Senator Christine Milne’s Address To The National Press Club

Feb 19, 2013

The leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne, has addressed the National Press Club and announced that the party’s agreement with the Gillard minority government is at end end.

Milne

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Text of Senator Christine Milne’s Address to the National Press Club.

Australian Democracy at the Crossroads: The mining industry and the quarry past versus the people and the innovative future.

Parliamentary colleagues, distinguished guests and friends.

Australian democracy is at the crossroads. Our future as a nation, our sense of who we are and what we want for our society and local community is now being determined by mining billionaires in boardrooms for themselves and their overseas shareholders, and what they want, is being delivered through our state and federal parliaments.

The mining industry has become so powerful that the lines between business and politics have become blurred to the detriment of people and the well being of our society. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio2013, Climate Change, Greens, Indigenous, Mining, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Combet: Tony Abbott Is Australia’s Biggest Bullshit Artist

Feb 13, 2013

Tony Abbott is “a complete bullshit artist”, according to the Minister for Climate Change, Greg Combet.

Combet

Speaking to the media just hours after President Obama expressed support for a “market-based solution to climate change”, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency castigated Abbott over his attitude to climate change.

“He’s wrong on every front,” Combet said. “In fact, on the issue of the carbon tax, he’s Australia’s biggest bullshit artist.”

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Filed Under: 2013 Federal Election, Audio2013, Climate Change, Gillard, Liberal Party, Video Tagged With: , ,

President Barack Obama’s Second Inaugural Address

Jan 21, 2013

Barack Obama has been ceremonially sworn in for his second term as the 44th President of the United States.

Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were officially sworn in yesterday, in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution. In today’s public ceremony, Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor again swore in Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts again swore in Obama.

Political attention today focussed on Obama’s Second Inaugural Speech.

With frequent invocations of ‘We, The People’, the speech was Obama’s most progressive as president. Amongst other things, he called for action on climate change and equality for gay people.

Capitol

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  • Listen to Obama’s Second Inaugural Address (20m)

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Text of President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address.

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional — what makes us American — is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

For more than two hundred years, we have. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio2013, Climate Change, Gay, Obama, Political Words, Presidency, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Details Of The Proposed Carbon Pricing Mechanism

Feb 24, 2011

The Multi-Party Climate Change Committee has proposed a carbon price leading to an emissions trading scheme.

The carbon price is to take effect from July 1, 2012. A fixed price will operate for 3-5 years, after which a full cap and trade emissions trading scheme will take its place.

Statement from Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet.

Climate change framework announced

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard today outlined the Government’s plan to cut pollution, tackle climate change and deliver the economic reform Australia needs to move to a clean energy future.

This is an essential economic reform, and it is the right thing to do.

The two-stage plan for a carbon price mechanism will start with a fixed price period for three to five years before transitioning to an emissions trading scheme. [Read more...]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Climate Change, Gillard, Greens Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Gillard, Greens And Independents Agree On Carbon Price And Future ETS

Feb 24, 2011

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee has agreed on a carbon mechanism which involves a fixed price on carbon for three to five years followed by a full cap and trade emissions trading scheme.

Gillard and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet spoke at a press conference today with the Greens Senator Bob Brown and Senator Christine Milne. They were accompanied by the independent members Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.

The carbon pricing mechanism is to be introduced on July 1, 2012. The details of the scheme will be developed over the next few months.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott immediately attacked the plan as a “betrayal” and predicted a revolt against the “carbon tax”.

This is a video of the first part of the press conference:

This is Channel 10′s report of the announcement:

Transcript of joint press conference held by Prime Minister Julia Gillard with the Australian Greens, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.

GILLARD: Today, accompanied by the members of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee and we’re here together today because we’re releasing a paper which describes a proposed carbon mechanism.

Now this proposed mechanism for pricing carbon is agreed by the Australian Government and by the Australian Greens. Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott, who have joined us and who are members of the Multi Party Climate Change Committee, have agreed that this proposal should be released to be considered by the community and to demonstrate that progress is being made. [Read more...]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Climate Change, Gillard, Greens, Independents, Video Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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