Greens MPs

The report of the Independent Review of the PTTEP Montara Action Plan makes some very strong statements on the significant and sweeping changes in governance and oil field practice that PTTEP needs to make to reach the kind of safety and risk management standards the community expects of it if it is to operate in Australian waters.

What is the purpose of the Australian of the Year award? Recognition of past achievements, recognising Australians who uphold our values? Endorsing role models for the rest of the community? Or simply rewarding hard work and determination?

Are we looking for ordinary people doing extraordinary things, or extraordinary people doing ordinary things? What measuring stick do we use to define the qualities of a person who captures the essence of our diverse and always changing Australian society?

The floods that have devastated Queensland and parts of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania have taken a terrible toll with lives lost, homes, businesses and crops destroyed and whole communities faced with the overwhelming task of rebuilding and starting again. The Australian Greens, like all Australians want to do everything in our power to reach out to those affected, to offer them our support and to help in whatever way we can.

We support the immediate payments of flood relief and we know that people will be worrying about whether their home and business insurance will cover the damages and how they will cope beginning again. We know that community leaders will be seeking financial support from the state and federal governments to replace critical infrastructure like bridges, roads, water and sewerage treatment plants. The Treasurer Wayne Swan has already said that the financial costs will make it hard to meet the Government's aim to be back in surplus by 2013 without cutting other areas of the budget.

So to ensure that the federal government has sufficient funds to meet the costs of reconstruction without cutting other areas such as health and education, Senator Brown called for the federal government to restore the full Super Profits tax as it applies to coal mining companies.

Dear Editor,

Andrew Bolt has blood on his hands. He stridently insisted on the invasion and killings in Iraq which led to millions fleeing. Some of those millions ended up in the ocean off Christmas Island on Wednesday.

Andrew Bolt’s call, while bodies were still in the ocean, for Julia Gillard’s resignation (but the Labor Party opposed the war in Iraq) lacked human decency. He should resign.

Senator Bob Brown