Greens Leader Bob Brown today renewed calls for the Prime Minister to ban junk food advertising during children's TV viewing hours as part of the fight against childhood obesity.
 
"What's inside the fridge won't change because there's a fridge magnet on the door," Senator Brown said.
 
"It's pretty useless sending out one fridge magnet on healthy eating to every school child if they continue to get bombarded with hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising promoting junk food on television," Senator Brown said.
 

The money the government will pour into Mr Howard's last century policy on nursing should go to expand existing nursing schools in universities, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
"The nursing profession deserves better pay and conditions. Mr Howard could begin by tying their pay increases to those of politicians," Senator Brown said.
"This is a highly skilled and vital profession. The prime minister's step back towards a policy of nurses as hospital handmaidens shows just how out of touch he is," Senator Brown said.
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The National Council on Drugs' much greater experience with Australian drug problems is in stark contrast to the extremist position taken by Bronwyn Bishop's committee majority in its report released yesterday, Greens leader Bob Brown said today.
"Less than a fortnight ago the experts on drug use, the Australian National Drugs Council, called for increased funding for treatment and diversion programs for drug users to build on the demonstrable success of harm-minimisation approaches," Senator Brown said.

Please see below for pdf of the legislation Bob introduced to the parliament to protect Australia's farmers and consumers. Bob Brown introduced this bill to the Senate to ensure truth in food labelling, which including a requirement that country of origin be clearly marked on all products in Australia. This legislation would have greatly benefited Australian farmers as well as consumers – however, it was opposed by both the Coalition and Labor.

Tasmanian Senator and Greens leader Bob Brown says that today's failure to produce promised detail of the Howard government's $45 million plan to take over Devonport's Mersey hospital has left the marginal electorate of Braddon stunned.
 
The expected 4 page insert in the local Advocate newspaper to explain the hospital's new future has no detail, no plan, no new information at all.
 
The newspaper's own editorial is scathing of the failed promise," Senator Brown said.
 

The Prime Minister's takeover of the Mersey Hospital near Devonport is another attack on Australia's federal structure, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
 
"This arrogant Prime Minister is dismantling much of Australia's time honoured political balance based on the Constitution, with no reference to or debate by the people," Senator Brown said.
 

Greens Leader Bob Brown will reassure Family First Senator Steven Fielding that the Greens unanswered approaches to discuss preferences are not secret.
 
"Fielding's idea that the Greens are seeking a 'secret preference deal' with his fundamentalist party is ludicrous," Senator Brown said.
 

The Greens say the Prime Minister's omission of major centres such as Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and Elliott from his alcohol ban plans fails long-time Aboriginal calls to block the biggest sales outlets and deal with the major centres of child sexual abuse.
 

There would be no national emergency in the lead up to this federal election if Prime Minister John Howard had taken action to lift Aboriginal living standards and tackle child sex abuse since 1996, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"National action is warranted but there will be huge concern that eleven years of delay and failure has now led to a putsch with clear elements of racism," Senator Brown said.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today warned Archbishop George Pell against threatening federal members of parliament after he threatened Catholic members of NSW state parliament to vote against stem cell legislation.
"Cardinal Pell's threats that there would be religious 'consequences' for Catholic MPs who voted for the stem cell legislation are completely unacceptable," Senator Brown said.