The Greens have welcomed the updated Economic Security for Women’s White Paper, and called on the government raise the minimum wage to address women’s financial inequality.

Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters, said:

“It’s 2020: women want fair pay, not granite bench tops.

“Raising the minimum wage will help those working some of the lowest paid professions, such as health care, childcare, and aged care.

Senator Larissa Waters will call the Senate to vote on an inquiry into the Coalition’s rorting of government grants, which will include the Shine Energy’s controversially won federal funding to investigate a coal-fired power station at Collinsville, QLD.

Waters said the inquiry has never been so important, following reports today showing links between Shine Energy and multinational mining giant, Glencore.

The Coalition and One Nation have cemented their position as science denialists, having spent Monday badgering some of Australia’s peak scientific bodies over the validity of Great Barrier Reef health findings during a Liberal-called Senate inquiry, the Greens said. 

Co-Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, Queensland Senator Larissa Waters, said the inquiry is nothing more than a political ploy to attempt to advance the Coalition’s position ahead of the Queensland state election, and further its culture war against science. 

The Greens welcome any improvements to deal with Crown of Thorns starfish, but it is a bandaid solution while the big threats to the Reef - climate change and water quality – continue to be ignored.
 
“Funding COTs while ignoring climate and water quality is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Queensland Senator and Greens Leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters.
 
“The Great Barrier Reef has faced three of the worst coral bleaching episodes in its long history in the last five years, because of coal-driven climate change.
 

The Labor party backroom boys are pressuring Queensland’s Labor Premier to approve stage 3 of the New Acland coal mine, showing fossil fuel donors still call the shots, say the Australian Greens.
 
“Proving how powerful the coal mining lobby and their donations are on federal Labor, there’s now three federal Labor party MPs pushing the Premier to approve the Acland coal mine despite the mine’s approval currently being before the High Court,” said Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Senate Leader and Mining and Resources spokesperson.
 

The Greens have said that returning to expensive fee-paying childcare today will harm families, disproportionately impact women and threaten the viability of early learning as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.

The federal government should extend free childcare and ensure all early childhood education and care workers are eligible for JobKeeper payments.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens spokesperson for Education, said:

“It’s downright cruel and shortsighted to scrap free childcare before practically every other Covid-19 support measure.

In another damning report, the Australian National Audit Office has found that the government does not adequately assess conflict of interests risks or monitor compliance with the Lobbying Code of Conduct. 
 

The Greens will today introduce a bill in the Senate that will prohibit political donations from certain industries, and impose a cap on all other donations.
 
Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters said:
 
“We must put a stop to the rorts and favours for mates that are rife under the Morrison Government.
 
“Since 2012, the Liberal, National and Labor parties have received over one hundred million dollars from corporate donors. And we’ve seen those donors benefit from favourable policy outcomes and project approvals.

The Greens have criticised the Morrison Government's plans for a stacked inquiry into domestic and family violence, saying more funding is needed for frontline services, not another inquiry which is designed to endorse the government's inadequate response to the national crisis. 

Greens Senate Leader and Spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters, said: 

Today's ABS Household data survey provides further confirmation that the impacts of COVID crisis are falling disproportionately to women. The Greens are calling on the National Cabinet to ensure that addressing these disparities is at the forefront of any recovery plans.

The ABS results reveal that women are almost three times as likely as men to have looked after their children full-time on their own during the crisis.