Media Releases

Report shows life on Earth under serious threat

TimNorton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:11:54 +1000

The latest international report on threatened species shows that life on earth is under serious threat from increased extinction rates.

"The report Wildlife in a Changing World gives an extremely sobering prognosis for our planet's wellbeing," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert today.

The release today of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which is published every four years, comes just before the deadline world governments set themselves to evaluate how successful they were in achieving the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss.

"This IUCN report shows that the 2010 target will not be met, and that governments' current worldwide efforts to reverse biodiversity loss are not working," said Senator Siewert.

"Out of 44,838 species currently featured on the IUCN Red List, 16,928 are threatened with extinction. This equates to one third of amphibians, one in eight bird species and a quarter of all mammals found on earth. Even accounting for those species not yet known to us, this is a staggeringly large percentage."

"Australia is right up there near the top of the chart - with a staggering 788 species listed in the most threatened categories, including 40 known extinctions, 66 species critically endangered, 148 endangered and 519 listed as vulnerable."

"The analogy given by those in the IUCN should hit home for many world leaders who have just signed off on giant economic stimulus packages - the efforts put into saving the environment should at least equal if not exceed those put into bailing out the financial sector," she said.

"With our tourism, fisheries and agricultural industries and our Aussie way of life all threatened by environmental degradation and species loss, Australia is long overdue for an environmental stimulus package."

"Our nation leaders should not take this as an indication of our impending doom - far from it. It is time our governments, industry, communities and society in general recognise the fundamental importance of our biosphere, and act immediately to preserve our planet," concluded Senator Siewert.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

‘Caring for our Country’: new benchmark for spin over substance

EloiseDortch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:13:44 +1000

The Australian Greens have condemned the Rudd Government’s announcement today of national funding for natural resource management under Caring for our Country.

“Minister Garrett claims that the new funding process under Caring for our Country is 'transparent' and 'cuts red tape' – but the more than 1,300 applicants groups have no way of knowing why the vast majority of their projects were not successful and on what basis the 57 funded projects were selected,” the Greens’ Natural Resource Management Spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert said.

“Far from reducing red tape, this process has led to thousands of groups putting in hundreds of hours to complete complex business plans with little chance of success.

“The Minister’s claim that this has 'revolutionised' natural resource management (NRM) funding has in fact taken us away from a longer-term strategic planning approach, where regional stakeholders worked together to establish their priorities, to a short-term scatter-gun, individual grants approach where there is no consideration of what has gone before or how individual projects link up to achieve landscape-scale goals.

“Of the $404 million in funding, $57.5 million was dedicated to individual projects – of this, $19 million going to the camel eradication project, leaving just $38.5 million spread across 56 projects. These are the ‘winners’ from a total 1,300 applications, who together sought a total $3.4 billion.

“The amount allocated is less than half of the $122 million that was promised for project funding by the Minister’s Department recently in Senate Estimates – who also neglected to point out to the Senate Environment committee that this figure included funding quarantined for the Great Barrier Reef.

“West Australian NRM projects have been largely overlooked in the current funding round, with a total of $60 million out of $404 million – equivalent to 14.8 per cent of funds to cover one-third of Australia's land mass.

“I am disappointed that the biggest biodiversity threat to biodiversity across southern WA has been overlooked with no funding set aside to tackle the alarming spread of Phytophthora dieback.”

For more information or media enquiries, call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

Rudd Government funding spells death for school trees

EloiseDortch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:37:45 +1000

Greens Senator for WA Rachel Siewert is concerned that trees in schoolyards across Australia are being cut down to accommodate
standardised new buildings under the Rudd Government's Building the Education Revolution funding guidelines.

"Concerned parents in Perth have told me that many trees have already been cut down while the future of others hangs on a thread, only thanks to the intervention of concerned parents," Senator Siewert said.

"This problem cannot be blamed on the school principals, who are stuck between a rock and a hard place, trying to secure Federal funding to
improve school facilities but not having the freedom to ensure that the new buildings fit into the school's existing surrounds.

"In some of the cases, trees under threat in Perth are tuarts, apparently hundreds of years old. Just by modifying the BER guidelines
slightly, the new buildings could be built without destroying them.

"There is plenty of scientific evidence to show that trees and natural vegetation have a beneficial impact on human thought and wellbeing,"
Senator Siewert continued.

"In addition, large, older trees also provide shade and a place to play.

"It seems utterly senseless to be cutting down trees in schoolyards just because of bureaucracy and red tape, when a bit of flexibility could
ensure new facilities are built while preserving existing natural attributes," Senator Siewert concluded.

To view schools in your State/Territory allocated funding under Rounds One and Two of 'Primary Schools for the 21st Century' BER funding go to: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Pages/default.aspx

For more information or media enquiries, call Eloise Dortch on 0415 507 763

Widening gap in Indigenous disadvantage symptomatic of a failing approach - Greens

TimNorton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:53:28 +1000

The release today of a report showing that indicators of Indigenous social and economic disadvantage haven't improved and in some cases have got worse should be a strong signal to Government that the dictatorial, top-down approach taken by both the Howard and Rudd Governments simply isn't working and needs to change.

"Today's release of the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report is a sharp wake-up call for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"The report shows that incidents of child abuse are increasing, and literacy and numeracy outcomes have shown little change. At the same time there has been a significant increase in Indigenous incarceration rates, particularly for juvenile detention where Indigenous juveniles are 28 times more likely to end up behind institutional bars. This is unacceptable."

"The unprecedented level of investment of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) and the COAG 'Close the Gap' commitments have not resulted in any significant improvements in outcomes to date," said Senator Siewert.

"The Prime Minister has responded by saying we need to double or triple our efforts - but there is no logic in redoubling an approach that is not producing outcomes. We need to be investing in successful programs and initiatives with proven outcomes."

"The Brough-Macklin experiment with the 'new paternalism' has proven a dud. Its time we gave up on heavy-handed, top-down measures like compulsory income quarantining and invested resources in the basics of building community capacity and improving quality of life.

"Its time to start listening to Aboriginal communities and building effective new partnerships to deliver the kind of simple effective measures they have been crying out for, for decades - like appropriate housing, primary health care and decent schools," she concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Christmas Island conservation welcome, but could be too late

TimNorton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:09:20 +1000

Moves by the Environment Minister Peter Garrett to address the environmental crisis facing Christmas Island are a step in the right direction, but might be too little, too late, warned the Australian Greens today.

"Biodiversity on Christmas Island is in deep trouble, as highlighted by the biodiversity assessment report released during estimates in May ," said Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.

"Today's announcement of a $1.5 million conservation plan could mean some real action for those species endemic to the island, including the Pipistrelle Bat, the Blue-tailed Skink and the Forest Skink, but won't be enough for a full recovery plan for the island".

"It is clear given the biodiversity problems on Christmas Island that no further mining should be allowed. The island needs significant long-term investment and a well thought-out recovery plan."

"Whilst this move by Minister Garrett is a step in the right direction, there is still a lot more that needs to be done," she concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Greens call for moratorium on penalties to job-seekers

TimNorton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:44:32 +1000

The Australian Greens today called for a moratorium on participation breaches for the estimated 320,000 job-seekers nationally affected by the change-over in employment services starting today, 1 July 2009.

"The Government has made a serious error in the level of disruption to job-seekers caused by the huge turnover of providers in its Employment Services tender," Senator for WA Rachel Siewert said.

"Those unfortunate Australians looking for work who have been caught up in the middle should not be penalised simply because agencies are shutting down and many new providers are struggling to open their doors and establish new services.

"For this reason, we're calling on the Rudd Government to offer a moratorium to its breaching regime for job-seekers and for it to show some sympathy and understanding of the impacts when long-running services are shut down and job seekers are left confused due to poor communications," Senator Siewert said.

"With an around 38 per cent of job-seekers expected to be transferring to new providers, and estimates made to a recent Senate Inquiry suggesting it could take three to six months for the new services to get established and running effectively, we need to show a bit of flexibility.

"At a time of rising unemployment and financial uncertainty, those already on the unemployment queues face rising financial stress and diminished work prospects.

"We need to be making sure that our employment services system can adapt to meet these challenges," Senator Siewert concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Employment Services Inquiry reveals a process gone mad

TimNorton — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:18:20 +1000

The Greens are calling on the government to change the way future tenders are run on the back of a Senate report which raises serious concerns with the recent Employment Services tender.

"In light of the committees findings the Government must ensure future processes:

capture the additional value provided by community organisations that integrate job search support with other community services for disadvantaged job-seekers; and
check on claims made by tenderers by contacting prospective partners and referees," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"Something is seriously wrong with a tender process that, when followed to the letter, can produce a result in which a number of top-rating employment agencies with over a decade of on-the-ground experience delivering jobs with local employers are kicked out with no explanation," she said.

"The committee report points to a yawning gap between the expectations of not-for-profit community services of the Rudd Government's promises of stronger partnerships under its 'social inclusion' policy - and the reality of a government department (DEEWR) moving towards a much narrower model of contract delivery."

The ultimate result was a $4.9 billion tender where the evaluation was based almost entirely on the written applications, and where the claims of potential providers do not seem to have been checked with their proposed partners and referees.

"The process seems to have become much more important than the outcomes, and the amazing work done on the ground linking job search support with other crucial social services have been totally overlooked."

"The consequences for many hard-working and dedicated staff have been devastating. At a time of growing unemployment we cannot afford to be experiencing such disruption and seeing skilled and experienced workers leaving the industry," concluded Senator Siewert.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Federal Government must act on swine flu risk to remote communities

TimNorton — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:52:23 +1000

The Australian Greens today expressed concern that the Federal Government has not made special provisions to address the swine flu risk in Aboriginal communities.

Health spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert said she was alarmed that it appeared the Government had not made additional resources available to address the potential threat of swine flu in Aboriginal communities, including in the Northern Territory.

Australia's first swine flu victim was an Aboriginal man who lived in a remote community.

"Aboriginal communities are already facing severe health issues and overcrowding - and the swine flu appears to pose a significant risk to Aboriginal communities."

"Help for Aboriginal communities therefore needs to be increased through increased Government action," Senator Siewert said.

"The Federal Government therefore should acknowledge the particular circumstances of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and do everything necessary to protect Aboriginal communities."

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Pensions to finally rise, but at a price

TimNorton — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:19:43 +1000

The Australian Greens today welcomed the move to increase the single aged pension and a range of other pensions, but expressed concern that these increases didn't go to single parents and those surviving on the Newstart allowance.

"The Greens have campaigned for a number of years on the issue of the inadequacy of these pension payments in the face of rising living costs, and today marks an important win for all those involved in this campaign," said Senator Rachel Siewert.

"It is still concerning to see that single parents and those on disability support payments under the age of 21 have been left out. The Prime Minister has admitted that he could not survive on the aged pension, yet these people are expected to survive on far less."

"We remain concerned by the decision to rise the pension qualification age from 65 to 67 years of age. This proposed legislative change has been made with no community consultation and little consideration for the varied circumstances of working Australians approaching retirement age. The Greens moved amendments to oppose these changes."

"In considering how to support our ageing population, we need to give genuine consideration to the capacity of different groups of ageing Australians to continue working. We need to maximise workforce participation without adversely affecting those who have limited capacity to continue working or are excluded from the labour market," said Senator Siewert.

"The Government has failed to address the fundamental changes within our social security system in a joined-up and holistic manner, and it has failed to consider how these and other changes impact on its other areas of government policy - including its commitments on social inclusion, early childhood development, child protection, superannuation and family payments."

"The exclusion of single parent families from pension increases could be summed up in one simple statement: ‘By 2020 no child of a single parent family reliant on income support will NOT be living in poverty,'" she concluded.

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180

Greens welcome Opposition backflip on Alcopops

TimNorton — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:54:24 +1000

The Australian Greens today welcomed the Opposition backflip on Alcopops, saying the passing of the legislation would lead to a reduction in alcohol related harm in Australia.

"The Minister for Health has reassured the Greens that our agreement stands and will be honoured when the legislation passes the Senate," said Senator Siewert today.

The passing of the tax measure will mean that the package of complementary measures the Greens negotiated with the Government will also proceed.

The Greens and Senator Xenophon negotiated a $50 million package that for the first time will allow sports groups to apply for funding to replace alcohol sponsorship, provide more social marketing programs, community projects and a hotline. In addition, mandatory warnings will be required on all alcohol advertising.

"This represents another step forward towards a more comprehensive approach to tackling the impacts of alcohol related harm."

"We are pleased that this package will now proceed and we will continue to work on this issue," concluded Senator Siewert..

For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418 401 180