Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne, welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement of a September 14 election, calling for a public conversation about what kind of country we want to live in and the policies needed to get there. Senator Milne also called for fixed three year terms.
"The Greens will continue to stand up for a more caring society, and for the environment, against the big business lobby and the old parties leading us further and further down the path to a dog-eat-dog world," said Senator Milne.
"All Australians know the election date, and this is a great opportunity for Australians to really get out there and tell the political parties what sort of country we want.
"From the Greens' point of view, we will be the party talking about protecting the environment, looking after the Great Barrier Reef, taking on the coal industry and standing up to the resource based industries to protect places like James Price Point, the Tarkine in Tasmania, and of course threatened species across the country that are too precious to lose.
"We will be working to support innovation and education, to help people out of poverty by lifting Newstart $50 a week, and to build on the emissions trading scheme and the $10 billion renewable energy fund we delivered this term with stronger action to cut the pollution that is driving global warming.
"Thanks to 1.6 million Australians putting us into balance of power in both houses of parliament, we have driven and delivered the biggest social, environmental and economic reform in Australia for decades - a reform praised by the International Energy Agency as a template for other countries - in the Clean Energy Package. We will work hard to build on this reform to drive more jobs and innovation across the economy.
"I hope we can also use the unusual situation of having a date so far out ahead of the polls to discuss the prospect of fixed three year election terms.
"Wouldn't that be a great thing for the Australian people so that we didn't have all the game playing that has gone on in the past?"
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