The Australian Greens welcome the recent announcement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that she believes the court has jurisdiction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza, so that it can investigate war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine since 2009.

“Australia appears to have found itself on the wrong side of international law in arguing that the court doesn’t have jurisdiction in Palestine," Greens Leader and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Adam Bandt said.

Young people starting their first job following the COVID-19 crisis will earn on average $35,000 less than their peers over the next decade – a 6% pay cut, or essentially working over 6 months unpaid, modelling from the Australian Greens has predicted.
 

The Government’s shameful disregard for privacy continues with the release of its COVID-19 app.

“If the Government wants people to use this app, they need to put protections in law beforehand,” Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP said.

“People have very legitimate concerns about how the data will be used and where it will be stored.”

“The reported storage of the data by a US company raises real concerns. When it comes to privacy, if there’s one person I trust less than Peter Dutton, it’s Donald Trump.”

The Greens have today welcomed a call from former Labor Premier, Jay Weatherill, for a rethink of how childcare is run, which aligns with Greens calls for free childcare run on a not-for-profit basis.

While saying that his ideas required more discussion, and while not backing his call for the Commonwealth to vacate the field and hand childcare over to the states, Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Greens education spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi said that it was time to start treating childcare as an essential public service.

The Australian Greens have joined RBA Governor Dr Lowe’s calls for tax reform, with Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, saying that means removing unjustifiable tax breaks for polluters, shifting tax concessions towards research, development and innovation and boosting public sector investment.

In responding to Dr Lowe’s speech, Greens Leader Adam Bandt MP warned the Liberal Party against using it as an opportunity to further give tax breaks to their corporate backers, saying everyday Australians should be the chief beneficiaries of any reforms.

When Parliament resumes at the foreshadowed May sitting, the Greens will move in the Senate to disallow the Government’s regulation shortening the notice required to change enterprise agreements, said Greens Leader and Industrial Relations spokesperson, Adam Bandt.

“The government is using a temporary emergency to make long-term changes to workers’ rights,” said Mr Bandt.

“I am worried about Liberal mission creep.

Australian Greens Housing spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP have said that the federal government must step up and develop a national housing policy that addresses big gaps left by the states.

Housing packages announced by state governments in recent days have largely left vulnerable renters in the lurch and failed to address the power imbalance between landlords and tenants.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi said: