Now that Queensland's Premier Anna Bligh has delayed the contentious Traveston Dam on the Mary River north of Brisbane, the Federal Government should bury it, Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Canberra today.

The Senate today passed a motion by Greens Leader Bob Brown:

"That the Senate-

(a) notes the arrest of a farmer in Victoria who opposed the Sugarloaf Pipeline, which is being forcibly constructed from the Goulburn Valley to Melbourne; and

(b) calls on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
(Mr Garrett) to urgently reconsider his approval of this costly,
environmentally-unsound and controversial project."

The government opposed the motion.

The Member for Indooroopilly, Ronan Lee, is Queensland's first Greens MP. Mr Lee resigned from the Labor Party today.

Mr Lee, who won Indooroopilly from the Liberals in 2001 and then retained the seat in 2004 and 2006, says he will provide a strong, sensible response to the climate crisis for Queensland.

Mr Lee said, "Queensland needs to take advantage of its natural advantages to make our state the world's leading solar power economy".

"We also need to focus our infrastructure spending on building a world-class public transport system"

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today gave notice of a motion calling on Environment Minister Peter Garrett to reconsider the north-south pipeline in Victoria.

The motion reads:
That the Senate notes the arrest of a farmer in Victoria who opposed the pipeline being forcibly constructed from the Goulburn Valley to Melbourne and calls on Environment Minister Peter Garrett to urgently reconsider his approval of this costly, environmentally unsound and controversial project.

The Senate has passed this motion:

That the Senate calls on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water (Mr Garrett) to ensure that the assessment of the proposed dam on the Mary River in Queensland include all prudent and feasible alternatives.

The motion came from Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown and was voted through after short speeches by Labor, Nationals, Liberal and Greens senators.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today welcomed the announcement of a local government summit in Canberra.

"Local governments are on the frontlines providing services to communities across Australia and they deserve better support and recognition," Senator Brown said.

Senator Brown said the summit must address:
• Constitutional recognition of local government
• The impact of climate change on planning, development and services
• Better funding for councils, including consideration of direct funding to local government from Federal taxation.

Greens Leader Bob Brown has called on federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett to stop the proposed Traveston Dam across the Mary River near Gympie in Queensland.

Speaking to hundreds of farmers and local residents gathered at the proposed dam site this morning, Senator Brown said the dam should be opposed because it would flood thousands of hectares of prime food producing land near Brisbane, Aboriginal heritage sites and the main nursery for the world famous Australian Lungfish.

The Australian Greens today outlined their vision for Australia in the new century ahead of the opening of the Balance-of-Power Senate.

Australian Greens Leader, Senator Bob Brown, said a record 1.17 million people voted Greens at the last election, and the five Greens Senators were ready to work constructively with all parties to respond to the challenges of the new century.

"Pollution, poverty, discrimination and the destruction of Australia's forests and precious environments are the legacy of the last century and decades of greed and inaction."

The two major parties should reject the Cameco/Paladin application for a uranium exploration licence close to Alice Springs, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today, following his visit to the Northern Territory.

"A uranium mine 21km from the CBD of Alice Springs is unthinkable," Senator Brown said.

"Labor and the Country Liberal parties should have already rejected the Cameco/Paladin application," Senator Brown said.

Clearance of tropical forests and woodlands in the Northern Territory has massive environmental costs and the Labor and Country Liberal parties should say how they will stop it, national Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Darwin today.

"Besides its impact in destroying the habitats of Australian wildlife, massive tonnages of carbon are released accelerating global warming," Senator Brown said.

"Together with deforestation in other states, more than 10 percent of the nation's total greenhouse gas pollution comes from deforestation," Senator Brown said.