Media release - 21 March 2012

The Australian Greens this afternoon reintroduced a bill into the Senate to ban live animal exports, the Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2012.

"The live animal export trade is cruel, inhuman and immoral and the vast majority of Australians want it shut down.  This Greens bill would put an immediate end to the horrific treatment of Australian livestock in overseas abattoirs", said Greens Senator and animal spokesperson Lee Rhiannon.

Greens Senator and higher education spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has called on the government to guarantee that public vocational education training (VET) will be prioritised in the government's skills funding package, to be announced in detail later today.

"The government should commit to putting public VET providers, such as TAFE in NSW, front and centre in the funding package to get the maximum long term value from the investment", said Senator Rhiannon.

 Federal Labor's proposed overhaul of skills training provides a great opportunity to boost skills and jobs, but the government must avoid forcing students to pay more, says Greens Senator and higher education spokesperson Lee Rhiannon ("Shortage of skills slowing NSW economy", p 2 Daily Telegraph today).

"The extra 320,000 skilled workers NSW needs has been exacerbated by federal Labor policy which is focused on privatising the VET sector and increasing the amount students pay on fees and charges," Senator Rhiannon said.

On a day of nationwide rallies by steel workers calling on Tony Abbott to back the Steel Transformation Plan, Greens Senator for NSW Lee Rhiannon says her party's support for the legislation and proposed amendments requiring the government refer to the Green Jobs Illawarra Action plan when allocating the $300 million to the industry was a big step forward for job security in the region.

 "The Greens have taken the Greens Jobs Illawarra Action Plan into federal parliament and held it up as a model for similar steel regions suffering economic hardship," Senator Rhiannon said.

Listen to Lee's media doorstop at Parliament House on the $300 million Steel Package and Greens amendments to prioritise the Green Jobs Illawarra Action plan.

Blog post by Senator Lee Rhiannon

I was one of about 100 participants at the federal government’s Jobs Forum. If the benchmark of a successful forum was job creation how did it rate?

AMWU and AWU national secretaries, Dave Oliver and Paul Howes, were generous in their praise. Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that companies, which receive more than $20 million in government grants, will be required to fill out and make public Australian Industry Participation forms.

Commenting on today’s Jobs Forum in Canberra, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said the event highlighted the need to develop detailed renewable energy industry plans at both a national and regional level to help stimulate the ailing manufacturing sector and create long-term sustainable employment.

“Today’s ideas swap was welcome, but constructing a workable plan to revive Australia’s manufacturing sector requires a parliamentary inquiry as proposed by the Greens,” Senator Rhiannon said.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has congratulated MUA members at Port Kembla for resisting attempts by Patrick stevedores to weaken working conditions and limit their wage increase.

"The stand Port Kembla workers are taking is important for the Illawarra region. Patrick Stevedores should drop its attacks on working conditions and conclude the negotiations, which have been dragging on for too long, in a constructive manner," Senator Rhiannon said.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon says a Federal Inquiry into manufacturing, proposed by Greens MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt, would create a springboard from which to boost job growth in the Illawarra and Hunter's manufacturing sectors.

The Australian Greens are calling for a wide ranging, independent inquiry into manufacturing and jobs. They have rejected Prime Minister Julia Gillard's one day jobs forum on October 6 as a 'talkfest'.