2014-11-09
We’re just one year into the Abbott administration and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Australians were sold a bait-and-switch, all surprises, failure of a Coalition government.
By Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
We’re just one year into the Abbott administration and it’s becoming increasingly clear that Australians were sold a bait-and-switch, all surprises, failure of a Coalition government.
In a year of unprecedented cruelty towards refugees, the Greens are continuing to stand up and fight for those who are fleeing from war and terror. In a win for ‘the goodies’, the Greens moved a successful disallowance motion against Abbott’s cruel Temporary Protection Visas that would have left thousands of refugees separated from their families and living a life in limbo.
The brutality and secrecy that underpins the Coalition’s refugee policies have been put under a microscope by multiple Senate inquiries led by the Greens this year. Shocking evidence given to a Greens inquiry into the murder of Reza Barati on Manus Island has shown that the days of offshore detention are numbered.
On another front, and in a great leap forwards in the fight to end discrimination, a cross-party marriage equality group was established in late 2013. Equality-minded members of the Labor, Liberal and Greens parties vowed to do everything that they can to get this essential reform across the line.
To that end, the Greens have introduced a bill into the Parliament that would see the marriages of same-sex couples who wed overseas recognised here in Australia. This is a common sense step along the road to equality and we hope to see members of all parties coming together to support this bill.
Families struggling with the increasing cost of living were given a break when the Greens successfully blocked the Abbott government’s plans to strip $230m out of childcare subsidies this year. By reaching into the pockets of mums and dads around the country, the Coalition was going to make it even harder for those families who are already struggling to afford high quality childcare. It was only by using our numbers in the Senate that the Greens were able to make sure that that didn’t happen.
All in all, it’s been a tough year for many Australians, but the Greens are standing as the last line of defence for those who the Abbott government has deserted. ‘Onward and upward for 2015’ I say, and let’s make sure the Abbott government’s first term in office is also its last.