Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown has backed in calls for a modernisation of the Australian flag today.

“I congratulate Ray Martin for raising this issue on Australia Day eve, and agree wholeheartedly that it is high time we replaced the union jack with a  dinkum Australian symbol on our flag,” said Senator Brown.

“I call on Kevin Rudd to give Australians the opportunity at the next federal election to vote for a new symbol for our flag that properly reflects the  country we are today.

“Australia has not been a British colony since federation in 1901 and the union jack does not represent Australians.

“It should be replaced with another symbol that conveys Australia’s ancient Indigenous or natural heritage. “Instead of delaying, Kevin Rudd should use this year’s federal election as an opportunity for Australians to vote on becoming a Republic and a new flag for our country.”

“I am proud to be part of this week-long national action – The Great Australian Internet Blackout,” said Australian Greens spokesperson for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Scott Ludlam.

“The government’s plan will not protect children, will do nothing to crack down on criminal activity online, and sets a dangerous precedent of centralised net censorship,” Senator Ludlam said. “Communications Minister Stephen Conroy should start paying attention to the almost universal condemnation of this scheme and pursue alternatives rather than pushing ahead with the mandatory filter.”

To take part visit the campaign’s website

The Australian Greens have welcomed the arrival of the Sea Shepherd vessel ‘Steve Irwin’ on a brief stopover in Hobart this morning.

“The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has again shown up the timidity of the Government, seeking to enforce international law while the Australian Government stands on the  sidelines,” said Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.

“These campaigners have inspired Australians with their courage and willingness to act while notionally anti-whaling states like Australia stand by and do nothing.

“The Australian Government has a range of options, starting with official condemnation of Japanese deployment of military personnel to protect illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean and deployment of vessels to at least monitor the situation.

“We should make any future Japanese free trade agreement conditional on an end to the slaughter, and we should commence immediate legal action to enforce the law of the sea.  Instead, the Australian Government has gone silent and left it to the Sea Shepherd to uphold international law,” he concluded.

Australia’s government is absent as the SS Sea Shepherd faces up against the odds in the nastiest confrontation ever between whalers and whale protectors in the Southern Ocean.

“This is a whaling war with Kevin Rudd missing from action,” Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

“Japan has two naval vessels involved. Rudd should at least send surveillance planes or vessels to record this David-and-Goliath war over whales.”

“The news that part of Japan’s fleet refuelled in Australia en route to killing whales in Australian waters is revolting. The Rudd government must show some spine,” Senator Brown said.

The theme of the seminar is consider how regional and rural members of the Queensland Greens can continue to contribute actively to our party’s structure and management practices. This discussion would include such topics as equitable and effective distribution of electoral public funding to regions, regional administration, and training and support for candidates.

This seminar will also provide an opportunity for members to consider effective electoral strategies for regional and rural branches as we prepare for the next federal election in 2010.

Please forward any submissions, agenda items,or comments to be included in this seminar to Bob Borsellino, Secretary, Noosa Greens or to Steve Haines, Convenor, Noosa Greens on 0421 00 1956.

Notification of venue and date will be forwarded as finalised.

Expressions of Interest may be forwarded to:

Bob Borsellino, Campaign Committee Coordinator, Noosa and Hinterland Branch bob@noosagreens.org

or

Kent Hutton, Campaign Committee Coordinator, Noosa and Hinterland Branch, kent@noosagreens.org

Nominations to be received no later than close of business Monday 4 January 2010

This call for Expressions of Interest has been authorised by Bob Borsellino, Campaign Committee Coordinator, Noosa and Hinterland Branch

If you would like any further information or would like to discuss any issues related to submitting an expression of interest please feel welcome to contact Bob, Kent or Steve Haines, Convenor, Noosa Greens directly.

“We welcome today’s Report on the Impacts of Mining in the Murray Darling Basin, but it falls short of making the obvious recommendation,” Greens Mining Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam said today.

“The report clearly validates many of the concerns raised by Darling Downs and Surat Basin communities at the epicentre of the conflict between resource extraction and farming.

“The inquiry learned that tightening the regulations on a case by case basis – while essential – does not address the question of whether the short term benefits of coal mining on productive farmland outweigh the long-term costs.

“These costs can be great indeed: compromised land, damaged aquifers and reduced food security.

“The Australian Greens believe that leaving this for State Governments to determine is unacceptable and will inevitably lead to the irreversible destruction of some of Australia’s prime farming country.

“The Commonwealth reserves the right to assess and, if necessary, block development projects if they breach matters of national environmental significance.

“We think similar tests should apply in the case of irreversible damage to water resources or destruction of prime farmland.

“We want to see the Water Act 2007 amended to ban mining and extractive industries where they will have adverse impacts on groundwater resources and the environment,” Senator Ludlam concluded.

Natural Arch, Springbook National Park

The Queensland Greens reacted angrily to the announcement by the Bligh government that private investors will be sought to build ‘eco-tourism’ holiday accommodation in seven Queensland national parks.

“It is outrageous to suggest that hotels and permanent accommodation facilities – just resorts by another name – can be built within these sensitive ecosystems without having massive environmental impacts,” said Australian Greens lead Senate candidate for Queensland, environmental lawyer Larissa Waters.

“This sort of activity is currently illegal under our nature conservation laws and for good reason. Construction and operation impacts from hotels would devastate national parks by creating edge effects which would see the natural values of the areas degraded and native wildlife utterly disturbed.

“National parks are not income streams for financially incompetent state governments – they are vital areas for preserving what little biodiversity we have left. National parks and profits simply do not mix.

“Our National Parks desperately need more management funding and more rangers, not to be prostituted to resort tycoons to boost state government coffers.

“By all means build eco-tourism facilities just outside of national parks to encourage more people to experience the beauty of Queensland’s diverse ecosystems – but not within the park’s boundaries,” concluded Ms Waters.

The collapse of ABC Learning has presented an opportunity to reform systems of care for our youngest children, now the Federal Government must show the commitment to make it happen, according to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson on Youth, Childcare and Education, says the report of the 12-month inquiry into childcare tabled in the Senate has shown that reliance on corporate providers has not resulted in an appropriate quality of care.  ”It’s time to stop settling for a profit-driven, poor quality approach to childcare in Australia, and instead focus on creating the system that our children deserve,” Senator Hanson-Young said. ”We want to see early childhood education and care (ECEC) transformed from a costly, corporate-run afterthought into a high quality, affordable, accessible service for all.

“We need to start valuing our children more, and that has to start with the standards of early childhood education and care, which is critical for the development of our children.”
The Greens’ vision for ECEC is based around having qualified staff care for children, appropriate staff-to-child ratios (1:3 for those aged under two, and 1:4 for children aged three to five) and a system that provides the best quality care leading to the best educational outcomes.

“If we are going to achieve these things, then the Government has to use all the leverage at its disposal to reform the system – the biggest leverage it can use is funding,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“We don’t want to see another ABC Learning fiasco, so the Government needs to provide support and funding for not-for-profit and community providers to ease costs for parents and families.

“In particular, we need to find a way to link funding for providers to standards of care and educational outcomes – in other words, we need to make the Government’s money work to the advantage of our children.

“The Greens believe the Productivity Commission should be given the opportunity to review funding models so we can find that mechanism for the Government to ensure quality care that doesn’t cost parents the earth.”

“It is shocking that 2.5 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation. This risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, most of which are children, every year,” said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.

“Today is World Toilet Day, which some think is funny, but the number of deaths and suffering as a result of poor sanitation is a sobering reminder that more is needed to reduce suffering around the world.”

“Lack of proper sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of malnutrition and infection, causing diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid and worm infections that kill 5,000 children each day.”

“Clean toilets contribute to poverty eradication by protection one’s health and ability to work. Safe collection and treatment of human waste and other various wastewaters protects drinking water sources and eco-systems, creating clean and healthy living environments, particularly in urban areas,” said Senator Siewert.

“Australia’s contribution to sanitation projects in the developing world should be increased. By next year it is expected to increase to $250m, however, this is still below our fair share – Australia’s calculated fair share to sanitation in the Millennium Development Goals is estimated to be $350m.”

“The current sanitation problem in Timor-Leste illustrates this point. Diarrhoea is a leading cause of under-five child deaths in Timor-Leste, accounting for 22% of the total 5,000 children that die every year. Access to sanitation in Timor-Leste is estimated at 41% and the country is perilously short of meeting the MDG target for sanitation. The sanitation improvements that will dramatically improve child mortality and general community health in Timor-Leste are relatively cheap and easily implemented.”

The Senate yesterday passed a Greens motion recognising the importance of World Toilet Day, and calling on the government to invest in foreign aid projects aimed at improving sanitation levels.

“The Senate has backed my calls for the Australian Government to play a constructive, proactive role at the upcoming Global Framework for Action on Water and Sanitation meeting in Washington April 2010. This is the opportunity for global support of sanitation policy leadership,” concluded Senator Siewert.