2021-10-22
Climate delay, nuclear submarines, the ongoing pandemic: it feels like a year’s worth of terrible events have happened in the past month. But as Adam Bandt explains, all is not lost.
By Adam Bandt
The climate crisis has finally become the urgent and unavoidable news story that it is, and the climate deniers in government are feeling the pressure. But instead of acting, they’re pretending to argue over a terrible target.
Delay is the new denial. 2030 is the climate’s deadline, and net zero by 2050 is way too late. The Coalition’s current target is 26% reduction by 2030, which the BOM says aligns with 3–4 degrees warming – and Labor has no 2030 target at all. It’s an unconscionable commitment to climate catastrophe.
But Greens, all is not lost.
As Glasgow draws closer, it becomes clearer by the day how out of step this government is with the will of the people. Together, we can take on this corrupt government and put the Greens in balance of power, which will force the next government to go further and faster on climate change and build a secure future for all of us.
One million homes
Senator Mehreen Faruqi and I were thrilled to launch the Greens’ election housing plan this week, which will end homelessness in Australia and fix housing affordability by building one million homes over 20 years.
Housing is cooked in this country: from rental and mortgage stress and soaring house prices forced up by property tycoons to the seemingly endless wait for public housing, too many people are worried about how they’ll keep a roof over their heads.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In balance of power we’ll push the government to tax the billionaires and invest in a real big build of publicly-owned housing with the following streams:
1. For renters, would-be first-home buyers and others locked out of the market, we’ll build homes you can buy, in suburbs you want to live in, that you can buy for $300,000. These sustainable, high-quality, beautiful homes will help you stop pouring rent money down the drain and invest in something that’s yours.
2. For renters, we’ll build publicly-owned rental properties in high demand suburbs and guarantee that your rent will be the lower of 25% of your income or market rate. This stream will assist frontline and essential workers, and others priced out of their area to live closer to their work or community.
3. For the people who have been let down by the public housing waiting list, we’ll build 750,000 beautiful public homes across the country. This build will end homelessness, provide every person with the security and dignity of a place to call home, and ensure nobody falls between the cracks in times of financial hardship or crisis.
Dorinda Cox enters the Senate
The phenomenal Dorinda Cox joined us in parliament for the first time this week, making her first speech to the Senate in Noongar language.
Dorinda is Western Australia’s first female Aboriginal senator and brings with her a wealth of policy and advocacy experience in the areas of domestic violence, child protection and Aboriginal Justice.
As well as taking on the big mining corporations in WA, Dorinda used her first speech to call for empowered First Nations leadership against widespread failings of the justice system for Aboriginal people, including preventable and tragic deaths in custody, ‘raise the age’ laws and the inappropriate application of child protection laws against First Nations parents.
“This is the collective blood memory of our convict nation,” she said in the Senate on Tuesday, “where some of our greatest investments are still in police and prisons.”
Welcome, Dorinda. We are so thrilled to have you with us in Parliament.
Hero image: Pexels.