The Greens have backed the community groups taking legal action to challenge the government regulator’s (NOPSEMA) initial approval of Norwegian oil giant Equinor’s plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight.

Chair of the Senate's Environment Committee Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has announced today she will move for the Faunal Extinction Inquiry to examine the impact of the catastrophic fires across the country on endangered wildlife and flora.

Reports today of another mass fish kill in NSW caused by ash and sediment from bushfires running into the Macleay River, is the disaster experts had been warning about and needs an urgent response from water ministers, the Greens say. 

Greens Spokesperson for Water Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“I wrote to state and federal Water and Environment Ministers yesterday urging them to meet as a matter of urgency to coordinate a joint effort across fire-affected states to ensure safe, clean water supply.

The Federal Government’s announcement of $50 million to wildlife affected by the bushfire crisis is nowhere near enough and should be at least ten times as much, the Greens say.

Greens Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Senator Mehreen Faruqi said:

“The Government is taking a miserly approach to our iconic wildlife.

The Federal Government’s announcement of $50million to wildlife affected by the bushfire crisis is nowhere near enough and should be at least ten times as much, the Greens say.

Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said with more than a billion native animals reportedly impacted and killed in the catastrophic fires across the country and millions of hectares of habitat burnt, $50million won’t go far.

“When Celeste Barber can raise as much money as the Federal Government has committed to this tragedy, it shows their heart’s not in it,” she said.

Australia urgently needs a National Water Pollution Plan with clean water looming as the next crisis as a result of the catastrophic fires across the country, the Greens say.

The Federal Environment Minister is missing in action despite reports that more than a billion native animals have been impacted and killed in the catastrophic fires across Australia and millions of hectares of habitat burnt, the Greens say.

The Greens have called on the Prime Minister to establish a ‘Fighting Fund’ for the environment to restore and protect the flora and fauna decimated by the climate fires. 

Greens Spokesperson for the Environment Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

With an estimated half a billion native animals killed by the devastating bushfires across Australia, the Greens are calling on the Federal Government to urgently fund a review of the loss of native wildlife and bushfire-specific recovery plans for impacted species.

Communities around Australia are living with the toxic legacy of PFAS contamination in their water, in their soil, in and around their environment. People have already lost so much. They are at breaking point. The impacts have been financial, physical and mental. They are stressed and distressed at the lack of action. The government is really dragging its heels and it's extending the suffering of the people around Australia who are living around these sites. I think the lack of empathy the government is showing is really despicable.