Greens leader Christine Milne's address to the National Press Club last week

Christine Milne gave her first address to the National Press Club as Greens Federal Parliamentary Leader last week, with her theme being "An economy that serves people and nature, not the other way around."

Watch here, or if you prefer, the transcript is here.


A few quick extracts:

"That our economic system is broken and needs fixing is not just the view of the Greens. It is the view of the World Economic Forum..."

"Surely it's time that those who advocate economic growth derived from resource extraction and pollution as the major path be the ones labelled "wacky", "loopy", irresponsible, divorced from reality..."

"Australia's economy is described as the envy of the world. We've have just posted our 21st consecutive year of economic growth with Australia outperforming most of the rest of the world , the unemployment rate is low, inflation under control, and Australia is one of only seven countries in the world to have maintained its AAA credit rating. And yet, millions of Australians feel uncertain about the future, uncomfortable, under pressure. There are many reasons for this. The two speed economy is frequently cited, as is the GFC. Another is the relentless negativity of Tony Abbott, talking the country down with his catalogue of complaints. This is not just a political line - as economists will tell you, negative expectations become self-fulfilling, impacting on investment across the economy."

"...the Greens do want to see growth, but growth in quality of life, growth in equality of society, and growth that plans for the long term."

"The Greens' vision is becoming mainstream globally, with Australian politics and commentariat playing catch-up."