Labor and the Coalition's about-turn on their support for nuclear submarines is a welcome acknowledgment that they made a mistake yesterday in a Senate vote, Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said today.

 Labor and the Coalition yesterday voted against Senator Brown's motion:

 That the Senate reject the proposal, backed by the former Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith, for Australia to purchase nuclear submarines serviced in the United States of America (US) or at a US base established in Australia.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown, part way through the Senate inquiry into the minerals resource rent tax, spoke to reporters in Canberra today, calling for the mining tax to be extended to gold and uranium.

The anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake, the Greens' move for a Senate inquiry into the draft Murray Darling Basin plan, equal marriage, nuclear submarines, and the Labor leadership saga were also discussed.

The Gillard government's proposed mining tax needs to be amended to include gold and uranium, if not all minerals, and the daft plan to refund royalties should be dropped, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Canberra today.

"If you're going to have massive profits flowing offshore to foreign owners, why not divert a percentage to fund services that people need - now and into the future?

Former Prime Minister John Howard's rail against 'left progressive' climate change action, positions himself as a muddled right anti-progress thinker parallel to the American Tea Party leader, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"He says he's agnostic on climate change, though in 2007 he advocated carbon trading. Agnostic is Howard code for inaction. He was much more comfortable back in the last century," Senator Brown said.

Greens Leader Bob Brown and ALP President Jennifer McAllister talk with Hugh Riminton, Lenore Taylor from the Sydney Morning Herald and Simon Benson from The Daily Telegraph.

DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ALP NATIONAL CONFERENCE. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. URANIUM SALES TO INDIA. THE BUDGET SURPLUS. LABOR'S FUTURE.

SEGMENT ONE

HUGH RIMINTON, PRESENTER: Hello and welcome to ‘Meet the Press'. Two and a half years ago, Kevin Rudd dosed the Labor conference with Mogadon - it's a little different under Julia Gillard.

Prime Minister Gillard has backed former Prime Minister Howard's policy on four vital issues which will figure prominently in the 2013 federal election, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown, speaking to reporters in Hobart, responds to key measures from the ALP national conference.

The Australian Greens' efforts to secure a fairer mining tax have so far resulted in another $140 million for the public purse, to offset the $100 million that MP Andrew Wilkie arranged with the Gillard government to hand back to mining companies, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

The Australian Greens are proposing amendments to the watered-down mining tax which are revenue positive and the Gillard Government should ensure that the revenue from the tax is not further undermined.