BREAKING NEWS Greens leader dramatically QUITS party with blistering letter about 'scheming' colleagues: 'I certainly will not be silent'
The co-leader of the South Australian Greens has dramatically quit the party.
Tammy Franks announced she was leaving the Greens and shared a damning letter against her 'scheming' former colleagues on Tuesday afternoon.
Franks, who has been apart of the state Greens Party for 15, said her decision came with 'immense sadness'.
'I've made so many strong friendships and have comrades across the nation within the Greens family,' she wrote.
'I have also taken counsel from some of them about this decision and discovered in those conversations that sadly too many times this has happened before.
'I still believe in a Greens' vision for a better world and know there are many, many wonderful, committed, and well-intentioned people within the Party.
'But not all have such noble motivations, and they and their scheming are being too often enabled.'
Franks alluded to unfairness within the party and said she would no longer 'reward bad behaviour'.
'I leave the Greens today having hoped that those with thwarted ambitions, grudges and grievances would have focused on building up not tearing down,' she said.
'Especially once I moved aside for those with ambition and self-interest.
'Unfortunately, they have not relented. A small coterie colluded against me hoping to sabotage my work, to wear me down and dissuade me from continuing.
'They also acted as a clique to the detriment of not just me, but others working around them.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
While friends were partying, Conor was preparing for court. His case has now prompted Labor to act on family violence
When Conor Pall turned 18, he should have been studying for his Year 12 exams. Instead, he was preparing for court. In January 2021, his mother had successfully applied for a family violence intervention order (FVIO) protecting them both. But when Pall became a legal adult in June, that protection no longer applied to him – a fact he only learned when he tried to report a breach of the order to police. That order has since expired. To stay safe, Pall had to start the process again, this time as an applicant, all while juggling the pressures of school. 'While my friends were planning for parties and when I should've been studying, getting ready for Year 12 exams, I was briefing a barrister,' Pall says. It was a stark shift from months earlier, at 17, when he supported his mother in court but was dismissed because of his age. 'The magistrate looked at me and asked how old I was, and I replied I was 17. His response was, 'A courtroom isn't a place for kids' and he asked me to leave,' Pall says. 'How ironic that I had to attend court when I turned 18 – by myself – just five months later. What had changed? 'I didn't age out of fear, I didn't age out of risk. I was still so scared of the perpetrator.' Pall wrote to the Victorian government in early 2022 urging changes to the law. His letter has now prompted action, with Labor confirming to Guardian Australia it will introduce legislation to parliament later this year to prevent 'ageing out' of FVIOs. The Victorian Law Reform Commission is already examining the issue, with a report due in July. But the attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, says reforms will proceed regardless of its findings. 'Having listened to people like Conor, it's a really compelling case about why change is needed,' she says. There are 'thousands and thousands of children' who are party to a family violence intervention order, but the law is 'not clear about what happens to them when they turn 18', Kilkenny says. 'That creates a heightened level of uncertainty and anxiety about what that means for them when they turn 18. Are they protected or aren't they? Do they have to go back to court, on their own, in circumstances that can be really traumatising?' Current legislation is 'silent' on the issue, leaving it to magistrates' interpretation, and Kilkenny says reforms will provide certainty by making it clear an FVIO continues to protect a person after they turn 18 until it lapses. The new legislation will also close loopholes allowing alleged perpetrators to avoid being served, including while in custody, and allow Victoria to issue FVIOs even if violence occurred interstate, helping victim-survivors in border towns or those who moved for safety reasons. Kilkenny also confirmed a default two-year length for FVIOs will be introduced, bringing Victoria into line with the ACT, New South Wales and Western Australia. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The bill, which is guaranteed to pass the lower house but will require the support of the Coalition opposition or members of the crossbench in the upper house, will also include long-awaited changes to stalking laws. The reforms were first proposed as part of a broader women's safety package announced in 2024 and at the time some experts warned changes to FVIOs could worsen outcomes for victims misidentified as perpetrators. Kilkenny says that following consultation, the legislation will include safeguards to prevent misidentification when courts issue FVIOs and when police issue interim family violence safety notices – with the latter more prone to error. Family violence continues to surge in Victoria. In 2024, police recorded 104,786 family violence incidents, an 11.3% increase on the previous year. There were also 61,522 breaches of FVIOs. Pall has welcomed the reforms, but also called for more support to help victims 'heal and recover', noting his experience with the justice system left a lasting impact. 'I started drinking. I was diagnosed with PTSD. I was suicidal – not just because of the perpetrator's abuse but because of the system's inability to recognise me as a victim in my own right,' he says. 'It's a system that wasn't designed with adult victim-survivors in mind, let alone children and young people.' In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women's Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via
The Guardian
42 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australian universities hesitate on antisemitism definition amid academic freedom concerns
Months after the release of a new definition of antisemitism, a string of Australian universities are yet to adopt it amid concerns it may contravene academic freedom. The academic board at the Australian National University (ANU) has declined to adopt the definition, paving the way for the university to become the first to reject the policy, while at least 11 other institutions have not yet made a decision. Peak Jewish groups last week accused the ANU of allowing an 'unsafe and unwelcoming campus' over the board's decision not to adopt the definition endorsed by Universities Australia (UA) in February that closely aligns with the contentious International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, after a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism on campuses. The UA definition has faced some criticism since its release. The National Union of Students (NUS) and National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) rejected the definition over free speech and academic freedom concerns. University of Sydney students overwhelmingly voted to reject university management's adoption of the definition, over similar concerns, at a meeting convened by the Student Representative Council. UNSW, Deakin University, Victoria University, University of Technology Sydney and RMIT University were waiting for the outcome of consultation between the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and the Higher Education Standards Panel, which were tasked by UA to ensure the definition upholds higher education standards and freedom of expression. James Cook University will examine the definition when it reviews its discrimination policy later this year, as will the University of Adelaide at the request of its council, while Charles Darwin University is considering the 'best positioning' of the definition within its policy framework to 'ensure that academic freedom and expression is honoured'. The University of the Sunshine Coast's academic board will consider the definition in coming months, while the University of Newcastle is 'actively engaging' with stakeholders to consider 'different perspectives' on the matter. The University of Queensland senate endorsed the definition, which was later discussed by the academic board in March, and is working to 'finalise' its decision. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email On Friday 23 May, the last day of term, ANU's academic board chair, Prof Tony Connolly, informed the ACT Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) the board would recommend against adopting the definition and instead intended to adopt a broader anti-racism definition based on a 2023 report released by the university's anti-racism taskforce. An ANU spokesperson confirmed the board had recommended a definition of racism be adopted and 'anti-racism culture' be developed in accordance with the taskforce's recommendations. The academic board holds significant authority in developing and approving university policies but it is ultimately up to the executive to decide whether to endorse its decision. The spokesperson said the university had not rejected the UA definition and was 'continuing to work with our community to determine the best approach and consider the matter through the appropriate governance processes'. Last Friday, the heads of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A) wrote to the ANU vice-chancellor, Prof Genevieve Bell, expressing their 'dismay' at the board's decision. 'By reason of many examples of antisemitic behaviour at ANU, your campus has become unsafe and unwelcoming for Jewish students,' the letter read. 'Absent a credible definition of antisemitism at ANU, we do not see how the university intends to identify antisemitic conduct and respond appropriately to it.' The working UA definition, first developed by Group of Eight institutions, was unanimously endorsed by 39 vice-chancellors in February, based on work with Jillian Segal, the special envoy to combat antisemitism. The definition says criticism of Israel can be antisemitic 'when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the state of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel's actions'. 'Substituting the word 'Zionist' for 'Jew' does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic,' the definition states. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Liat Granot, a co-president of the AUJS, addressed ANU's academic board last month, encouraging it to adopt the definition. Granot said rejecting the definition made Jewish students feel 'incredibly exposed, unsupported and disillusioned'. 'This definition was seen as the last straw … to a hope we had in the institution's ability to protect us. That's been crushed,' she said. In March, the NTEU's ACT division secretary, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, wrote to Connolly urging him to oppose the UA definition. Clohesy said the definition was 'inconsistent with fundamental principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech', and risked conflating legitimate criticism of the Israeli state and government with antisemitism. Clohesy said some Jewish NTEU members had taken particular issue with the 'inclusion of Zionism as part of Jewish identity' in the definition, and the 'underlying assumption that a Jewish person is likely to be Zionist'. 'NTEU is also concerned that the adoption of this definition could lead to attempts to initiate disciplinary [action] against ANU staff in future,' he wrote. The ECAJ and 5A urged the board to reconsider its position and to 'recognise that a non-legally binding, working definition of antisemitism that reflects the Jewish lived experience, is essential'. 'The ANU academic board … comprised of academics with no specialised anti-racism mandate, and which has a focus on academic freedom, is not the appropriate body to evaluate whether the UA definition should be adopted.' A UA spokesperson said the body respected the autonomy of universities to make their own decisions, 'including how best to implement policies and principles that support student safety and free expression'. More than 20 universities did not provide a comment.
The Guardian
42 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tobacco excise isn't making Australians smoke less and should be frozen to curb black market, economists say
Economists say the tobacco excise rate is too high, is not lowering smoking rates and should be frozen or even 'radically' reduced as a way to address the soaring black market trade in cigarettes. It comes ahead of a meeting of state and federal health ministers on Friday and after the NSW premier, Chris Minns, last week demanded the Albanese government cut the excise rate to combat an explosion in black market tobacco and an associated rise in organised crime. In Victoria a rash of firebombings have underlined the policing challenges associated with the illegal cigarette trade, with the state's Labor government also calling for a cut to the excise rate, which has tripled over the past decade – making Australian cigarettes the most expensive in the developed world. With the Australian Taxation Office estimating that about a fifth of tobacco for sale is now illegal, the director of the ANU's tax and transfer policy institute, Bob Breunig, said 'the evidence is pretty clear that every time we raise excise at this point we are not reducing smoking at all'. 'The point is to get people to smoke less, and it's not working. I don't think we should lower it, but freezing it is a good idea, and then doing something that deals with illegal tobacco is the next obvious step,' Breunig said. Breunig acknowledged the tax, alongside other complementary measures, had contributed to the halving in smoking rates over the past two decades, from 21% of adults smoking daily in 2005 to just shy of 11% in 2022. 'Our tobacco policies have been very successful versus other countries. We've had a big success story and we've gone as far as we can go with the excise. Now it's time to pull other levers, such as more education.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Over the past decade, the excise rate per cigarette has tripled from 46c to $1.40. The excise now accounts for $28 of the average $40 price for a packet of 20 cigarettes. For some time a rising tax was associated with the twin benefits of falling smoking rates and rising revenue, but after peaking at $16.3bn in 2019-20, federal excise receipts have plunged. The March budget forecasts tobacco excise receipts will be just $7.4bn in this financial year – the lowest since 2012-13 – and will continue to fall to $6.7bn by the end of the decade. Rather than a sudden collapse in smoking rates, experts point to an explosion in the availability of black market tobacco in recent years. An equivalent of 605.8m cigarettes in illegal tobacco was seized at the border in 2019-20, according to government figures. By 2022-23, border seizures had reached the equivalent of 2.6bn cigarettes before easing to 2.2bn in 2023-24. Jim Chalmers and the federal health minister, Mark Butler, have both ruled out lowering the excise, arguing it will do nothing to reduce the illegal tobacco trade. Instead, they advocate stronger compliance measures. Terry Slevin, the chief executive of the Public Health Association, agreed, saying he was worried that policymakers were being 'conned' by the tobacco industry. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'I think it's perfectly legitimate for the current excise rate to remain at its current level to allow time for the proper enforcement to be put [in] place,' Levin said. 'Once that's in place and the immediate and substantial problem of illicit tobacco has been addressed, then we can consider that [the excise rate] along with other tobacco-control strategies to reduce what remains an enormous burden on the health of people in Australia.' Fei Gao, a business law lecturer at the University of Sydney, said neither of the two 'main goals' of the excise – as a source of revenue and to discourage smoking – 'have or will be achieved in the future, because of the existence of the black market. 'The government needs to realise they can't have it both ways,' Gao said. 'Either the tax is mainly a revenue source, which means they need to engage experts to work out the ideal [lower] rate that will capture the maximum revenue, or they need to keep a high excise rate and then reinvest the receipts into fighting the black market.' Richard Holden, an economics professor at UNSW's business school, said it was clear that the level of the excise rate had passed a tipping point and was now counterproductive. 'We went pretty hard on increasing the excise rate and it backfired. They raised it too high,' Holden said. 'Clearly the excise has gotten over a threshold and triggered an illicit market reaction. ' Holden said it would take more than a 'tweak' to the excise rate to remove the incentive to buy and sell illegal tobacco, suggesting a radical excise reduction for two years. The excise rate increases twice a year, in March and September, in line with the rise in a measure of wages called the average weekly ordinary time earnings. On top of this indexation, the tobacco excise is also climbing by an extra 5% a year for the three years to September 2026. As a share of income, cigarettes are nearly four times more expensive than they were three decades ago.
