Councillor Chris Harris

When Deputy Lord Mayor Greens Cr. Chris Harris requested a motion of urgency to bring forward the debate on erecting a banner – ‘Cage Bush. Not Sydney’ – on the Town Hall, not one councillor supported him.

The reason Cr. Harris gave for this motion to be brought forward was that camera crews were waiting to record the debate and there was wide public interest in the issue.

Not surprisingly when the motion finally came up for debate, with one intrepid camera crew still present, neither the supposedly progressive Clover Moore independent team, nor the Liberals (predictably) nor Labor voted to even discuss the matter. Read the rest of this entry »

In a notice of motion put before the City of Sydney Council, Greens Deputy Lord Mayor Cr. Chris Harris has proposed that while the council is legally obliged to provide existing employees with a ‘Workplace Relations Fact Sheet’ designed by the Federal Government, it should also provide staff with an alternative non-political fact sheet.

This is especially timely given the Queensland government’s legal challenge in the Federal Court – the NSW government is considering joining this action - where it is seeking a declaration that local government bodies are not constitutional corporations and therefore are not subject to Work Choices legislation. Read the rest of this entry »

This week Senator Kerry Nettle introduced The Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2007 into the Senate. The bill aims to remove discrimination and to permit marriage regardless of sexuality and gender identity.

The new definition of marriage is “the union of two persons, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, voluntarily entered into for life.” Existing discrimination must be overturned because freedom of sexuality and gender identity are fundamental human rights, and acceptance and celebration of diversity are essential for genuine social justice and equality.

Such discrimination is also a significant cause of psychological distress and the Greens think it is essential to alleviate such serious health concerns wherever possible.

Several major daily newspapers have reported that Senator Bob Brown and The Greens want to stop Australian coal mining and exports within three years.

Kevin Rudd and John Howard have gone ballistic, labelling this ‘a kneejerk reaction’.

It’s a shame none of them bothered to check their facts. Bob Brown’s actual press release (see below) clearly says we need to develop a PLAN within three years, hardly a kneejerk reaction.

The press release:
9th Feb 07

Australia should develop a plan, in the next three years, to reduce and phase out coal exports, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

“Neither the Howard Coalition nor Rudd Labor will tackle our biggest cause of climate change - burning coal. Both the parties support burning more, not less,” Senator Brown said.

“This is an extreme position considering the massive economic and environmental crisis the world is facing. The nation should rapidly transform to being the world’s largest exporter of solar power technology, other renewable energy options and energy efficiency technology - creating thousands of jobs and a multi-billion dollar export income in tandem with the replacement of coal,” Senator Brown said. Read the rest of this entry »