http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/christine-milne/ Christine Milne was elected to represent Tasmania at the 2004 federal election and joined the Greens Senate team on 1 July 2005. She was elected Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens in 2008. Senator Milne is a leader in the environment in Australia and overseas. She has a long involvement in community activism and politics, beginning with the Franklin River campaign. Then she led the successful campaign to protect Tasmania’s farm lands from the impacts of the proposed Wesley Vale Pulp Mill in the late 1980s. Christine represented the electorate of Lyons in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1989 to 1998, and was leader of the Tasmanian Greens Party from 1993 to 1998. Senator Milne is also a United Nations Global 500 Laureate and is a Vice-President of the IUCN (World Conservation Union). en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-has-abandoned-its-values-the-greens-hold-firm/ “Thank goodness for you.” “Labor are trashing everything for which I used to vote for them.” “Liberal and Labor - just different sides of the same coin!”... “Final nail in the coffin for me, a “rusted on” ALP supporter.” “I’m definitely voting green at the next election, the other major parties are apparently morally bankrupt.” These are just a handful of the comments we’ve received in the last day since the Gillard Government announced it was embracing a policy that even John Howard couldn’t get past his backbench: excising the Australian mainland from our migration zone to prevent refugees – vulnerable people fleeing for their lives – from being able to claim asylum in our beautiful country if they arrive by boat. When John Howard tried to do this, his own backbench revolted and, under pressure from the Greens, the community and his own party, he backed down. Tragically for refugees fleeing war zones and persecution today, it looks like Labor MPs don’t have the same spine. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Christine Milne) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-has-abandoned-its-values-the-greens-hold-firm/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-has-abandoned-its-values-the-greens-hold-firm/#item9876 Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:55:22 +0000 Christine Milne | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-a-carbon-price-is-the-answer/ You are currently paying polluters to pollute – they should be paying you. Did you know that your tax dollars are currently paying polluters to pollute? A carbon price is part of a vitally important process of turning that around – making sure that the big polluters pay for their pollution and some of that money comes back to you to help build a cleaner, healthier, happier community. A carbon price, teamed with policies like a feed-in tariff, means we can drive investment towards the solar future while making sure that governments have the funds to help people struggling to make ends meet. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Christine Milne) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-a-carbon-price-is-the-answer/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/counterpunch-a-carbon-price-is-the-answer/#item5284 Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:30:57 +0000 Christine Milne | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-loans-a-great-idea-mismanaged-into-a-debacle/ I am a big supporter of energy efficiency initiatives and want to see all Australian homes retrofitted with energy and dollar saving technologies from blocking up drafts, solar hot water and insulation to double glazing. It is a no brainer in a world desperate to reduce fossil fuel emissions and power bills to roll out a national energy efficiency scheme to reduce costs to the planet and to the householder.  But Green Start is not the way to proceed. Australia needs a National Energy Efficiency Target like the Renewable Energy Target that is a market based mechanism delivered by the private sector according to clear rules set by government. I agree with Minister Combet that it is not a good idea to throw good money after bad. So what went so wrong with the Rudd government’s Green Loans election promise of 2007? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Christine Milne) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-loans-a-great-idea-mismanaged-into-a-debacle/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-loans-a-great-idea-mismanaged-into-a-debacle/#item4752 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:19:42 +0000 Christine Milne | Author bios | The Punch