The Greens have called on the federal government to provide critical and overdue funding of frontline domestic violence and sexual assault services, after an horrific week of violence against women and children left the nation reeling.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said:

“The past week has provided everyone with a tragic reminder of Australia’s ongoing family violence crisis.

The Greens have slammed the Morrison government’s confusing and bizarre “Good Society” sexual consent videos which feature milkshakes, tacos and a man with a spear gun trying to convince a woman to swim with sharks.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said:

“It’s been two years since the government announced its ‘Respect Matters’ program, and this is what we get? This is the worst piece of consent education I’ve ever seen and proves, yet again, that the Morrison government is utterly out of touch on this issue.

The Greens have cautiously welcomed the Morrison government’s long overdue response to the Respect@Work recommendations, but say that the PM has a lot of work to do before Australians believe that he takes workplace safety seriously.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said:

Australia has fallen six places to 50th in the World Economic Forum’s latest global rankings on gender equality, reflecting a growing divide between men and women in terms of economic participation, health outcomes, and political empowerment.

The Greens have laid the blame for Brisbane’s three-day COVID lockdown at the Morrison government’s door, saying its failure to ensure all frontline healthcare workers are vaccinated has triggered a necessary public health response that will damage already struggling businesses and force more workers into unemployment.

The more than 130,000 people currently receiving JobSeeker in Brisbane will have their safety net slashed to below the poverty line on Thursday after the Coalition and Labor refused to support the Greens’ proposal for an $80 a day payment.

The Greens say the Prime Minister’s reshuffle is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and won’t fix entrenched cultural and systemic issues in parliament or improve the lives of Australian women.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said:

“A whole one additional woman in Cabinet will not change the rank and sexist culture in this government, the Liberal Party, or the parliament.

The Greens will today announce key election policies, including a ‘billionaires tax’ to help fund genuinely free public schools, dental into Medicare and a job for everyone who wants one. 

With the party considering an election in November of this year still a possibility and a minority parliament the most likely outcome, Mr Bandt will push for a tax on billionaires & corporate super profits as part of dealings with a future shared power government.

The Greens say the Prime Minister’s expected Cabinet reshuffle is another cosmetic response to systemic failures and have called on the government to immediately act to protect women in parliament and across the country.

Greens leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women Larissa Waters said:

“The PM is treating this issue of sexual violence against women and endemic misogyny as another PR problem to be managed away.

On 25 February 2021 I published a media release on my website, posted on my Twitter account, and made in the course of a press conference false and defamatory statements that Peter Dutton is a rape apologist, that he has sought to conceal and dismiss reports of rape, and that he has no sympathy for victims of rape. I accept that there was no basis for those allegations and that they were false. I unreservedly apologise to Minister Dutton for the hurt, distress and damage to his reputation I have caused him.

Responding to today’s press conference by the Prime Minister on women’s safety and the culture of parliament house, Greens leader in the Senate Larissa Waters said: