This government came into power with a promise of social inclusion. Many in the community took this to mean that the government would be acting on that basis and that part of that social inclusion reform and agenda would be welfare reform. Unfortunately, that is not what we have seen. In fact, we have seen the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Ms Macklin, and other ministers ‘out-Howard' Howard in the way they have approached welfare reform.

The Australian Greens today outlined their vision for Australia in the new century ahead of the opening of the Balance-of-Power Senate.

Australian Greens Leader, Senator Bob Brown, said a record 1.17 million people voted Greens at the last election, and the five Greens Senators were ready to work constructively with all parties to respond to the challenges of the new century.

"Pollution, poverty, discrimination and the destruction of Australia's forests and precious environments are the legacy of the last century and decades of greed and inaction."

"Figures released today by the Australian Council of Social Services show a staggering 84% of Australians think the gap between rich and poor is widening. This should serve as a clear indication that all is not well in our country," said Australian Greens spokesperson on Family & Community Affairs, Senator Rachel Siewert.

I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Ngunawal people. It was a great pleasure to be at the first welcome to country that we had in this place on 12 February. I congratulate the government for having made sure that that happened. It was also a great privilege to be at this place when the apology was finally made.

The Australian Greens are pleased the Government has announced it will review contracts with non-government organisations to remove gagging clauses.

"This is a great first step, but far more needs to be done to undo the legacy of John Howard," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"Locking in $31 Billion in tax cuts while cutting back on government services is both economically and socially irresponsible," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"When John Howard announced these tax cuts the big news was that it failed to produce even a blip in the polls, and the Australian public said very clearly that they'd rather see spending to improve services such as health and education."

"This is neither good economic management nor smart social policy," she said.

It's the last few days of the election campaign and, as expected, The Greens are coming under attack from a number of shady hard-to-identify sources that claim to represent a moral or faith-based stance and tell lies about our policies and intentions.The irony of this is very clear when you consider the strong commitment of the Greens to peace and non-violence, to social justice and the environment and to participatory democracy ... all of which are consistent with the universal values of the entire world's great religious traditions as well as humanist philosophical thought.

The Greens today launched a short animation explaining the benefits of Balance of Power in the Senate.

"The balance of power in the Senate is a big issue this election and a lot of people want to know more about it," said Senator Rachel Siewert.

"It's important that people understand the political system before they go to the polls this election, and so we hope that this animation will help explain the situation better."

The animation can be found at The Greens Election 2007 Election page - http://greens.org.au/Election/

Senators Milne, Nettle and Siewert speak at the Greens' People's Forum