"This government lacks a collective imagination when it comes to developing policy solutions for how to get Sydneysiders out of their cars and onto public transport.

"It is unfair that residents living in Sydney's outer rim are at greatest risk of health problems as a result of living in ozone 'hotspots'.

"The Department of Environment and Climate Change has long been aware that vehicle use is climbing and that climate change will mean warmer temperatures and yet higher ozone levels.

"The quest to clean up Sydney's air is met with ongoing resistance from key government agencies like the RTA.

"The NSW government struggles to develop strategies to reduce vehicle use and related emissions, which is the key to addressing air quality and climate change and coping with looming oil shortages.

"Medical experts have proven that reducing car use decreases ozone and related health impacts.

"Scientists are also increasingly concerned about the impacts of ultra fine particles on human health.

"The problem is that in NSW air monitoring technology and guidelines aren't sufficiently up to scratch to enable adequate reporting on what's being dubbed the 'new asbestos'.

"In 2006 a NSW Upper House inquiry into air pollution in the Sydney basin made numerous recommendations to clean up the air we breathe.

"Sydneysiders are now bearing the brunt of the failure of this government to act upon this advice," Ms Rhiannon said.

For more information: 9230 3551, 0427 861 568

Lee said:

"The internet is an exciting vehicle which enables children to explore the world and accrue knowledge. The best seatbelt a parent can provide for their children's internet journey is to closely supervise and educate their kids about its risks," Ms Rhiannon said.

"The government's proposal to filter the internet will provide parents with a false sense of security and erode free speech.

"A filter is not the answer for concerned families. It's been shown to be ineffective and fraught with technical difficulties. And it will do little to prevent the dissemination of child pornography, which is mostly done via file sharing not on websites.

"The best gift we can hand children is the knowledge and power to help manage the way they negotiate the net, now and into the future.

"Australian children don't want to grow up in a world where their government controls an internet 'blacklist.' Handing Big Brother the power to determine what sites we can access is the thin edge of the wedge.

"My federal Greens colleagues will oppose the filter legislation when it comes before Senate," Ms Rhiannon said.

For more information: Lee Rhiannon - 9230 3551, 0427 861 568.

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"This is a most welcome decision that brings some balance to the mining approval process that is so weighted in favour of mining companies," Ms Rhiannon said. 

"When the NSW parliament resumes next week I will question the Mineral Resources Minister Ian Macdonald on what action his department will now take to ensure breaches of the NSW Mining Act no longer occur.

"A finding in this Supreme Court case is that to abide by the Act mining companies must inform all landholders, including banks, of their exploration plans.  

"This outcome is a great credit to the local community that have worked solidly for years to protect their farming land and the environment. Their determination has established that mining companies have to be accountable for their actions. 

"All mining companies would be wise to put their exploration on private land in NSW on hold until they determine that they are not breaching the Mining Act. 

"The Greens position remains that there should be no new coal mines and prime agricultural land should be protected from mining," Ms Rhiannon said. 

For more information: 0427 861 568

"A key question for the Prime Minister is whether the reform package will tackle health costs arising from the federal government kowtowing to the private health industry over the last 15 years.

"Maximising good health outcomes for patients should be the NSW Premier's key criterion for any evaluation of Rudd's economic rationalist health package.

"The Labor Party has happily taken the reins of an economic rationalist health reform agenda, a horse and cart inherited from the Opposition Leader and former health minister Tony Abbott. 

"We have heard very little from the Rudd government on how it intends to fix the problem of a increasingly privatised health system leading to poor services and higher costs.

"The Greens believe it is important to halt and reverse the privatisation of health care, including far-reaching reform of the private health insurance rebate. 

"The money saved can then be directed to the public health system, particularly public hospitals.

"We need a new balance for health where the community comes first, not commercial and special interests.

"A health care regime where the public system is prioritised over private health interests will always cost less and deliver more to voters," Ms Rhiannon said.

For more information: 9230 3551, 0427 861 568

"The Centre should never have been approved in such a high fire danger area, nor should the site ever have been removed from the Bargo State Conservation Area.

"The approval process is marred because the goal posts for approval and consent conditions were shifted at the last hurdle.

"First the government gazetted amendments to the state environmental planning policy for major developments to allow the shooting complex to proceed.

"Now tougher consent conditions promised by former Planning Minister Kristina Keneally relating to acoustic shelters, ammunition storage, special events conditions and contamination run-off have been weakened.

"Kristina Keneally's fingerprints are all over the approval of this shooting complex, which has been granted in the face of widespread community opposition.

"The NSW government won the support of two crucial Shooters Party votes in the Upper House during the lengthy development approval process, while the people of the Southern Highlands get a shooting range most of them don't want.

"Minister Ian Macdonald announced in the NSW parliament that the shooting complex would be built in May 2007 before the Planning Minister had even approved the development.

"The Minister also secretly approved the rezoning amendment to the SEPP to get around the Land and Environment Court decision.

"The whole project is a sham and one the NSW government should be embarrassed to have approved," Ms Rhiannon said.

Contact: Lee Rhiannon 9230 3551, 0427 861 568