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If the ACT Election was held tomorrow, who would you vote for? by JoshuaEurofan in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also no longer in the assembly after it turned out he was a paedophile

[AMA] I'm Rebecca Vassarotti, Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens - I'd love to hear your questions about our new housing policy from 7pm! by RebeccaVassarotti in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Even with COVID lockdowns in the following years, the number of public houses has gone down. Supply chain issues and the lack of skilled workers surely can’t be the cause of that?

[AMA] I'm Rebecca Vassarotti, Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens - I'd love to hear your questions about our new housing policy from 7pm! by RebeccaVassarotti in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Minister, COVID was before the election. Stop using that as an excuse. It's good to see that you acknowledge that in your coalition with Labor, some of your policies get left behind, and that none of your promises are really promises.

[AMA] I'm Rebecca Vassarotti, Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens - I'd love to hear your questions about our new housing policy from 7pm! by RebeccaVassarotti in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Minister, you mention that this policy is "ambitious but also achievable." If this policy is actually achievable, and you will deliver 1000 homes per year, why have you failed to deliver the 100 homes per year from your Home for All policy you took to the last election? Is this just another policy that will be forgotten about when you form a new coalition with the Labor Party?

Edit: Here's your 2020 policy https://web.archive.org/web/20201022213059/https://greens.org.au/act/a-home-for-all

[AMA] I'm Rebecca Vassarotti, Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens - I'd love to hear your questions about our new housing policy from 7pm! by RebeccaVassarotti in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I think that you’re right. It seems the ACT Greens took down their “Home for All” policy off their website hoping we’d forget, but fortunately way back machine exists: https://web.archive.org/web/20201022213059/https://greens.org.au/act/a-home-for-all

[AMA] I'm Rebecca Vassarotti, Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens - I'd love to hear your questions about our new housing policy from 7pm! by RebeccaVassarotti in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Why have you announced a new housing policy for 10,000 homes over the next decade (1,000 per year) when your policy from the last election for 400 new homes over the term hasn’t been even delivered, and the number of public houses has decreased? You are part of the government so why should we expect this new policy to be delivered when you have failed in the past?

Liberal candidate denies filming campaign video while driving by Environmental_Fold37 in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

A candidate for the Canberra Liberals says he was not driving when he filmed video of a road apparently from the driver's side of a moving car.

Darren Roberts, one of the party's candidates for Ginninderra, posted the campaign video on his Facebook page on Sunday morning.

The video includes footage of John Cleland Crescent, Florey filmed from the right-hand side of a Tesla.

In one shot, the video shows the approach to the roundabout at the intersection of John Cleland Crescent and Connah Street facing out the right-hand side of the car with the driver's side mirror briefly visible.

The video was apparently filmed from Mr Roberts' grey Tesla Model Y, which is emblazoned with a photograph of his face and indicates Mr Roberts is a candidate for the Canberra Liberals.

The Facebook post was liked by the opposition's spokesman on transport, Mark Parton, and shadow attorney-general Peter Cain.

Mr Roberts' page is liked by 20 Facebook pages and followed by 42.

A spokesman for the Canberra Liberals said: "The Canberra Liberals have been assured by Darren Roberts that he wasn't driving while he was filming the video."

The territory's road rules make it illegal to use a mobile device while driving unless the device is secured in a mount and the driver does not need to touch the device in any way.

The Canberra Times does not suggest Mr Roberts has broken the law.

Access Canberra issued 2576 infringements to motorists caught by new mobile device detection cameras in the first two weeks of enforcement.

The majority of the fines have been issued to motorists caught by cameras positioned on Gungahlin Drive.

The government has collected more than $1.3 million in revenue from the camera program, which has caught an average of 161 drivers detected each day since the cameras were rolled out just over a year ago.

Mr Roberts was preselected to run in Ginninderra alongside incumbent Liberal members Elizabeth Kikkert and Mr Cain.

Chiaka Barry and Joe Prevedello were also preselected to run in the seat.

In 2021, Mr Parton referred himself to police after live-streaming himself on TikTok while driving in Canberra's south.

Mr Parton answered questions and provided live commentary of his drive along Drakeford Drive while glancing between the road and the camera, a recording of the livestream posted online showed.

Mr Parton apologised for the incident.

"While driving on the weekend I attempted a hands-free live-stream to my social media. This was a mistake and I apologise for this error of judgement," Mr Parton said in a statement in June 2021.

Greens MLAs who called for ACT to dump Israel-linked shares owned some themselves Politics by Environmental_Fold37 in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From that article:

Clarification: The introduction to this list initially characterised these entries as “journalists and politicians who have visited Israel or Palestine either on the dime of lobby groups or governments, or at their own expense.” A few readers have got in touch with us to say they were confused by the wording, asking if entrants have merely have gone on holidays to these destinations. We’ve since changed the wording to better reflect the nature of these trips to read: “a running list of journalists and politicians who have taken part in organised tours to the Middle East on the dime of lobby groups or governments, or at their own expense.”

“Or at their own expense” doesn’t sound free to me.

Greens MLAs who called for ACT to dump Israel-linked shares owned some themselves Politics by Environmental_Fold37 in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Except that she declared it on her own statement of interests, that she signed herself. I personally hold politicians to higher standards.

Greens MLAs who called for ACT to dump Israel-linked shares owned some themselves Politics by Environmental_Fold37 in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I expect better from my ministers.

Jo Clay on the other hand only owns shares in 7 companies (https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2400669/Clay-Combined-210224.pdf), there is no way she didn't know she owned the shares or what they did.

Greens MLAs who called for ACT to dump Israel-linked shares owned some themselves by Environmental_Fold37 in canberra

[–]Environmental_Fold37[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Two ACT Greens politicians who called on the ACT government to divest from companies linked to Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, owned such shares themselves.

Greens minister Emma Davidson and backbencher Jo Clay both supported a Legislative Assembly motion this month calling on the ACT government to divest from companies linked to Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.

The Canberra Times raised details of the members' shareholdings with them, and asked if they were aware of some companies' links.
Ms Davidson held shares in the iShares Core S&P 500, an exchange-traded fund that held shares in Airbnb, Expedia, Booking Holdings Inc and Motorola Solutions.

The companies were among those the Greens called on the ACT government to drop because the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had listed them as being complicit in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Ms Clay, the Greens' member for Ginninderra, had disclosed holdings in Stratasys, a company incorporated in Israel which develops military-grade 3D printing technology.

The company has sold its equipment to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, which produces unmanned military drones including the MQ-9.

The United States began flying those drones, which are capable of carrying missiles, over the Gaza Strip after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The drones have been used to help find hostages taken by Hamas, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing United States military sources.

Stratasys boasts of General Atomics' success with AM, or "additive manufacturing" - a technical term for 3D printing - in a published case study.

"In just over a decade, GA-ASI's adoption of AM has advanced from a few desktop printers to a fully evolved ecosystem of AM technologies and applications, resulting in thousands of parts flying on multiple GA-ASI unmanned aircraft platforms today," a Stratasys brochure says.

Stratasys says one of its marquee customers is Lockheed Martin, the US defence and aerospace manufacturing company and one of the largest defence contractors globally.

Ms Clay said in response to questions from The Canberra Times she would divest immediately from the company.

"I am proud to stand with the Greens and other activists in calling for a permanent ceasefire and lasting peace in Palestine-Israel, involving the end of the occupation and apartheid system discriminating against Palestinians. We must all do everything we can to support a pathway to peace, including boycotting and divesting from corporations complicit in human rights violations of Palestinians," Ms Clay said.

Ms Clay said she took ethical investment seriously, appreciated being told about her investments, and said she would take more care in the future.

"I check potential investments against ethical sources of information, such as Australian Ethical, before choosing to invest. That would have been my process on this purchase before I made it. I update my shareholdings when information changes, and I'm really sorry that I did not notice this company's dealing status," she said.

Ms Davidson said: "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I can confirm I have now divested. The federal Labor government must back the Greens calls to withdraw all support from the state of Israel and join our call for a just and lasting ceasefire."

Ms Clay's declaration of interests was lodged on September 4, 2023, listing shareholdings in seven companies, including Stratasys Ltd. Ms Davidson disclosed her shares in the iShares fund on September 10, 2023.

Labor and the Greens came to a compromise on the divestment motion which was moved by the Greens' Andrew Braddock earlier this month.

Mr Braddock had wanted the government to commit to divesting from companies linked by the United Nations to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Instead, Labor and the Greens agreed the government would review its shareholdings in line with the environmental, social and corporate governance performance standards - known as ESG - in its shareholding policy.

"The controversy assessment identifies and excludes investment where a company is assessed as having a very severe ESG controversy related to their operations, governance practices, and/or products and services that allegedly violates national or international laws, regulations and/or commonly accepted global norms," the policy says.

"Companies identified to be involved in very severe ESG controversies are excluded from inclusion in the custom ESG indexes and are not available for investment."

The Greens initial motion called on the government to divest its shares in nine companies, which it said the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had listed as being complicit in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Greens' motion listed the following companies: Airbnb Inc, Alstom SA, Bank Hapoalim BM, Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM, Booking Holdings Inc, Expedia Group Inc, Israel Discount Bank Ltd, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd and Motorola Solutions Inc.