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Senator Scott Ludlam
Radioactive Waste Dump: Territory still the target
The Government has foreshadowed the introduction of legislation to repeal the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act, but left Muckaty Station outside Tenant Creek as the most likely target for the national radioactive waste dump.
"If Resources Minister Martin Ferguson is serious when he says, ‘there is no pre-determined site outcome' and that he is putting in place proper processes for site selection, then he should scrap Muckaty and start from scratch, then we've got half a chance of an honest process," said Greens spokesperson on nuclear issues Senator Scott Ludlam.
"The nomination of Muckaty Station as a site for the dump was only possible under the Radioactive Waste Management Amendment Act (2006) - which the ALP opposed, and described as ‘a major attack on the rights of Traditional Owners and an abuse of power?'
Terrorism white paper: shiny new language, same old laws
The Australian Greens say the Government's long awaited counter-terrorism White Paper cements the creeping expansion of domestic security agencies.
"It will be essential that key aspects of this package are scrutinised by the Parliament and its committees, and we urge the Government to immediately move ahead with the establishment of the National Security Legislation Monitor, which is delayed again in the House of Representatives," said Australian Greens law and justice spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam.
Taking Australia to war: who should decide?
An informal hearing is being held in Canberra on Friday to debate a long-standing proposal that would require parliamentary approval to send Australian troops to war.
The so-called 'War Powers' Bill is a decades-old piece of unfinished business, introduced by the Australian Democrats in the 1980s and carried forward by the Australian Greens.
The bill is the subject of a committee inquiry by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade which decided against holding a public hearing into the bill.
"I've taken the unusual step of convening a hearing in Parliament House, with or without the major parties," said Senator Scott Ludlam who re-introduced the bill in 2008.
"The evidence we take from an impressive witness line-up will be submitted to the committee and placed in the public domain to further the debate.
Uranium contamination from Kakadu mine 5400 times background
Environmental regulators for the office of the Supervising Scientist admitted to a Senate Estimates committee today that water with uranium concentrations 5400 times background and a cocktail of other radionuclides are seeping from beneath the tailings dam at the Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu National Park.
The Office of the Supervising Scientist acknowledged to Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam that the contamination was occurring, and said that the estimated amount of 100,000 litres per day was based on modelling and not measurement.
"The biggest surprise is that despite knowing about this leakage for years, the regulators don't know how much is seeping, where it is going, or how highly contaminated it is. The regulator suggested that directly sampling this contaminated water would be 'impractical.' I suggest that it is now essential."
Greens welcome landmark iiNet ruling backing ISPs
The Australian Greens welcome today's Federal Court decision in favour of Internet Service Providers in the landmark iiNet case.
The case brought by the Australian film and television industry had the potential to make Australian ISPs responsible for monitoring all web traffic on their servers.
"Clearly this would have placed an intolerable onus on ISPs to take over surveillance of every packet passing over their network and assess it according to the demands of overseas media corporations," said Greens spokesperson for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Scott Ludlam.
"The Federal Court has made an important determination which will have far reaching impacts at home and overseas," Senator Ludlam said.
Greens support The Great Australian Internet Blackout against net censorship
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam is supporting over 500 websites that will mark this Australia Day by fading to black in protest against the Federal Government's proposed internet filter.
"I am proud to be part of this week-long national action - The Great Australian Internet Blackout," said Australian Greens spokesperson for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Scott Ludlam.
"The government's plan will not protect children, will do nothing to crack down on criminal activity online, and sets a dangerous precedent of centralised net censorship," Senator Ludlam said.
"Communications Minister Stephen Conroy should start paying attention to the almost universal condemnation of this scheme and pursue alternatives rather than pushing ahead with the mandatory filter."
Greens call for release of Australian climate campaigner in Denmark
The Greens are calling for the immediate release of Natasha Verco, who has been imprisoned in Denmark since her arrest during the COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen three weeks ago.
"The use of heavy handed and disproportionate tactics like preemptive arrest of peaceful demonstrators was a grim counterpoint to the total failure of Governments to come up with a just and effective response to climate change," said Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.
"Natasha Verco is an Australian whose record of work for climate justice speaks for itself. She was arrested, along with many others, for the crime of helping organise a peaceful demonstration in Copenhagen. She has been incarcerated ever since.
NT takes lead on Container Deposit Scheme and plastic bag ban
The Australian Greens welcome the Northern Territory Government's announcement that it will ban plastic shopping bags and move to establish a container deposit scheme.
"This is great news for the Territory and for the environment," Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said today.
"With the Commonwealth failing to take the lead on a national scheme, it falls to the states and territories to show why Peter Garrett is wrong for putting off such practical, widely supported measures.
Greens challenge ANSTO to release accident history at Lucas Heights facility
A statement by ANSTO has attempted to downplay a series of accidents and mishaps at the Lucas Heights plant exposed by the Greens in senate estimates hearings this morning.
"If ANSTO believes its record is clean, it should make public the incident reports rather than waiting for the issues to be raised in Senate committees," said Greens spokesperson on nuclear issues, Senator Scott Ludlam.
"The ANSTO statement confuses the issue by referring to imaginary claims of a 'spill' and seeks to downplay an incident by noting, "The quantity of medical isotope in the vial was 1/10 of a teaspoon".
"The quantity of material exposed is irrelevant: as ANSTO well knows, it is the level of radioactivity of a given sample that matters, not how many teaspoons may have been dropped.
Rudd terrorism law reform no better than Howard’s: Witnesses
At a hearing into an Australian Greens’ Bill to repeal aspects of John Howard’s terrorism laws in Sydney today, witnesses have repeatedly warned against the Rudd Government’s proposed approach to terrorism law reform.
Representatives of the Australian Press Council, Law Council and human rights lawyers have told the Senate Inquiry that they prefer the Greens’ Bill rather than the Federal Government’s proposals for terrorism law reform.
“Highly credible witnesses today are saying that they prefer the Greens’ Bill,” Greens’ Legal Affairs Spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said.
