100% Renewable Inquiry, Casey Council and dodgy political donations and more
So what happened in parliament this week?
Read below or watch this week's episode of Inside Spring Street.
WE CALLED FOR AN INQUIRY INTO HOW TO GET TO 100% RENEWABLES, AND OUT OF COAL
Some people say getting to 100% renewables isn’t possible. We say let’s get the experts in. This week we gave notice that we’re calling for an inquiry into transitioning to 100% renewables. So far the community has responded enthusiastically to our request that they contact their MP and tell them to support holding an inquiry when it’s debated next sitting week.
THE CROSS BENCH HAD SOME WINS
Catherine Cumming successfully got up an inquiry into air quality, which is good news for us, as we have plenty of air quality concerns. And while the government didn’t vote for Fiona Patten’s bill to extend the age of leaving state care from 18 to 21, they said they would support the bill.
CASEY AND DEMOCRACY
This week parliament sacked Casey council. Which given the revelations at IBAC about dodgy developers gifting Councillors hundreds of thousands of dollars to influence council decisions, is hardly surprising. We called for an earlier return to democratic elections than proposed in the bill and supported independent Catherine Cumming’s amendment on this. Liberal MP Bruce Atkinson also supported this amendment, crossing the floor to vote against his Coalition colleagues. Samantha Ratnam MP used both her speech in parliament and her press conference to talk about how we need to use the upcoming local government bill to stop the dodgy donations which led to Casey’s troubles.
AND MORE
Extinction Rebellion did a banner drop during question time, while the Coalition revealed the details of their bill to increase police powers to break-up protests by groups like Extinction Rebellion. The Greens spoke out on logging, climate and threats to national parks, and Tim pointed out that the new kids dental health vans are partly funded by the free dental care negotiated by the federal Greens. Thanks Adam. And finally, Ellen’s statement on duck shooting got applause from the gallery (that never happens!).
