The Greens currently have a bill before House and the Senate which would close the royalties loopholes. The Greens will now also move amendments to close additional loopholes in the mining tax, which allow mining companies to exaggerate the value of their assets to get a higher tax break.

Closing the depreciation loophole, which allows the big miners to deduct the market value of existing assets over many years instead of deducting the book value over 5 years, could eventually save almost $2 billion a year in lost revenue.

The Greens are calling on Wayne Swan to stop talking and start acting to plug the loopholes in the mining tax following the release of the revenue figures.

"Momentum is growing in the Parliament to get behind the Greens' bill to fix the problem and now even some in Labor ranks agree," said leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne.

"Some Labor MPs agree with The Greens that the mining tax is a dud.

"So when is Wayne Swan going to act?

The Prime Minister needs to work with the Greens to find more revenue to invest in improving people's lives, rather than only looking for savings, the Australian Greens said today.

"Business leaders, economists, community groups and international experts have all repeatedly said that Australia needs to find more streams of revenue if we're going to be able to invest in better and fairer schools, publicly funded dental care, high speed rail, lifting Newstart and other important steps to take pressure off people's lives," said Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne.

The Australian Greens welcome suggestions that the Government is preparing to delay the budget surplus, following many months of warnings of its dangers from economists, the Greens and others.

"If the Government can't or won't stand up to the big business lobby who don't want to pay their fair share, it is well past time to ditch their surplus fetish so we can invest properly in caring for people and preparing Australia for the challenges of the 21st century," Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne said.

The release of the GST Distribution Report backs the Greens' call for the Federal Government to stop reimbursing profitable mining companies for any royalty hikes.

"The Greens want to fund Gonski, we want to fund dental health care and better disability support. Unlike the other parties we have been putting constructive revenue raising policies on the table, and one of them has been to plug this loophole in the mining tax." Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne said.

The Australian Greens are pleased to have negotiated a key reform to how future Free Trade Agreements will be scrutinised.

After negotiations with the Greens, the Government has announced it intends to adopt a key recommendation from the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties that the Greens have long pushed for:

Greens Leader, Christine Milne, and Deputy Leader, Adam Bandt, have welcomed the support of lower house cross-benchers for a Greens bill to plug the royalties hole in the MRRT.

Following Senator Milne's introduction of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (Protecting Revenue) Bill 2012 into the Senate, Mr Bandt today gave notice he will introduce the bill into the house.

The bill will ensure the Commonwealth loses no revenue when State governments raise royalties and will generate $2.2bn in revenue over the next 3 years.

"Everyday Australians who pay 38c a litre in tax when they fill up at the bowser probably don't realise that mining giants like Xstrata and Gina Rinehart's Hancock, which make billions of dollars in profits every year, pay only 6c a litre in tax for the huge quantities of diesel they use." Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"That's simply not fair, and it means that government has less money to invest in vital things like better schools, publicly funded dental care, high speed rail and lifting Newstart to help people get back into the workforce.

Following the release on the weekend of a proposal to improve the mining tax costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, the Greens are today releasing the party's updated Education Policy Platform, preparing the way for more costed policies that will be taken to the 2013 election.

Today's projected budget surplus is on the back of single parents, trainees and apprentices, researchers and job-seekers, instead of sensibly plugging loopholes in the mining tax and building a stronger revenue base for future investments, the Australian Greens said.

"Today's Budget update confirms that Labor is more committed to Australia being a coal country than a caring or clever country," Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.