Australian Greens Leader, Bob Brown, has written to the Cabinet Secretary responsible for the National Archives, Senator Joe Ludwig, to oppose the closure of its Hobart office:

Dear Minister

Along with many other Tasmanians, I oppose outright the decision to close the National Archives office in Hobart.

This is totally unacceptable, not the least because it comes with zero consultation with stakeholders such as members of parliament, the judiciary, and the wider public.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has called on the Liberal's Bradfield candidate Paul Fletcher to clear the air on whether he is a climate sceptic.

Senator Brown made this call after Mr Fletcher avoided answering the question put to him by a journalist today at a press conference with Malcolm Turnbull.

"The voters of Bradfield have a right to know exactly where Mr Fletcher stands on this issue of fundamental importance, just as they know exactly where the Australian Greens and their candidate Susie Gemmell stands," Senator Brown said.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown says the Rudd government should quarantine the $420,000 third prize won by Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov in today's Melbourne Cup.

"Thank god for Shocking and Crime Scene or Kadyrov would have the gold cup and $3.3 million," Senator Brown said.

"There should be no flow of profits out of Australia to this brutal character. The money should be quarantine until the government knows exactly where it is going and can guarantee it won't be buying Mr Kadyrov another Lamborghini or gold-plated revolver."

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has called on the Prime Minister to remove Martin Ferguson as a Minister and take control over the catastrophic West Atlas oil spill disaster.

On August 23 Minister Ferguson said "the oil spill is not as big as first thought." He also claimed that "it is evaporating naturally".

"A full judicial inquiry should have begun from the outset. An independent watchdog would have ensured all the necessary expertise from around the world was employed to prevent and reduce the tragic environmental impacts of the spill," Senator Brown said.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has called on both the government and the coalition to reconsider their opposition to his Senate inquiry into allegations of corruption and improper dealings by the Reserve Bank of Australia's subsidiaries.

Senator Brown will reintroduce a motion to refer these matters to the Economics References Committee for inquiry when the Senate returns in November.

"Both the government and the opposition should move to expose any corruption swiftly and support the Greens' Senate inquiry," Senator Brown said.

The Rudd government has ducked on any responsibility for Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov's entry of horses in the Spring Carnival.

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown asked if the government was aware that the British trainer of Mourilyan (entered in the Melbourne Cup) and Bankable (expected to run in the Emirates Stakes), Gary Banks, has been questioned by the British Horseracing Authority about links with the brutal dictator.

The government and opposition have today voted down a Greens' motion to protect Tasmanian logging contractors from financial ruin with fair compensation for those leaving the industry.

The motion read:

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has today delivered around 1200 letters from people opposed to the construction of the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam to the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts.

The letters request Mr Garrett to ensure the Queensland government has "to prove it before you approve it". Measures to mitigate the environmental impact of the proposed dam should be proven to work before being allowed to justify the project's approval.

The Greens and opposition combined in the Senate this afternoon to legislate for the post of full-time Registrar at the Hobart Registry of the Federal Court to be re-established.

The Senate passed Senator Bob Brown's amendment to the Access to Justice (Civil Litigation Reforms) Amendment Bill 2009 that:

The Registrar shall cause at least one Registry in each State to be staffed on a full-time basis with the complement of staff in each Registry to include a full-time Registrar.

Backing one of the shortest Senate sitting schedules in history, the government and coalition joined forces today to block a Greens proposal for four weeks extra sitting in 2010.

The long term average for sittings in each year is 70 days. After only 52 days in 2009, the government has set only 50 days in 2010. Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown's amendment for an extra 16 days was supported across the crossbench but opposed by government and opposition.