The Greens today proved they are more interested in pursuing their social agenda than environmental and regional issues, Nationals Senator Fiona Nash said.
The Greens secured the chair’s position of the senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee which was previously held by the Opposition.
While disagreeing that the Greens were entitled to an extra chair’s position, the Opposition proposed an amendment that if the Senate was going to allow the Green’s an extra position, the Greens should chair the Environment and Communications References committee instead, which the Greens rejected.
Chairs are usually selected by the committees. The Greens sought to override this long-held senate procedure by getting the Labor government to introduce a motion on their behalf.
"The role of committee chairs is to hold the government to account. The fact is the Greens became a part of the Labor government when it signed a coalition agreement and installed Julia Gillard as the Prime Minister,” Senator Nash said.
"And the fact that the Labor government introduced the motion on the Greens behalf proves it!
“What is more astounding is that the Greens knocked back an opportunity to chair the Environment and Communications committee which deals with issues that one would think would be core business for the party.
“For a party that claims to represent the environment and regional Australia, it is bizarre that it knocked back this opportunity.
“It may seem a trivial debate over procedure, but it’s in fact a huge watershed day that has proven the Greens are more interested in pursuing its social and political agenda than environmental and regional issues.
“Just as we suspected all along.”
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