Resources Minister Ferguson shows contempt for Bob Brown and democracy

Resource Minister Martin Ferguson vows not to make Greens deal (AAP / Herald Sun / The Epoch Times)

"FEDERAL Resource Minister Martin Ferguson has vowed not to do a Senate deal with the Greens on the mining tax, assuring miners that the government will stick by its agreement with the industry. Mr Ferguson assured Queensland miners that the Greens would not be tinkering with the agreement should they gain the balance of power in the Senate at the next election. "In two and a half years I've never had a meeting with (Greens Leader) Bob Brown."

You might wish to write a Letter to the Editor or post online suggesting that Minister Ferguson's blatant disregard for not only Senator Brown but the essential role of the Senate in Australia's federalist system of government seems typical of Labor's recent demonstrations to the Australian people that democracy is no longer theirs. Whilst the Minister represents the view of the three big mining companies he conducted closed-door negotiations with, the Greens represent the view of a significant proportion of Australian voters and Senator Brown was right to question the true cost of the government's backdown on the mining tax.

Abbott Point coal hub: environment must not come second to coal exports

Queensland jobs at risk - Greens (Bigpond News) "The Greens say billions in revenue and thousands of jobs are at risk if the environment comes second to coal exports. Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says any expansion of the Abbot Point coal hub near Bowen in north Queensland could see world heritage waters off the Great Barrier Reef affected. Dr Brown says such an expansion would see more coal ships travelling through the area putting Australia's 60 billion dollar tourism hub at risk."

Greens call for a ban on BPA in all baby products

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that bottles with BPA are to be phased out following rising public concern and a safety review ordered by US health regulators.  There's an interesting article also at the Herald Sun.

The Australian Greens are actually calling on the Federal Government to immediately ban BPA for use in all baby products as our food regulators can not guarantee the safety of such products.

"The Government is potentially exposing Australian babies to unnecessary harm by leaving products containing BPA on supermarket shelves," said Australian Greens Health spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert. "There is a growing body of evidence that the chemical BPA used in plastics, including food packaging, is harmful to humans even in minute quantities and is unsuitable for use in baby bottles or other products. "

Asylum Seekers, Mining Tax, Abbot Point coal facility, coal seam gas moratorium

Major issues for Australians seem to be having limited focus in the media

over this past week.

The Asylum Seeker issue is a key topic of discussion on the radio, in

print and online today. The issue is expected to be the key media

topic in the coming days and we'll keep you in the loop on specific

stories. In short, The Greens support a compassionate and human 

response to asylum seekers and on-shore processing.

Some new media stories are below on the Mining Tax. The Greens 

support the tax in principle but Senator Brown believes that the

full cost of the backdown needs to be explained to Australians. Senator

Brown also states small businesses who employ up to 5 million Australians

will be worse off and jobs will now be at risk.

The Mining Tax

In a race to the last, the Mining Tax has overtaken Climate Change Action

as the weeks biggest story. The Greens view on the revised tax is highlighted below in

two press releases from Senator Brown and Greens MPs. You may consider

taking action by expressing how this revised tax package (and the process

undertaken to get here) affects you.

Coal seam gas expansion & carbon tax

Two key impact points today. Firstly, as you'll see below, Senator Bob

Brown has said he will support Qld farmers against the State Government's

coal seam gas expansion. It would be worthwhile commending Bob Brown's

commitment whilst at the same time spreading the message that QLD would do

well to have its own representative in the Senate.

On the carbon tax, well now even Tony Abbott is saying the PM should sit

down with The Greens and talk climate change action! Does it get more

impressive than that? Unfortunately not with Qld Premier Bligh dismissing

the tax and attacking the Greens.

Greens write to PM re: Carbon Tax

Much discussion on radio news this morning surrounding Senator Bob Brown's

offer to the PM of a solution to the failed ETS - the long campaigned for

carbon tax. The media and (some) online discussions are demonstrating a

positive reaction to this story. We can reinforce this by keeping up the

messages we have been spreading over the past several days. 

Greens say to new PM "take some action on climate change!"

Thanks to the Greens, climate change action has been a big issue in the

media since the new PM took office. We have plenty of opportunity for

reinforcing Greens messages of real action, right now.

Its a... new PM. And its time to work constructively with the Senate.

Julia Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Australia. Working with the Greens on climate change is crucial for the new Prime Minister. Key points to consider when writing, calling, blogging etc.:

• The Prime Minister has an obligation to work constructively with the Senate and Julia Gillard needs to do much better than Kevin Rudd in this regard.
• The priority for Julia Gillard now should be to dump the Government’s failed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and work with the Greens to deliver immediate action on climate change.
• The new Prime Minister should pick up the phone, call the Greens and get action on climate change!!

The Greens aren't to blame for the failed ETS (it was bad policy) and the Wild Rivers Bill

"Why you shouldn't vote for The Greens" (Q&A Discussion Board)

A follow on from Monday night's Q&A with Sarah Hanson-Young, this

discussion board has some positive but largely negative views about the

Greens. It would be great if you could post a comment on here in support

of Greens messages and policies. Some points to consider:

SHY on Q&A tonight

Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young is a

panellist on Q&A on ABC, tonight 9.35pm. Other panellists are Malcolm

Turnbull, Craig Emerson, Graham Richardson and Jessica Brown.

Greens call for voting rights for all Australians

Greens call for lower voting age (AAP / Sydney Morning Herald)

"The Australian Greens have used a Senate report on electoral matters to

advance their case for lowering the voting age to 16. An upper house

committee made up of Labor, Liberal and Greens senators released its

findings on two electoral bills on Thursday. One would require more

detailed authorisations to be printed on how-to-vote cards, a move

designed to reduce the potential for voters to be misled, and

non-compliance made a crime.

The Greens gain ground

Greens gain ground (The Australian - opinion)

"A DOUBLE dissolution would very likely give the Greens more Senate seats.

I suspect this is the real reason why we will not have a

double-dissolution election. In Queensland, for example, at the last

election the Greens had just over half a quota before preferences and

hence would have a senator in a double dissolution even on those numbers,

let along the swing predicted by current polls. With a stronger Greens

presence in the Senate, a Labor government has two options to get

legislation through if it's not widely supported: make it more

conservative to appeal to the Coalition, or more progressive to appeal to

the Greens. Does Labor want such clear options? I doubt it. As it stands,

the ALP can make a big deal of trying to push through legislation that

isn't very good, and blame whoever it likes for failing."

The Twitter debate..

Greens get twits into debate first (Sydney Morning Herald)

"The Greens ... have initiated the ''world's first Twitter election debate'', which will run today from 11.15am to 11.45am. The Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, who has managed to get the Premier, Kristina Keneally, and the Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, on board, conceded that the idea was a gimmick to shoulder the Greens into the election ruck. But she argued that traditional campaigning - ''wandering the shopping malls'', for example - has become so stage-managed that new approaches are required. ''Social media is real, and more and more people are using it,'' she said. ''It'll be very interesting to see how we use our 140 characters to give solid, decent answers.''

The Mining Tax row

THE MINING TAX is still leading national news with the BHP chief saying he can see no end to the row. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/bhp-chief-sees-no-end-to-tax-row-20100610-y0j2.html

The Greens believe that Australia's rich mineral resources and the wealth they generate should be shared by all Australians, and therefore support the government in the proposed mining tax. However The Greens believe that the large section of Australians who will benefit from it are not getting the right message. For more, read here: http://greensmps.org.au/content/opinion-editorial/tax-resources-profits-would-benefit-all-us