Forestry Tasmania's over cutting of Tasmania's native forests has been exposed in the leaks around the independent analysis of wood supply contracts as part of the Intergovernmental Agreement, Australian Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne said today.

"What has become clear is that Forestry Tasmania has overcut and over allocated the forest to such an extent that even with the retirement of two thirds of its contracted volume via Gunns, Forestry Tasmania cannot meet the remaining one third of its obligations.

"With an annualised shortfall of 39,000 cubic metres of veneer logs, what would have happened if Gunns and TA Ann were both still in the market?

"Forestry Tasmania would have been hung out to dry and one or other or both of the companies would have sued for breach of contract.

"Forestry Tasmania must be disbanded beginning with the Board which has overseen reckless destruction of forests, overcutting, over allocation in contracts and financial failure with the $18 million losses over the past two financial years.

"It is time for the Board to explain why it permitted the over allocation of the forests and then the overcutting whilst pretending that the forests are sustainably managed.

"Forestry Tasmania and Ta Ann should apologise to the forest activists who have been telling the truth about the forest practices that underpin their contracts.

"Far from being sustainably managed, Forest Practice Authority chief, Graham Wilkinson has made it clear that Forestry Tasmania's current practices do not meet scientifically based requirements for the protection of threatened species.

"Forestry Tasmania has argued throughout the process that, provided it can continue to ignore scientifically based requirements for the protection of endangered species, it could still meet its contracts until 2030 provided no more areas were protected.

"Now we know that is a lie. It cannot. Even with no reserves, and unsustainable practices, Forestry Tasmania cannot fulfil its contracts from native forests.

"Forestry Tasmania must go."

On the first national SLAM Day, the Australian Greens joined the Save Live Australian Music campaign in its call for a well-thought-out whole of government approach to supporting the live music industry, which brings so much joy to so many Australians, and creates significant economic activity.

"Who among us doesn't love seeing great Australian bands live, and sharing the pride in their achievements around the world?" Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"But live music has been struggling for too long thanks to both the drive for short term profits and the failure of governments to get their acts together.

"The Greens have long called for changes to the welfare system to remove the bias against practising musicians and help them earn a living wage.

"It is very wise of the SLAM Day organisers to highlight the lack of cohesive policies across government. This is a problem in so many areas, and live music is clearly no exception.

"Supporting our live musicians should be on the agenda of not only the Office for the Arts, but also the departments of Education, Treasury, Communications, Trade and many more.

"I was lucky enough to be at the Falls Festival this year, where 16,500 people enjoyed a few days of live music. We mustn't let great occasions like this be strangled by a lack of support for live musicians and live music."

Australian Greens Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, who spoke at the original SLAM Day rally, said "Live music is the heart of Melbourne. We urge the Gillard government to get behind SLAM's plan to take Australia's live music to the next level and keep live music alive."

On the first national SLAM Day, the Australian Greens joined the Save Live Australian Music campaign in its call for a well-thought-out whole of government approach to supporting the live music industry, which brings so much joy to so many Australians, and creates significant economic activity.

"Who among us doesn't love seeing great Australian bands live, and sharing the pride in their achievements around the world?" Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.

"But live music has been struggling for too long thanks to both the drive for short term profits and the failure of governments to get their acts together.

"The Greens have long called for changes to the welfare system to remove the bias against practising musicians and help them earn a living wage.

"It is very wise of the SLAM Day organisers to highlight the lack of cohesive policies across government. This is a problem in so many areas, and live music is clearly no exception.

"Supporting our live musicians should be on the agenda of not only the Office for the Arts, but also the departments of Education, Treasury, Communications, Trade and many more.

"I was lucky enough to be at the Falls Festival this year, where 16,500 people enjoyed a few days of live music. We mustn't let great occasions like this be strangled by a lack of support for live musicians and live music."

Australian Greens Member for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, who spoke at the original SLAM Day rally, said "Live music is the heart of Melbourne. We urge the Gillard government to get behind SLAM's plan to take Australia's live music to the next level and keep live music alive."

The Australian Greens have today urged the Gillard government to follow the recommendations of Amnesty International's report to impose time limits on detention and shut down remote detention centres.

"If we want to stop already fragile people from harming themselves or taking their lives, the only way to do it is by closing detention centres on Christmas Island and elsewhere," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young.

"You can only stop self-destruction with 30-day limits on detention, instead of the indefinite and arbitrary mandatory detention which Australia continues to perpetrate. Only the Greens have bills before parliament to amend the Migration Act and fix these problems.

"Some people have languished in detention on Christmas Island and at Curtin for more than 800 days. No Australian would ever be detained without charge for more than two years. I am outraged we are doing this to people who have not committed any crime and are merely seeking our help.

"No family should ever be subjected to head checks by guards between 11pm and 1am, as continues to happen to those enduring the Darwin Airport Lodge. That practice is unacceptable and has to stop.

"Maintaining prison-like centres in remote areas, away from essential services for people who have fled trauma, is expensive and damages people. We've known for more than a decade that detention centres do not deter people seeking Australia's protection.

"We urge the government to continue moving people out of detention centres and into the community as soon as possible, after initial health and security checks are done.

"Australian taxpayers are rightly outraged at the hundreds of millions of dollars in blowouts in the contracts between the government, Serco and International Health and Medical Services. Community release programmes are 90 percent cheaper than detention centres, and 100 percent fairer."

Responding to Minister Shorten's statement on the nurses dispute Greens MP and workplace relations spokesperson Adam Bandt says Minister Shorten needs to do more than just talk.

Mr Bandt says urging the parties into a private arbitration won't change the intransigence of the Victorian Government and won't overcome the legal barriers to Fair Work arbitrating on nurse/patient ratios. He has urged Mr Shorten to get behind his bill to allow Fair Work to settle the dispute.

Victorian Nurses voted to take unprotected action at a Melbourne stop work meeting today.

"It is great to see the Minister get involved but jawboning the state government is not enough to solve this dispute."

"Something needs to be done to overcome the disadvantage essential service workers like nurses face under our industrial laws."

"My bill will ensure would ensure all issues in the dispute would be resolved, including nurse/patient ratios."

Mr Bandt had previously announced that his Work (Job Security and Fairer Bargaining) Amendment Bill to be introduced on Monday would remove the barriers to Fair Work settling the dispute.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says the 3 month jail sentence imposed on peaceful logging blockader Ali Alishah is in astounding comparison with every Forestry Tasmania officer involved in illegally logging 7 hectares of high conservation value forest in 2007 getting off scot-free.

"When the world heritage value Arve Forest Reserve, a Hartz Range outlier, was logged, there were no police called in and taxpayers footed the bill for Forestry Tasmania's paltry $25,000 fine imposed by the Forest Practices Authority," Senator Brown said.

"In light of this comparison, Ali's sentence is manifestly unfair and symptomatic of this rogue agency's impact on Tasmanian life in 2012," Senator Brown said.

The Greens support the Government’s plan to take swift action to rectify the failure to arrange for a start date of a law giving federal courts jurisdiction to settle property and maintenance disputes of de facto couples.

 “The Attorney-General must treat this as a matter of urgency. The Government has no choice but to introduce legislation retrospectively so thousands of settlements from March 2009 until early February this year are not in doubt,” Greens spokesperson for Legal Affairs, Senator Penny Wright, said.

 “What happened is certainly highly regrettable. But there are hundreds of pieces of legislation passed each year and the reality is that, unfortunately, mistakes do happen. We know they have happened in the past and will likely happen in the future.

 “A quick resolution to remove any doubt about the validity of these cases is in the best interest of all parties and must be a priority.”

The Gillard government's proposed mining tax needs to be amended to include gold and uranium, if not all minerals, and the daft plan to refund royalties should be dropped, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Canberra today.

"If you're going to have massive profits flowing offshore to foreign owners, why not divert a percentage to fund services that people need - now and into the future?

"The Treasurer needs to reconsider extending the mining tax across to gold, uranium and other minerals. The nexus with royalties should also be dropped - it's daft. States have the right to set their own levels of royalties but the open cheque book approach to refunding companies being taken by the federal Treasurer is nonsensical.

"Australia has the means to adequately fund education, health, transport. It should not have a watered-down mining tax pass into law that fails to collect potential funding sourced from resources that belong to the nation," Senator Brown said.

In 2010, four of Australia's biggest gold mining companies were 100% foreign owned and, overall, the industry is 81% foreign owned. An indicative estimate of MRRT revenues from gold is $840 million over the forward estimate period and $1.8 billion over the next 10 years.

Using ABARES' forecast gold volumes and a modest gold price of about $A1,500/oz, the value of gold exports will reach as high as 17% of the value of combined iron ore and coal exports. Gold's exclusion from the MRRT is therefore a significant drain on revenues.

Australia is the world's second-largest gold producer, behind China. Production is dispersed worldwide and Australia has about 13% of the world's gold resources. Iron ore, with a similar level of the world's iron ore resources, has not seen a reduction in investment interest since the introduction of the proposed minerals resource rent tax.

The Greens today vowed to oppose any future move to purchase nuclear submarines for the Australian navy.

Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said the Greens welcomed Labor's opposition to purchasing nuclear submarines but were alarmed by the Coalition's reported plan to ‘consider the nuclear option'.

"Coalition figures have reportedly said Tony Abbott will consider purchasing nuclear submarines if in government. This idea is defective on every point.

"We do not have a nuclear industry to support a nuclear submarine fleet, and nor should we. As such the subs would have to be maintained at a US base in the Pacific or a US nuclear submarine base would need to be established in Australia.

"The giant Virginia Class nuclear submarine costs roughly $2.5 billion. We've just had the Gonski report recommend an additional five billion dollars for the nation's schools. The Coalition has rejected the Gonski recommendations, but apparently would be content to blow that amount of money on two nuclear submarines."

Senator Ludlam said the purchase of nuclear submarines would likely exacerbate any tensions in the Asia-Pacific region and do more damage than good to Australia's security.

Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302

Greens MP and workplace relations spokesperson Adam Bandt says the nurses dispute could be resolved if the Gillard government backs his Fairer Bargaining Bill to be introduced into Parliament on Monday.

Mr Bandt says that workers in essential services, like nurses, are unfairly disadvantaged because their rights to take industrial action are limited and Fair Work Australia is barred from arbitrating on key issues such as nurse/patient ratios.

The Greens' Fair Work (Job Security and Fairer Bargaining) Amendment Bill will also limit the ability of powerful employers, such as Qantas, ability using lockouts as a legal tactic and require Fair Work to consider job security as well as productivity in making decisions.

"If my bill passes, the Baillieu government's attack on nurse/patient ratios will be stopped dead in its tracks and Fair Work Australia could resolve the issue."

"As an industrial lawyer for over a decade, you can spot when a powerful employer is stringing out negotiations because they think they'll get a better outcome before a legally hamstrung Fair Work Australia. That's exactly what the Baillieu government is doing."

"Employers like the Victorian Government have a double advantage under the Fair Work Act. First, people like nurses have fewer rights to take industrial action because they work in an essential service. Second, if the dispute ends up in arbitration, legal barriers mean the tribunal will only deal with some issues and won't impose outcomes like nurse/patient ratios."

"As a result, the Government is dragging its feet in the negotiations, hoping to somehow force the dispute to arbitration. Nurses are stuck in an impossible Catch 22, where if they take industrial action nurse/patient ratios disappear, but if they don't take industrial action, the dispute doesn't get resolved."

"We now have the unacceptable situation where the dispute is dragging on, nurses are in such despair that they're considering resigning, and yet the negotiations are going nowhere. This dispute needs to be fixed."

"Minister Shorten should not wait until the Fair Work Review finishes. Labor could help resolve the dispute preserve nurse/patient ratios tomorrow if they back my bill."

The Australian Greens said today that the Government needs to rethink it’s Stronger Futures legislation in light of evidence and testimony presented to a Senate Inquiry into the Bills.

“There are serious community doubts about the ability of  Stronger Futures to improve community outcomes. People are critical of the Intervention and see Stronger Futures as an extension of it,” Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Issues, Senator Rachel Siewert said today.

Senator Siewert is in the Northern Territory as a member of the Community Affairs Senate Committee which is holding public hearings on the legislation.

“What is really clear from the people we’ve been speaking to is that consultation around this legislation was substandard,” said Senator Siewert.

"One Elder from an outstation 300 km outside of Alice Springs commented that he was not consulted about Stronger Futures and was first made aware of the legislation by the Land Council in November, after the legislation was tabled. This stands in stark contrast to the claims made by the Government over its extensive consultation with Aboriginal communities.

“The people we’ve spoken to from a number of communities in the NT have expressed their concerns about the impact of this legislation. Many do not believe it will deliver improved outcomes to their communities.

"One community member said that the new legislation is regarded as just another intervention, which will lead to a loss of autonomy and an increase in the number of people leaving country and moving to larger towns.

“Losing links to country and heritage is very damaging for communities.

"The Greens oppose this legislation but in the event of the Government proceeding with it, it is clear that there will need to be significant amendments made, " Senator Siewert concluded.

Greens Senator and higher education spokesperson Lee Rhiannon is visiting the University of Wollongong for O-week today to meet with students and discuss funding for the student union and the university.

Senator Rhiannon is calling on the new Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings to stop stalling and commit to passing on to the student union funding collected from students as a result of legislative changes allowing the imposition of a student services and amenities fee.

"The University of NSW has agreed to share funding with their student union, but Wollongong is still refusing to even make an in principle commitment," Senator Rhiannon said.

Ms Sam Dixon a General Representative of the Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Organisation and UOW Convenor of the Young Greens said, "The student union has been starved of money as a result of Howard's voluntary student unionism and is struggling to re-establish essential student services.

"It's time we left the Howard years behind and reinvigorate services delivered by the student body such as subsidising day care, legal services, emergency loans and a book bank," Ms Dixon said.

The Greens are also campaigning for a minimum 10 per cent increase in base funding for the University of Wollongong, which has one of the highest rates of staff casualisation of any regional university in NSW.

"The University of Wollongong, like other universities across Australia, is struggling to provide the same level of quality education, student/staff ratios and student support services because of a lack of funding growth.

"The University has an excellent research profile, which the new Vice Chancellor Professor wants to grow, but being reliant on private rather than public funding makes its future more uncertain.

"It is important that we do not lose sight of the need to provide adequate resources to maintain teaching quality.

"The Greens will put a motion to federal parliament next week to increase base funding by a minimum of 10 percent and in the medium term to commit to match the OECD average investment in higher education to a minimum of 1 per cent of GDP in the medium term

"This institution suffers from one of the highest rates of staff casualisation of any regional university in NSW.

"Management may judge that this increases 'flexibility', but casual and short term contracts mean staff face an uncertain and vulnerable future.

"Like many universities, Wollongong has an ageing workforce with many set for retirement, opening the possibility of sub-standard employment conditions for new staff," Senator Rhiannon said.

The Greens have today announced they will move for a Senate inquiry into the Murray Darling Basin Authority's draft plan when Parliament resumes next week so parliamentarians can scrutinise what is being proposed.

"We want an answer to the basic question why did the MDBA choose 2,750 GL when the science says the river system needs at least 4,000 GL," Greens' water spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said.

"The basin authority has yet to justify that figure.

"There's $9 billion of taxpayers' money at stake and it will be a national tragedy if it doesn't result in a healthy, working river system now and in the future.

"Politicians from all sides are going to be asked to sign off on this plan, but before they do it's important they understand its real ramifications, such as the consequences of a further 2,600 GL being allocated for groundwater extraction.

"Prime Minister Gillard has today visited Adelaide and didn't explain if the draft plan would secure the Murray Darling system's future. The Greens know the draft will not save the basin as is, and that's why major reforms are needed to ensure two million tonnes of salt are flushed from the system annually.

"Serious questions need to be asked about the credibility of the science used and whether the plan is even legal for fulfilling the environmental outcomes required by the Commonwealth Water Act.

"We hope all sides consider our inquiry and specifically urge all South Australian MPs to lobby their parties to back it."

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has called for the Gillard government to seek an injunction in the United States to stop the Japanese whaling slaughter currently underway in Antarctic waters.

A Seattle district court has thrown out an application by Japan for a preliminary injunction to stop Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling campaign. If the case goes to trial the court will hear evidence on the legality or otherwise of whaling.

"Court commentary makes it clear that the Australian government could succeed in stopping the Japanese in the US court system which Japan has appealed to," Senator Brown said in Adelaide.

The Australian Greens are the only political party trying to change unjust laws which are keeping Indonesian children and adults stuck in prison without charge for longer than people accused of serious offences.

"While the old parties squabble about leadership challenges, the Greens are drafting bills and having them referred to inquiries to address the legal and procedural black holes," Greens' immigration spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.

"It is appalling that Indonesians are detained without charge for an average 161 days and have introduced legislation to amend the relevant laws to stop this.

"The Greens have a bill before a Senate inquiry to stop children from being detained in adult prisons, to establish criteria for determining their ages and set deadlines by which they have to be charged with a people smuggling offence.

"We have another bill, also being examined by a Senate inquiry, to abolish mandatory sentences for people who have been tricked into crewing asylum seeker boats by the people smuggling syndicates. The legal community is rightly concerned at the severity of the five-year mandatory jail terms which are longer than some people get for violent and sexual crimes. The Greens' bill would restore sentencing discretion to the courts, so judges can take into account mitigating circumstances.

"The government wants to look tough, but they are failing to catch the kingpins and are instead locking up the small fry at great taxpayer expense, hoping no one would notice the difference.

"We urge the government and Attorney General Roxon to take a serious look at our bills as a way to remedy the injustices."

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today urged the Gillard government to provide a timeline for the new funding formula for schools and the Commonwealth to deliver a clear commitment to provide the bulk of the funding, starting with a down-payment in the May budget.

"The Prime Minister has said there is disadvantage in our schooling system. This will continue if we don't act now," Senator Brown said in Canberra.

Senator Brown also challenged the Coalition to reveal its schools funding plan. "If it is true, as reported, that the Coalition opposes the Gonski recommendations then every school needs to know that they are on the Coalition hit list.

"The Gonski Review recommends $5 billion, although billions more would be needed to catch up with the US, UK, New Zealand or Norway. The government needs to make a down-payment in this year's budget. A high-quality, equitable, well-funded public education system striving for excellence should be the goal.

"Yes there needs to be consultation with the states and territories, but the federal government should underwrite the $5 billion recommended by the experts. In contrast to these recommendations for increased investment, an Abbott-led government would cut $2.8 billion in funding from our schools.

"There are more details to work out but we need a timeline for the new funding formula from the federal government. Parents, children, teachers and principals need to adjust and plan for the new funding model well before the 1 January 2014 deadline.

"It is incumbent upon this government, after an 18-month review process which received more than 7000 submissions, to now act and ensure legislation to transform the way our schools are funded is passed by the parliament this year. We cannot risk falling even further behind our OECD peers in our commitment to education," Senator Brown said.

Greens’ spokesperson for health, Senator Richard Di Natale, is calling on the Government to fund the expansion of Australia’s bowel cancer screening program as recommended by the Cancer Council in its pre-budget submission.

“Evidence shows that Australia’s National Bowel Screening Program has been very successful in earlier diagnosis of disease, which leads to a better prognosis for patients and reduced costs on the health system.

“The current Federal Government screening program only targets people turning 50, 55 and 60 for one off tests, which greatly limits its effectiveness.

“I am calling for the program to funded to make biennial screening available to all people over 50, as was recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council and by the Cancer Council in its pre-budget submission. The program should also include an awareness campaign because most high-risk individuals are still failing to be screened, according to recent reports.

“This is a healthcare initiative that would most certainly save a great number of lives and it is not overly expensive.

“The Cancer Council cost it at $150 million a year, which would still be a small part of the annual expenditure on bowel cancer in Australia. Considering that a more comprehensive screening program could save up to 30 lives per week, it’s a bargain in my book.

“It has been estimated that the prevalence of bowel cancer could increase by as much as 50 per cent over the next decade – therefore this should be a priority now.”

Media contact: Andrew Blyberg 0457 901 600

Moves by Sydney University to axe 100 academic jobs and move a further 60 to teaching-only roles is a blow to quality education at Sydney University and shows a lack of good faith in negotiations, said Greens Senator and Higher Education spokesperson Lee Rhiannon.

“Students rocking up to O-Week at Sydney University will be disappointed to learn of these massive job cuts and are entitled to be concerned for the quality of their courses”, said Senator Rhiannon.

“Vice Chancellor Michael Spence has his priorities seriously wrong. He is leading the university down a dangerous path by cutting jobs in favour of pouring money into infrastructure and IT projects. 

“It is like trying to improve dental health by axing the number of dentists to pay for an upgrade of waiting rooms.

“Rolls Royce infrastructure will not make up for an over-stretched and casualised pool of staff.

“The Greens call on the Mr Spence to take off his blinkers and negotiate in good faith with the NTEU.

“I am spending this week visiting campuses for O-Week. The students I have met are excited about the adventure to come but it is hard to maintain this excitement when job cuts loom across a number of campuses” said Senator Rhiannon.

In the lead up to the one and only public hearing for the inquiry into the federal lobbyists scheme, Greens Senator and Australian Greens democracy spokesperson Lee Rhiannon said:

"Academics and non-government organisations have characterised the federal regulation of lobbyists as timid and narrow with serious exclusions, but none have been invited to appear at the one public hearing dedicated to reviewing the scheme (details below).

"Labor and Coalition  MPs on the Committee refused to agree to my request to invite any NGOs and academics who have made submissions critical of the scheme.

"The limited line-up feeds an impression that the Gillard government is resistant to an inquiry that recommends strengthening the scheme.

"The Greens initiated an inquiry into lobbyists after the Gillard government sidestepped an obligation to conduct a proper review as recommended in 2008.

 "The public has a legitimate right to know who is gaining access to politicians and high level bureaucrats and whether deals are being done.

"The federal code fails to capture in-house lobbyists and lobbying of MPs outside of the Executive. The disclosure requirements and sanctions for non-compliance are also extremely limited.

"This inquiry provides an opportunity to strengthen the current scheme which is almost universally regarded as deficient.

"Tellingly, an international survey on lobbying regulation has found that less than a quarter of lobbyists in Australia themselves judge that the current scheme helps ensure transparency.

Submissions to the inquiry, including the Australian Greens submission with recommendations, are here: http://tinyurl.com/6uz4v6t
Committee website: http://tinyurl.com/http-www-aph-gov-au-Parliame

What:  Public hearing - Inquiry into federal lobbyist regulatory scheme
Who: Prime Minister and Cabinet, Government Relations Australia, Queensland Integrity Commissioner. Senator Rhiannon to sit on the inquiry.
When: 9.15-11.45am, Tuesday 21 February 2012
Where: Committee Room 2S3, Parliament House, Canberra

A high-quality, equitable, well-funded public education system striving for excellence is the guarantee of a healthy and productive society. Let's go!, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"A clear message from the Gonski Review is that, as a minimum, the government needs to invest $5 billion in our public education system. Australia is in the midst of a mining boom. We can afford to prioritise the education of our children with properly applied proceeds from the mining tax," Senator Brown said in Hobart.

"In contrast to these recommendations for increased investment, an Abbott-led government would cut $2.8 billion in funding to our schools, including more than $700 million for improved teacher quality and support for low-SES schools.

"If you take a look at public funding of schools as a percentage of GDP, Australia is at 3%, lagging the OECD average of 3.5%, while the best-funded nations include Norway with 5%, 4.9% for Iceland and 4.2% for Denmark. Just to reach the OECD average Australia needs a further investment of $7 billion a year.

"The new funding model recommended by the Gonski Review would see significant new investment in public schools and poorer private schools and recognises the extra burdens faced by the public school sector in educating the most disadvantaged students.

"There should be a down-payment in this year's budget demonstrating the Government is committed to real reform, particularly given literacy and numeracy and teacher quality national partnerships are ending this year."