"The Government's failure to acknowledge the national housing crisis shows the Labor party has turned its back on millions of Australians struggling with unaffordable housing," Australian Greens housing spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said today.

"This Budget has no new programmes for improving housing affordability. No new money to tackle homelessness. No boost in public housing. No plans for more affordable rentals or more affordable ownership. No mention of the word housing in the Budget speech. Labor and the Coalition are pretending this crisis doesn't exist.

The Federal Budget is a mixed bag for Western Australia, Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam said tonight.

Senator Ludlam, who has championed light rail for Perth since 2007, welcomed tonight's announcement that the Federal Government would provide $500 million in funding for public transport in Western Australia over the next decade.

"Many people have campaigned for years for a serious funding commitment to light rail in Perth. Half a billion dollars from the Commonwealth for light rail or the airport link is a big win for Western Australia."

Renew and expand the $40m National Bike Paths Projects program

The Greens propose that:

·         the $40m National Bike Paths Projects program introduced as part of the economic stimulus package be doubled to $80m and become an annualised program to provide local government authorities with substantial, sustained and targeted funding for bicycle infrastructure;

As the IMF predicts oil prices will double over the next decade, the ongoing failure to fix years of under-investment in public transport has left Australians extremely vulnerable to rising fuel prices, the Greens warned today.

Greens transport spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said Commonwealth infrastructure funds are still pouring into road building while public transport lags far behind, despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund and the Government's own BITRE 117 report that the price of oil is set to skyrocket.

The Australian Greens today welcomed the Federal Government's decision to bring forward the next Defence White Paper by one year, but questioned the extraordinary $40 billion proposal for a fleet of submarines.

Greens spokesperson assisting on defence Senator Scott Ludlam said, "The 2009 White Paper was directionless and bloated, and included a hardware wishlist that was never credible. It was also startlingly undiplomatic, particularly towards China, and sidelined the findings of its own Community Consultation process."