Documents obtained by the Greens under FOI reveal that Taronga Western Plains Zoo did not carry out the safeguards it claimed to have followed
when endangered blackbucks were sold to a member of the Shooters Party, Greens MP and animal welfare spokesperson Lee Rhiannon said today. (SMH, page 1, 31 August 2009)

“The documents released to the Greens reveal that animal welfare was not the priority of zoo officials when organising the sale of these endangered animals,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“The Greens submitted the FOI application after receiving information that the zoo had sold blackbuck antelope to Bob McComb, who owns the
Dongadale Deer Park.

“The documents obtained by the Greens show that commercial interests of the zoo were given priority over animal welfare. (more…)

The Australian Greens today condemned the decision by the Minister for Environment Peter Garrett to allow the Gorgon development to go ahead on Barrow Island, saying he is signing off on the destruction of this unique environment.

“There is no way that the environment of Barrow Island can be protected from this development -  no environmental conditions can protect the environment of this Island, and it is a nonsense for Minister Garrett to hide behind such conditions. It is inevitable that the island will be degraded,” said Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.

“Just today we’ve heard that Chevron’s own environmental consultant gave them advice to locate the processing plant on shore, as the environmental impact to Barrow Island is too great.

“Barrow Island is an A-Class Nature Reserve.  It has been dubbed ‘Australia’s Ark’ for its unique range of endangered species, with 24 species and sub-species preserved on the island, many of which are extinct or endangered on mainland Australia. (more…)

The Australian Greens today called on the Rudd Government to explain how it can announce its endorsement of a $50 Billion gas deal with China
before the Gorgon project had received Commonwealth environmental approval.

“The message to us seems clear - threatened species will not be allowed to get in the way of development under Rudd, and environmental conditions are nothing more than a means of green-washing projects destined to go ahead regardless of their environmental impacts,” said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

“Today, the role of the Environment Minister has been relegated to the status of a rubber stamp of approval.

“Barrow Island has been dubbed ‘Australia’s Ark’ for its unique range of endangered species, with 24 species and sub-species preserved on the
island, many of who are extinct or endangered on mainland Australia. (more…)

Greens MP and health spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on Premier Nathan Rees and Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell to support abortion law reform and work together to ensure women and doctors can access abortion services without the risk of criminal prosecution, (’Labor MPs support new calls to legalise abortion”, p. 8, SMH).”Modernising NSW’s abortion laws should be beyond party politics, with all parties working together,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“Premier Nathan Rees and Opposition Barry O’Farrell could refresh politics by joining forces and working co-operatively to bring forward progressive laws.

“NSW is dragging the chain on abortion law reform in Australia, with Victoria and the ACT modernising their laws to treat abortion as a health not a criminal matter. (more…)

NSW Greens MP and donations spokesperson Lee Rhiannon today congratulated her South Australian Greens colleague Mark Parnell MLC for launching the South Australian section of the Democracy4sale.org donations website, and foreshadowed that more states will be added to the Greens donations database in the near future.

“I am thrilled to welcome the South Australian Greens to the Democracy4sale.org campaign website that exposes the corrupting influence of corporate donations on our democracy,” said Ms Rhiannon.

“The Greens donations research project commenced in 2002 in NSW to lift the lid on donations, and the campaign’s success has helped make donations a hot national issue.

“The SA donations are sourced from political party disclosures to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) and sorted into industry donor categories to see which industries are buying influence with the major parties. (more…)

The Greens have backed the call of the Australian Education Union for the current average class sizes in SA public schools to be the new ‘maximum’ to ensure class sizes don’t rise next year.

The AEU has reacted with concern to documents submitted by the Rann Government to the Industrial Relations Commission as part of the long running dispute over teacher’s pay and conditions that show the Government would be able to increase Reception class sizes from 19 to 26 students and from 25 to 30 students in years 3 to 7. (more…)

The Greens welcomed the Rees government’s recognition that wind energy generation in NSW is falling behind other states but the twenty two month holiday from development fees will not be long enough to solve the problem, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.
 
Commenting on a story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald (’Labor votes are blowing in the wind’, page 6), Dr Kaye said: “Wind makes up only 0.8 per cent of installed generation capacity in NSW. (more…)

Attempts by representatives of Premier Nathan Rees to lock in a deal with the Shooters Party MPs will further damage the Labor government’s standing with the public, Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said today. (Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 2009, Page 1)

“The Premier and his ministers should stop trying to ‘control’ the Upper House and instead work to win a majority of MPs by debating the merits of their legislation,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“Today’s report that the Premier’s chief of staff, Graeme Wedderburn, and the Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, have been trying to win back Robert Brown and Roy Smith as reliable backers of government business in the Upper House will further inflame the mounting opposition to Labor. (more…)

The collapse of Mr Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme presents Australia with a great opportunity to move ahead with meaningful climate action, the Australian Greens said today in a letter to the Prime Minister and Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong.

The letter calls on the Minister and Prime Minister to commence discussions with the Greens on a suite of measures to begin reducing Australia’s emissions immediately. This includes bringing on the Renewable Energy Target legislation on Monday and moving towards a renewable energy feed-in tariff, forest protection, clean transport and comprehensive energy efficiency upgrades. (more…)

A recent report commissioned by the Department of Environment and Climate Change has found that killing flying foxes as a means to protect
fruit crops is unacceptable legally and ethically.

“Before the 2010 fruit growing season there must be a ban on licences for orchardists to shoot flying foxes,” says Greens MLC, and Primary
Industries spokesperson, Ian Cohen.

“The Grey-headed Flying-fox is a threatened species yet DECC issues licences to cull it when other states have banned shooting licences for flying foxes. (more…)