NSW Greens MPs are supporting a call for a parliamentary inquiry into Frank Sartor’s new planning Bill, describing the Bill as having potentially devastating consequences for the state’s environment and heritage and being an open invitation for corruption of the planning system.

“This Bill will affect billions of dollars of developments. It will affect the rights and the amenity of every citizen in this state,”
said Greens MP and planning spokesperson Sylvia Hale.

The government today refused a Greens motion to release the submissions that had been received about the planning changes.

Ms Hale referred to a report of the cross-party Legislative Review Committee that raised significant concerns with the planning Bill including that it would trespass on individual rights to have views heard and represented, procedural fairness, access to justice and may erode the rule of law and individual property rights. (more…)

It was a bad day for the planning system in state parliament as Minister Sartor introduced new pro-developer laws into the Lower House at the same time as the major parties combined in the Upper House to bury a Greens Bill banning political donations from property developers.

“Once again the Labor Party has shown that it is addicted to donations from property developers and that it will repay those donations with pro-developer laws,” said Sylvia Hale, the NSW Greens MP and planning spokesperson. (more…)

NSW Greens MP Sylvia Hale has called in parliament for the new Council administrators or the ICAC to investigate a range of controversial Wollongong Council planning decisions in light of the corrupt conduct involving the Council uncovered by the ICAC.

Ms Hale has singled out two projects by the developer Jempak as well as the Platinum development in Crown Street and the City Beach Function Centre as requiring investigation.

Ms Hale was particularly critical of former Wollongong Council General Manager Rod Oxley’s role in a number of developments and raised questions about the relationship between former mayor Alex Darling and developer Ken Tugrul.

Ms Hale questioned the legality of the Council’s agreement to pay the costs of former general manager Rod Oxley’s legal representation at the ICAC hearings. (more…)

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has called on Planning Minister Frank Sartor to stand aside while an independent investigation is carried out into his involvement in soliciting developers to attend his own fundraiser that raised more than $500,000.

“Premier Morris Iemma needs to take action. For a planning minister to hold a function for developers opens the government up to perceptions of bribes and corruption,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“Mr Sartor should stand aside from his portfolio responsibilities while an independent investigation is carried out. (more…)

All donations from large corporations to politicians and political parties should be banned, says Greens MLC Mark Parnell.

Responding to the revelations that Forestry Minister Rory McEwen has received money from companies in the forestry sector, including Auspine, Greens Upper House MP Mark Parnell has called for a complete overhaul of the rules that govern political donations.

“It is clear that rules abut gifts to independent MP’s needs to be tightened.  But no matter if it is called a ‘gift’ or a ‘donation’, it is unhealthy for our democracy for a Minister to be receiving direct financial benefit from companies within their portfolio,” he said. (more…)

This budget is more about greed than green. The Treasurer and the government have a huge ethical responsibility in spending the nation’s money, in ensuring its future. That ethical responsibility has not been met in this budget.

The massive tax cuts are for spending now, but the government has failed in its high responsibility to tackle the greatest threat to this nation’s future and to the lifestyle of our children and their children which is climate change. The Treasurer began his speech by saying that this country of Australia has changed a lot in the last ten years. It certainly has - it’s got hotter, it’s got drier and it’s become more threatened by the arrogant failure of this government to address the
environmental crisis, and to make this country safer, more secure, and happier for this generation and for the generations yet to come.

The Greens have markedly different values and priorities from the government. The priorities for a Greens’ budget would include:
1) Halting climate change
2) Conserving water resources and protecting the environment
3) Ensuring the 650,000 Australians on dental waiting lists received the care they need
4) Urgently fund measures to reduce the 17 year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
5) Increasing education funding to meet the OECD average education spending levels (more…)

Sylvia Hale, Greens MP and spokesperson on Lands, will move to require the production of all documents concerning the lease of Killalea State Park when the NSW Parliament resumes next week.

“Yesterday Lands Minister Kelly signed an agreement to lease 3 parcels of land in Killalea State Park, the 250ha pristine coastal reserve on 8km of coastline and surfing beaches between Shellharbour and Kiama,” Ms Hale said.

“No details of the lease have been made public. The Killalea Trust has been sworn to secrecy, and even the representatives of Shellharbour and Kiama councils on the Trust have been forbidden to inform their councils of the details of the 52-year lease.

“The only thing that is clear is that this is the first time a private company has been permitted to exploit a state park for profit. (more…)

(two minutes for each candidate, Bega ABC, Friday morning March 16; also slightly modified and sent as letter to Monaro papers)

It seems like every time there’s an election, one or more of the shock jocks or print media or other political parties try to discredit The Greens. This is now the third occasion that the Daily Telegraph has done its best to misrepresent our Drugs and Harm Minimisation Policy, this time making out that we support the sale of the drug *ice* (crystal methamphetamine)!

The Greens policy does not support unlimited supply of any drug, least of all this one. What we say, quite clearly, is that the way to deal with the *ice* epidemic is to go after the big dealers. How will locking up individual users remove this deadly drug from our streets? How will it reduce the alarming prevalence of ice use and dependency? (more…)

The Howard government rorted taxpayers’ money when it increased the printing entitlement to favour sitting MPs last year, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

“The changes allow MPs to accumulate a $220,000 printing war chest to spend during elections. It’s was a straight-out raid on taxpayers’ money to fund sitting members’ election campaigns and to disadvantage all other contenders - who get nothing,” Senator Brown said. (more…)

National Greens Leader Bob Brown has called for an independent judicial inquiry into electoral collusion between the Liberal Party and the Exclusive Brethren in the last Tasmanian and federal elections.

Today’s revelations in The Australian show that the Liberal Party was billed for hateful and deceptive anti-Greens ads in Tasmanian newspapers before last year’s state elections. The Liberals’ campaign head Damien Mantach came directly from Prime Minister Howard’s backroom to take control of the state campaign. He was in Mr Howard’s employ when the Exclusive Brethren’s anti-Green ads were used in at least 3 states - Tasmania, NSW and South Australia in the 2004 federal election. (more…)