The four Greens groups in Eden-Monaro – Bega Valley, Braidwood, Eurobodalla and Queanbeyan-Monaro – have now determined the order of preferences on their How-To-Vote card (HTV) for the August 21 Federal election.

“While it is no secret that, following negotiations between The Greens and the ALP, Greens will allocate preferences to the ALP ahead of the Coalition in a number of key marginal seats, Greens in Eden-Monaro could not finalise our decision until we knew the final list of candidates,” said Catherine Moore, Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.

“Now that we know that there are eight candidates and that Ray Buckley, an Independent and active participant in the Transition Towns movement has fulfilled the AEC requirements and has been able to nominate, we will be putting him in no. 2 position on our HTV. Ray shares many common values with the Greens as we attempt to transform our communities and economy along sustainable principles.

“He will be followed by Frank Fragiacomo (Independent), Mike Kelly (ALP), David Gazard (LP), and then the remaining three candidates from the LDP, CDP and FF. (more…)

Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro Catherine Moore has expressed her extreme disappointment at Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s climate change proposal.

“This is an inaction plan which will no doubt please the coal industry and the fossil fuel lobby but which is a completely inadequate response to dealing with the pressing issue of climate change,” she said.

“The time for talking is over. The overwhelming evidence for human-induced climate change has been in front of us for ages, and we should have started taking action years ago.

“The idea that we can sit around talking about it while emissions rise, and the climate changes beyond the point that we will be able to have any influence on fixing it, is unacceptable and inexcusable. (more…)

The Greens will hold a series of “Conversations” on various topics such as climate change, biodiversity, forests and forest industry adjustment, nuclear weapons and nuclear power, refugees and Green economics as part of The Greens in Eden-Monaro 2010 Federal Election campaign. (more…)

Lee Rhiannon today announced her resignation as an Upper House MP in NSW parliament, following the announcement of the federal election. Ms Rhiannon’s resignation is effective as of Monday.

“After 11 years as an Upper House MP in NSW, I will hand in my letter of resignation to the Clerk of Parliament on Monday. I am resigning to contest the Federal election as the lead Senate candidate for the Greens”, said Ms Rhiannon.

“It has been a privilege to work as a Greens MP representing the people of NSW in the Legislative Council, working closely with local communities fighting for progressive change. (more…)

(printed in the July 14 edition of the Bungendore Mirror)

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the recent attack on The Greens in these pages, (“Reds under the Greens’ beds”, BM, 30 June).

I know it may come as as a surprise to some, but The Greens have never claimed to be a single issue party. As the predominant colour of foliage, “green” might have only environmental connotations to some, but “Green” is a global movement with parties across the world who have always based their policies and practices on four very clear principles – social justice, grassroots democracy, ecological sustainability and peace and nonviolence, in no particular order of priority. I could be wrong, but I imagine that there must be only a very small proportion of the world’s population that would not agree with those principles. (more…)

(letter to the editor, Eden-Monaro papers)

It is very concerning to see both of the older parties whipping up a frenzy of fear in the community about asylum seekers. This knee jerk reaction is taking us increasingly further from a humane and compassionate approach to this issue, and closer to the policies of the Howard era. 95% of asylum seekers arriving by boat are found to be genuine refugees, and at the current rate of refugee arrivals, it would take 20 years to fill the MCG. It is not illegal to arrive in Australia seeking asylum, so it is misleading and divisive to call these people illegal immigrants. (more…)

Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) today cleared wind farms of accusations of health impacts on nearby residents, according to Greens NSW MP and Energy spokesperson John Kaye. (’No evidence of wind farm health impact’, SMH on line at http://bit.ly/smh100703)

Dr Kaye said: “The nation’s leading health agency has joined the World Health Organisation in saying there is no evidence to support concerns related to noise from wind farms and illness.

“Although many residents remain opposed to wind farms in their area, there are now no health barriers to pushing ahead with more wind farms in NSW. (more…)