Australian Greens

Principles

The Australian Greens believe that:

1. Oil depletion and climate change make Australia’s present way of life in car-dependent cities and regions unsustainable; there is an urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
2. Human settlements must be designed and built to minimise environmental harm and maximise social well-being.
3. Australia’s transport system must function on principles of ecological sustainability, equity of access, and public ownership of critical public transport infrastructure.
4. Environmental and social sustainability must be the fundamental cornerstones of transport planning.
5. A high quality national rail network is essential to a modern economy.

Aims

Sustainable Planning

The Australian Greens want:

6. Planning that is based on sustainable urban design principles, minimises urban sprawl and promotes development in mixed-use compact settlements.
7. Development that is affordable, ecologically sound, water and energy efficient, public transport friendly, and enables community interaction. A nationally agreed sustainability charter to be agreed across all industry sectors.
8. Improved integration of planning and transport.
9. Ecological sustainability and contribution to a safe climate as funding criteria for all federal development and infrastructure programs.
10. A national report card for development targets and building standards to promote Australia's progress towards its ecological sustainability goals.
11. A Sustainability Fund to deliver funding to states, local governments and community organisations to assist with implementing sustainability initiatives.
12. National urban planning standards that provide for the location of high density housing and commercial buildings close to high capacity public transport, and the clustering of medium-density housing, community facilities and small-scale businesses around neighbourhood shopping centres.

Transport

The Australian Greens want:

13. Increased opportunities for the community to participate in and guide transport planning.
14. Public transport services to be provided under community service obligations.
15. Public transport services that are competitive with private motor vehicles – fast, frequent, reliable, affordable, accessible and safe.
16. Major airports located to minimise social and environmental impacts.
17. More high quality footpaths, bike paths and lanes to encourage walking, cycling and public transport use.
18. Better transport services to, within and between rural and regional areas.
19. Improved transport services for people with special needs.
20. A national plan for passenger and freight transport which is ecologically, socially and economically sustainable and outlines a transition to net zero carbon transport. 
21. To eliminate dangerous level crossings in urban areas, and ensure the presence of signals on all crossings in rural and regional parts of the national rail network.
22. Adopted and enforceable world’s best practice fuel efficiency standards and mandatory fuel efficiency labelling of new petrol and diesel cars.
23. Greater research and development in net zero carbon fuels and propulsion systems for transport.
24. A national program of planned investment to upgrade rail corridors between major cities and regional centres, to support fast and efficient freight and passenger services, including east coast high speed rail.
25. Where there is government ownership, funding or support for construction or maintenance of ports, management in the public interest to maximise social and ecological outcomes.