New Test of New Greens' Independence
In the wake of the Greens blocking a Senate motion today that would have taken Parliamentary staffing powers away from the Prime Minister, Senator Fatima Payman is calling on the minor party to finally support a motion to refer the issue to an inquiry.
Western Australia's only independent Senator has been denied any Parliamentary staff since she left the Labor party on a matter of conscience last year.
All she wants to do is send the issue to a committee for investigation, but, curiously, the Greens have blocked her motion twice, a motion which would benefit them in the long run.
In an act of determination, she will introduce the motion again this afternoon.
"As I said in the chamber last week, the government is acting like a bully would; it is trying to control me through coercion," Senator Payman said.
"In this term of Government, we have seen the New Greens side with the Labor Party not just on this motion but on many other issues.
"Just yesterday they blocked a part of my motion which would allow better scrutiny of the administrator of the CFMEU, which is rather strange considering how vocal they were about opposing the administration of that union a year ago.
"The Greens of the last term would jump at the chance for open scrutiny of something like this.
"As the party with the balance of power it is incumbent on them to hold the Government to account, not just work in tandem with them in return for backroom deals which do not serve the people of Australia well."
