The Greens are strong supporters of early childhood education and care. We believe that anyone who wants their child to participate in early education should be able to do so without any barriers, and early childhood educators should be paid a professional wage. We want to extend universal access to early childhood education to 24 hours a week for all three- and four-year-olds and fund the national partnership agreement on an ongoing basis. Let's also further support children and families by making child care free and by abolishing the activity test.

I, and also on behalf of Senators Dodson and Siewert, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Anti-Poverty Week runs from 13 to 19 October 2019,

(ii) the Productivity Commission has found that two-thirds of low­ income renters in Australia are in rental stress – spending more than 30% of their income on rent,

(iii) 170,000 Australian households are left with less than $35 a day after covering their rent, and

(iv) the Productivity Commission has stated that Commonwealth Rent Assistance has not kept up with rising rents; and

Greens Senator for NSW and Education Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi has called for universities in Australia to undertake a human rights review of all their research partnerships following allegations Australian universities are contributing to the surveillance state in China.

Senator Faruqi said:

“It is completely unacceptable for Australian universities to be involved in projects that could impede the human rights of ethnic minorities and political dissidents.

I rise on behalf of the Greens to speak to the Higher Education Support (Charges) Bill 2019 and the Higher Education Support Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2019. I'll be clear from the outset: the Greens do not support these bills. These bills impose yet another levy on the higher education sector, which is already under pressure from round after round of funding cuts. The Greens are deeply concerned about the ongoing cuts to higher education.

The Greens are proud to support the more than 60 young women who have taken over parliament today, acting as Senators for the day.

Greens Co-Deputy Leader and spokesperson for Women, Senator Larissa Waters, will bring on a matter of public importance for debate in the Senate today, where MPs from across the political spectrum will read speeches prepared by participants on the issues of concern to young women in Australia, including climate action, domestic violence and body image and autonomy.

Girls Takeover Parliament is a fantastic initiative which allows young women from a wide range of backgrounds to access parliamentary processes which are so often limited to only the privileged few. I'm particularly excited this time to see so many women from diverse backgrounds taking over parliament. I've had the pleasure and privilege of hosting Manya Sinha in my office today. Manya has identified domestic violence as an issue that matters to young Australian women, especially those from a migrant and refugee background.

The following is in Manya's words:

I, and also on behalf of Senator Waters, move: That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

        (i) the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (the Commission) has rejected the development of the Bylong Valley coal mine near Mudgee in New South Wales, citing concerns about the long-lasting environmental, agricultural and heritage impacts of the proposed coal mine;

        (ii) the Commission raised serious concerns about the proposed mine, including groundwater contamination and the mine's contribution to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions; and

I rise to speak on the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation Amendment Bill 2019. I'll say from the outset that we all know that our housing system is broken. In fact it is monumentally messed up; there are no ifs or buts about it. For many years we've gone from one news headline to another about the housing crisis only to be met with a very lukewarm policy response from the government. Here we are today with another one that will not work.

Australian Greens Senator and Education Spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to the Government’s announcement today that it will weight ‘graduate employment outcomes’ at double the weighting of other measures in newly announced performance-based funding measures for universities. Senator Faruqi is a former academic with the University of New South Wales.

Senator Faruqi said:

Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi and Greens Spokesperson for Women, Senator Larissa Waters, have welcomed the decriminalisation of abortion in New South Wales.  

Senator Faruqi said:

“This is an absolutely incredible moment and I am escstatic that, after over a century, abortion is out of the Crimes Act.