The Greens call on the Queensland and federal governments to reject Arrow Energy’s massive expansion proposal to drill hundreds of new coal seam gas wells at Hopeland in the Western Downs Region and lay 440km of pipelines in fertile farm land.
 
Arrow Energy has applied to increase its number of coal seam gas wells at the Hopeland site from six to 286. The state government previously declared the area off-limits for future coal seam gas projects after land and groundwater was contaminated by the Linc Energy underground coal gasification disaster.
 

Data shows more Australians are concerned about political corruption and doubt the Government’s ability to clean up our democracy, Greens Leader in the Senate, Senator Larissa Waters said.
 
Today’s report from Griffith University and Transparency International Australia found the number of Australians who view corruption as a “very big” or “quite big” problem, rising from 61% in 2018 to 66% in 2020. The number of those who think the federal government is handling corruption issues “very badly” has also risen from 15% to 19.4% over the same period.
 

The Greens echo the Australian Federal Police Association’s description of the Morrison Government’s sham integrity commission as nothing more than a “protection racket” for government MPs.
 
Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson on Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
 
“The Morrison Government has designed its sham integrity commission to shield their mates from proper scrutiny. It wants one rule for its politicians, and another for everyone else.
 

Greens Senator Larissa Waters moved to bring on her Parliamentary Standards Bill this morning to address Parliament's appalling ineffectual complaints process for staff suffering workplace bullying and harassment.
 
The move follows the Morrison Government’s refusal to even acknowledge there is a problem, following Monday’s Four Corners investigation into sexual harassment within the Liberal Party.
 
Senator Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson on Women, said:
 
"This is Parliament's Me Too moment.
 

Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP, and Greens Senate Leader and Queensland Senator, Larissa Waters, have said the success of the Queensland Greens at last night’s election showed the increasing momentum for progressive change, following on from major gains in the ACT last month, putting the party in strong contention for further Senate and lower house seats at the next Federal election.

Revelations that the Finance Department inquiry into Assistant Minister Michael Sukkar was outsourced to the law firm he used to work for is further proof Australia urgently needs a federal corruption watchdog, Greens say. 

Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for Democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:

"This is just another outrageous example of why we need an independent federal corruption watchdog. Mates investigating mates won't stop corruption. 

Under questioning from Greens Senate Leader, Larissa Waters, at Senate Estimates, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources has confirmed that new, more accurate methods of measuring the climate damage from methane (natural gas) will mean Australia will emit the equivalent of approximately 150 million tonnes more of climate pollution between 2021 and 2030 than previously estimated. Instead of decreasing emissions faster to stay within the existing budget, they will simply increase the amount of permissible emissions.

The Greens condemn the Morrison Government for failing to include a gender lens in the Budget, instead leaving it to a non-profit women's organisation to do their homework for them. 

"Women are once again mopping up after the Morrison Government by applying a gender lens to the Budget, something which should have been done by government itself," said Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters.

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says the Liberal Party's continued excuses for not having a National anti-corruption body have become utterly farcical.

“More leaked talking points, more excuses. The Liberals have spent thousands of words justifying why there's still no Federal ICAC, when it would only take a vote in the House to implement the Greens bill that has already passed the Senate,” Bandt said.