The Australian Greens today launched a plan to keep federal politicians honest. "Voters must be able to trust politicians, but you can't trust Labor or Tony Abbott to be honest unless it is in their own interests, or in the interests of their big business mates," Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said.

"It is time we restored honesty and integrity in politics which is why the Greens have a plan to lift the standards of government.

"The Australian Greens want to end the ‘deals for mates' culture.

The Greens believe that Private First Class Bradley Manning's trial and sentence sets very dangerous precedents for whistleblowers, journalists, publishers and democracy itself. 

"After more than three years in prison, initially in an animal cage and sometimes stripped naked, Bradley Manning has been sentenced for 35 years (with 1294 days credit) for telling the truth about dirty wars," said Senator Scott Ludlam, Australian Greens Communications spokesperson.

Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam has urged voters who are not yet enrolled to spend a few minutes to enrol online, after new figures show WA lags behind most of the nation in voter enrolment.

"The latest statistics from the Electoral Commission show WA has the highest percentage of unenrolled voters after the Northern Territory and Queensland, and this is especially true of those aged 18 to 25, nearly a quarter of whom are not enrolled," Senator Ludlam said.

"This compares to Tasmania, where the young lead the nation at 86% enrolled to vote.

Labor and Coalition MPs united in the Senate late last night to increase secrecy around MPs expenses and the workings of parliament by rejecting Greens' amendments and voting in favour of a bill to exempt parliament from the scrutiny of freedom of information (FOI).

The Parliamentary Service Amendment (FOI) Bill will shield the Senate, House of Representatives and Parliamentary Services Department from the FOI Act completely and retrospectively.

The Senate has unanimously passed an Australian Greens resolution calling on the Government to make direct representations on behalf of jailed Bahraini human rights activist Mr Nabeel Rajab.

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam thanked Senators for their concern for Mr Rajab.

"Mr Rajab is a prominent pro-democracy and human rights campaigner. He was arrested by Bahraini authorities on May 5 shortly after being interviewed by Australian journalist Julian Assange. We must now turn concern into action."

The Australian Greens have welcomed Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's long-overdue entry into parliament but urged the Australian Government and international community to remain vigilant on human rights in Burma.

Greens Burma spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the by-elections that brought Aung San Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy members into parliament elected only 45 of a possible 664 seats in Burma's legislature.

The Australian Government will undermine the democracy movement in Burma by encouraging bilateral trade too soon, the Greens warned today.

Greens spokesperson on Burma Senator Scott Ludlam said today's announcement that the Government is "normalising trade" with Burma is dangerously premature.