Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale and Education Spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi have today doubled down on their defence of public schools, declaring they "will not be silenced" by a well-funded Private Schools lobby group.

"The Morrison Government has sold Australian students down the river to silence a powerful lobby group ahead of the Wentworth byelection, but the Greens will always put kids in public education front and centre," Dr Di Natale said.

Greens Treasury spokesperson Senator Peter Whish-Wilson and Leader Dr Richard Di Natale have this afternoon welcomed the release of the interim report of the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commission, saying we must now undertake serious reform to clean up the endless greed in the sector.

“Scott Morrison famously said when announcing this Royal Commission that it would not be ‘capitalism on trial’, but it’s now clear that’s exactly what it is, certainly it’s the worst excesses of capitalism on trial,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

In a speech to the National Press Club the Leader of the Australian Greens, Dr Richard Di Natale, will today announce a plan to establish a national publicly owned electricity retailer, Power Australia, to increase competition in the National Electricity Market, drive down prices and support the transition to clean energy.

Quotes attributable to Dr Richard Di Natale, Leader of the Australian Greens:

The election of Scott Morrison as Liberal Leader won’t solve the infighting and self-interest that has paralysed Australian politics for a decade said Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale.



"Once again, a Prime Minister has been turfed out not by the voters, but by a handful of faceless men. Whether it’s the Labor Party or the Liberals, people have had a gutful, and are right to be angry" Di Natale said.

The Australian Greens today announced portfolio allocations for their Senators and MPs ahead of the upcoming Federal Election.

Australian Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale said a reallocation had occurred as a result of Mehreen Faruqi’s arrival in the Senate yesterday and Larissa Water’s imminent return.

“We’ve got to hold the big parties to account – and the Australian Greens Senate team will fight for the causes that matter to our community,” Dr Di Natale said.

“This new allocation of portfolios will make the most of each of our Senator’s strengths and passions."

Fraser Anning’s vile comments in the Senate today were absolutely beyond the pale. If he has a shred of decency, he will immediately apologise. 
 
Referring to immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants, with the same language that the Nazis used to discuss the extermination of Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust is vile, racist, bigoted and has no place in our society, let alone our Parliament. 
 

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale and Treasury Spokesperson Sen. Peter Whish-Wilson today unveiled a proposal for a sweeping overhaul of our banking and financial services sector, as well as the regulatory and governance system underpinning it. Simply put: it's time to break up the banks.

Cambodia’s weekend elections are a ‘sham’ and an indictment of the corrupt Hun Sen regime, the Australian Greens said today, calling on the Turnbull Government to refuse to recognise the anti-democratic and bogus results.

“Cambodia’s election yesterday was a complete sham. Hun Sen has been systematically dismantling independent voices and political opposition in Cambodia. An election is completely illegitimate when you throw the Leader of the Opposition in jail and dissolve his party," Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale today expressed deep concern at reports that the vessel Al Awda – part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla coalition’s boat – was detained by the Israeli Navy in international waters late last night.

“I understand that the vessel and the crew, including Australian journalist Chris Graham, were intercepted in international waters, and that they have been towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod," Di Natale said.