The Australian Greens today launched a $15 million plan in Adelaide to help wildlife carers meet the costs of providing quality care for sick and injured native animals.

"Wildlife carers travel great distances to respond to calls for help for injured animals and give countless hours of care. Orphaned joeys or birds, for example, often involve around the clock monitoring and feeding," Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson, said.

The Greens today welcomed the Government's progress with bilateral negotiations with Indonesia to improve search and rescue operations in our region, but called on the Government to clarify protocols around how and when Australia will take responsibility for rescued asylum seekers.

The Australian Greens today expressed their sorrow at the recent loss of lives and called for a thorough investigation into improving safety at sea practices and clarifying rescue obligations in law.

"There must be an urgent investigation into the continued delays in responding to distress calls from asylum seeker boats" said Greens' spokesperson for immigration Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in Adelaide today.

The Australian Greens have called on the government to make reparations to Indonesian children wrongly imprisoned as adults and bring in urgent legislative safeguards to stop such injustices happening again, after Senator Hanson-Young participated in the Detention of Indonesian Minors in Australia Senate inquiry in Canberra today.

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Subjects: mining, increasing the humanitarian intake, health of asylum seekers in detention, environmental protections, Tony Abbott

The Greens have today announced they will move for a Senate inquiry into the Murray Darling Basin Authority's draft plan when Parliament resumes next week so parliamentarians can scrutinise what is being proposed.

"We want an answer to the basic question why did the MDBA choose 2,750 GL when the science says the river system needs at least 4,000 GL," Greens' water spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"The basin authority has yet to justify that figure.

The Australian Greens have today called on the Gillard government to release legal advice on whether the Murray Darling Basin Authority's draft plan complies with the Commonwealth Water Act.

"As the MDBA head today confirmed in a Senate estimates committee hearing that legal advice was done, now is the time for the government to let Australians see it," Greens' water spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"They clearly have the legal advice on the draft plan, despite last week declining to release it when I questioned the government about its existence.

The Gillard government should heed the advice of the Wentworth Group's report into the Murray Darling Basin Authority's draft plan and commit to having the flawed science corrected. The government must ensure the parliament is given a legal and credible plan that will deliver a healthy, working river and is environmentally sound, the Australian Greens said today.

On Monday 28 November the Murray Darling Basin Authority released a Draft Plan for winding back the over-allocation of water and restoring precious ecosystems so they can keep sustaining Australia. But the Draft Plan is a huge disappointment - it won't return enough water to save the system which means it risks wasting nearly $10 billion of public funds.

The 20-week community consultation process will go until April 2012.

You can have your say during the MDBA consultation.