The Greens have slammed the Treasurer for forgetting the Arts and Entertainment Industry in the Federal Budget, an oversight that will cost more jobs and make recovery even harder.  

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

“The Arts and Entertainment Industry was one of the first to be hit by social distancing restrictions, it has suffered enormously throughout the lockdown and will be one of the last to recover.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has serious questions to answer about the influence mining giant Rio Tinto has had on the Morrison Government’s proposed environmental law reforms, the Greens say. 

The Morrison Government’s announcement today of $61.7m to ‘boost local tourism and preserve our environment’ is a drop in the ocean of what’s needed for a green recovery, the Greens say.

The Morrison Government’s changes to local content rules is a missed opportunity to support Australian stories and local jobs, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Communications, Media and Arts, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Government has failed to deliver real reform today and has let the global steaming giants off the hook. This is a decision that if not corrected will cost local jobs and undermine Australia’s creative and cultural heritage.

Greens Spokesperson for Communications and Media Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Government’s announcement of $5 million in funding to save newswire service AAP.
Senator Hanson-Young said:

“Earlier this week, I called on the Government to ensure the survival of AAP as they consider options for protecting public interest journalism through the ACCC News Media Code. I am glad that after months of uncertainty, the Government has finally come to the table with the support AAP needs.”

The Greens are calling on the Labor Leader in the Senate, Penny Wong to declare where her party stands on the proposed Nuclear Waste Dump in SA, after a clear division within the Labor Party was revealed in a Senate Inquiry Report released late yesterday.

NSW Labor Senator Jenny McAllister delivered a dissenting report, independent of her Labor colleagues including SA Senator Alex Gallacher who supports the majority report that SA should be a dumping ground for nuclear waste.

The Greens strongly oppose the bill to establish a nuclear waste dump at Kimba.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia said:

“The Senate Inquiry showed that this is a highly flawed bill. There are deep concerns that this bill blatantly seeks to prevent any right to judicial review of this process and sets in stone Kimba as the dump site against strong community opposition.”

The Greens have today said the Morrison Government’s Media Code plan is incomplete, calling on the government to include the public broadcasters in the Mandatory Code, ensure the survival of the AAP newswire and protect smaller players. 

Australian Greens Spokesperson for Communications and Media Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has said any Code must protect public broadcasting and public interest journalism.

Today’s report showing two trillion litres of water is missing from the Murray-Darling Basin shows the Liberal-National Government has mismanaged the River and set it on a trajectory to a slow trickle and ultimately death, the Greens say.

Greens Water Spokesperson and Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The report by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists today is devastating.

“Two trillion litres of water is missing. Why? Because of theft, corruption, corporate greed, floodplain harvesting, mismanagement and lack of action on climate change.