Parliamentary Report 36: December 2005 - February 2006
Lee's regular report to the party
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Lee Rhiannon, Greens MLC
Electoral matters In every election campaign since 1995 there has been an increase in the number of Greens Upper House MPs. If the latest Nielsen poll - which has the Greens on 11 percent - carries through to election day we are in with a chance of winning 3 spots this time, to give us five Upper House Greens MPs in total. Given that in state elections the Greens consistently win more support than in federal elections this poll is good news for our chances in the 2007 state election. On the eve of the release of electoral returns by the Australian Electoral Commission I called on the major parties to agree to disclose all donations within a fortnight of receiving them so the public can keep up to date with how big donors are buying access and influence with the major parties. Under the present system the public have to wait up to 18 months to see how much big corporations have donated. People should have access to this kind of information before they vote, not years after the donation is given. The Greens' Democracy4Sale website shows that swift disclosure is technologically possible. The Democracy4Sale work has been covered recently by Crikey, the Andrew West blog, and the Daily Investor. An examination of the 2004/5 AEC data by the Democracy4Sale team revealed that the pharmaceutical industry and Pharmacy Guild of Australia directed unusually large donations to NSW and Federal governments at a time when the NSW government backed down on supermarkets getting a bite of the $9 billion pharmaceutical market. NSW Labor received almost $150,000 in 2004/5, or six times the amount donated the previous year. They tripled the amount of donations to the Federal Liberal Party in the same period. This spike in donations follows a time when former Premier Carr backed down on plans to deregulate the NSW market for prescription drugs, opening the way for Woolworths and Coles Myer to enter the market. I cautioned Premier Morris Iemma from interpreting the crushing rejection of the Liberals at the Pittwater by-election as a sign of support for Labor policies. If Labor had had the courage to stand in the by-election there would have been a swing against them too.
Premier Iemma was embarrassed into cancelling plans to put a new toll on the M4 following the public release of secret government documents obtained by the Greens in the Parliament. The government had planned to force motorists to pay for the expensive M4 East project by extending the M4 toll but did not have the courage to tell them upfront. Commuters would have had to pay at least $5 each way to drive from Parramatta to the City at a time when they are expecting the M4 to be free. The documents reveal that the government remains committed to building the M4 East even though they have received advice that the toll road would worsen congestion and slow travel times from Parramatta to Broadway. Secret government documents released to the NSW Upper House show that during the Marrickville by-election, while Carmel Tebbutt was assuring residents that the Johnstons Creek Road Corridor was dead, behind the scenes the RTA was working on the this road project. If Carmel Tebbutt is telling residents the truth then the Government should commit to burying this road corridor and lift the road zoning in its entirety. If not, the Iemma government needs to stop the secrecy and lies and tell voters exactly what its plans are and how they will impact on residents' houses, businesses and streets. Lane Cove Tunnel documents released to the NSW Upper House reveal that the planned closure of sections of Longueville and Epping Roads is designed to boost revenue for the Lane Cove Tunnel, which means the people of Lane Cove and surrounding suburbs will have to endure similar traffic chaos generated by the Cross City Tunnel. I hope that the Greens campaigning in Lane Cove will benefit from the experience gained in East Sydney. I took the Save CountryLink Campaign to northern NSW with activities
around Coffs Harbour and Lismore. We are committed to reversing the Labor
government's cutbacks, which will have negative impact on jobs and regional
tourism. Instead of increasing prices, scrapping 100 jobs and closing
ticket offices CountryLink should be expanded to include commuter services
to nearby towns and high-speed trains throughout regional NSW. There is
a wealth of campaign material - leaflets, petitions and a survey commuters
can fill in - on my website: In early January I again called on Planning Minister Frank Sartor to initiate concrete plans for light rail in Sydney's CBD and Inner West, not just continue to 'explore options'. In 2006 Labor should formalise light rail plans for Sydney. The city deserves people and environmentally friendly public transport options and Labor needs to rebuild its credibility. I teamed up with Eastern Suburbs Greens Councillors to launch a plan for a publicly owned and operated light rail system for Sydney's eastern suburbs which would help subsidise light rail in other parts of the city. I called for the $8 million performance bonus granted to Westlink M7 motorway operators, Transurban Ltd, by the NSW Government, to be redirected to fund a concession for low-income M7 motorists. The M7 toll excludes many low-income motorists, denying them affordable access to jobs and services in the region. Transurban Ltd was awarded $1 million per month for every month that the M7 is open prior to the contract completion date of August 2006. This is an excessive arrangement based on an arbitrary date dreamt up during contract negotiations. The Government should have put this $8 million into public transport for the people of western Sydney, not given it to the toll road developer. In November I met with about 50 Oakhurst residents whose community has been cut in half by the M7. These residents forgotten by the Labor government now take 20 minutes on trips to the local shops and schools that once only took 5 minutes.
Public private partnerships Minister for Finance Michael Costa's plan to expand the involvement of the private sector in public schools further highlights the Greens important work against public private partnerships. Costa's actions show he is more obsessed with balancing the budget than delivering quality public education. When Costa states that the new Public Private Partnerships in building and operating schools save money he is misleading the public. The public will pay rent for these schools for decades. Public Private Partnerships for schools might balance the budget but the downside is that they shift costs onto future generations. The government commissioned Richmond Report on NSW Motorway Provision
proposes a new and flawed financial model whereby the public pays to keep
control of surface roads and urban planning by subsidising the private
sector. Prof Richmond argued that the 'no cost to government' test should
be abandoned and the government should make capital contributions where
'value for money' tolls are inadequate to fund the project. The report
shows the degree to which the Labor government is locked into motorways.
The report fails to adopt the Auditor General's recommendation that the
government put public disclosure requirements in legislation. Public safety, the environment and animal welfare will be the losers when the government opens up State Forests to recreational hunters using crossbows, rifles and dogs. This is the latest work of the NSW Game Council set up as a result of a shabby deal between shooters and the Labor government. The Council claims that such hunting will have a conservation function. Yet it is common knowledge that hunters often stock areas with feral animals to improve hunting. The Labor government's hunting plan stands in sharp contrast to development in England where hunting with dogs has been banned. With Finance Minister Michael Costa tipped to be the new Treasurer, I told Premier Iemma that Costa is unfit for the job as he is a self professed 'greenhouse sceptic'. NSW needs to urgently enforce substantial mandatory renewable energy targets and invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the sustainable energy industry. At present the NSW budget for renewable energy development is woeful. If Mr Costa became Treasurer he would have the power to make further cutbacks.
The Greens Clean Up the Act campaign continues to win strong support.
I am working with the Greens' Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and
Intersex Working Group to win the support of more organisations. Some
local groups are holding stores to promote our Anti-Discrimination (Equality
in Education and Employment) Bill. The bill and details of the campaign
can be viewed at Parliamentary process I called on Premier Iemma to fast track legislation on post ministerial
employment following the revelation that former minister Craig Knowles
has links with an investment bank and a nursing home. Knowles move to
the private sector a few months after retiring has followed a similar
career path to former premiers Bob Carr and Nick Greiner. Ex-ministers
and premiers should be subject to a lengthy cooling off period before
taking up paid positions in areas covered by their portfolio responsibilities.
The US and Canadian system of a two year ban provides a model for NSW. I criticised the riot laws passing through the special session of Parliament as knee-jerk, PR driven and ineffective. Sydney was shamed by the Cronulla riot and the subsequent revenge attacks. At a time when NSW needs political leadership to restore calm, counter racism and heal the wounds both major party leaders engaged in scapegoating so called ethnic gangs. The Greens MPs opposed the new riot law. The police already have extensive powers to handle whatever situation arises. The Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act already allows police to stop & search vehicles, and establish roadblocks. The Crimes Act contains specific penalties for riot and affray. I spoke out against Premier Iemma's support for a national ID card, criticising the government's complete disregard for protecting the privacy of people living in NSW. The Premier's plea that the PM look into an ID card comes as no surprise considering NSW Labor itself recently introduced a Photo ID card with very feeble privacy protections. On the day of Big Day Out concert when the police mounted a massive sniffer dog operation I called on the Government to release an overdue Ombudsman's report that she suspects will show that sniffer dog laws aren't catching the Mr Bigs of the drug world, but instead netting young people using small amounts of recreational drugs. Four years after the Government passed tougher sniffer dog powers we are still waiting for the release of the Ombudsman's review of their performance. I welcomed the advice of the Mental Health Minister about the mental health problems associated with hydroponically grown cannabis, but criticised the heavy handed response of the Premier. The proposed crackdown on hydroponics could push young people into using harder drugs. Drug law reform needs to be linked with the health sector. The problems linked to hydroponically grown cannabis should be dealt with by increasing funding to mental health programs, early intervention and research, not by increasing criminal penalties. I criticised Premier Iemma's law and order plan to outdo opposition leader Peter Debnam by forcing parents of unruly children to sign contracts or risk losing their children. The proposal puts more pressure on struggling parents and may force more children into a foster care system that is already in crisis. The Government needs to address the cause of parenting problems and develop sound early education and early intervention responses rather than put more rules in place. Free childcare and pre-schools, which could offer community based parenting services, would help these parents and their children. Following Premier Iemma's latest law and order plan to trial electric stun guns I spoke out about the dangers of these weapons and called for the scrapping of the trial. People with pre-existing heart conditions are particularly vulnerable to the guns' 50,000 volts of electric current. Amnesty reports 103 people have been killed by them in North America. Premier Iemma has followed Prime Minister Howard's lead in exploiting the fear of terrorism for electoral gain. I highlighted that the timing of the December terror raids assisted the Labor government mobilise support for politically motivated anti-terror laws. The Greens support the need for police action where there is a legitimate terrorism threat but warned that the highly charged atmosphere created by the raids can frustrate clear thinking about what laws are actually necessary to combat terrorism. I warned that Premier Iemma and Police Minister Scully comments on terror suspects could be undermining a fundamental tenet of the criminal justice system of innocent until proven guilty. I called on Police Minister Carl Scully to withdraw his racist comments about the views of men of Middle Eastern background and look at Labor's own history of treating women. Sexist attitudes do exist in our society and you can find them held by men of all races. To single out men of Middle Eastern background is just another dangerous example of Labor's racist approach to law and order. Minister Scully should remember that in recent years Labor MPs have displayed very poor attitudes towards women. Peter Black drunkenly lunged at a fellow Labor MP, Virginia Judge in Parliament. In 2003 there was the allegation that Joe Tripodi sexually assaulted a young Democrat staffer at a party. Education At the start of the school year I called on Premier Iemma to scrap the back-to-school allowance, set up as a crude vote buying exercise by Premier Carr in 1998, in the lead up to the 1999 state election. It will not be acceptable for the Premier to engage in this 'cash for votes' scheme at the beginning of 2007 just weeks out from a state election. It is time the scheme in its current form was scrapped and the money saved put into public education. The $50 grant for each student should be means tested so that it is paid only to families holding a Centrelink Health Card, where household income is $35,000 or less. Animal welfare Jessica Napier, actor in The Alice and McLeod's Daughters and I called on the NSW government to turn its $40 million rainforest enclosure at Taronga Zoo into a home for retired circus elephants rather than bring wild elephants from Thailand. Last year Lee and representatives of animal welfare groups released video footage showing how Thai wild elephants are domesticated using extreme cruelty. I hosted an "Exploring Kangaroo Myths" Forum that examined the impact of the cull on kangaroo species. Mining I released publicly a report on Anvil Hill that Mining Minister Ian Macdonald has been sitting on since last April. The report proposes Anvil Hill, site for a proposed coalmine, for conservation as it contains the last large stand of Hunter Valley floor remnant vegetation. Anvil Hill, owned by Centennial Coal, Australia's largest independent coal company, is one of the largest new mines being proposed for the Hunter Valley, and a key factor in the massive expansion of the Hunter Valley's coal infrastructure and Newcastle coal port. I spoke to a 1000 strong rally protesting against plans by Centennial Coal to build an open cut coalmine at Awaba near Lake Macquarie. The mine would be within 800 metres of homes and schools. I hosted in parliament the second meeting of the Community Coal Alliance, which was held to develop a strategic approach for how best to bring mining giants like BHP Billiton, Centennial Coal and Xstrata to account. Cyanide leach gold mining is back in the news in western NSW with plans by Broula King Gold Mine to extract massive volumes of water for its cyanide leach gold mining. I warned that this plan could seriously jeopardise the amount of water available for stock and domestic users and called on the Weddin Shire Council to follow the very clear advice issued by the Department of Natural Resources that high security bores are to be safeguarded.
WEB USAGE (November 05 - January 06) Lee Rhiannon's website activity: Nov 05 - Jan 06 MEDIA COVERAGE (November 16 2005 - February 8 2006) Date, Issue, Media
GREENS EVENTS LEE HAS ATTENDED SINCE THE LAST SDC EVENTS IN PARLIAMENT WHERE LEE SPOKE MEETINGS ATTENDED IN PARLIAMENT
· Protest against anti-terror laws
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