Thank you to all the Greens members, volunteers and staff for keeping our movement strong and for keeping a keen eye on the horizon, planning and thinking how we can pull through this crisis to make our country stronger, more resilient and greener than ever.
By Senator Larissa Waters
Thank you to all the Greens members, volunteers and staff for keeping our movement strong and for keeping a keen eye on the horizon, planning and thinking how we can pull through this crisis to make our country stronger, more resilient and greener than ever. Your hard work, compassion and commitment gives me hope that a better future is not just possible, it’s within reach.
I am always appreciative of everyone’s hard work, but this year I am especially grateful. Like I am sure many of you feel, I am feeling a little shellshocked by the year we’ve had.
In January we were reeling from the worst summer bushfires we have ever experienced, from which many people are still recovering and dealing with the fallout.
In March we had to face the reality of the global pandemic, tuning in to late night updates from the PM, trying to unscramble the riddles of the new rules. Then we were all working from home, then out of lockdown, and now some of us are back in. Meanwhile, our Parliament has sat for just 19 days in 7 months.
We are in a health and economic crisis, and a climate emergency. We need more democracy, not less – there is so much to do – we need bolder action from our governments, not cynical lines drawn around those worthy of keeping their jobs, and those who aren’t. Or arbitrary rules about who is deserving of extra welfare support, or welfare support at all when it comes to international students and those here on temporary visas. Of course, if you’re a woman or a young person, it’s never been more clear that this government does not care about you, or your future.
The 1950s called
We’re in a global health crisis, but its broader impacts have magnified the existing inequalities in our society, including gender inequality. This year we have seen more women forced out of work and into full time child caring responsibilities, seen more women fall sick on the frontline, widened the gender pay and superannuation gaps, and caused a rise in family and domestic violence as people are forced to work from home.
Insecure work and the prospects of high unemployment rates for the next four or five years are disproportionately impacting women and threatening to unravel important progress made over recent years. From the outset of the pandemic, women were losing more jobs than men and those that hung on to work saw a greater reduction in hours.
Like I am sure many of you experienced, trying to work remotely while looking after kids, or shepherding them through e-learning is just about impossible, and we know that even in two-parent households, the bulk of caring and e-learning responsibilities are falling to women.
To make matters worse, the Prime Minister scrapped free childcare (after bringing in a free model for a short time) and also cut early childhood educators and childcare workers – an industry largely staffed by women – off JobKeeper.
It’s not a coincidence that, around the same time, the Treasurer told the women of Australia that, in order to boost the economy, they needed to have more babies. Let’s see: stripping families of accessible childcare knowing women, on average, do a majority of care work; taking financial support away from a female-dominated industry; and telling women to pop out some little ones for the good of the nation? He should have just come out and admitted the government wants its women back in the kitchen.
There are ways to fix this: we can raise minimum wages in the lowest paid industries in which, sadly, women are overrepresented; we can legislate to make sure women are paid superannuation while on parental leave. We could scrap the $450 superannuation threshold that prevents those juggling a number of casual roles from accruing super (a move recently rejected by both major parties despite being supported by many industry stakeholders).
We can strengthen the role of the government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency by extending their remit to the public sector and giving them more powers to penalise employers who fail to report on and take steps to address the gender pay gap in their workplace.
There are a lot of solutions to the economic inequality that women face and I, along with my Australian Greens colleagues, am committed to taking this fight right up to the government. The 1950s are calling; they want their government back, and I’m more than happy to oblige.
Corruption, rorts and deals for mates: follow the money
In the eyes of the Morrison government, nothing is worth doing unless one of their mates comes off a little richer.
It’s hard to believe, but not surprising, that after the summer we’ve had, the health crisis and the economic fall out, that the Morrison Government is still finding time to bend over backwards to make sure that their web of donors and lobbyists are looked after.
Janet Rice and I have spent much of the last 12 months digging into the sports rorts saga. Community sports grants have not been the only community development grants scheme that’s been rorted. It seems that the more we dig, the more we find and at this stage it looks like pretty much all government grants – meant to go to deserving organisations and projects on a needs basis, following an independent assessment process – are instead going to applicants based on whether they happen to be located in marginal seats, are electorally significant or have a link to the Liberal or National parties. Deserving eligible projects are missing out.
We got support to set up an inquiry into the sports rorts saga, but a further attempt to set up an inquiry into the administration of all government grants programs was stymied at the eleventh hour by One Nation. We’ve now seen photos of Pauline Hanson brandishing a giant cheque claiming that she secured grant funding for a project in Rockhampton. We are still waiting to find out whether the timing of that grant decision had any impact on One Nation’s decision to pull support for our inquiry, but it does appear that grants may now be being used to boost One Nation’s electoral prospects, not just the Liberals and Nationals.
We’ve just marked the one year anniversary of the Greens federal corruption watchdog bill passing the Senate. Since then, Morrison has twice gagged debate on whether the bill should be brought on for a vote in the House of Representatives. He won’t even let the House debate whether they should have a debate about how to tackle corruption.
It’s been almost two years since the Attorney General tried to deflect criticism on this issue by announcing that his government would introduce their own federal anti-corruption commission bill. We have yet to actually see this fabled bill but what details we do know are woefully inadequate for the scale of the problem.
Another big campaign that my office is running is banning corporate donations, we’ve had another year of millions of dollars of corporate donations flowing into the coffers of the major political parties. This year we saw the millions in donations from the gas industry really pay off for them – with the COVID-19 recovery commission stacked with gas executives, who then recommended to the government that we need a ‘gas-led’ recovery. Of course, the Coalition government is more than happy to oblige and the Labor party isn’t putting up much of a fight, probably because it’s also up to its eyeballs in donations from the fossil fuel industry.
In another blow to our democracy in the Senate, Labor teamed up with the Coalition to limit the number of motions that can be moved in the Senate on any given day. A motion usually includes a statement of fact and calls on the government to take a specific action, the Senate votes on each motion. The changes will mean that each Senator is only allowed to move one motion per sitting week (the current convention is one per day), limiting their effectiveness and cutting off an important tool we use to raise issues in our parliament and in the media.
Motions, although not binding on the government in any way, have been used in great effect to put pressure on the government and to force the major parties to put their policy positions on the public record. In recent years motions have helped to build pressure on the government and opposition to change their position on issues like the banking royal commission, establishment of a federal anti-corruption watchdog and the disability royal commission, to name just a few. Every sitting I have moved a motion noting the number of women that have been killed by violence since the Senate last sat and calling on the government to take action to stop this crisis. I have also used motions to force both the government and opposition to make public their position on issues like fracking, the Adani coal mine and climate change.
To make this anti-democratic move even more concerning, the government and opposition have included Orders for the Production of Documents (OPD) in the one/week rule. OPDs are basically the Senate version of a Freedom of Information request. Senators can move a motion requiring the government or a specific minister to release reports, correspondence or advice relating to any matter the government or minister may be considering. There are safeguards, like cabinet-in-confidence and commercial-in-confidence, which the government frequently abuses, but OPDs are vital to our democracy and seeking to limit the Senate’s use of them is a bad move. The federal Greens team and I will continue to advocate for other crossbench senators, government and opposition to wind back these anti-democratic changes and ensure that our Senate remains the house of multi-party oversight and review.
Sad farewells, new faces and new opportunities
This year we said thank you and farewell to (now former) Senator Richard Di Natale. Richard and I were both elected in that Green surge election back in 2010 and he quickly became a dear friend and confidant. I was honored to serve as his deputy for almost five years – he was a kind, compassionate and whip-smart leader. I wish him all the best for his next adventure.
We also heard from Rachel Siewert that she has decided to not contest the next election. Rach is a stalwart for our movement, and has been the hardest working member of parliament from any party for her 15 years as a senator. She is tenacious, determined, and such a dear friend of mine. I am sure that not only will all our Greens, and the social services and welfare advocacy groups sorely miss you, Rach, but I reckon every other senator in that chamber will too. You’re a bloody legend!
I am incredibly excited to welcome Lidia Thorpe to our federal Greens Team. Lidia is a trailblazer who is going to shake things up in Canberra – which is exactly what that place needs. Welcome to Lidia and your team!
These changes mean I have also taken on some new responsibilities – I retain my portfolio responsibilities of Democracy (now including Local Government), Women, and Mining & Resources, my previous portfolios of Tourism and Gambling are now held by Sarah Hanson-Young and Rachel Siewert respectively. I have also taken on the newly needed role of Greens Leader in the Senate, with Adam Bandt doing a stellar job leading us from the House, I am humbled by the support of my Senate colleagues to take on this position.
A sunnier note from the sunshine state
At the time of writing Queensland is just five short weeks away from a watershed election. The Queensland Greens are in prime position to not just retain the seat of Maiwar, held by the excellent Michael Berkman, but pick up the seats of South Brisbane and McConnel. In Cooper we have a golden opportunity to capitalise on the massive field campaign that was already well underway, with the incumbent government minister choosing to not recontest. And in Greenslopes we are building on years of a surging Greens vote.
Our platform in this election is bold and universal, and presents real opportunities to transform Queensland from a state that props up coal and gas companies at the expense of everyday people, to one that invests in its people first. We’ve announced publicly owned, 100 percent renewable energy, with the solar panels and wind turbines manufactured by Queenslanders, we’ve announced genuinely free public schools and free public transport, to name just a few. To pay for all of this we just need to tap into the enormous wealth that our state already creates, which is currently flowing into the bank accounts of mining and property execs.
It’s an exciting platform, and we have the biggest field campaign Queensland (and dare I say, Australia) as ever seen spreading that message directly to voters. Of course, we all know how nail bitingly close elections can be so I hope you will all join us in celebrating a win at the end of October.
Thank you again to all the people working to make this party what is – a real alternative to the status quo. Thank you to the volunteers who put in hundreds of unpaid hours on our Australian Greens and state Greens management and leadership committees. Thank you to my wonderful staff Asia, Katinka, Jess, Carolina, Justine, Hira and Marianne, and all the staff in our MPs offices – we couldn’t do this without you.