Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Environment Minister Peter Garrett must announce his decision on the fate of South Australia’s Lower Lakes.

After a ten-day period of public consultation late last year, Minister Garrett had twenty working days to decide upon the appropriateness of seawater flooding of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert. An announcement was expected by December 31 2008.

“It’s time for an announcement from the Minister,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

“The Greens want to see Minister Garrett rule out seawater flooding of the Lower Lakes.

“Rather than preparing for the worst-case scenario, we should be proactive in avoiding it.

The Greens say former prime minister John Howard is hardly deserving of a Medal of Freedom from US President George W Bush, given his record on human rights.

Howard has been named as a recipient of the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with former British prime minister Tony Blair and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.

The medal is the highest honour awarded to civilians, described by White House spokeswoman Dana Perino as being for “efforts to promote democracy, human rights and peace abroad”. Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.

“John Howard’s record on human rights is blemished, to say the least,” said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on Environment Minister Peter Garrett to be upfront with South Australians as to his decision on flooding the Lower Lakes with salt water.

Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBCA) the Environment Minister had twenty working days to respond to the South Australian Government's request for approval of removing the barrages and letting salt water into the Lower Lakes. These twenty working days expired on December 31 2008.

"It's disappointing that no announcement has been made yet by the Minister, although his deadline to do so has passed," said Senator Hanson-Young.

The Greens say Immigration Minister Chris Evans should not be opening the Christmas Island detention centre to detain recently arrived asylum seekers.

The $400 million, 800-bed detention centre on Christmas Island was built by the Howard Government but left unoccupied until now.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the Christmas Island detention centre should never have been built and should not be housing asylum seekers now.

“This facility, of monstrous size and cost to taxpayers, is not an appropriate way to accommodate people who have arrived in Australia seeking our assistance,” she said.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Bradley Review’s call for greater income support for struggling tertiary students.

Among its 46 proposed changes, the Bradley Review of Higher Education recommends lowering the age of independence to 22 and allowing students to earn $400 a fortnight before payments are affected (up from $236 per fortnight at present).

“At a time when students are having to pay more than ever for their qualifications, they need to be better supported,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says ten days is not long enough for public consultation on the prospect of flooding South Australia’s Lower Lakes with salt water.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett provided a ten-day period for public consultation which concludes today, and is set to decide whether or not he will approve salt water flooding by December 31 this year.

“Ten days for public consultation on such critical environmental, social and economic impacts is a joke, said Senator Hanson-Young.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says a UNICEF report placing Australia third-last in the developed world for childcare is a timely sign that childcare in this country needs an urgent rethink.

UNICEF’s report, The Child Care Transition, ranked Australia 22nd out of 24 developed countries for childcare and early learning, meeting only two out of ten benchmarks.

“The collapse of ABC Learning showed up weaknesses and shortcomings in the Australian childcare sector, and now it’s been confirmed that we’re doing badly by international standards,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says that yesterday’s statement from Education Minister Julia Gillard has raised considerably more questions about the future of hundreds of ABC Learning centres.

Yesterday it was announced that 55 ABC Learning centres would close from December 31 this year, with another 241 to be propped up until March 31 2009 by with $34 million of Government money, despite them being considered unviable under the current business model.

“Parents and workers at hundreds of centres now face yet more uncertainty into 2009 in light of this statement,” said Senator Hanson-Young.

The Greens say that Education Minister Julia Gillard has given up too easily by allowing 55 ABC Learning centres to close and leaving a further 241 with an uncertain future beyond March 2009.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Federal Government has delivered a cruel Christmas announcement for more than 100 childcare workers, while the assurances of alternative placement for children in nearby centres comes with riders.

“The Government is giving up too easily on the 55 centres that have been earmarked for closure - and more should be done to protect workers’ jobs and the parents and children affected,” she said.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has welcomed the Federal Government’s introduction of a National Human Rights Consultation, but says that a bill of rights should be among the options considered.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland today, on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, announced that the consultation process would now commence, and be overseen by four independent committee members.

“The Greens welcome the National Human Rights Consultation, as a long overdue step for Australia to take,” she said.