Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (12:06 PM) -I rise today to support the Nation-building Funds Bill 2008 and cognate bills. It has been apparent for some time that Australia desperately needs to invest in infrastructure, and there has been a dearth of that in the last 10 years of the Howard government. There has also been in that time incredible pork-barrelling and failure of many of the public-private partnerships, which delivered us some white elephants around the country that the community is going to long live to regret.

The Australian Greens will today move to amend Labor's Nation Building Bills to ensure that the multi-billion dollar funds help build a new, zero emissions economy, and are properly scrutinised.

This post was first published at ABC's Unleashed site:

With the global financial meltdown meeting the climate meltdown head on, the potential to deal with both crises using the same solutions has been gaining support.

The Australian Greens today welcomed the Rudd Government's first concrete acknowledgement that the path to economic recovery lies through a ‘Green New Deal', but much more needs to be done.

"The Rudd Government deserves congratulations for recognising that it is only by putting Australia's jobs and industry onto a greener footing that we will come through the global financial crisis stronger and better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead," said Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Climate Change Spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne.

Christine Milne talks to Phil Stubbs for Sydney radio 2SER's Razor's Edge program on the Green New Deal.

You can read a blog post from Phil, with interesting links, here.

This is a speech I delivered to the Sydney Institute last night. You can also listen to it here or download a pdf here.

Sydney Institute, October 27th 2008.

Green Politics, the Balance of Power and the Green New Deal.

Christine Milne speaks to journalists at the Senate "doors" on October 23, 2008.

Top global economists from the United Nations Environment Program and Deutsche Bank overnight launched a plan for a "Green New Deal", echoing President Roosevelt's "New Deal" to work America out of the Great Depression, to tackle the economic crisis and the climate crisis together.

Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne called on the Rudd Government to embrace the plan which would see a massive investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative transport and forest protection, creating high quality, permanent jobs in a thriving, prosperous, green economy.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS
(Senate-Thursday, 23 October 2008)

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