Three gay newly-weds in San Francisco. Photo: Thom Watson

Today I gave notice of a motion in the NSW Parliament, calling on the government to legislate for marriage equality in the event that the Federal Parliament fails to do so in 2011.

Obviously, my preference is for Australian Greens’ bill to amend the federal Marriage Act. However, if the Federal Parliament fails to act in accordance with overwhelming public support, then the NSW Parliament should.

Advice from constitutional law expert Professor George Williams indicates the states have the ability to enact marriage equality laws. If the bigger parties in Canberra let us down, then politicians at Macquarie Street should step up to the plate.

It’s great that support for marriage equality growing across the country. We will continue on with this campaign until all discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sex and gender identity is removed. If necessary the Greens will introduce a marriage equality bill in NSW to make this happen.

UPDATE: Labor MP and government Whip in the Legislative Council Greg Donnellyblocked the immediate progression this Greens motion. The motion is not necessarily defeated however, just blocked from proceeding before the 2011 election.

It’s unfortunate that some Labor MPs are so out of touch with the rest of the community on marriage equality. I personally know many MPs from all sides of politics that support removing discrimination, but it took just one to throw yet another spanner in the works.

Marriage equality is a mainstream issue. It’s one of the issues that is brought up with me over and over again, especially from young people. There is a level of disbelief in the community that some people could be so opposed to giving all people the choice to marry whomever they love.

I am worried because there is an extreme lack of environmental oversight of coal seam gas exploration and extraction in New South Wales. The government has been nothing short of negligent in protecting the environment from this highly controversial and highly unregulated industry.

The Department of Environment has no role in the approval processes for coal seam gas exploratory drilling. Meanwhile, Industry & Investment NSW is rubber-stamping dozens of drilling operations without enough expertise and understanding of the process, particularly the highly controversial process of fraccing.

I have sent an urgent letter to Premier Keneally and relevant Ministers urging them to immediately introduce a full moratorium on coal seam gas exploration and extraction in New South Wales. The government must set tight environmental safeguards on the industry before projects are allowed to continue.

This drilling has the potential to contaminate our waterways and aquifers, like that which has already occurred in the US. With parliament due to rise in just a few short weeks, this must be treated with the utmost urgency.

For more information on coal seam gas in NSW, visit my campaign page.

Gas is being touted by the industry as clean and green. Yet there is a growing body of evidence which suggests exploring for and extracting gas can have significant impacts on the local environment and underground water supplies.

“This approval demonstrates a serious lack of transparency around the approvals process. Inner-west residents will be horrified to learn that their suburb could be the subject of a full-scale gas extraction operation.

Gas companies don’t undertake exploration just for the sake of it. This could very well be the first step in Sydneysiders having to live with gas wells and drilling operations for some time.

The Greens want a moratorium on all coal seam gas operations, including exploration, until a full investigation has taken place and stringent regulations introduced that protect waterways and communities.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Here in NSW, the law allows some religious schools to openly discriminate against students and teachers on the basis of their sexual orientation. This is not acceptable.

The huge problem of homophobic bullying is exacerbated when some schools and teachers themselves are engaging in discriminatory behaviour. With same-sex attracted teenagers suffering abuse, depression and other mental health issues at many times the rate of other teenagers, the need for action on homophobia is urgent.

What is clear is that this issue is more widespread and more damaging to young people than is given credit for here at Macquarie Street. A full inquiry is needed to give the issue of homophobia the attention it deserves. The Greens believe there is more that the NSW Government can do and want a full and open investigation.

I will move for a parliamentary inquiry after the next state election and hope to build multi-party support for both the inquiry, and any recommendations arising.

In March, when the Labor party stooped to attacking the Greens with misleading leaflets and the now infamous ‘robo-calls’ during the Tasmanian election campaign, there was revolt. The electorate saw through clearly distorted claims and made their disgust well known.

Of course, there is no doubt this kind of campaigning still works in some sectors. The Greens bled too. Greens MP Paul O’Halloran only narrowly secured his hard-fought seat in the traditionally conservative north-west electorate of Braddon.

Some argue that attempts to marginalise the Greens will only succeed in pushing cynical voters, fed up with bullying tactics, away from the bigger parties. This may be true in many cases, but we need to be careful not to underestimate the role fear and misinformation continues to play in Australian politics.

My colleague, Greens Leader Bob Brown, has moved time and again for truth in political advertising in the Federal Parliament, but the old parties repeatedly vote it down. It beggars belief that parliamentarians would actively oppose something so simple and seemingly fundamental as laws requiring politicians to tell the truth during election campaigns.

Much of the recent commentary has centred on the need for the Greens to be subject to the “same scrutiny as the major parties”. And we Greens welcome this. But with criticism, there must also be a healthy respect for common ground, policy achievement and the constructive role we play in parliaments across the country.

The ‘extreme Green’ label has proven absurd to many voters, Green and non-Green, because they recognise the positive contributions we’ve made over many years.

But in NSW, with our state election fast approaching, we are likely to see a repeat of this kind of mudslinging.  I was troubled by Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell’s recent slur, labelling the Greens in NSW as ‘purely evil’. This came after the Greens engaged in constructive negotiations with the government over electoral funding reform.  An important step towards ending the corrupting influence of donations to political parties was achieved.

The compromise between Labor and the Greens is not perfect, but it is a promising start that would not have been achieved without the work of my colleagues Lee Rhiannon, John Kaye and others. The result was a significant dividend for democracy in this state.

If the old parties want intelligible media and public scrutiny applied to the Greens policies, they must reject the alarmist extreme tag and accept the Greens as the third and still-fastest growing force in Australian politics.

I hope that Mr O’Farrell and Ms Keneally can move into the 2011 campaign with a healthy respect for Greens voters. The ugly scare tactics seen in Tasmania and Victoria demean our parliament, our democracy and detract from the important policy debates which truly deserve attention.

One affect of long wall mining is subsidence, which can cause river beds to crack and creeks to dry up. Rivers SOS has been documenting the devastation wreaked when longwall mining occurs to close to watercourses and their website is worth a look.

The mining company, XStrata, and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water have denied any association between the coal mine and the loss of water, but local Mayor of the Wollondilly Shire Michael Banasik has called for an investigation so that the cause of the water loss can be established.

It’s true that historically the lakes have dried out a couple of times during extreme periods of drought. However, locals say that the lakes would always fill quickly after rain. In fact, other water bodies in the area are now full as a result of recent heavy rains. Much of the beds of Thirlmere Lakes are now bone dry with a muddy swamp in the centre. New signs have been posted warning visitors of the dangers of the mud.

It was a depressing sight, particularly given Thirlmere Lakes has been World Heritage listed because of its incredibly unique natural assets.

I’m supporting the local community in its efforts for an independent investigation into why the lakes are drying up. The state government must agree to an investigation as soon as possible, so it can be determined whether nearby mining activity has caused the loss of this water… or not.

I want Premier Kristina Keneally to bring on overdue amendments to the Crimes Act to fix this before the election in March next year. We have one last opportunity to use the current parliament and overwhelming public support to fix these archaic laws.

The vast majority of Australians support the right of women to choose. Premier Keneally should  follow Victoria’s lead – to bring on these overdue amendments and a conscience vote immediately.

I will continue to work constructively with women in and outside of Parliament to ensure this issue doesn’t go away.

Despite the appalling nature of the charges being laid against these two young Queenslanders, I’m heartened to see the positive commentary that’s been inspired by their circumstances.

As George Williams writes in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

[the] Leach and Brennan’s case demonstrates the need for reform. Unfortunately, rather than causing the Queensland government to act, the case has left it paralysed. The state’s pro-choice Premier, Anna Bligh, has said that the matter must be dealt with by way of a private member’s bill and conscience vote.

The Greens want Premier Keneally to show leadership where Premier Bligh has failed. Williams continues:

Views about abortion have changed over the past century, and the statute book should alter to reflect this. The law must provide for circumstances in which a woman can terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

In this, Queensland and NSW should catch up with legal change elsewhere in Australia. They should legislate so that pregnancies may be terminated under medical supervision in a way that protects women’s interests and respects their reproductive decisions.

Hear hear.