The Greens are calling on Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek to stick to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan at tomorrow's Ministerial Council meeting in Canberra, and pull NSW and Vic into line and announce voluntary buybacks are back on the table. 

Greens Spokesperson for Environment and Water and Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young has been calling for a MinCo to be held as a priority under the new Labor Government. 

The Greens are calling on Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to immediately rule out approving BHP’s proposed Peak Downs coal mine expansion in Queensland.

The expansion is slated cover 4,000 hectares and will involve clearing habitat for the endangered koala, greater glider and other threatened species.

Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

Responding to the release of the Second Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) Report, Greens Spokesperson for the Environment and Water, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“This Report bells the cat – the Liberal-National Party have spent a decade ripping off both the taxpayer and the environment, failing to deliver water to the River and instead funnelling billions of dollars into bogus projects. 

The Federal Court bid by the Australian Conservation Foundation to stop Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas project until its impact on the Great Barrier Reef is assessed, highlights the need for a climate trigger to assess the impact of polluting projects, the Greens say.

Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

"We must stop making climate change worse and that means we stop making pollution worse. Yet environmental approvals don't even consider the impact of a polluting mine or development on the climate. 

SA Greens Senator and Spokesperson for Environment and Water, Sarah Hanson-Young has called on the Albanese Government to appoint a Water Minister from South Australia in Labor's new Cabinet. 

Senator Hanson-Young said:

"I have a new found hope for our Murray River now that the National Party's reign over the water portfolio is finally over. 

"But while the Barnaby Joyce and the Nats are no longer in charge, the water wars between the Basin states are set to continue.

The Greens say confirmation in the Reef Snapshot:  Summer 2021-22 of the sixth mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef lays bare the Morrison Government’s near-decade of failure on climate action.  

The Snapshot confirms the Reef has suffered the fourth mass bleaching event since 2016, and the first in La Nina conditions, with 91% of surveyed areas showing signs of bleaching.

Lines attributable to Greens deputy leader and Queensland Senator Larissa Waters:

The Australian Greens say alarm bells are ringing over reports NSW will continue to allow the clearing of koala habitat under new rules for private landowners. 

Greens spokesperson for the environment, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, said outlawing the clearing of koala habitat with zero exceptions is the only way to save our iconic species.

“You can’t save koalas while continuing to wreck their homes. Unless we take urgent action to end clearing of critical habitat, they will be extinct in NSW by 2050.

With joint state and federal funding set to run out in June, the Greens have pledged $30 million to extend the Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program and fund a coordinated eradication program in Townsville, protecting North Queensland’s ecological health and tourism industry from one of the world’s most invasive species.

The Greens will provide:

National Party Minister David Littleproud has claimed the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is dead, again proving the Morrison-Joyce Government will kill Australia's biggest river system.

The National Party recklessly took water buybacks off the table in 2020, despite the scheme being crucial to restoring water flows to the river and delivering 450GL promised to South Australia.  

Labor has declared it is committed to the Plan but not to buybacks, without which, SA will be left high and dry.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese’s promise to deliver South Australia’s fair share of water under the Murray Darling Basin Plan is welcomed, however will only be delivered if buybacks are restored, the Greens have said today.

This scheme is critical to restoring water flows to the river and delivering 450GL to South Australia, and the Greens will be needed in the Senate to secure it.