Tony Abbott's decision to rule out a conscience vote for Coalition members on marriage equality again demonstrates he's out of touch with what most Australians want, the Australian Greens said today.

"Numerous surveys show Australians want their MPs to have a conscience vote on same-sex marriages," Greens' marriage equality spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

"Mr Abbott should stop swimming against the tide of public opinion and let his Coalition MPs have a free vote when the legislation is presented in parliament next year.

Audio from Sarah's doors appearance in the Senate. She spoke about keeping asylum seeker numbers in perspective and a great year for the Australian Greens.

The "year of decision and delivery" is quickly coming to an end and the Prime Minister is determined to get the government's mining tax passed through the House of Representative this week before the summer break of Parliament. The Senate would then deal with the legislation when Parliament resumes in 2012.

The "year of decision and delivery" is quickly coming to an end and the Prime Minister is determined to get the government's mining tax passed through the House of Representative this week before the summer break of Parliament. The Senate would then deal with the legislation when Parliament resumes in 2012.

The Australian Greens have backed the Australian Conservation Foundation's suggestion for an independent scientific panel to scrutinise the figures used in the Murray Darling Basin Authority's forthcoming draft plan.

"We are very concerned to learn from news reports that the draft plan will recommend 2,800 gigalitres be allocated to the environment each year," Greens' water and Murray Darling spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

The Australian Greens at their national conference on Sunday responded to the plight of Tibet by passing a resolution that recognised self-determination for Tibetan peoples and condemned the ongoing repression of Tibetans by the Chinese government.

"The old parties may go on ignoring Tibetan people, but the Greens are again using their voices to highlight Tibetan peoples' rights to their traditional homelands and to spiritual and political expression," Greens' spokesperson for Tibet, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

The Australian Greens agree with professional bodies the Law Council of Australia, Law Institute of Victoria and Victoria Legal Aid which have all expressed concern proposed amendments to the Migration Act.

"We're concerned by the retrospective nature of the amendments," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

"This bill will not catch the kingpins who are organizing the people smuggling syndicates, rather it's about the pretence of government taking action.

Sarah was a guest speaker at the Australian Water Assocation's 2nd annual national water leadership summit in Canberra this morning, 03/11/11.

She explained what the Greens are doing to ensure the future of water supplies in Australia, particularly the Murray-Darling basin system.

The Australian Greens say they are disappointed but not surprised that Labor and the Coalition united to vote down a motion about deteriorating human rights conditions in Tibet.

"Since March this year at least four monks and one nun have taken their lives by self-immolation in acts of protest to highlight abuses against Tibetan people," Greens' Tibet spokesperson, Sen. Hanson-Young, said today.

"Our Senate motion urged the Australian government to raise these matters with its Chinese counterpart, but the old parties declined to back it.