Annual Report 2024

2024-10-04

By Mehreen Faruqi
Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens & Senator for New South Wales

YEAR IN REVIEW

This past year has been one of immense grief and anger. Not a day has gone by where my thoughts have not been with Palestinians, who have been subject to Israel’s genocide now for almost a full year, following decades of violence and occupation.

In the past year, it is estimated that Israel has slaughtered at least 40,000 Palestinians and injured over 90,000. Nothing has been spared, as the Israeli government has targeted refugee camps, schools, hospitals, humanitarian infrastructure, universities, and places of worship.

At the same time, I have never seen such strong community support and action for a free Palestine. Every week for the past year, people have flooded the streets to protest and demand action to end the genocide and end the occupation.

Our Greens community has given me hope, as our numbers have swelled with supporters who refuse to stay silent in the face of genocide and war crimes. Meanwhile, the Labor government refuses to take action, and has done nothing beyond hollow words and hand wringing. They have refused to impose sanctions, refused to expel the Israeli ambassador, and refused to cut military ties with Israel.

I have no doubt that the Labor government will pay for their complicity and their failure to act at the next election. The Greens are the only party that have consistently stood on the side of justice and truth, and we know that people in the community are seeing that. Throughout the year, the innumerable messages of support have kept me going, as so many people have reached out to express their gratitude that the Greens continue to stand up for justice and a free Palestine.

Throughout the year, we have celebrated victories in a range of areas. After years of sustained pressure and advocacy, we celebrated a historic win for animal welfare with the passing of legislation to ban live sheep export by sea by 2028. We continued to be the voice for a fair and equitable higher education sector, putting the spotlight on student debt, placement poverty, and how students and young people are doing it tough in the midst of a cost of living and climate crisis. We have been the key voice on anti-racism, the only party still committed to moving to a republic, and the only party committed to putting people before profits.

Additionally, the Greens continue to be the only party genuinely committed to fighting for the planet. We continue to call for an end to fossil fuels, an end to native forest logging, and a genuine commitment to investing in a sustainable future.

I have continued to speak out against the national epidemic of gendered violence, working with stakeholders, attending rallies, speaking in parliament, and calling for the government to fully fund frontline services. This scourge will not end until there is enough support and resources for women and children who escape violence every single day.

During the year, I have had the opportunity to travel across the country to meet wonderful Greens candidates and members. From Adelaide to Alice Springs, Wagga Wagga to Western Sydney, door knocking and speaking with community members remains one of the greatest pleasures and privileges of my role.

Beyond the many hours on the doors, our office also organised a range of incredible events throughout the year, including our Annual Women’s Day Breakfast, our Annual Women’s Iftar, a BBQ for Western Sydney Greens candidates, a Student Debt and Placement Poverty town hall, and a wonderful stall to celebrate Ramadan and Eid at the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair.

It is always a joy to connect with community members and supporters, and it fills me with hope to watch our movement grow as we move towards the upcoming federal election.

I was deeply humbled by the overwhelming support I received from Greens members as I was preselected for the Senate earlier this year. We have an exciting few months of campaigning to look forward to ahead of the next election and I am geared up to fight for all those who are hungry for change. We know that people are leaving the major parties in droves, and the Greens are the only party offering a positive, sustainable, equitable, and just plan for the future.

EDUCATION

It’s been another huge year in higher education. The Greens have remained the key voice for students, working alongside student organisations to fight for immediate action for students and young people facing a debt crisis, amidst the cost of living and housing crises. Students are struggling and crying out for support, and the Labor government is committed to doing the absolute bare minimum.

Our advocacy and pressure led the government to finally announce a payment for students completing compulsory practical placements as part of their studies, and to make some minor changes to ameliorate the extraordinary indexation hikes of the past two years. Still, it is clear that these changes are only the tip of the iceberg of the reform that is needed. The practical placements will see only a limited number of students paid at $8 an hour for their work, and the HELP changes deliver no cost of living relief, operating only to remove a sliver off the top of ballooning debts.

The government has failed to reverse the Coalition’s punitive job-ready graduates program, the number of graduates with student debts over $100,000 has doubled in five years, and we are hearing that more and more young people are reconsidering higher education due to their concerns about being saddled with lifelong debt. All of this from a Prime Minister who went to university for free is a slap in the face to young people who are barely keeping their heads above water.

What is becoming abundantly clear is that Labor has abandoned young people, and those young people are deserting Labor in droves. I’m proud that the Greens have been a leading voice in these conversations around higher education, defending young people and offering the only alternative to Labor’s lacklustre policies.

In addition to abandoning domestic students, the Labor government’s treatment of international students has been abhorrent, attempting to scapegoat them for the housing and cost of living crises in a race to the bottom with the Coalition on their racist migration policy. Labor’s international student caps have received near unanimous criticism from the sector, and the Greens have been the only voice speaking out against this racist, dog whistling policy that will decimate our higher education sector.

We continue to speak out in defence of academic staff and casual workers, and their right to secure, well-paid work. There have been many revelations this year of wage theft by universities across the country and I will continue to highlight these injustices and support staff in their demands on campus.

In March, we celebrated a significant win with the passing of the Australian Research Council Amendment (Review Response) Bill 2023 and an end to the Education Minister’s veto power. This was a significant milestone in our fight for research independence and an end to political interference in Australian Research Council grants, with the Greens securing a number of amendments to promote quality, independent research that represents the diversity of the community.

ANTI-RACISM

Our anti-racism work is ongoing, relentless, and exhausting. It remains, however, some of the most important work we do. The Greens remain the only party with a dedicated Anti-Racism portfolio, and I am proud of the representation and voice we provide for so many groups who are marginalised and discriminated against in our communities.

In March, I wrote to the then Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, calling on him to restore Harmony Day, held annually on March 21, to its original name, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In August, I wrote to the Minister for Communications, calling for greater diversity on the ABC Board. Following this letter, and sustained pressure through Senate Estimates and other forums, the selection criteria for ABC non-executive directors were recently updated to include a requirement that the person understands, or can credibly represent, the communication needs of Australia’s diverse society.

Despite First Nations Elders, people and allies leading an important national conversation, the Voice Referendum result was not the one we had hoped for. Despite this, I have continued to fight for transformative change, joining First Nations people in their local communities, to mark Invasion Day, and rally to stop the forced removal of First Nations children.

Some of our biggest wins within the Anti-Racism space have been the adoption of a cultural diversity strategy and diversity targets in leadership for the Australian Public Service. Most recently, the long awaited bill to set up the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission to enforce behaviour codes for parliamentarians passed the Senate. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure parliament and our workplaces are safe, but these are positive first steps.

ANIMAL WELFARE

It was a huge year for animal welfare, marked by both triumphs and tragedies. We achieved a historic win by banning live sheep exports by sea in both houses of Parliament, but are devastated by the suffering that will continue for another four years before this cruel trade is finally ended.

We continue to campaign with communities on ending gambling-fuelled animal cruelty such as horse and greyhound racing, and throughout the year I had the opportunity to meet and work with so many amazing advocates from all across the country.

This included joining Horse Racing Kills advocates outside Parliament on Melbourne Cup day to demand an end to this carnival of cruelty once and for all. Through our online Nup to the Cup campaign, over 1,000 people pledged and directly urged major sponsors to cut ties with the Melbourne Cup. Each year, my office conducts polling on support for these barbaric industries, and each year they reveal that our movement against cruelty is only growing. With the cancellation of the Melbourne Cup Parade, and Myer pulling their sponsorship from the cup, it is undeniable that the Cup’s days are well and truly over.

Another win for animal welfare this past year has been the Greens-led inquiry into banning commercial greyhound exports. Despite thousands demanding an end to this brutal trade, and a slew of witnesses to attest to the cruelty, Labor and the Coalition banded together to reject my private Senator’s bill. While the bill may not have been supported, we succeeded in putting this issue front and centre of the animal welfare agenda; the Greens and our allies brought major media attention to the issue, exposed international operations of greyhounds exported overseas, and held a major greyhound gathering outside parliament. I have no doubt this trade will soon see its end.

The Greens remain committed to ending needless suffering of animals and will keep advocating for animals as sentient beings deserving of care and respect.

INTERNATIONAL AID AND GLOBAL JUSTICE

The year 2024 is set to be the most deadly on record for humanitarian workers. Devastatingly, nearly 300 aid workers have been killed since Israel began its genocide in Gaza. In August, I attended a vigil for humanitarian workers, and I have been pushing both inside and outside of Parliament for an independent investigation of the murder of Australian aid worker, Zomi Frankcom, and her colleagues.

The Labor government’s decision to temporarily suspend desperately needed funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees based on allegations was inhumane,  which I criticised in the strongest of terms. It was yet another example of Labor’s spineless policy and absolute dehumanisation of the Palestinian people.

We continue to fight to decolonise our international aid program, particularly when it comes to climate justice and the Pacific. In recent months, I have criticised the Labor government’s hypocrisy in cosying up to Pacific leaders while continuing to approve fossil fuel projects and absolutely failing to meet Australia’s climate finance obligations.

We will continue to push the government to invest more in international aid, increase funding to Global South countries on the frontlines of the climate emergency, and prioritise the plight of women and girls who so often bear the brunt of these impacts.

CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND RESILIENCE

This year, I inherited a new portfolio ‘Climate Adaptation and Resilience’. This is an important space as we increasingly face the devastating impacts of the climate crisis.

I am Chair for the Select Committee on the Impact of Climate Risk on Insurance Premiums and Availability and have travelled across the country to hear from communities whose insurance premiums have skyrocketed because of the climate crisis. I spent time in both the Northern Rivers with Mandy Nolan, and Brisbane with Stephen Bates, where I heard the difficult stories of those communities who are on the frontlines of this climate emergency. As the spokesperson for this new Greens portfolio, I look forward to working with stakeholders and communities to develop appropriate government responses to this growing issue.

In other climate news, I have been a proud voice alongside so many others to call for an end to native forest logging. I joined the Australia Institute in an open letter to the Minns’ government, and joined vibrant rallies with advocates such as the Bob Brown Foundation.     

NSW

As always, it is an immense privilege to represent the people of New South Wales. It is always such a pleasure to work with my NSW counterparts at both State and Local government levels and see all the incredible work they do.

I thoroughly enjoyed campaigning, supporting and meeting new local Greens candidates ahead of the NSW Local Government Elections. Campaigning over the past few months and watching our Greens movement grow with passion has been wonderful. I’ve spent time with members from Sydney, the Inner West, Newcastle, the Illawarra, Bathurst, Western Sydney, and the Blue Mountains. Everywhere I go, the mood for change is palpable. One of the highlight events of this year has been a community BBQ we held in Western Sydney, where candidates, members, supporters, and families gathered for what was a very special day.   

I also travelled to the Northern Rivers of NSW to spend time with Mandy Nolan, the Greens candidate for Richmond for the upcoming Federal Election. It was a joy to meet her wonderful team and see the growing Green momentum in the region.

I was proud to be on the first ever national Senate inquiry into the worsening rental crisis, with a hearing held in Sydney last year. The worsening rental crisis has been front and centre of cost of living conversations and the Greens are at the forefront of this fight for renters.

CONSTITUENT SUPPORT

My office is always open to the community and over the past year, we have continued to provide support to our constituents on a range of issues from the NDIS to visa support and advocacy.

A highlight of my constituent engagement has been on a recent trip to Wagga Wagga, where I was presented with a frame of cards from local children organised by Central West NSW for Palestine.

MEDIA

This year, my staunch support for Palestine has led to a significant increase in media attention and presence. I enjoyed my first appearance on ABC’s Insiders, and have been featured in news outlets including RN Breakfast, Al Jazeera English, The Saturday Paper, the Guardian, and Sydney Morning Herald. Despite the attacks I have received from right-wing media outlets, I will continue to use my voice and platform to fight for a future that is just, equitable, and sustainable for all.

COMMITTEES (IN THE 47th PARLIAMENT)

- Mehreen

2024 Annual Reports