Greens Treasury spokesperson Senator Peter Whish-Wilson welcomes the Government’s adoption of Greens policy positions on stronger white collar crime penalties after years of campaigning and Senate work.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Like the Royal Commission, investigating new white collar crime penalties was a recommendation of the 2013-14 Senate Inquiry into ASIC.

Greens Treasury spokesperson Senator Peter Whish-Wilson is calling upon both Labor and Liberal Parties to remain open-minded to calls to break up the banks in light of the compelling evidence at the Royal Commission of banks being unable to manage the conflict of interest inherent in owning financial advice businesses.

Greens spokesperson for Waste and Recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, urges the Ipswich City Council to reconsider their decision to start dumping recyclable material and calls upon the Federal Government and states to urgently agree on a policy response at next Friday's COAG meeting that averts similar decisions from other Australian councils.

Greens Defence spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has called upon the Government to rule out any future military involvement in Syrian air strikes.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Australia’s interests are not served by reflexively joining in any illegal military action in Syria.

“We have reached a point in Australia where decisions to drop bombs in a country that most Australians couldn’t locate on a world map, has inexplicably become normalised.

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, provides the following comments on the status of the corporate tax cuts Bill and how the latest Business Council leaks have played a role in removing the Bill from the Senate agenda.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, "I congratulate the whistleblower or whistleblowers who have brought these Business Council secrets to light. These leaks have certainly played an important role in bringing facts into the debate and have helped kill off the Government's radical agenda of giving big business a leg-up at the public’s expense.

Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, provides the following comments on the Greens decision to support a Senate disallowance of the new Commonwealth Marine Reserves Plans of Management.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The Greens have consulted widely with stakeholders and the environment movement and will support the disallowance of the Liberals’ woefully inadequate marine reserve protections. Additionally we will work to lobby the cross-bench to support the disallowance to make sure we get the numbers for these inadequate plans to be voted down.

Greens spokesperson for waste and recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says that while steps forward by Queensland and NSW on waste policy are providing necessary stopgap measures, federal intervention is needed to put a permanent end to the recycling crisis.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “The states are stepping up their actions on waste and recycling to stem the worst elements of the increasingly dysfunctional system and this is welcome. However, the long-term solution needs strong leadership from the Federal government.

Greens waste and recyling spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson provides the following comments on the evidence heard at the Senate waste and recycling Inquiry held in Sydney today.

[NB: Short audios for key witness statements can be found below.]

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “It is official now. Australia is in a nationwide recycling and waste crisis. A system of kerbside recycling that has been in place for decades is collapsing. "