The Greens welcome reports of record coral recovery on parts of the Great Barrier Reef but warn the Government not to jeopardise its survival by supporting more oil and gas. 

Comments attributable to Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:

“The Greens absolutely welcome reports of coral recovery on the Great Barrier Reef, however we can’t overlook that the fast-growing corals responsible for an increase in coral cover are also those most at risk from marine heatwaves and pest species. 

The Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, has announced the party’s updated portfolio allocation for the upcoming 47th Parliament, ahead of the first sittings in July.

Presented to yesterday evening’s Party Room, the new allocation gives newly elected MPs and Senators the power to progress the issues they were elected to advance, while recognising the years of experience behind the Greens existing portfolio holders.

Today it is finally official: lutruwita/Tasmania’s federal election preferences have been formally distributed and Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has been re-elected to the Senate in third position. 

Quotes attributable to Greens Senator for lutruwita/Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson:

“The Greens’ Senate quota in Tassie has officially come in at 15.48%. This is our Party’s highest Senate result across all of Australia. 

“In real terms the Greens’ Senate vote in lutruwita/Tasmania climbed almost 25% from 2019.

In an unprecedented intervention by the federal government fisheries permits will be bought-out for the first time in Australia’s history because of climate change and environmental factors. 

In what was described as a  necessary but “shocking” development by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, the federal government will spend $20m to buy out vessel permits in the south-east trawl fishery because the climate crisis is affecting population numbers of some species, making current fishing levels unsustainable.

The Greens have outlined a plan to save the Tasmanian devil and called on the Liberals and Labor to adopt the comprehensive measures required to protect this iconic species. 

Federal funding has been critical to the Tasmanian devil’s survival, but this ended in 2017 despite their recovery from the infectious cancer that decimated their population being far from over.

Nipaluna/Hobart will be at the centre of an exciting national trial to roll out more bicycle infrastructure under an $18m fully-costed plan launched by the Greens today. 

In the last power sharing arrangement with the Gillard Labor Government the Greens negotiated an historic $80m national bike path fund. This included a “Bike Blackspot” app and campaign where cyclists can log blackspot in existing bike paths, which generates an email and report to the Minister for Infrastructure, and contributes to a real time map of all Blackspots in Australia. 

The Greens say confirmation in the Reef Snapshot: Summer 2021-22 of the sixth mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef lays bare the Morrison Government’s near-decade of failure on climate action.  

The Snapshot confirms the Reef has suffered the fourth mass bleaching event since 2016, and the first in La Nina conditions, with 91% of surveyed areas showing signs of bleaching.

Lines attributable to Greens deputy leader and Queensland Senator Larissa Waters:

The Greens have called on the Morrison Government to intervene and rule out using explosives on protected seals during its three-year trial of fish farms in Commonwealth waters.  

The call comes following the release of Government data which revealed Huon Aquaculture used more than 8057 underwater explosives against seals in the 15 months to the end of March.

The Greens have today launched a plan to protect lutruwita/Tasmania’s forests for future generations and for a safe climate, all while ensuring new job opportunities.

With states across Australia ending native logging, it’s clear the writing is on the wall for Tasmania’s native forest logging industry. The IPCC tells us our forests are the first line of defence against climate change and must be protected. Native forest logging is destroying biodiversity and undermining climate action, and consumers are waking up to the damage.