The Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Christine Milne, is the national parliament's most experienced and innovative MP when it comes to the best economic, employment and ecological policies for tackling climate change, Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

Announcing the Tasmanian Greens' endorsement of Senator Milne as their lead Senate candidate for the 2010 national election, Senator Brown said she had, in four years, established herself as the dominant political voice in tackling climate change.

Senate debates: Committees

Senators’ Interests Committee; Report

Thank you for your warm welcome. I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of the land.

Gandhi once said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."

We have reached a point in human history where 'what we do' on this planet imperils our survival. Now is the moment to re-imagine and reconsider 'what we are capable of doing'.

I have to say that I have not heard quite so many cliches rolled together in one speech in a very long time-from the entrails of a festering chicken through to marshmallows, steel in the spine and all manner of things. Entertaining as that might be, I would like to return to the substance of the matter before the Senate-which is an amendment to change the reporting date in the motion put forward by the government.

A new meme is being pushed by people close to Labor to help force through the CPRS. Just as the failure of the Republic referendum knocked that issue off the agenda for a decade or more, the story goes, so if the CPRS fails in the Senate will we have lost our chance to do introduce an ETS for ten years.

Christine talks to Paul Deady from NZ radio 95b

The Australian Greens, with the support of the Liberals, have today amended Labor's Nation Building Bills to ensure that the multi-billion dollar funds are properly scrutinised.

The amendments, moved by Senator Milne:
• establish a new Parliamentary Joint Committee on Nation Building to oversee the Minister's allocations from the funds; and
• require all advice from the advisory boards to be made public immediately.

The Liberal Party's decision to oppose the Greens disallowance motion on the carbon sink forests tax scheme is based on an incorrect understanding of the law, according to legal advice released by the Australian Greens today.

Advice from Michael Bearman, a leading Australian tax lawyer, is that, contrary to what the Government has been telling stakeholders, the full cost of land on which carbon sink forests are to be planted will be tax deductible under the legislation. This will dramatically increase the financial incentives for the scheme, increasing its impact tremendously.