Publicly owned renewable energy
Privatisation has failed to deliver cheaper electricity. Big power companies make monster profits, while more and more people are getting disconnected because they can’t pay their power bills. Electricity should be run as an essential service, putting public good before corporate profit.
The average profit margin on a residential customer bill has increased by 103% over the last decade.
The Greens plan includes:
- Large-scale public investment in renewable energy and storage, to replace every coal-fired power plant in the country by 2030, ensuring we deal with the climate emergency in time.
- The creation of a publicly owned non-profit power retailer, to push power prices down and end price gouging by the big energy companies
Public Housing
People are struggling to find affordable, secure homes. Homelessness is on the rise and the waiting list for public housing is growing. Liberal and Labor have given big banks, property developers and the real estate industry too much power, and now housing prices have gone through the roof.
Over a million Australian households are paying more in rent than they can afford.
The Greens plan includes:
- 750,000 new public and community houses to slash public housing waiting lists and end homelessness;
- 125,000 new shared ownership homes, which will allow first-home buyers locked out of the housing market to buy a home where they want to live for $300,000
- 125,000 new public, universal access rental homes to provide low cost, secure housing for more people and move towards universal housing
Public Sector Jobs
Australia deserves a thriving, innovative public sector that can take on the challenges of our time and build a sustainable, prosperous future. The Liberals have wasted billions on expensive consultants and contractors, run by big corporations. Paying private consultants, contractors and labour-hire to do the same work that public servants used to do is more expensive and less efficient.
Private consultants have donated a staggering $5.4 million back to the major parties in the past decade.
The Greens plan includes:
- Restore the number of public service jobs
- Lift public sector wages by 4% p/a over the next four years to pull wages up across the private sectors
- Limit outsourcing to labour hire firms and the Big Four
- Allow public servants to participate in public debate and run for election
- Protect public sector whistleblowers
- Require public sector agencies to address their gender pay gap
- Champion diverse and inclusive employment through targeted APS workforce strategies
Private Health Insurance Rebate
The pandemic has shown the importance of public health care. We can’t have a strong economy without healthy people.
The public subsidises the private health insurance industry by almost $7 billion a year, much of which goes to pad corporate profits.
The Greens plan includes:
- Reinvesting taxpayers’ money from the private health insurance rebate back into the public health system
- Stop taxpayers’ money being used to subsidise private health insurers in the future
Public childcare, schools, hospitals & aged care
Too many of our community services are for-profit instead of for-people. As a result, corners are cut, wages and conditions for staff are reduced, and people don’t get the care they need. During the pandemic, this has been a disaster.
Big corporations are making over $1 billion dollars a year in profits from aged care.
The Greens plan includes:
- Fund our public services properly so that everyone can get a place in public health care services, aged care, childcare and school when they want one
- End out of pocket costs for public schools and health care so that using a public service is truly free for everyone
See our education, health, aged care policies for more:
Free Early childhood education and childcare for all Free Public schools that meet everyone's needs Putting money into hospitals instead of Private Health Insurance Ensuring High Quality Aged Care
Public transport and high speed rail
For years the Liberal Government has failed to plan ahead and meet the demands of our growing cities and regions. Rather than investing in public transport, getting freight onto rail and clean, zero carbon trucks, our city and transport options are being decided by corporations.
Funding roads is 80 cents of every $1 of federal government transport investment
Investing in public transport will reduce traffic, get us where we want to go faster, cost less and clean up the air we breathe.
The Greens plan includes:
- Put an extra $25 billion into rail and bus services and $500 million per year into making cycling and walking safe and accessible and connecting people from the cities, to outer suburbs and regions with ease
- Transform transport networks with thousands of new electric buses making them cleaner and greener
- Build high speed rail from Melbourne to Brisbane, giving people an alternative way to travel domestic
- Invest in getting freight onto rail and cleaning up our truck fleets so we can further reduce air pollution
Public infrastructure
For too long we’ve had infrastructure projects and planning that boost corporate profits and political campaigns, rather than serving people and communities. The Liberal Party has used local community infrastructure funding for election announcements, with decision making based on politics, not what the community wants and needs.
Nine out of the 10 electorates that received the most of the sports grants funding were identified as marginal or targeted electorates, not those most in need.
The Greens plan includes:
- End the corruption of grants being co-opted by politicians for pork barrelling by ensuring grants funds are provided through transparent, accountable funding programs.
- Ensure the community is at the centre of project planning by requiring major projects over $100 million to have an independent evaluation and community consultation.
Publicly owned, fit-for-purpose 21st Century Internet
The National Broadband Network is a mess. Australia’s Internet is lagging behind the rest of the world. It’s slower than almost every country in Europe, North America, and many in South-East Asia.
The pandemic has shown just what critical infrastructure the internet is, allowing us to work and connect around the world safely from home. Everyone should be able to access the NBN. It's time we finish the NBN as it was originally designed, to support our future economy, jobs, education, health and way of life.
Poor internet connections are costing Australian businesses 100 hours a year, per worker in lost time.
The Greens will:
- Fix the NBN by 2025 with the best fibre and 5G wireless technologies to secure our economy, jobs, education and health
- Ensure the NBN remains publicly owned
- Provide free broadband internet access for one million households with a healthcare card, including carers, students, low-income families and the unemployed.
Together, we’re powerful.
We have a plan to reduce the cost of living, make housing more affordable, tackle the climate crisis, and make sure everyone is looked after.
We'll take on the big corporations, stop them ripping you off, and and tax them to fund the things that everyone needs. The Greens are fighting for you.