Releasing a list of the Abbott government’s top failures, the Australian Greens say the first 100 days have been a secretive, cruel and chaotic preview of what is to come.

“During the election campaign the Abbott government’s true agenda was hidden behind cheap rhetoric, but you can’t run a country with a slogan,” said Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne.

“The Abbott government has tried to claim a so-called mandate to take Australia back to the last century, but he doesn’t have one. The longer Prime Minister Abbott and his big business mates run the show, the less the public knows about what’s going on behind the scenes. The Abbott government is a secretive, cruel and chaotic government.

“The Australian people didn’t sign up to this, and the Greens will stand against it. (more…)

Greens spokesperson on women Senator Lee Rhiannon has questioned whether women can trust opposition leader Tony Abbott’s promise today that he will heed the advice of technical experts on abortion drugs and has called on him to definitively declare his position on women’s right to access the full range of reproductive health procedures.

“Abbott’s assurance that he will accept the advice of technical experts cannot be trusted if you look at his history during the Howard years,” Senator Rhiannon said.

“As Health Minister in 2005 Mr Abbott relied on limited advice from the Chief Health Officer on whether to lift the ban on RU486.

“Mr Abbott was criticised by the AMA’s rural taskforce and the Rural Doctor’s Association of Australia for failing to consult with them. He instead took the Chief Health Officer’s advice that rural and regional health services and GPs were not equipped to provide medical abortion.

“Women living in regional and rural areas have been disadvantaged ever since.

“The attitude of the Opposition leader to women’s rights is shaping up as issue of public interest in the coming election campaign. (more…)

Currently known candidates for Eden-Monaro will meet for the first time in a political forum to be held on Saturday April 13 as part of the Two Fires Festival of Arts and Activism. The Festival, to honour the legacy of writer and activist Judith Wright and named after one of her poems, has been held in Braidwood every two years since 2005. This is the first time there has been a specifically political event at the Festival.

“It’s about time,” says Catherine Moore, Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.

“There is often a disconnect between activists working for change in their communities, and the politicians who are making the decisions which affect us all. Take the example of the Iraq War, where hundreds of thousands of Australians joined millions around the world protesting against it. But it made not a scrap of difference to the governments of the time.” (more…)

and make history by putting the first woman of Muslim background in to any parliament in Australia.Greens NSW members have selected environmental engineer and academic, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, to replace sitting Greens MLC, Cate Faehrmann, when she resigns her seat to contest the Senate later this year.

Dr Faruqi was preselected by a postal ballot of all members of the NSW Greens, in a field of seven all-women candidates. (more…)

Events in Parliament this week demonstrate a new low and point to the urgent need to change the way we do politics. There are serious issues which need to be addressed by politicians in parliaments and councils around Australia, but we have no hope of finding real solutions when debate is tainted by the sorts of exchanges we have seen this week and are seeing more and more on a regular basis. It is no wonder that Australians have lost faith in the people they have elected to represent them.

When the hung Parliament first started operating back in 2010 after the last Federal Election, many people had high hopes that we might be entering a new era of co-operation. Instead, politicians’ behaviour has continued to deteriorate, with the new low epitomised this week by the leader of the Opposition’s gratuitous and repugnant “dying of shame” comments in Parliament, clearly echoing those of talkback radio’s Alan Jones.

But sexism and misogyny are only part of the story, with Coalition and ALP and politicians alike continuing to focus on personality attacks and point-scoring instead of trying, in an adult fashion, to address the many difficult issues we face. (more…)

With women around the world celebrating International Women’s Day today, it seems an appropriate time to mention the NSW local government elections that will take place on September 9 this year and talk about the need for women to stand for and be elected to local government, says Catherine Moore, Palerang councillor and 2010 Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.

Women make up more than fifty percent of the population, and were granted equal pay for equal work in 1969. However in 2010, women were receiving on average seventeen percent less pay for equal work or work of the same value and, in some sectors, like finance and insurance, this gap jumps to 32 per cent. Women are still noticeably absent in the boards, senior staff and parliaments of Australia.

As the WA Department of Local Government website says, “women make a valuable contribution to the local government sector and increase the diversity of decision makers to better reflect the interests and needs of our community.

“Local Government Managers Australia statistics indicate women represent only 5% of local government chief executives nationally and, according to Australian Local Government Women’s Association figures, in July 2009, women represented only 28.4% of the total number of councillors across Australia.” (more…)

What: Event to celebrate saving Kelly’s Bush in Hunters Hill, with picnic and tree planting and speech by green ban leader Jack Mundey
When: 3-5pm, Sunday 25 September 2011
Where: Top of Kelly’s Bush, Weil Park, Prince George Parade, Hunters Hill

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon today congratulated those who campaigned to save Kelly’s Bush and other areas of Sydney during the green ban period, when resident groups and the Builders Labourers Federation  worked hand in hand to stop inappropriate development.

“The ‘Battlers for Kelly’s Bush’ were an inspirational group of women who saw the opportunity to work with the BLF to save a magical slice of Sydney bush,” Senator Rhiannon said.

“The fight for Kelly’s Bush blossomed into a significant movement which saw 42 green bans in the early 1970s protect Sydney’s landscape from bulldozers.

“More than 100 people were arrested in actions that preserved homes and urban bushland.

“It was the Green Ban movement that saw NSW MPs pass the first laws in Australia to protect heritage and promote community involvement in planning,” Senator Rhiannon said.

Upfront on the agenda at today’s Greens NSW State Delegates Council was a condolence motion and tribute to Simon Morrissey, who died recently at the age of 24. See Lee Rhiannon’s blog here.

Today, some of Simone’s friends paid tribute to her inspirational contribution to The Greens.

The condolence motion

This August meeting of the NSW Greens State Delegates Council extends condolences to Simone Morrissey’s family, her partner Chris Friend and her
many friends. We join with you in mourning your loss.

Simone was an incredible, bright and generous person who was not afraid to say what she thought was right or necessary to say.

In the brief two years that she was a member of the NSW Greens, she made an enormous impact on us all. She inspired us to be active, strategic
campaigners. Her contributions to any part of the party she got involved in were whole-hearted, from her incisive comments on our e-lists to her
willingness to take on roles that needed to be filled. In particular we are thankful for her involvement in Young Greens, in the Industrial Relations
working group and the women’s group, and in the recent NSW State Election Campaign Committee.

We learnt more from her than we can say. Even those of us who only knew her fleetingly were impressed by her strength of conviction, her generous
spirit, and her sparkle.

Simone could be a formidable adversary, but she never let a difference of opinion get in the way of friendship. She was passionate about social and
environmental justice and training people to work collectively for a better world. We are thankful for her contribution to the Greens here and
nationally, and to the broader environmental, feminist and union movements.

We miss her enormously.

Responding to today’s report that increasing women’s participation in the workforce would boost Australia’s economic production, Greens NSW Senator and women’s spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on the Gillard government to establish a separate Office for the Status of Women (page 1, SMH).

“Now we know that increasing women’s participation in high  growth sectors such as construction and mining will bring massive economic benefits the government should set up a separate Office for the Status of Women as part of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,” Senator Rhiannon said.

“Job opportunities for women are not expanding in line with other countries. A Goldman Sachs report has found that the gap between male and female participation has widened in recent years.

“The report estimates that closing the gap between male and female job participation would increase economic activity by $180 billion. (more…)

(sent to local papers in Eden-Monaro)

If The Greens receive 55% of the primary vote (today), I will be elected to the Upper House, but more importantly, ten talented men and women from diverse backgrounds will be before me. In the unlikely event that this happens, it will mean that the party that forms government will not be able to push through socially or environmentally regressive legislation as easily. Why is it unlikely? Because as is the case at every election, large amounts of time and resources are being spent on spreading Green misinformation by people and parties who do not want to see any more Greens elected.

If people see the sense in planning for a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable future, and think that we actually do need to take action to protect special places, increase the opportunities for biodiversity, set small areas of ocean aside for fish-breeding thus ensuring future fish-stocks, stop workers from being exploited, make sure public education including TAFE is not further eroded, give communities back the right to make good planning decisions, apply the precautionary principle to the adoption of genetically manipulated organisms, properly compensate miners and wood-chippers as we move to renewables, away from native forest-logging and towards existing plantations in order to protect farmland and local industries, ensure water quality, prevent soil erosion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, etc, etc, perhaps having more, rather than fewer Greens in parliaments is a good idea.

Catherine Moore
2010 Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro and No 11 on Greens Legislative Council ticket, March 26 election