The Greens have asked the Auditor-General to investigate the approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine in Western Australia by former federal environment minister Melissa Price, after a damning ABC report this week showed a deeply flawed approval process.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young wrote to the Auditor-General Grant Hehir on Thursday and requested his office consider the matter (letter attached).

Reforms to journalist and whistle-blower protections announced by the Federal Government today do not go far enough to protect journalists from raids on their homes or workplaces, the Greens say. 

Chair of the Senate’s Inquiry into Press Freedoms, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

Greens Spokesperson for Water and the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said today’s evaluation report by the Murray-Daring Basin Authority shows climate change and corporate greed are the biggest threats to Australia’s biggest river system.

“Today’s report highlights what the Greens have been saying all along, the climate crisis is plunging the Basin into hotter and drier conditions year after year, meaning water for the environment is crucial to survival of the Murray-Darling,” Senator Hanson-Young said. 

The Senate has today backed a Greens motion calling on the Government to implement Australian content quotas for online video streaming subscription services.  

Greens Spokesperson for the Arts, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“Today, the senate stood up for Aussie screen and Aussie kids by calling on the Government to implement Australian content quotas for big streaming services.

Greens Spokesperson for Media and Communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Government’s indication that they will introduce legislation to enact the News Media Bargaining Code.

The Australian Greens have warned that the government’s climate inaction is pouring fuel on fires incinerating our country’s iconic animals, landscapes, and flora, amid news that tens of thousands of koalas died during last season’s bushfires, and as an uncontrolled bushfire tears through an untouched world heritage rainforest. 

Greens Environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will this week move a ‘Save the Koala Bill’ to protect the habitat of Australia’s most iconic tree-hugger, in a bid to stave off extinction.

The Australian Greens responded to the International Union for Conservation of Nature declaring climate change the top threat to natural World Heritage sites, including the Great Barrier Reef, which has been assessed as having a “critical” outlook for the first time:

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“Where is the Environment Minister? At this rate our natural World Heritage Sites will soon be gone and with them biodiversity and wildlife and our tourism industry. This will be the Morrison Government’s legacy.

The Morrison Government and One Nation have teamed up to vote against a moratorium on the clearing of koala habitat in the Senate today.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who moved the motion for the moratorium said:

“The Morrison Government and One Nation have disgracefully voted against protecting the koala today.  

“If habitat loss does not stop, koalas will soon be extinct.

“But clearly the profits of the Morrison Government’s mining and developer mates are more important than saving our national treasure.

The Morrison Government’s new environment-wrecking laws do not have enough support to pass the parliament the Senate Inquiry report into the legislation released this afternoon shows.

The Greens, Labor and crossbench senators Patrick, Lambie and Griff all declared their opposition to the Bill leaving just the Morrison Government and One Nation in support.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Morrison Government’s environment-wrecking laws are dead in the water. 

Greens Media and Communications Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“We have seen two positive steps forward on media reform from the Government today; the announcement that there will be further investment in public interest journalism through the establishment of the PING Trust and
the announcement that the Government is intending to introduce Australian content obligations for online video streaming services.