Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown held a press conference where he discussed the UN Security Council's vote on a no-fly zone over Libya.

Questions on the situation in Bahrain, the issue of asylum seekers on Christmas Island, and Professor Ross Garnaut's report about pricing pollution and compensating households were also answered.

The Australian Greens urge the Government not to be fooled by window-dressing on a proposed takeover of the Australian Stock Exchange, a deal that would short change Australia and leave the nation vulnerable to further loss of control of a key financial institution, Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

"The government should think very carefully before it considers relaxing ownership controls on the nation's stock exchange. Ceding control now means opening the door to future predators. Once those protections are gone, future takeover attempts are a certainty."

“No Australian official ever saw Mr Habib in Egypt,” the Australian government says. What do you think?

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown, speaking in the Senate today, asks the Government if it is aware of Egyptian Vice President General Omar Suleiman’s reputation as a torturer and a murderer. 

Senator Brown also asks whether the Australian Government or members of its intelligence service have met General Suleiman and whether there was involvement in the illegal detention of Australian citizen Mr Mamdouh Habib in Egypt. 

The Australian Government should urge Hosni Mubarak to immediately set a date for a full and free election in Egypt in the coming weeks, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

"Egypt's election should be under international supervision," Senator Brown added.

"We urge governments of all democracies not to turn their backs as the death toll rises in Egypt."

"We commend news organisations who are working in dangerous conditions to ensure that the truth is told."

Dear Editor,

Andrew Bolt has blood on his hands. He stridently insisted on the invasion and killings in Iraq which led to millions fleeing. Some of those millions ended up in the ocean off Christmas Island on Wednesday.

Andrew Bolt’s call, while bodies were still in the ocean, for Julia Gillard’s resignation (but the Labor Party opposed the war in Iraq) lacked human decency. He should resign.

Senator Bob Brown

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