Greens MPs

The "year of decision and delivery" is quickly coming to an end and the Prime Minister is determined to get the government's mining tax passed through the House of Representative this week before the summer break of Parliament. The Senate would then deal with the legislation when Parliament resumes in 2012.

Today we celebrate a huge achievement, with the passage of the Clean Energy Future legislation that finally puts a price on pollution and gets us ready for historical investments in clean, renewable energy, energy efficiency and protection of landscape carbon.

But, in a very real way, today's vote is a new beginning for the campaign for serious climate action, not the end.

This package of bills was designed carefully to have as many points of review as possible, as many opportunities for campaigning as possible, and as much independent expert advice as possible. Critically, it is designed with complete upward flexibility: there is no limit to our ambition if we are ready to aim high.

The challenge now is to build the political will for ambitious, science-based action over the years ahead.

Great excitement! Last night the House of Representatives passed my private member’s bill to remove federal ministerial veto power over Territory laws*.

It is the first Australian Greens bill ever to pass Parliament and become law.

No longer will a single federal minister be able to step in and --with the stroke of a pen and without reference to Parliament -- dismiss laws passed by the democratically elected representatives of the Territory Assemblies (as the Howard government did when it overrode the civil partnerships laws passed by the ACT Assembly five years ago).

This bill has passed thanks to you and the 1.6 million Australians who voted Greens last election and thanks to the support of the Chief Ministers of the Territories, the Gillard government and the Independents, and the four Greens elected to represent Canberrans in the ACT Legislative Assembly.

It is a great day for the Australian Greens and great day for democracy! Raise a glass!

If you are near Canberra next Tuesday, please come to the Senate to see the historic carbon price package pass into law. Click here to rsvp or for details to watch online.

* Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of laws) Bill 2011

Senator LUDLAM (Western Australia) (October 31st, 17:04):

I rise to add my condolences to those of my colleagues on all sides of the chamber concerning the horror that occurred on the weekend and to pay my respects to the three fallen Australians whose sacrifice is appreciated by all of us. Also to the Afghan interpreter, who was killed, and the many who were terribly injured, our thoughts are with them and their families. It is worth noting in passing, with a sense of sadness, that we do not speak to the names of each of Australia's fallen troops now because there are so many. We stand in silence in acknowledgement of their sacrifice but simply do not have time as a parliament to speak to them all as we used to-32 in a decade and a third of them fallen in only the last 12 months. If there has been such progress, if things look as wonderful on the ground as Senator Feeney has been describing, it appears that the violence that our troops have been exposed to is only getting worse.