http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/sarah-hanson-young/ Sarah Hanson-Young is a Greens Senator for South Australia. She was first elected in 2007, following years of community activism in support of asylum seekers and refugees, and work for Amnesty International as a Campaign Manager. She is the Greens spokesperson on Immigration and Human Rights, Education, Youth, the Murray Darling Basin and Sexuality and Gender Identity. Her Marriage Equality Bill will be the first dedicated piece of legislation relating to same-sex marriage debated in Federal Parliament. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +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/democracy-will-benefit-from-a-healthy-shade-of-green/ The 2010 election result may not yet be clear, and we may be far from certain just who will be Prime Minister in a week or a fortnight’s time, but there is one thing we do know after the events of Saturday night. The Australian people have chosen the Greens to play a much greater role in our new Parliament, and a much greater role in our decision-making. Aside from the fact that we are looking at the first hung parliament since 1940, we have seen an historic vote for the Greens, with a record share of the national vote for a third party, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is in addition to the success of Adam Bandt , the first Green to win a lower house seat at a Federal election. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sarah Hanson-Young) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/democracy-will-benefit-from-a-healthy-shade-of-green/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/democracy-will-benefit-from-a-healthy-shade-of-green/#item3873 Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:50:58 +0000 Sarah Hanson-Young | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-parental-leave-policy-is-missing-actual-leave/ The Government needs to come clean on what its Paid Parental Leave Scheme really means for working families, starting with its name. It’s a great irony that an initiative called Paid Parental Leave does not actually give anyone an actual right to time off work after birth. In fact, if an employee has been working for less than 12 months, they have no guarantee they can return to their job if they take leave. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sarah Hanson-Young) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-parental-leave-policy-is-missing-actual-leave/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-parental-leave-policy-is-missing-actual-leave/#item3219 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:00:15 +0000 Sarah Hanson-Young | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/man-up-kevin-and-tony-and-allow-a-free-vote-on-equal-marriage/ I have a challenge for Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott – when my Marriage Equality Bill comes before Parliament today, I dare you to resist the urge to control … sorry, kill debate by insisting Senators toe the party line. Show some leadership instead, and let the members of your parties have the courage of their convictions by giving them a conscience vote. Until the Australian people can see their representatives talk freely and vote honestly on the issue, they have no idea how far away they are from living in a nation where equality is truly valued. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sarah Hanson-Young) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/man-up-kevin-and-tony-and-allow-a-free-vote-on-equal-marriage/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/man-up-kevin-and-tony-and-allow-a-free-vote-on-equal-marriage/#item2477 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:45:46 +0000 Sarah Hanson-Young | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mr-rudd-asylum-seekers-are-real-people/ What would you do if you had fled halfway across the world to save your life, and ended up in a hot, urine-smelling demountable prison building, surrounded by security guards? What if you didn’t speak the language and your jailers couldn’t be bothered organising an interpreter, leaving you effectively mute?For a Somalian woman at Christmas Island, this isn’t a hypothetical. This is real life. On my recent trip to the island I met this woman, wandering around the Construction Camp – where women and families are housed - in a daze, clearly distressed, with no way of talking to authorities and no way of understanding what was happening to her. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sarah Hanson-Young) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mr-rudd-asylum-seekers-are-real-people/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Mr-rudd-asylum-seekers-are-real-people/#item1533 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:50:13 +0000 Sarah Hanson-Young | Author bios | The Punch