Australian companies must abandon trade deals with Burma's military dictatorship, the Australian Greens said this week.

Greens spokesperson on Burma, Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, criticised Perth-based Twinza Oil in the Senate last night for the assistance it has given to the Rangoon regime's war on the Burmese people.

Premier Colin Barnett is speaking with a forked tongue on Chinese investment in Western Australia, WA Greens said today.

Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said Mr Barnett's expression of concern about the proposed sale of the Wesfarmers Premier Coal mine in Collie clashed with his enthusiastic support of Chinese exploitation of WA resources.

The gap between Australia’s rich and poor is growing and our long-term prosperity is being undermined.

Add your name to the campaign for a new green economic future.

The Barnett Government's secretive new deal with China will boost exploitation by foreign mining companies at a time when the resources boom is suffocating the rest of the Australian economy, the Greens said today.

Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said a number of provisions in the Memorandum of Understanding set off alarm bells, chiefly the demand for total confidentiality.

Watershed research from the Australia Institute released today once again illustrates the need for Australia to manage the mining boom properly, say the Australian Greens.

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said the paper ‘Mining the Truth' makes it clear the mining industry is dodging its social responsibilities while causing damage to other sectors of the economy.

US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks support the Australian Greens' claim that oil and gas companies investing in Burma are "directly helping to strengthen the military hold on power".

Greens spokesperson on Burma Senator Scott Ludlam said US diplomats had echoed Greens calls for stronger sanctions against the dictatorship.

Senate Standing Committee on Economics
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON NOTICE
Treasury Portfolio
Question No: BET 266

The Australian Greens, the Labor government and the Independent MPs today announced an historic agreement on a climate action package that will put a $23 per tonne price on carbon pollution, as was first proposed by the Greens, support householders and invest billions of dollars in clean, renewable energy.

This package, which the Greens have helped shape, is the first vital step towards tackling the climate crisis and building a cleaner, healthier, more secure Australia for all of us.

Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (18:03): SENATE Thursday, 23 June 2011

I also rise to speak briefly on the Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 5) Bill 2011, mostly on schedule 3, after first acknowledging the huge amount of time and energy that Senator Milne has put into pursuing this particular perverse incentive in our tax system. By the end of that very long road, it was really difficult to find anybody who would speak in favour of it, so it is good that the government has taken this opportunity to finally just kick it over. There are many others there.

Economics Committee Thursday 2 June 2011

Senator LUDLAM: I want to ask-I do not know whether it has been canvassed very much this morning-about the tax forum coming up in October. If that has not been addressed-

Senator Wong: No, it has not while I have been here. But it might have been done in revenue, when I was not here.

Dr Parkinson: That would have been the revenue group last night.

Senator Wong: I am sure that the secretary can assist as much as he can.