water Corporation stating that a contamination event from Alcoa’s strip mining is considered certain, and that it constitutes the most significant risk to Perth and the South West’s water quality.”

WA Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt:

“Right now, almost nowhere in WA is off limits to mining projects.

“We have so much land, yet we allow these massive multinational companies to deforest and destroy some of the most biodiverse habitats in our state, home to critically endangered species.

“Right now, the South West Black Cockatoos are in serious trouble with the Perth Zoo and wildlife centres reporting an inundation of starving cockatoos coming into their care.

“Protecting what remains of our native forests and restoring their habitat is the only way to prevent further decline and the unthinkable extinction of these beloved birds.”

Greens WA candidate Diane Evers:

“Mining Exclusion Zones are required throughout the southwest to protect areas for conservation, food security, tourism and other economic activities.

“Our Mining Act is 45 years old and no longer reflects the interests of our communities. Nowhere in the legislation is the term, “public interest” defined.

“Our southwest forests provide considerable economic value to the nearby communities for recreation, honey production, and biological research, and this is in addition to the physical and mental health values of interacting with nature.

“Our Environmental Protection Authority should be fully independent and assess mining applications taking into account the cumulative impact on the forest over time.”

Background

The current primary cause of deforestation in WA’s south west forests is bauxite mining by Alcoa and South32. In the past sixty years, bauxite mining has been responsible for the clearing of at least 33,000 hectares of publicly owned forests. The rate of clearing for bauxite mining is accelerating – with more than a third of this area cleared between 2010 and 2020.

The loss of forest from mining activities is permanent. The science is very clear – jarrah forests do not regrow after bauxite mining. This forest destruction has  profoundly devastating impacts on Black Cockatoos, Quokkas and other endangered wildlife.

South West Black Cockatoos rely on the nesting and feeding habitat in the Northern Jarrah Forests. Following WA’s longest, hottest, driest summer on record, and the resulting drought impacts on the forests, all three species are reportedly struggling. 

The Perth Zoo and wildlife centres are reporting an inundation of starving cockatoos coming into their care and experts are renewing calls for habitat to be protected and restored to prevent their extinction.

Bauxite mining in our forests is also risking Perth’s water. The Water Corporation has said that Alcoa’s strip mining in water supply catchments “the single most significant risk to water quality in Perth and the South West” and that a contamination event is “considered certain”.

Today, the Coalition has announced new action to combat rising anti-Semitism. Where the Albanese Government has shown weakness and failed to combat extremism, a Dutton Coalition Government will show strength and act. 

The firebombing of cars and targeting of homes in Sydney last week follows the horrific attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December in what is now a clear campaign of terror.  

Under Labor, the Jewish community feels under siege and abandoned. 

Last week, the Prime Minister again refused to convene a National Cabinet in response to the attacks in Sydney.  

Today we commit that, if elected, a Dutton Coalition Government will: 

Take a national leadership role expected of the Commonwealth Government, including convening a National Cabinet to combat anti-Semitism and extremism. 

Strengthen the sentencing regime for terrorism by legislating for a mandatory minimum term of 6 years imprisonment for all acts of terrorism under Commonwealth law. 

Amend draft laws currently before the parliament to make it a hate crime to urge or threaten violence towards a place of worship; punishable by imprisonment for 5 years or 7 years in the case of an aggravated offence. 

Introduce mandatory minimum sentences of 12 months imprisonment for the public display of prohibited Nazi symbols, prohibited terrorist organisation symbols, and giving the Nazi salute in public, and increase the maximum penalty to 5 years imprisonment. 

The Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Peter Dutton MP, said “The shocking rise in anti-Semitism in our country is a national crisis which requires a national response. I first requested the PM convene a National Cabinet on anti-Semitism in November 2023. He failed to do so. Last week I again wrote to him requesting a National Cabinet on this most pressing matter yet he still evades his responsibility.” 

“The Prime Minister talks about taking “action” but real action has been missing from this Prime Minister. The time for talk is over, so today we announce measures that a Dutton Coalition Government will undertake to stop this vile scourge of anti-Semitism in our country in its tracks. If the PM won’t show the strong leadership our country needs, then we will,” Mr Dutton said.  

Shadow Attorney-General, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, said “We must stamp out anti-Semitism in Australia.  The Albanese Labor Government’s weakness has allowed anti-Semitism to run out of control in Australia to the point where we are now experiencing acts of outright terrorism. A clear and strong message needs to be sent to those who perpetrate such evil acts and that is exactly what these proposed new laws do.” 

Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Senator James Paterson, said “A campaign of terror has been unleashed on the Australian Jewish community and those responsible have clearly been emboldened by the weakness of the Albanese Labor Government. Only strong action and real consequences for the perpetrators will bring this to an end. We are sending a clear message today that these acts of terrorism will not be tolerated on the watch of a Dutton Coalition Government.” 

A Dutton Coalition Government will take the strong action required to end the vile scourge of anti-Semitism afflicting our country which has festered for too long and which threatens the safety of our communities. Enough is enough.