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Newcastle Greens

22 November 2007

Vote Green for a real difference

Greens Candidate for Newcastle, Charmian Eckersley, made her final pitch today for voters to turn to Greens if they want a party with a difference.

Ms Eckersley said the Greens’ policies are clearly different than those of the big parties, whose policies are more similar now than ever before.

“This has been an election campaign of ‘me too-ism’. It’s like an auction, with Labor and the Coalition vying for the same voters, and trying to out-bid one another with promises of tax cuts. Their policies on climate change and industrial relations are almost indistinguishable,” Ms Eckersley said.

“The Final Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Sunday demonstrates that neither of the big parties is facing up to threat of global warming. Only the Greens have policies that will reduce greenhouse gases that threaten the survival of the planet. The Greens will use their influence in the Senate to convince the Government to phase out coal and support alternative technologies,” Ms Eckersley said.

Bob Brown, when asked yesterday how we could replace coal as base energy, replied that solar thermal, geothermal and energy efficiency, including installing solar panels in all houses, would make a significant contribution towards base energy requirements, whilst creating tens of thousands of jobs and a new export industry.

“A national plan incorporating all aspects of energy use, energy production and phasing out mining of coal is essential to take the most efficient and effective path to reduce greenhouse emissions so the temperature rise is no more than 2 degrees,” Ms Eckersley said.

“The Greens have consistently opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where more than one million have died in this unjust war for oil. The Greens will immediately move to withdraw our combat troops from Iraq,” Ms Eckersley said.

“The Greens are the only party in Parliament that has committed to abolishing the no-choice WorkChoices legislation introduced by John Howard. The Greens recognise that WorkChoices has resulted in the loss of many fair conditions gained over more than a century. Instead of a fair go, young people are receiving on average $100 less per week than peers on collective bargaining agreements,” Ms Eckersley said.

“The Australian Secondary Principals Association and the National Tertiary Education Union have praised The Greens’ education polices which call for the abolition of HECs and significant increased funding for public schools, TAFEs and universities. Mr Howard said today that the only complaint he’s consistently heard from businesses is that there aren’t people with the right skills to fill their jobs. This is a direct result of his running down of the public education system.” Ms Eckersley said.

Further comment: Charmian Eckersley, Greens candidate for Newcastle

Ph. 0407 730410 www.charmian-eckersley.blogspot.com