Opinion Editorials

Occasionally, the Senators and their staff will write articles, letters and other written pieces for publications around Australia and the world. You can read some of them here.

It's Time To Get Serious on Paid Parental Leave

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Friday 12th March 2010, 5:08pm

THE Federal Government's 18-week paid parental scheme is not a serious enough response to the needs of families.


They know it, we know it, and the public certainly knows it.


What's not clear is whether the government is so wedded to a weak proposal that it is willing to see this vital reform go down just so it can have another election issue to fight on.

Racism does exist in Australia

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Thursday 7th January 2010, 12:06pm

This week has seen tensions between Australia and India escalate, following yet another attack on an international student. Indian authorities have issued a travel warning about increased violence in Melbourne. The Australian Government is in damage control.


While police investigations into the fatal attack of accounting graduate Nitin Garg in Melbourne and the discovery of the body of an unidentified Indian student in NSW are ongoing, the motives behind these attacks remain unclear.


What is certain however is that there is growing disquiet about the way our international guests have been treated. Yet, our Deputy PM, and the acting Premier of Victoria have been quick to dismiss the possibility that racism may have been a factor in why these young people were targeted, attacked and killed.


While it's too soon to determine exactly what happened, to simply rule out the possibility that racism was involved is neither good leadership nor smart diplomacy in an environment of increased violence.


Christmas Island Never Worked, Kevin - It's Time To Get Real

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Wednesday 21st October 2009, 3:20pm

What would you do if you had fled halfway across the world to save your life, and ended up in a hot, urine-smelling demountable prison building, surrounded by security guards?

What if you didn't speak the language and your jailers couldn't be bothered organising an interpreter, leaving you effectively mute?
For a Somalian woman at Christmas Island, this isn't a hypothetical. This is real life.

It's Time For Prime Minister Kevin Rudd To Say "I Do" To Marriage Equality

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Thursday 8th October 2009, 11:18am

Most Australians have no objection to equal marriage. They recognise that same-sex relationships should have the same legal and social recognition as opposite-sex relationships and this means the right to marry. In fact, according to a Galaxy poll earlier this year, three in five Australians support the right of same-sex couples to marry, with 60 per cent arguing that Australian law should recognise same-sex marriages that are legal in other countries.

Unfortunately, our Parliament is lagging behind and our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is still clinging to the stale mantra of his predecessor, that marriage "is between a man and a woman."

This 1950s thinking seems to be based on the tired argument that marriage is somehow weakened if it's extended to same-sex partnerships. But surely the institution of marriage is strengthened by greater inclusion, not exclusion? Certainly that's the experience overseas, where same-sex marriage has been legislated for without the sky falling in.

Young People's Rights Across State Borders

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Wednesday 30th September 2009, 12:10pm

Sarah Hanson-Young, Green Senator for South Australia
Greens spokesperson for Youth and Human Rights

The Rann Government's decision to fund a replacement facility for the Magill Youth Training Centre is a victory for common sense and the power of public pressure to force change.

But while those of us who have been campaigning on this issue should savour the government's backdown, it is important to remember that we have only won the first round in what shapes as a long term fight to improve justice for young people - not just in South Australia but the nation as a whole.

State Governments of various political hues have been on notice for many years that Magill was not an acceptable home for young offenders - rather it was a dangerous and dated structure that failed to meet basic international standards.

Adelaide Advertiser EducationNow lift-out: Uncertainty a stress for foreign students

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Tuesday 11th August 2009, 2:35pm

As someone who moved to Adelaide for university, I agree that this city has the potential to be the educational hub of Australia, for both domestic and international students. It has three great universities, is easy to get around, and boasts an affordable cost of living. Adelaide is already attracting some numbers of students from overseas, but if we want to see more choosing to come here for a positive study experience, we have to make sure that we get things right in our international education sector. Right now, it needs a good clean-up.

Educating international students is our third-biggest export at $15 billion per year. In 2008, the number of international students in Australia passed the half-million mark – a jump of 21 per cent in a year - with about 90,000 of these hailing from India.

While the Government has been happy to see the dollars roll in from international students, it’s turned a blind eye to what’s been going on in parts of the sector for some time. A lack of compliance with regulations and government scrutiny has led to an embarrassing groundswell of scams, rip-offs and exploitation – although it wasn’t until the violent attacks on international students in Melbourne and Sydney started hitting the front pages of Australian and Indian newspapers in mid-May that the Government seemed to sit up and take notice.

By that stage, the Greens had already called for a Senate Inquiry into the welfare of international students, which I successfully established on June 16. As a result, the Senate’s Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee will look at issues including, but not limited to, student safety, accommodation, social inclusion, visa requirements, student support and advocacy, employment rights, and quality benchmarks and controls in the international education sector.

Sun Herald - By Invitation Only: Parents want help, not hot air

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Sunday 22nd March 2009, 9:30am

TODAY is Mother's Day in the United Kingdom. As working mums there take time out for a relaxing Sunday morning with their children, they do so knowing their Government recognises mothers' roles in the workforce and the value of paid parental leave.

In Britain, all female employees can expect 39 weeks' paid leave upon the birth of a child. No such luck here in Australia. Here, paid parental leave is guaranteed only to those in the public service, or who are employed by a private employer visionary enough to provide such a scheme.

Australia remains one of only two OECD countries without a government-funded paid parental leave scheme enshrined in federal law. It's a dishonourable distinction we share with the United States. Having said that, a number of US states provide a paid leave scheme, meaning 50 per cent of American women are covered.

Adelaide Advertiser: Land of Storm Boy must not be sacrificed

Opinion Editorial | Spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young
Tuesday 23rd September 2008, 11:08am

Minister for Water Penny Wong says there are no easy options, only hard choices when it comes to the crisis currently facing South Australia’s Storm Boy country.

But one of the options tabled by the Minister’s own Department in a submission to the ongoing Senate Inquiry I established into Water Management in the Lower Lakes and Coorong could carry with it costs too heavy to bear.