Greens MP and donations spokesperson Lee Rhiannon says Premier Nathan Rees must back QLD Premier Anna Bligh’s call for electoral funding reform to increase pressure on the Rudd government to end the corrupting influence of political donations (’Bligh wants ban on donations’, p. 1, The Australian).

Ms Rhiannon has called for the ALP to publicly release a list of which corporations will attend today’s National Conference in Darling Harbour, having paid $7,500 per head to be a ‘business observer’. (See http://tiny.cc/fohga)

“Premier Rees should join forces with Anna Bligh to lobby the Rudd government to ban large political donations nationally,” Ms Rhiannon said. (more…)

NSW Education Minister Verity Firth must immediately conduct an audit of private tertiary education providers to expose shonky operators, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

Responding to a story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald (‘Foreign students exploited as slaves’, p.1), Dr Kaye said: “The treatment of international students by employers and private education providers should shame Australia’s policy makers.

“These shocking revelations reinforce the importance of keeping vocational and tertiary education in public hands. (more…)