Today's revelations about million-dollar pay rises for chief executives show the Government's pathetic legislation is doing little to redress the imbalance between the big end of town and everyday Australians, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"The Government should have heeded the suggestion from the Australian Greens that chief executives' salaries be limited to 30 times the average pay within their corporation," Senator Brown said in Hobart.

1 September marks one year since the Australian Greens signed an historic agreement with Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor Government.

The Gillard agreement has achieved outcomes for Australians in terms of passage of bills and lack of confrontation between the houses. We have consultation instead of confrontation.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today questioned the cost of Qantas’ advertising blitz in the wake of announcing job cuts.

“Qantas is happy to invest large sums in their Australian advertising, but not their Australian workforce,” said Senator Brown.

“I call on Qantas to release the full costing for the total advertising involved in this campaign including today’s national full page extravagance.”

Transcript is after the break

Ladies and Gentlemen

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Canberra region and all the Indigenous people of Australia.

This Friday, 1 July, is the 28th anniversary of the High Court judgement which stopped the Franklin Dam. But in the preceding week of 1983, Tasmania recorded the lowest temperatures in history. It snowed heavily to sea level. The bulldozers in the Franklin and Gordon Valley were stopped. So, Mother Nature got into the act ahead of the High Court!

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today he will move to strengthen legislation with the aim of limiting chief executives' salaries to 30 times the average pay within their corporation.

"The Greens support moves to give shareholders more say and have no intention of having the Corporations Amendment (Improving Accountability on Director and Executive Remuneration) Bill fail," Senator Brown said in Canberra.

Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown spoke with ABC News Radio's Fran Kelly about the 2011-12 federal budget.

Greens Leader Bob Brown today proposed a GST-free threshold of $100 for online shopping to remove the exemption which gives overseas retailers an unfair advantage over Australian shops.

"We need to protect a revenue stream that would otherwise continue to elude the government," Senator Brown said in Hobart today.

"The tax-free threshold of $1,000 was established before the growth of overseas online shopping, and needs to be reviewed."

Andrew Robb (the Coalition's campaign spokesperson for 2010) has effectively endorsed the Greens in the Senate as good insurance against WorkChoices.

AAP reports today "The Australian Greens would have the balance of power in the Senate to stymie any attempt to change the [industrial relations] laws, Mr Robb said."

"Mr Robb appears to be endorsing the Greens in the Senate as a hedge against the Coalition re-introducing WorkChoices.

Text of Senator Brown's speech. Check against delivery. A complete transcript will be available shortly.
You can also watch the speech on iView