You are hereSenator Christine Milne / Senator Christine Milne
Senator Christine Milne
ABC journalists should ignore Chair Newman's anti-science nonsense
The Australian Greens today urged ABC journalists to ignore the anti-science nonsense peddled by the Chair of their board and instead increase their strong coverage of climate change.
ABC Board Chair, Maurice Newman, today told senior ABC staff that climate change was an "emotional issue" and that journalists were too "intolerant" of climate sceptics.
"I trust that ABC journalists will not be cowed by the anti-science speech delivered by the Chair of their board," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.
"Maurice Newman has no expertise in climate science and his interference in the independence of his journalists is unwelcome.
Minister Wong must clarify: Is it already too late to get a Green Loan?
The Greens are today calling on the new Minister responsible for Green Loans, Minister Wong, to immediately clarify whether or not it is already too late for Australian householders to get a Green Loan.
With a huge number of householders still awaiting the paperwork needed to secure a loan, lending institutions across the country have already stopped processing loans, well ahead of the public March 22 deadline for loans to end.
"I've received a flood of calls and emails from both householders and assessors deeply troubled and frustrated by the confusion surrounding the remnants of the Green Loans debacle," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.
Greens will move in Senate to ban triazines
The Australian Greens will move in the Senate to ban the use of triazines until the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) can demonstrate that they are safe to use.
The consistent failure of successive Tasmanian governments over 20 years to deal with the human health and environmental impacts of triazine contamination means it is time for the federal government to step in and require the Tasmanian government to conduct rigorous analysis to determine water quality in every catchment.
"Triazines are banned throughout Europe because of their impact on public health and the environment, yet they are still allowed to be used in Australia," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.
Garrett in damage control over Green Loans
Peter Garrett's announcement this morning of an external audit into the Green Loans Scheme is a thinly disguised move to take pressure off his department during Senate Estimates hearings today and avert the threat of an Auditor General's investigation.
"After pretending for months that nothing was wrong, Minister Garrett is now in damage control over the Green Loans debacle," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.
"Minister Garrett's office has been inundated with complaints about this scheme for months, but it is only under the shadow of a prospective Auditor General's investigation and Senate Estimates hearings that the Minister has finally engaged.
Milne refers Green Loans debacle to Auditor General
The Greens have today written to the Auditor General asking for an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the gross mismanagement of the Green Loans Scheme by Minister Peter Garrett and the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
14 days until CPRS returns; Government not attempting to negotiate passage
With only 14 days until the government's fatally flawed emissions trading scheme returns to the parliament, neither the Prime Minister nor the Minister for Climate Change have made any attempt to secure the bills' passage through the Senate.
"If Mr Rudd and Minister Wong have any real intention to pass an emissions trading scheme bill in a fortnight's time, they had better get cracking negotiating its passage," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.
"With no prospect of getting Mr Abbott's support, the government must either work with the Greens or acknowledge that bringing the legislation back a third time is purely a political stunt.
"Since the collapse of the bills a second time in December, we have written twice inviting the government to negotiate around our proposed amendments.
"Minister Wong, however, apparently prefers to misrepresent the Greens' position on negotiations than engage in constructive negotiations.
Meaningless Copenhagen declaration highlights global inaction
The superficial last-minute statement agreed by leaders at the Copenhagen conference, with no substantive progress made on any of the critical issues, highlights the weak promises of action from the developed world - targets which cannot deliver the 2C goal.
Civil society must now mobilise to drive leaders towards meaningful emissions targets and financing commitments if a substantive deal is to be reached in the next 12 months.
"The near collapse of these talks is thanks to the complete failure of developed world leaders, including Mr Rudd, to understand the depth of global commitment to real action on the climate crisis," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said from Copenhagen.
"The rich world demanded compromises from the developing world but offered none itself.
"Kevin Rudd, Barack Obama and other leaders completely misread the commitment of the developing world to the Kyoto Protocol structures and to the serious emissions reduction targets needed to deliver a safe climate.
Global Greens call for honest, scientifically sound climate agreement
As the Copenhagen COP enters its second week, the Global Greens today called for an honest climate agreement, based on science not tricky accounting.
The Global Greens are concerned that rich nations are building loopholes into the agreement to give the appearance of strong targets without the reality.
Land-use and forestry in particular are being used as let-out clauses to avoid actual emission reductions, according to the Global Greens Coordination, which includes representatives from Asia Pacific, African, American and European Green parties.
Tackling climate change is crucial for a sustainable future for people and the environment. The Global Greens therefore call on the world's leaders to agree on in the next five crucial days:
1. Targets to limit global warming to 2 degrees C or less.
NASA's James Hansen backs Greens' position: Better no deal than a bad deal
NASA's James Hansen, often known as the Godfather of climate science, has backed the position taken by the Greens - that it is better to have no deal in the short term than to lock in a deal which locks in failure.
Hansen has told The Guardian newspaper in London that:
"I would rather it not happen if people accept that as being the right track because it's a disaster track... The whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation."
"This is the informed and principled approach which the Greens have taken to the Rudd Government's failure of an emissions trading scheme," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.
Legal advice show billions more could flow to big polluters
The Greens today released legal advice from barristers Brian Walters SC (Melbourne) and Matthew Baird (Sydney) confirming that any attempt to strengthen pollution reduction targets after the emissions trading scheme (ETS) legislation is passed could trigger a constitutional requirement for more multi-billion dollar compensation to be paid.
"The Rudd Government's targets have failure written all over them. Yet the ETS legislation will lock them in until 2020 since any increase will trigger compensation claims worth billions of dollars," Australian Greens Leader, Senator Bob Brown said.
The barristers advise that:
"once the CPRS Bill is passed, if a Government later seeks to implement more progressive emissions reductions targets, the Commonwealth will be exposed to claims under the Australian Constitution from polluters for substantial additional compensation, possibly in the order of billions of dollars."
"This puts paid to the flimsy notion that we can pass this failure of a scheme now and easily improve it down the track," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.
