Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth
Senator Bob Brown has resigned as leader of the Australian Greens.
Brown’s surprise decision was announced at a party meeeting in Canberra. Senator Christine Milne was immediately elected as the new leader.
Later in the day, Melbourne MP Adam Bandt was elected deputy leader.
Brown said he would leave the Senate later in the year when the Tasmanian Greens division has finalised pre-selections. [Read more...]
This is the text of the Third Annual Green Oration by Senator Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens.
Fellow Earthians,
Never before has the Universe unfolded such a flower as our collective human intelligence, so far as we know.
Nor has such a one-and-only brilliance in the Universe stood at the brink of extinction, so far as we know.
We people of the Earth exist because our potential was there in the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, as the Universe exploded into being.
So far, it seems like we are the lone thinkers in this vast, expanding Universe. [Read more...]
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said today that criticism of Julia Gillard was sexist.
Brown’s comments came after several days of speculation about Gillard’s leadership, culminating in a Labor caucus meeting on Sunday and a BBQ at The Lodge, ahead of the return of Parliament tomorrow.
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Later in the day, Prime Minister Gillard held a press conference and refused to be drawn on speculation about her leadership. She congratulated the Queen on her 60th anniversary as monarch, announced details of arrangements for Queensland flood victims, and emphasised the government’s economic program over the next eighteen months.
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Greens leader Senator Bob Brown jousted with some members of the Canberra press gallery today.
Brown referred to “the hate media” whilst one journalist accused him of regularly “bagging News Ltd”. The national daily, The Australia got several mentions.
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Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has attracted criticism across the political spectrum for his call for the mining industry to be taxed to pay for natural disaster relief.
This is the press release issued by Senator Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens.
COAL BARONS SHOULD HELP PAY FOR CATASTROPHES – BROWN
The full tax on excess profits by the coal mining industry, as recommended by Treasury, should be imposed with half set aside for future natural catastrophes in Australia, Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Hobart today.
“It is unfair that the cost is put on all taxpayers, not the culprits,” Senator Brown said.
“Burning coal is a major cause of global warming. This industry, which is 75% owned outside Australia, should help pay the cost of the predicted more severe and more frequent floods, droughts and bushfires in coming decades. As well, 700,000 seaside properties in Australia face rising sea levels.”
“A Goldman Sachs study found that the reduction in the mining super tax agreed by the current Labor government (the coalition opposes the mining tax) would cost Australians $35 billion in forgone revenue to 2019-20.”
“Scientists agree that current floods come from record-high temperatures of Australian oceans this season.”
“We also ask insurers to show some compassion to Queensland’s flood victims, and to others who face loss as wild weather besets the country. Many people believe they have flood cover and, if not, the fine print should have been disclosed to them.”
The Liberal Party in Victoria has decided to preference the ALP ahead of the Greens in all lower house seats in the November 27 election.
The decision dramatically reduces the chances of the Greens winning any of the inner-Melbourne electorates it had been favoured to capture. Without Liberal preferences, the Greens will struggle to capture Richmond, Brunswick or Northcote, although it may still be in with a good chance in Melbourne.
A minority government following the election is now much less likely.
The Labor Party has chosen to preference the Greens in all Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council districts. The Greens have agreed to give preferences to Labor in most of the key marginal seats.
The Group Voting Tickets for the Legislative Council have also been published by the Victorian Electoral Commission. As in the Senate, proportional voting is used to elect 5 members in each of 8 districts. Voters may cast a single vote “above the line” or number all preferences below the line. Preferences for votes cast above the line will be allocated according to the tickets lodged by the parties with the Commission.
Download the Group Voting Tickets for the Legislative Council (PDF):
The Victorian Labor Premier, John Brumby, and the Liberal Opposition Leader, Ted Baillieu, have debated each other tonight in the only televised encounter of the 2010 state election.
The one hour debate was a lacklustre event, enlivened by a scrap over Greens preferences. Baillieu insisted that Brumby announce whether the ALP would preference the Greens, whilst Brumby said it was only Liberal preferences that were likely to elect Greens’ candidates.
Baillieu argued that Labor has presided over an increase in violent crime and problems in transport, children in care, and hospitals. He said government debt, waste and mismanagement had to be reined in.
Brumby said they key issue was “who will keep the jobs coming”, arguing that his government’s focus on education and infrastructure was the key “to meeting the challenges of the times ahead”. Brumby said he offered strong leadership and stability.
Brumby and Baillieu meet in Victorian election debate
Click the PLAY button to listen to the debate (60 mins):
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Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has savaged Liberal Senator Helen Kroger over her criticism of the party’s practice of preferencing the Greens ahead of Labor.
Kennett’s attack comes just one month before the state election. The preference debate within the Liberal Party has been gathering momentum since the August 21 federal election where Liberal preferences in Melbourne delivered the seat to the Greens.
Some Liberals argue that the party should negotiate preference agreements with the Greens on the basis that Labor is the party’s real enemy. Others claim that the Liberals should not be assisting the Greens to win seats because Green policies are fundamentally hostile to Liberal Party philosophy. [Read more...]
