In excellent news this morning, The Age reports that Christine Milne's amendments to the Luxury Car Tax, exempting fuel efficient vehicles from the levy, are already having an impact!

Ian Porter writes:

Despite the failure of the Luxury Car Tax in the Senate, the Greens today urged the Government to move ahead with investigating a new tax incentive scheme to make green cars cheaper for all Australians.

Senator MILNE (Tasmania) (11.30 am)-I rise today in this debate on the Tax Laws Amendment (Luxury Car Tax) Bill 2008 to say that the Greens have long argued that Australian car manufacturing cannot be globally competitive if it continues to build large gas guzzling cars when consumers worldwide are choosing smaller fuel-efficient vehicles in the face of peak oil and climate change. I am not surprised by the contributions I have heard from the opposition because they are climate sceptics and they do not believe in peak oil either.

Greening Australia’s car fleet to reduce emissions, and rebuilding our manufacturing sector, should be the focus of the Rudd Government’s private vehicles policy, Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, said today.

The Rudd Government's Green Paper has failed the test of true leadership by neutralising the carbon price signal and still providing no responsible target, Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, said today.

Senator Milne said, "Minister Wong's Green Paper protects polluters and provides no signal for investment for a zero-emissions future. Minister Wong used the term 'transformation' many times in her speech, but the scheme proposed here provides no drivers at all for transformation, instead protecting existing investments at all costs.

The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have declared themselves incapable of the kind of creative, courageous leadership needed to deal with our two biggest challenges, climate change and peak oil, Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, said today.

Senator Milne said, "Australians trying to get to work and school, confronted by soaring petrol and grocery prices, and horrified by the images of a dying Murray, must be tearing their hair out in frustration at the absolute failure of leadership and imagination from both the old parties.

ABC TV watchers amongst you may have seen the promos already for Christine Milne on the newish Q&A program this Thursday night, July 10, at 9.30 pm.

She will be on the panel, focussed on 'Welcome the new Senate', with Senator Helen Coonan, Minister Craig Emerson, author Linda Jaivin and everybody's favourite opinionated columnist, Andrew Bolt.

The Australian Greens today strongly backed calls from the Bus Industry and public transport experts for a $10 billion injection of funds from the Federal Government into mass transit infrastructure as the only way to provide Australians with real, permanent relief from rising oil and carbon prices.

Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, said, "The Greens have long been calling for a complete rethink of transport policy in Australia, reprioritising funding from roads across to mass transit infrastructure, bike paths and walkways.

Australian Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today welcomed Minister Wong's release of the latest National Greenhouse Emissions Inventory.

Senator Milne said "This inventory, more than ever before, points the way clearly to what we must do to swiftly and effectively build a new, post-carbon economy."

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Senator Conroy. Given that the only long-term way to constrain petrol price rises, ease the pain for Australian commuters and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport is to reduce oil demand by making system-wide alternatives more available, why is the government spending more than 20 times more on new roads, freeways, flyovers and road tunnels than it is on mass transit?