I'm Adam Bandt, Leader of the Australian Greens. AMA about the 2020 Budget, the path out of the COVID recession, and the Green New Deal!

Do you have a plan on how we can break up the current 9fairfax/7west/newscorp oligarchy that is controlling Australian media?

The media cross-ownership laws should never have been torn up. We'd like to see that reinstated, for starters. There is an inherent issue with the way that media has consolidated - not just Australia. Our best safeguard, initially, is a truly independent, well funded ABC and ACMA. Beyond that, we may need to look at funding models that ensure diversity and independence. It's one of those 'costs of doing democracy' that I believe is always a good investment.

Hi Adam, do the Greens have any plans to engage with rural voters and try to show them how your policies would actually help them more then hurt them and debunk the misinformation the liberals and Nats spread?

It seems with the rise of the shooters and fishers party that rural voters are moving away from the Nats but don't see many alternatives, i think engaging with rural communities would be a decent opportunity (especially if its done in non election years) to counter the misinformation and properly explain the Greens position on issues. I feel like the Greens have way more to offer rural voters then they realize.

I agree! The Greens have got thousands of members of our party who live in the regions. And we've got an MP - Tamara Smith - in regional NSW (Ballina). And you're right, the Liberal and National parties are leaving these communities behind, without the help they need to deal with the great recession and climate crisis. Here's some of what I've been saying to rural voters:

"Asides from preventing the affects of climate change on agriculture, Mr Bandt reeled off several polices that would enrich the lives of regional Australians. "The Greens are the only ones who want to give farmers and landholders the right to 'lock the gate', and say no to mining and exploration companies that want to come on to their land," he said. "We know the risk fracking poses to water supplies and we think farmers should have the right to say no." As water policy continues to divide the nation, Mr Bandt said his party was the only one that wanted to implement all of the recommendations of the Murray-Darling Basin royal commission and "see some sanity restored to the way we treat water in this country". The party took a $2-billion nature fund to the last election, which had a focus on invasive species to "taking some real Commonwealth action to make sure the land is looked after". "We also want to expand Landcare," Mr Bandt said. "We've got a very strong commitment to making sure our country is looked after and supporting farmers to do it." Source: https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/6629243/bandts-family-invented-the-ute-and-he-wants-to-match-its-impact/

How do you keep from running screaming out of the chamber whilst pulling your hair out?

Not gonna lie, some days it's tougher than others.

What are your plans to counter all the misinformation spread about the Greens? IE that the Greens banned back burning that caused last year's horrific bush fires?

Well, I can think of a certain media monopoly that needs to be broken up...

The good thing is that the conservatives are only resorting to tactics like that because they're scared. We need to keep them on the backfoot - showing why climate action is a good thing, because they're losing the debate.

(And as to bushfires, we support authorities conducting proper hazard reduction burns, but that won't stop Andrew Bolt saying whatever he wants.)

Hi Adam, why won't the police arrest politicians who are clearly breaking the law and engaging in criminal conduct? How do we make these people face any kind of consequence for their actions? It's one law for them and another for the rest of us.

Matters often get referred to the police, and sometimes they pursue them, sometimes they don't. One thing that would make a big difference is a federal anti-corruption commission. We've got them in a few states, and they have uncovered evidence that has seen ministers go to jail.

If we had one of those, there'd be a place to refer wrongdoing to, much more scrutiny and (I think) a higher rate of prosecutions when wrongdoing was established.

ICAC can not refer a matter to police. At least not in Victoria. IBAC found the head of the Public Trustees (Craig Dent) to be acting improperly but could only recommend that the Trustees refer the matter to the police. Of course they didn't. Trustees and Guardians are extremely corrupt in Australia.

Greens have been silent on the issue except from an ineffective exchange between Jenny Leong and the NSW Attorney General which was easily deflected by him, never to be raised again.

Any ICAC needs to have teeth, and be able to refer matters to police. If you're interested in more specifics, you can read the full text of our bill to create a Federal ICAC.

Surely if we did get a Federal ICAC, the legislation that governs it could be written to allow referrals to the AFP when corruption warranting investigation has occurred.

Ours would.

With the knowledge that lower income earners swung towards LNP in the federal election there is a clear disconnect of people in lower socio-economic conditions voting against their best economic interest. With the budget presenting the same issues how do we make sure a clear message is getting towards those who need it? Especially when they only see what is reported in the msm corporations which only let them know they are getting an extra "$250-1000" this year without any of the other implications.

First, it's worth noting that the LP only got a very small swing to it. In some of the seats in Qld, for example, there were really big movements away from ALP, but they went to One Nation (not LNP) and I think there's a variety of reasons for that.

But it's true that reaching voters requires resources, and as we don't take corporate donations, we rely on people. In my local seat of Melbourne we've made great strides in communicating with people outside the usual Greens voters (in public housing, for example) and that's been reflected in the increasing votes. We rely on doorknocks and phone calls and one on one conversations. So we'll be seeing if we can use that model on a national scale where we can.

A lot of people are just struggling with day to day pressures and think (not always unfairly tbh) that politicians are just in it for themselves and don't engage. That's why this next election the Greens will also be talking non-stop about how acting on climate change and renewables creates A LOT of jobs and brings down power bills compared to coal and gas.

As a voter in your local electorate, thanks for all you and your team does.

Thanks for your support Katie!

Well he did just make a video which seems to be getting traction on Reddit at least.

That video has 5k shares on facebook already. Hopefully the message gets across to the right people though.

It's really gone off! Very glad to see the message is getting out there.

Hi Adam.

Especially in the context of COVID, do you think a Universal Basic Income would provide a better, more efficient alternative to the current JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes? If so, what do you think would be the cost of this, and how much would Australians receive?

Great question Hayden. What I really like about a Universal Basic Income is the 'universal'. In Australia, too many people fall through the cracks. It can be difficult to get on Youth Allowance, for example, because of tight eligibility tests. And even getting a job doesn't guarantee you a liveable income. So the idea of everyone having a floor they can't fall below is vital.

But I think it should be more than 'basic'. It should be a liveable income. One that you can live on.

So coming out of COVID, we're opposing the cuts to JobSeeker and JobKeeper, we're pushing for a lift in the minimum wage and we're moving to outlaw insecure work. As part of this, we'll be arguing that there should be a 'guaranteed income' that everyone gets as a minimum. When we launch our full Green New Deal next year, we'll have more to say about it!

Hi Adam. In the recent political discourses we've since inequal and unfair coverage of left wing politicians from the Murdoch media. Due to the fact that the current government has done nothing but helping Murdoch expand his monopoly, meanwhile gutting the ABC. Is there any hope for the future of independent journalism in Australia?

Or will we have to accept the fact that Murdochs influence in our elections is here to stay permanently pushing our political discourse to the right.

We have to support the ABC. It is crucial for our democracy. And fight for ways to support public interest journalism. I think many people are increasingly able to see through the spin, though, as the constant scare campaigns against the Greens and Labor governments around the country don't always succeed.

Don't get me wrong, concentrated media ownership has held this country back from what it could be, but I think the best thing we can do is talk to our friends and family openly about how news outlets can use fear to trick everyday Australians into supporting the Liberal and National parties and that these parties will always back the super wealthy over everyday people. And keep an eye out for all the government finances that flows to corporate media conglomerates!

My local MP is Craig Kelly, whose Facebook page is filled with covid conspiracies and climate change denialism.

How should I, and other sensible people in Hughes, go about refuting and challenging his dangerous views?

Oh mate, I'm so sorry. Of all the bad eggs within parliament Craig would have to be one of the worst.

What's particularly tough is that he's cultivated a brand of anti-science, anti-expert conspiracy that extends far beyond Hughes.

There's two things you can do. First, we need to get the Liberals kicked out of Government, so people like Craig no longer have a seat at the table. The idea he's in the ear of the PM is terrifying - and Morrison's gas-led recovery is proof of the climate denial is that's still infesting the government.

Secondly, thing that you can do is have a conversation with people about what climate action actually means. It means sustainable jobs in renewable energy, cleaner air, less competition between mines and agriculture - a transition to clean energy benefits everyone, even if you can't wrap your head around climate change.

As a Teacher, I’m concerned over the continued prioritisation of private schools and chaplaincy in Liberal fiscal policies. How do the Greens plan to ‘level the field’ in terms of funding and remove any non-secular facets from all economic policies relating to education?

The grubby crux of it is the private school lobby is really good at their jobs. Threats and intense lobbying from them over the decades has meant weak-willed Labor and Lib government keep cutting special deals.

The upshot? 99% of private schools are funded above the national standard while 99% of public schools are below. Public schools are so underfunded that more than 80% of their teachers dip into their own pockets for classroom basics like textbooks.

In a nutshell, the Greens plan is to scrap the special deals that advantage private schools and lift the federal cap on funding for public schools to get every public school funded to the national standard as quickly as possible. Then we’ll tackle the crisis of public school infrastructure and giving teachers the support (and pay rises) they deserve.

In terms of keeping our public schools secular, I’m really proud that the Australian Greens policy has these two lines written straight into it:

“The Greens want a secular public education system free from religious proselytising and materials that discriminate on the basis of race, sexuality or gender.”

“The Greens want to abolish the National Schools Chaplaincy Program, or equivalent programs, and redirect that funding to support qualified secular school welfare and family support professionals, dual-qualified teacher-counsellors with psychological credentials, or school psychologists.”

I'd like to see unemploment statistics actually acount for livable wage. My partner worked a job getting around 3 hours a week (pre covid). Under the emplyoment statistics she'd count as employed despite being dependant on me for survival.

Is there a way to ensure not just employment numbers go up, but that employment numbers represent livable employment? There are so many jobs I see that are part-time and there'd be no way for anyone to survive on that few hours.

There has been a long decline of work rights that has resulted in the dominance of insecure work (casual, part time, gig economy, subcontracting). Just last month, we saw corporate profits at their highest share of the economy and workers profits at their lowest share - in history. Tuesday's budget plans to keep wages low and unemployment high - it isn't an accident. Doing this keeps wages low and profits high.

The Greens plan is:

• start to outlaw insecure employment - change the law so that every job is presumed to be ongoing (ie secure) unless there's a special, provable reason for it not to be
• lift the minimim wage so that we don;t have a class of working poor
• use public money directly to create secure, meaningful jobs for everyone who wants one (childcare, aged care, build public housing, high speed rail, restore local ecosystems, rivers, forests, research, renewable energy and so on).

We can afford to do this instead of giving $99 billion a year to private companies like this budget is doing and hope it trickles down to the rest of us. The Greens are the party of full employment!

It seems prospects for universities are pretty grim. What can we do to prevent further "brain drain"? Straight after my PhD I moved to France, and am looking for my next job overseas too. I'd like to stay in Australia and do my research here, but the jobs and funding are just not there.

This week has been a big blow for universities, students, teachers and the future of research in Australia. Cuts for research, university staff and fee hikes for students.

This government really hates the idea of a well-educated population (harder to trick them in an election campaign) and world-class research and development (undercuts the profits of the dominant companies that donate to them).

The Greens plan is for Australia to copy multiple countries around the world and set a target for 4% of GDP going into research and development. This would not only create lots of great jobs and bring people like you back home, but it would increase our productivity and give us the resources we need to rapidly transition to a clean, smart, modern economy

Adam, what can people actually do to help make things better? Some of us don't have much time or money nor do we have a large audience. Sometimes it feels a little helpless watching our country be ruined by political forces outside of our control.

What can we do?

Action is the best antidote to despair! There are simple, quick things that are cost-free and you can do, sign petitions, join rallies, switch your superannuation to a climate safe investor, get involved in election campaigns with us

But one of the most powerful things you can do (especially around the climate emergency) is have conversations with friends and family and explain what is happening and why you think it needs to change. Personal conversations change a lot more than we think. It shifts attitudes and influences people. One-on-one conversations: it's how I got elected!

What happened with all that rice? Who cleaned it up?

It's a team effort that is still underway! Fortunately we have a Dyson.

Hi Adam, I am an Australian trapped overseas (my 7th attempt was cancelled yesterday).

Do you have any plans to pressure governments at both State and Federal level to try and get the 100 000 or so of us home?

I'm really sorry to hear about that. I have been speaking to a lot of people stuck in similar situations and my office and i have been trying hard to get people home.

It’s Scott Morrison’s job to step up here. The PM’s vague “we’ll get you home by end of the year” just isn’t good enough – as you’ve experienced. Between cancelled flights, price gouging, preferential treatment for Business Class customers, and a lack of quarantining capacity Australians have been locked out of the country for months. It’s not good enough.

I’ve been calling on Morrison and Dutton since September to urgently work through these issues to get people home. We've called on the ACCC to stop flight price gouging. We need more organised flights and more government intervention to get people home.

Hi Adam, there's been lots of talk about an ICAC but not much action. What is your stance on the formation of an anti-corruption commission and what steps can Australians take to make it happen?

All talk and no action is right. 18 months ago the PM said it needed to happen and since then we’ve heard crickets.

But there's a Greens' bill in Parliament that has passed the Senate and is only a couple of votes away from passing. Senator Larissa Waters introduced a bill into the Senate in September 2019 to create a federal corruption watchdog, the bill passed the Senate but the Morrison Government refuses to let it come up for debate in the House.

What steps can you take? Don’t forget the scandals. Don’t forget about #SportRorts. Corruption is not okay, and if we’re loud enough as a community, they won’t be able to hide.

There's a particular view of the Greens that more or less portrays the party as having good ideas and intentions, but no real plans to enact them in policy. Policy is seen as a real weak point.

I have to confess, this led me to reconsider the way I vote in federal elections.

Do you have any thoughts on these and other stereotypes, and what are your hopes, aspirations, vision etc. for the party moving forward?

That portrayal of the Greens largely comes from our political opponents, but when you compare us to Labor and Liberal, our policies are every bit as detailed.

As far as implementing them, the record is one we're proud of. In 2010 we had the numbers and opportunity to put policies in place with a Labor minority government and it's the only time emissions have significantly dropped in Australian history, got ARENA and the CEFC established, plus millions of kids got dental visits. So we're hoping that over time our record will be judged over what our opponents say.

Why can't we stop giving away $8 billion a year in fossil fuel subsides/diesel fuel credits? Even for just a temporary period?

Why can't we supply schools with funded solar panels to cover their electricity costs, and also supply the local neighbourhoods with clean electricity?

The answer is quite simple, sadly. The Liberal, National and Labor parties have taken at least $9,301,000 of donations from coal, oil and gas companies since 2012. We have to get corporate money out of politics!

This money is handed over each and every year to stop the major parties ever acting against the financial interests of these companies.

Instead of helping Gina Rinehart buy cheap diesel fuel, we should spend that money building public housing to tackle the homelessness crisis and create jobs, growing our research & education sectors and shifting to 100% renewables.

Follow up to that. How is selling out our country for the betterment of the fossil fuel industries only worth $9 million?

Labor and Liberal are cheap dates.

Hoo boy. You’re gonna be pissed when you find out it’s north of $AU47 billion per year.

Think of what we could do with that kind of money. It should be invested in public housing, renewable energy and high speed rail while delivering free childcare and health.

Hi Adam, what can we as individuals do on a grassroots level to advocate for more mainstream support for your party and its policies?

Great question! As a party, we stand up to big corporations on behalf of the people. That means we can't rely on big media conglomerates to get our message out for us. that's why we need you. I've got three asks:

• Share what we produce online. It is powerful when something comes as a suggestion from you.
• Get involved here & join our campaigns.
• Be part of our movement at election time. That's when we rely on people to power our movement, including by joining phone-calling parties, doorknocks & even data parties!

Hey Adam! Thanks for your time. As a leader with history as a progressive activist, how much of our current material circumstances would you attribute to capitalism? Not “crony-capitalism”, but the way that capitalism itself functions and how it necessarily expropriates wealth from the working class.

Do you really believe we’re able to bring about climate justice, racial equality and economic prosperity to the working class people while still operating under a capitalist system? Even one with strong regulations?

Capitalism is a system that puts profit as the highest goal. It doesn't care what or who a corporation makes money out of, as long as it makes it. And this profit can now be taken from you when you work or when you and your friends connect with each other. What really worries me about capitalism now is that it has no limits: there are coal, oil and gas companies whose business models are literally premised on destroying life as we know it by accelerating the climate crisis.

Right now, the main task has to be to stop the climate crisis. And to do that, we need a big movement that includes not just socialists (which I'm guessing you are - sorry if i presume wrong!) but also people who don't want their kids' world to be torched and also people who run renewable energy businesses. That has to be our goal, or we're all in strife.

Hi Adam, I want to know what your opinion is on a Job Guarantee and/or a Universal Basic Income. Do you think this is a policy the Greens will implement (if it's not already)? And what rate do you think a UBI should be set at? My opinion is that people deserve to live, instead of having to earn their living, and work in something they're passionate about instead of having their labour exploited just in order to survive.

Couldn't agree more.

We've called for a jobs guarantee as part of our recovery plan, and we need to ensure that JobSeeker is permanently raised to the ~$1100 level it was at through COVID.

No one should be unable to feed, clothe or home themselves in a country like ours.

Good day Adam.

I'm fortunate enough to still be gainfully employed full-time, despite COVID-19.

As an immigrant though, I've found it close to impossible to fully assimilate into Australian society, wether it be housing or just culture etc.

What keeps you up at night for what's not going well? Conversely, what has gone well for us?

Sorry to hear that has been your experience. FWIW, my kind of Australia is one where no-one feels that they have to completely give up where they came from or what makes them who they are. We're richer because of our diversity.

What keeps me up at night? The climate crisis & what it might mean for my children.

What has gone well? I love that we're still a place that has a great public health system & that we haven't gone down the US road. I've had to take the kids to emergency a couple of times, and coming out after getting world-class treatment but without a bill just makes me glad we can still value what is important.

What do you think of lab grown meat? Is that an industry worthy of our time? I'm a meat eater but if that was more affordable in the future, I'd have no problem switching over to.

Curious to see your opinion.

I think it's very exciting! Along with plant-based meat substitutes, there's a wave of new technologies coming along that will help provide people more choices for sustainable food. While we also need better regulations, a bit of competition for the animal agriculture sector to up it's game on animal welfare, greenhouse gas emissions and minimising its environmental footprint is something everyone should welcome.

Hi Adam. Liberal voter here. How concerned are you with the national debt? Seeing these numbers thrown around the last few days has rattled me. Tax cuts to the rich doesn't seem like the way forward.

There's good debt and bad debt.

Debt that is used to create a better country is good. Think of investment in clean energy infrastructure, the NBN, high quality education - these pay themselves back and create a better country.

Then, you've got tax cuts for millionaires. That's bad debt. It doesn't improve lives, doesn't pay itself back, and removes public money for essential services like schools and hospitals.

There’s never been a better time for governments to borrow to invest – interest rates on bonds are projected to stay at record low levels for many years.

We could get to 100% renewables and full employment and still have debt levels lower than the OECD average.

For more on the Greens’ Recovery Plan and how borrowing to invest, big and now, makes economic sense, have a look at our website here

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your time. I am a medical marijuana patient and at the moment I can only use a vaporizer for my dried herb. Is there a timeline for when it will be fine for me to cruise down the street playing my Gatorade trumpet instead?

The Greens are pushing to legalise it.

Playing your Gatorade trumpet as you cruise down the street will ultimately depend on where you live, as most laws concerned with cannabis legalisation are prosecuted at the State level. We have a bill to create a Federal Agency to manage the legalisation of cannabis, but the big parties don't want to play ball.

The best bet for you to cruise as you would like in the future is to join our campaign and help our Fed and State MPs push for law reform.

I’m a teenager. The bushfires we see today will pale in comparison to what me and my generation will see as a result of it, and I’m of the opinion that corporations are to blame for their endless search of profits with no thought of what it will cause

Do you think that we should make corporations like BP pay for the locked in effects of climate change?

The stuff we’re seeing right now will grow no matter what we do, and it’s their fault, so how do we make them suffer for the consequences of their own actions?

I actually wrote a persuasive essay on this topic a couple hours back, which could be why I’m so fired up

Yes. I've introduced a bill to give people suffering from climate damage the right to sue the corporations causing the climate damage.

Hey Adam, I hope you are well.

As a Greens member, I often myself hearing the argument that "The Greens are a wasted vote", or "I like The Greens, but am scared of a liberal government so I vote Labor."

What steps do you think we can take to increase political literacy in this country?

'If you want to keep the Liberals out & keep Labor on track, vote Green. The Greens don't support the Liberals, so you're best way of getting what you want is to vote Greens and then preference Labor. And if the Greens get in, they'll use their power to make Labor do good things, like tackle climate change'

That's the best message for people concernerned about preferences to hear.

There are a lot of misconceptions about preferences, so if the above answer doesn;t do the trick and people want to know more, tell them the way our voting system works means if you vote 1 Greens, 2 Labor you never run the risk of voting the Liberals back in. If the Greens don;t win the seat and preferences are distributed, the vote goes to labor at full value. By voting this way, you are doubling the power of your vote - you are not only booting the Liberals out, but you are sending a message to Labor too about how you want them to vote in Parliament.

My first campaign in Melbourne was all about empowering voters to 'make your vote powerful'. It worked and people want their vote to be powerful, so we will be putting in some time on how we can communicate this nationally. But all your conversations help too - spread the word and tweet Antony Green - he is always happy to explain how the voting system works to people!

Ho Adam, im a greens member and avid supporter. I love what the party stands and fights for.

However, because of our niche focus on the environment and social social deficiencies are we being too narrow in our appeal to potential swing voters?

I only ask this as the Greens might be seen as an extremists party rather than a family party that would provide real opposition and change.

Cheers

Great to have you as part of our movement!!

I've always felt that the barrier to us growing is not our policies but our ability to get them in front of people. We've got plans to bring down energy bills and get free childcare and education, for example, that most people would support.

What I'll try to do as leader is make sure everyone knows we care as much about fighting for people's economic security as we do about fighting for the planet. And I'll be calling on you & all our supporters to help get that message out!

What sections of the recently released budget do you and your party see support for? What would you like to see improved upon?

That's a big question - but I'll try think of some highlights. There were some thing that we have pushed for that were in there, such as ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) funding and some funding for NDIS, including for thalidomide survivors and there was $41.4m for Indonesia for anti-people smuggling work. But even some of that comes with a catch- the government wants the clean energy bodies to fund gas and carbon capture & storage, for example!

Here's the thing, a Budget is huge and shouldn't be slapped on the table and given a total green light or red light. We're big believers in the Senate estimates process (where the Senate scrutinises the budget) to tease out the best parts and worst parts. Unfortunately the Libs and Labor did a deal today to rush through huge parts of the budget before Estimates even starts.

Hi Adam! How will your policies support the younger generation (primarily teens and young adults) in areas like education and jobs, and what can we do to ensure that we build a better future even if we cannot yet vote?

We want to see three things for young people in particular:

• An end to uni and TAFE fees. Education is a human right. You shouldn’t start your working life with a mountain of debt
• A guaranteed income you can live on (so you can afford rent and food at the same time)
• A guaranteed job if you want one working on exciting planet-saving, nation-building programs that are helping to tackle the climate emergency and build a better world

We win change like this the way change always happens. By fighting for it – in the comment threads, in the streets and at the ballot box.

And we're pushing to give the (optional) right to vote to 16 and 17 year-olds, because so much of what politicians do affects you.

It’s so exciting for me to see an entire generation of activists rise up through the school strike for climate movement and black lives matter. You might not be able to vote, but your voice can still be heard.

Hi Adam,

Really short one here, would you and your party consider forming a coalition government with the Labor party?

Not a coalition (in the way that Libs and Nats do), I think, but we could certainly work together in a power-sharing arrangement.

It's what we did in 2010 when there was a power-sharing parliament and we got a price on pollution and dental into medicare for kids. It's what the ACT Greens are doing, where we have a Greens Climate & Energy Minister. It's what is happening in NZ right now. So I think it is a pathway to progressive change.

Who funds the greens?

We're people powered! The Greens don't take money from big corporations. We get our money from three sources: members, individual supporters who give us donations and election funding. Each time you vote '1' Greens, we get around $2.40 from the electoral commission - another great reason to vote for us, helps us take the fight up against the major parties and their corporate backers

With the Greens gaining traction, the old-school two party system is being disrupted. How do you see this changing the Australian politics? And do you think we'll need to rethink the way our democracy operates?

The establishment parties pretend the system can't change. But you don’t need to spend much time on Wikipedia to know it hasn;t always been this way. Parties change. Power shifts. But I think at its core, our democracy can function to do the will of the people.

What we need to address is the role that corporate influence has on our democracy. These massive companies, one in three of which pay zero tax, spread their influence around. Mates doing favours for mates. Just look at the Business Council of Australia’s glowing endorsement of the latest budget (the BCA is a lobby group).

This is why we need a strong, independent watchdog, looking over the shoulder of the politicians that you expect should be working in the community’s interest, not their own.

A Greens’ bill to create a corruption watchdog is in the Parliament at the moment. It has passed the Senate and is only a couple of votes away from passing in the House, but the Morrison Government refuses to let it come up for debate.

If we can get this done and put our watchdog to work, we’ll see some real change to the way things are done.

(And I think if we had proportional representation in the House of Reps, like in ACT, Tas and NZ, we'd see change happen even quicker!)

Hey Mr Bandt. What are your thoughts on foreign military bases on Austarlain soil?

I feel the same way most Americans would feel if we set up a military base in Oregon.

We need an independent foreign policy, esp with Trump at the helm, where our stance on national security isn't dragged into US domestic politics and subject to the will of someone we don't get to vote for.

I live in a sharehouse with 4 other people. I'm the only one with a job, everyone else is on JobSeeker.

The covid supplement already having being reduced by $300 has hurt my friends, but not as much as when it's removed entirely.

It honestly feels like the government doesn't care that people will not be able to afford to live soon.

So my question is: What are you doing to try and change this situation before it gets worse?

I'm sorry, that sucks. Just last night our push to stop the cuts to the Covid supplements went down - narrowly - we lost two crucial crossbenchers.

Fighting to stop the cuts is a lot of what we're doing in parliament. We've also worked on creative ways to keep the press reporting on it - like explaining the effects of the cuts by gender, by age. Everything we can do to keep the pressure on will make it harder for Scomo to pull it.

Labor need to fully step up, so we're presurring them too. The Covid sups only came about because the govt felt the heat - so we'll keep throwing everything at it - it's a top priority of the whole Greens team.

Hi Adam! Do you like Andrew Yang? Ps: Been thinking of joining the Greens!

Don't know a heap about him. I was disappointed when he endorsed Biden over Bernie. But given he ran exclusively to raise a few issues - not to win, which he successfully did, and given I think those issues, like UBI should be more prominent in the public debate, he's ok with me. PS Hope you do join!

Can politicians be trusted?

Come back and ask me after we've set up a national corruption watchdog and let it root through Ministers' files for a while.

I noticed you referenced trickle-down economics in your Tweet.

Do you think there's an argument to be made for trickle-down to refer to the money given to the people, to spend onto corporations with a return back to the Government?

I think 'trickle-down' is so well understood now as meaning 'give money to the big corproations and very wealthy in the hope some of it trickles down' that we might have a hard time changing its meaning.

I don't support 'trickle down'. Something trickles down, but it's not wealth!

What we need to do instead is build from the bottom up.

The ultimate objective of government policy to get us out of the recession must be to keep people supported while we navigate the health crisis. Then in the recovery we must aim to reach full employment while we set ourself up for the future by cleaning up our economy and reducing inequality.

What this Government is doing is hoping to create jobs by giving big corporations and millionaires giant tax cuts. They hope by doing so that these big corporations will create new jobs and that the millionaires will lift demand enough that businesses employ more people, but it's just that, a hope.

Instead of that we could be committing to direct government provision of essential services like childcare, aged care and education, and public investment in things like manufacturing, public housing, clean energy and transport projects like high speed rail. That's part of what we are calling our Green New Deal.

Fave coffee in Melbourne?

tbh right now I'd settle for any coffee anywhere. Lockdown is a drag.

But when we're allowed out again, mine's a long black with hot milk on the side from Allpress in Collingwood, Elektra or Min Lokal in Fitzroy or Pepper in Flemington. You buying?

Are we really all gonna die in like 30 years if nothing really change drastically?

If we don't stop it, global heating will destroy our way of life as we know it. We're being warned that we could be passing tipping points very soon, which could lock in changes like multi-metre sea-level rises in decades.

And if we don't stop it, the planet could be uninhabitable for more than half the world's population. So, we won’t all be dead in 30 years, but without some drastic change it is very scary to think about what sort of world my daughters will inherit. Billions of lives are at stake.

But we can stop it. We have the technology! All we need now is the political will.