Australian Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale today said:

“Immunisation is one of the most successful public health initiatives ever, and has led to millions of lives being saved all over the world.

“Vaccines are a victim of their own success with many life-threatening illnesses now a distant memory in Australia but a decline in immunisation rates could see the return of some of these devastating diseases.

“As a doctor and a public health specialist, I urge all Australian parents to ensure that their kids are immunised.

“The drug overdoses that occurred last night are another reminder that both state and federal governments are failing young Australians. We need politicians to do what they’re paid to do - make laws that put people’s safety first," Senator Richard Di Natale, leader of the Australian Greens said today.
 
“We know that young people will continue to try drugs. We can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not going to happen. What we need to do is give them the tools they need to make educated choices. 
 

As Parliament returns for the first sitting fortnight of the year, the Australian Greens have lodged a motion to stop the Government’s proposed restrictions medicinal cannabis

Dr Richard Di Natale, Greens Leader and Health Spokesperson, said today, “With this latest round of regulations, the Government has tried to add unnecessary time, stress, and difficulty for terminally ill patients to access medicinal cannabis. This is something the Australian Greens will not accept.

“Today I am moving to disallow the government’s harsh cuts to Medicare funded child dental care," Senator Richard Di Natale said today.

“Late last year the government took the axe to child dental – ripping $300 per child and dramatically reducing children's’ access to dental care.

“The Child Dental Benefits Schedule was a key win of the Green’s power sharing arrangement with the former Gillard Government.

“We will fight to protect it, and are calling on the Senate to support our disallowance. 

Rewarding Greg Hunt with the health portfolio after his disastrous turn as Environment Minister shows just how out of touch Malcolm Turnbull is, leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale said.

“Greg Hunt nearly killed the Great Barrier Reef, imagine what he’s going to do to our health,”

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale condemned the Turnbull government's huge cuts to dental services funding announced today by Health Minister Susan Ley.
 
“The is another attempt by this Government to balance the budget off the back of health care for the most vulnerable people in our society. Cutting the value of the Child Dental Benefits Schedule by $300 per child will significantly reduce the amount of dental care that Aussie kids can access.”
 

Leader of the Australian Greens Dr Richard Di Natale has announced that the party has reached consensus on a major reform to its drugs policy at its national conference in Perth.

“For more than half a century we’ve been pursuing a series of failed policies that criminalise a health problem and have only succeeded in making it worse.”

“Working as a drug and alcohol doctor I've seen our punitive approach embolden criminals, tear families apart and destroy the lives of thousands of ordinary people who have used drugs.”