Media Releases

Victorian Upper House leads the way on recycling

RobertSimms — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:23:43 +1000

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam says the federal government should follow the lead of Victoria's Upper House and support his plan to recycle 740,000 tonnes of waste through national Container Deposit Legislation.

Yesterday afternoon, the Victorian Upper House passed a Private Members Bill from Green MLC Colleen Hartland to develop a similar scheme at a state level. The State Labor Government blocked discussion of the Bill in the Lower House.

"Unfortunately the Victorian Labor Government passed up a rare opportunity to position their state, along with South Australia, as leaders in recycling in this country. Through my Private Senator's Bill, I'm providing the federal government with a chance to get up to speed on this issue," said Senator Ludlam.

Under the Senator's Environmental Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) Bill a national scheme for recycling the 10 billion drinks containers Australians throw away each year will be established. A 10c returnable deposit will be provided on all drink bottles, cans and cartons.

"This is an initiative that will reduce waste, slash council rates and create hundreds of green jobs by encouraging consumers to recycle," said Senator Ludlam.

Senator Ludlam made the comments, while local councillors gathered in Canberra for the annual ALGA conference:

"While the parliament seems to have been fixated on fake emails and utes, councillors from across the country have been in Canberra to find solutions to local problems. I'm sure they will be relieved to see the Victorian Upper House addressing some of the issues of importance to rate payers - like waste and job creation. I hope the Federal Government takes note," said Senator Ludlam.

Some of the key benefits of Senator Ludlam's scheme include:

- Savings to rate payers of over $59.8 million a year
- Raising up to $90 million in government revenue
- Creating hundreds of green jobs
- Decreasing litter by 12-15%
- Increasing recycling of drink containers from 50% to 80%
- Diverting more than 740,000 tonnes from landfill
- Reducing national greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 each year - the equivalent of switching 197,000 homes to renewable energy
- Improving air quality to the equivalent of taking 140,000 cars off the roads

Greens congratulate local government on climate leadership

RobertSimms — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:02:36 +1000

Councils put heat on Rudd: Lift climate targets or face increased infrastructure costs

The Australian Greens have welcomed a united call from Australia's 565 local councils calling for a review of the targets in the government's flawed climate change legislation.

The Australian Greens' Local Government Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam praised local government for its responsible leadership on climate.

"Local government is closer to the community and understands Australians want real action by lifting the weak targets Mr Rudd has set in the climate change legislation currently before Parliament."

"Mr Rudd is proposing weak targets that will condemn the Great Barrier Reef and the Murray Darling Basin - and the more than 190,000 local jobs that depend on them."

At the end of the National General Assembly, the councils' communiqué calls on the Federal Government to 'to further review the adequacy of targets currently identified in the CPRS and to ensure that the scheme recognises voluntary actions within communities.'

"Local Government knows that climate change will usher in sea-level rises and more frequent and severe natural disasters - and it's calling for greater government action on behalf of local communities."

"Not taking action on climate change will impact financially on local councils and their communities through increased damage from natural disasters."

"Prime Minister Rudd must recognise that its $16 billion handout to big polluters under its climate change legislation has left local councils with a huge task ahead but little government support."

Senator Ludlam also praised local councils for insisting that voluntary actions by organisations and individuals to reduce their carbon footprint should also be encouraged, not penalised, under the CPRS.

Senate supports community TV funding push

RobertSimms — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:56:41 +1000

The Senate has supported a motion from Greens Senator Scott Ludlam calling on the Government to support community television's transition to digital broadcasting.

"It's been two years since Communications Minister Stephen Conroy gave assurances to the community television sector that they wouldn't be left behind in the switch to digital broadcasting. Despite that promise, community television has been completely overlooked in this year's federal budget. There was nothing to ensure they are part of this new chapter in Australian television," said the Greens Communication Spokesperson, Senator Ludlam.

"Today, the Senate supported the motion to allocate available digital spectrum to community TV and provide us with a timetable for funding the sector's digital switch. It is not acceptable to simply blame the previous government for the current failure to act - the Minister must take immediate action to ensure he doesn't pull the plug on community television."

Directions 2031 shows promise: Greens

EloiseDortch — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:59:48 +1000

Australian Greens Sustainable Cities’ Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam has offered cautious support to the WA Government’s 'Directions 2031' draft plan for Perth.

“It’s wonderful breath of fresh air to hear a Minister from the current State Government use the words ‘public transport’ as something he thinks we should have more of,” Senator Ludlam said.

“Recently, we hadn’t seen much evidence of that.

“I also welcome the emphasis on urban infill, rather than continuing urban sprawl, which should mean greater protection for our urban bushland fringe – and the long term approach to infrastructure provision, which must surely include public transport as we prepare for inevitable oil price rises.

“This study builds on Network City, which originated with the deliberative ‘Dialogue with the City’ process.

“The hard work will be in reining in urban sprawl and giving effect to some of the principles in this document.

“The Greens at a local, State and Federal level will be working to ensure that the action on the ground lives up to the sustainable promises in this document.”

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

Container deposits: the solution to Donna Faragher’s woes

EloiseDortch — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:38:34 +1000

The WA Government’s land fill levy dilemma could be solved by introducing container deposit legislation, Australian Greens’ Sustainable Cities Spokesperson Scott Ludlam says.
“CDL involves placing a small returnable deposit, of say, 10 cents, on containers, thus providing an incentive to customers to return the items to a recycling station,” Senator Ludlam said.

“South Australia has been doing this for years and I have introduced a Bill to do this nationally.

“The scheme means that we would not have to bury hundreds of thousands of tonnes of recyclable material in the ground each year, potentially polluting our waterways, and it will also save ratepayers millions of dollars each year from landfill levies.

“Recycling rates would be greatly increased, litter and greenhouse gas emissions reduced and new ‘green’ jobs would be created.
“Studies have shown that the vast majority of Australians want this system.

“By pushing through the CDL legislation as recently recommended by the WA Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs, Donna Faragher would find her way out of this mess.”

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

Report hits home for car-reliant Perth

EloiseDortch — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:21:53 +1000

A report launched today by the Australian Conservation Foundation and an alliance of unions, local government, health and environmental groups calling for greater investment in public transport is especially relevant to Perth, Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam says.
‘Investing in Sustainable Transport: Our Clean Green Transport Future’, by the ACF and the Rapid, Active and Affordable Transport Alliance, calls for two-thirds of Australia’s transport budget to be spent on public transport and one-third on roads.
The report says that $14 billion of the past five years’ Auslink funding went to roads and $1.2 billion to rail.
“The State Government seems to assume that petrol and diesel will stay cheap forever and we can continue to plan for limitless urban sprawl,” Senator Ludlam said.
“But when oil prices inevitably rise, life for people in Perth’s middle and outer suburbs will become extremely difficult.
“When it costs $500 to fill up your car, Perth's famed liveability will be just a memory.
“We need to take our cue from other cities around the world and change our thinking.
“The Greens’ proposal for a light rail network in Perth is one suggestion. Many others have come forward in the national public transport inquiry I initiated last year.
“New development needs to be planned around public transport and we need to address the existing black spots where there is little or no public transport now. It is going to take time to build the infrastructure that will make this city resilient – the earlier we start, the better off we will be.
“Very few, if anyone, would say Perth’s existing network is a mistake – even the fiercest critics of the Perth-to-Mandurah Line went strangely quiet once it opened and they saw people using it in big numbers.”

View the report here:
http://www.acfonline.org.au/uploads/res/Investing-in-Sustainable-Transport_Report.pdf

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

Greens move to dump extreme Anti-Terrorism laws

RobertSimms — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:41:02 +1000

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam will move to repeal the most extreme aspects of Australia's anti-terrorism laws, when he introduces a Private Senators Bill today.

"Australia's Anti-Terrorism laws were rammed through Parliament in haste, by former Prime Minister John Howard. As a result mistakes were made - some aspects of the laws are extreme and undermine the human rights of all Australians," said the Greens' Attorneys General Spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam.

"Definitions within Australia's anti-terrorism laws are so vague we all have cause for alarm and innocents can be caught in the cross-fire. For instance, you can be convicted for "recklessly possessing a thing" whatever that may be, or expressing political dissent. You can be questioned and detained for prolonged periods without charge and your right to a lawyer is compromised by complicated security clearances. My Anti-Terrorism Laws Reform Bill 2009 will repeal these anti-democratic measures."

"My Bill provides Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with a historic opportunity to break with the past and follow US President Barrack Obama's lead in rejecting what he calls ‘the false choice between our democratic values and our security.' Mr Rudd should follow President Obama's lead in showing we don't need to trash democratic principles, in order to save them."

The Government will announce an independent review of the anti-terrorism laws later this week, but Senator Ludlam says there are some aspects of the laws that should be repealed straight away:

"We don't need an independent reviewer to tell us that some of our anti-terrorism laws are anti-democratic and need to be repealed. In this Bill, the Greens have identified laws that are so out of step with Australia's democratic principles that they should be repealed at once. There's no need to waste the Reviewer's time on measurers that we know have no place in a democracy," said Senator Ludlam.

14,000 clean, green jobs; not backwards-looking buffoonery

EloiseDortch — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:38:29 +1000

While a small number of politicians have made a last-minute dash to join the Flat Earth Club, the Australian Greens have welcomed a new report that has found wave energy could employ more than 14,000 Australians by 2050.

The report by Fremantle-based, Australian company, Carnegie Corporation Ltd and WWF says building 1,500MW of wave energy power stations by 2020 would create 3,210 Australian jobs and create enough energy to power 1.2 million households. By 2050, 14,380 jobs could be created, producing 12,000MW of clean, renewable power.

“The jobs will be where most of our population is – in coastal areas – and will be in metal trades and manufacturing,” Senator Ludlam, the Greens’ Spokesperson on Sustainable Cities, said.

“This is the kind of industry we should be embracing.

“Unfortunately, as we come to the crunch with a decision due in Canberra next week on a national emissions trading scheme, some politicians are making an unedifying spectacle of themselves by declaring they are climate change deniers.

“Wave power is a reliable, emissions-free source of baseload power capable of providing four times our national current power needs.

“Wave energy, along with solar thermal, wind and geothermal means that there is simply no reason any more to burn dirty fossil fuels.

“As this report shows, Australia is blessed with abundant wave energy sources, including the mid-west, south-west and south coasts of Western Australia; Limestone Coast of South Australia; and parts of Victoria; western Tasmania and southern and central New South Wales.

“It is time to embrace the magnificent opportunities we have before us in renewable energy instead of spending billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money propping up industries with finite futures.”

To read the Carnegie Corporation-WWF report, go to:
http://www.carnegiecorp.com.au/files/asx-announcements/2009/Power%20to%20Change%20Australia's%20Wave%20Energy%20Future.pdf

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

Senate supports Green call for global arms embargo on Burma

RobertSimms — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:17:21 +1000

The Senate has unanimously endorsed a motion from Greens Senator Scott Ludlam to call on the Australian Government to increase its diplomatic pressure on Burma and support an arms embargo against the country's brutal military regime, on the eve of democratically elected Aung San Suii Kyi's 64th birthday.

The United Nations is investigating claims the Burmese regime has broken Geneva conventions by targeting civilians through extreme acts of violence and the army continually crushes peaceful protest.

Despite this, the UN has no arms embargo on Burma and the regime is still able to buy foreign weapons to continue its oppression of the Burmese people.

Senator Ludlam acknowledged the cooperation of all parties in the Senate in working toward a unanimous motion:

"Today the Australian Senate has taken an important step in further isolating the morally bankrupt Burmese regime. If the Australian Government follows suit, then we will join a host of other countries in calling for a global arms embargo," said Senator Ludlam.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States have all called for a global arms embargo on Burma.

"The Burmese regime is one of the most brutal in the world. Appalling human rights abusers should not be able to purchase their weapons in the global market. The Australian Government should heed today's Senate motion and join this international campaign for an embargo," said Senator Ludlam.

Stop the clock on Liverpool Plains mining takeover

RobertSimms — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1000

"In question time today the Minister for Climate Change and Water sidestepped the issue of damage caused by exploration activities through careless drilling into the complex geology of the Liverpool Plains, and would not commit to taking necessary action to protect important groundwater sources", said the Australian Greens Mining Spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam.

The Government then combined with the Nationals and Liberals to defeat a motion moved by Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown invoking Commonwealth intervention.

"The Australian Government must step in to protect some of our most important farming communities. Until the water studies have been done, the drilling must stop. This is not just about potential mining down the track; exploration drilling is harming this water catchment right now," Senator Ludlam said.

Senator Ludlam asked Climate Change Minister Penny Wong about the potential for the Murray Darling catchment system to be compromised by BHP drilling practices, in advance of the motion moved by Senator Bob Brown.

The local community has maintained a spirited blockade for almost a year to stop BHP Billiton from entering local farms to exercise its coal exploration licence.
The Liverpool Plains region is the source of 33% of Australia's pasta wheat and 17% of our sorghum. It also produces bread wheat and retains important biodiversity values.