House debates
Monday, 14 August 2006
- Delegation Reports (0 speeches)
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Treaties Committee; Report (4 speeches)
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee’s report entitled Report 75: Treaties tabled on 11 October 2005 (2), 28 February and 28 March 2006 (2)....
- Intelligence and Security Committee; Report (3 speeches)
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee’s report entitled Review of administration and expenditure: Australian Intelligence...
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee; Report (4 speeches)
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee’s report entitled Australia’s relationship with the Republic of Korea; and...
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- Payment of Accounts by Government Bill 2006 (0 speeches)
- Statements by Members (0 speeches)
- Telstra (1 speech)
I would like to express my deep concern today about the announcement last week that Telstra will be removing several thousand phone boxes from use within our communities. During the recent debate...
- La Trobe Electorate: Beaconsfield Station (1 speech)
Earlier this month a constituent alerted me to the state of the car park at Beaconsfield train station. The station is in Pakenham, in the south of my electorate, and is run by Connex, a private...
- Ms Judy Tatow (1 speech)
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Judy Tatow, or Auntie Judy as she is known to many in Rockhampton, on being named Female Elder of the Year as part of the 2006 NAIDOC celebrations....
- Disability Services (1 speech)
On the Saturday before parliament resumed its sitting I spent a couple of hours at Innaloo shopping centre in my electorate. I spoke to a constituent, whose name I will not use because I have not...
- Advocates for Survivors of Childhood Abuse (1 speech)
Yesterday I was very pleased to attend the opening of the new Parramatta office of the Advocates for Survivors of Childhood Abuse, or ASCA. The location of the office near Parramatta, the...
- Healthy School Communities Program (1 speech)
In my electorate of Macquarie, 27 schools have recently benefited from grants of up to $1,500 under the Australian government’s Healthy School Communities Program. They have each developed...
- Canberra Cabs (1 speech)
I wish to share an experience that I and many others have had with Canberra Cabs here in the ACT. It is now on a voice activated service and the conversation with the computer goes like this:...
- Ms Shirin Ebaldi (1 speech)
I rise to share my grave concern for Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Ms Shirin Ebadi. It has been widely reported in the press that the Iranian government is clamping down on...
- Interest Rates (3 speeches)
It is now official. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s statistics show that mortgage interest payments are now higher under John Howard’s coalition government than they ever were under...
- View of Geelong (1 speech)
I am pleased to mark the occasion when Eugene von Guerard’s famous View of Geelong painting, having been returned to its home in Geelong, will be unveiled at the Geelong Art Gallery tonight...
- Lowe Electorate: Aircraft Noise (2 speeches)
I bring to the attention of the House that Sydney airport continues to operate very well as a shopping centre and a car park and that we are getting far too much noise in the electorate of Lowe...
- Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
- Mr Gregory Andrews (1 speech)
On 10 August, the member for Wills asked me to check the accuracy of the Hansard record in relation to an answer by the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs contained...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Asylum Seekers (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that, following his announcement today, women and children who land on excised islands will still be locked up on Nauru? Does...
- Middle East (2 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister inform the House of the government’s reaction to the United Nations resolution on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict?
- Transport Security (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Can the minister confirm that the Inspector of Transport Security only works part time? Can the minister confirm that, despite...
- Economy (7 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer outline to the House why disciplined economic management is more important than ever in the maintenance of low interest rates and...
- Interest Rates (17 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer recall saying to Laurie Oakes on the Sunday program on 27 February 2005: If you see a single digit in front of your interest rate, that’s...
- National Security (2 speeches)
My question is to the Attorney-General. In light of the terror plot in the United Kingdom, would the Attorney-General update the House on Australia’s national security arrangements?
- Aviation Security (4 speeches)
My question without notice is to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services. I refer the minister to the alleged involvement of an airport employee in the plan to detonate liquid explosives...
- Fuel Prices (6 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister recall, in April 2001, his Treasurer rejecting David Trebeck’s fuel tax inquiry recommendation to place an excise on LPG? Does...
- Australian Defence Force (2 speeches)
My question is addessed to the Minister for Defence. Would the minister update the House on the role of the Australian Defence Force in deterring terrorist activities in Australia and our region?
- Fuel Prices (4 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Has the Prime Minister read the editorial in today’s Australian newspaper which backs Labor’s plan to establish a gas to liquids fuels industry...
- Exports (8 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Would the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House how Australia’s manufacturers are performing in international...
- Fuel Prices (5 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to media reports that his government will offer subsidies of $1,000 for the purchase of new LPG cars and $2,000 for the conversion...
- Medicare (6 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Minister for Human Services. Would the minister inform the House what action the government is taking to make Medicare rebates easier to claim?
- Fuel Prices (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the fact that, as a result of record high petrol prices, service stations around Australia are experiencing a greater number of...
- Workplace Relations (17 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. Would the minister inform the House of the latest figures showing the uptake of Australian workplace agreements...
- Mr Gregory Andrews (16 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Did the minister or a member of his office assist Mr Gregory Andrews to prepare for his anonymous interview...
- Medical Education and the Medical Workforce (3 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House of decisions made at the recent COAG meeting to provide more doctors and nurses and a better...
- Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
- (7 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
- Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
- Parliament House Security (2 speeches)
Mr Speaker, in question time today, in answer to my question to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, the minister drew a comparison between aviation security cards and the passes...
- Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
- Energy Initiatives (7 speeches)
by leave—I wish to provide the House with the government’s assessment of some key energy challenges and to announce a number of measures to assist hard-pressed motorists to better...
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- Ministerial Statement; Reference (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That the following order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate:Energy Initiatives—Ministerial statement—Motion to take note of document:...
- National Party of Australia: Chief Whip (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
by leave—I inform the House of the election of a new Chief Whip for the National Party following the resignation of the member for Mallee from that position at the end of the last sitting...
- Petitions (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
The Clerk: Petitions have been lodged for presentation as follows and copies will be referred to the appropriate ministers:
- Responses (1 speech)
The Clerk: Ministerial responses to petitions previously presented to the House have been received as follows:
- Responses; Tariffs (0 speeches)
Dear Mr Harris Thank you for your letter dated 20 June 2006 attaching the Petition on the rejection by certain Australian residents of the concept of a level playing field and zero tariffs. The...
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- Kokoda Track (5 speeches)
I move: That this House: (1)notes that:(a)the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea is a place of great historical significance to Australia as the site of one of the great battles in the greater...
- Interest Rates (12 speeches)
I move That this House: (1)notes that there have been three interest rate rises since the Prime Minister promised the Australian people in 2004 that, if re-elected, he would ‘keep interest...
- Freight Rail Network (9 speeches)
I move: That this House: (1)notes the importance of rail in meeting the nation’s transport task into the future; and(2)is of the view that:(a)as a nation we remain focused on transferring...
- Grievance Debate (0 speeches)
- (0 speeches)
Question proposed: That grievances be noted.
- Indigenous Communities (1 speech)
As we all appreciate, in recent months many members of the House have contributed to what is a very important debate: the debate about improving the lives and opportunities of our Aboriginal...
- Women in Retirement (1 speech)
Today I want to put on record some interesting facts about women in retirement. Women live longer than men but have far less superannuation savings so see us through our retirement years. Over...
- Workplace Relations; Telstra (1 speech)
I thank the member for McPherson for a very interesting contribution. She has certainly got me feeling quite nervous and anxious to go back and check my own circumstances. Indeed, as a divorced...
- Vietnam War (1 speech)
I rise today in this grievance debate to join many other Australians in remembering this country’s involvement in the Vietnam War as we approach the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long...
- Gellibrand Electorate: Funding (1 speech)
I want to raise a number of issues today that relate to my electorate of Gellibrand, because I have some severe concerns—which, unfortunately, are growing with every letter I receive from a...
- Mental Illness (1 speech)
In March 2005 I had the privilege of meeting with a constituent, Jan Kealton, who met with me to talk about the tragic circumstances that led to the death of her son. Her son, James Henry Jacobs,...
- Middle East (1 speech)
I grieve for the state of Middle Eastern studies in Australia, and the effect that some poor judgements and poor teaching have had on policy decisions as they affect decision making in Australia....
- Queensland Health (2 speeches)
I rise to add to an address I made last week during the adjournment debate and to refer to the matter that I raised at the time—namely, surgeons at Mackay Base Hospital acting outside their...
- Australian Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia’S Skills Needs) Amendment Bill 2006; Trade Practices Amendment (National Access Regime) Bill 2006 (0 speeches)
- Returned from the Senate (0 speeches)
Message received from the Senate returning the bills without amendment or request.
- Petroleum Retail Legislation Repeal Bill 2006 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (18 speeches)
Debate resumed from 10 August, on motion by Mr Ian Macfarlane: That this bill be now read a second time. upon which Mr Martin Ferguson moved by way of amendment: That all words after...
- Privilege (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
On 10 August 2006 alleged matters of privilege were raised with me by the Leader of the Opposition and the members for Ballarat and Chisholm concerning an answer to a question given by the...
- Adjournment (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Order! It being after 9.00 pm, I propose the question: That the House do now adjourn.
- Herceptin (1 speech)
Nearly a year ago the Australian Cancer Council called for the rapid listing of Herceptin for the benefit of about 2,500 women each year diagnosed with early breast cancer. International research...
- Career Advice Australia (1 speech)
During the winter recess, I had the pleasure of launching the Blue Mountains-Hawkesbury-Penrith local school industry partnership, part of the Australian government’s Career Advice...
- Kokoda Track (1 speech)
On 21 July 1942 the Japanese Imperial Army, having leap-frogged through South-East Asia, reached the village of Gona on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. Under the command of Lieutenant...
- Fuel Prices (1 speech)
I support the previous speaker in his comments relating to the Kokoda Track. Tonight I want to talk about the price of fuel. It is very topical across Australia, but I want to focus on a...
- Electorate of Parramatta: Violence (1 speech)
It is with sadness that I speak today about the senseless attack on the Parramatta and District Synagogue. Sectarian and religious violence is largely unknown in Parramatta, but a fortnight ago,...
- Lachlan Thompson’s Human Powered Vehicle (2 speeches)
I rise to relate to the House a great story about how chance and ingenuity combined to help Australia become a cycling superpower. In 1983, Lachlan Thompson was an aerospace engineering student...
- Notices (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
The following notice was given:
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
- Afghanistan (8 speeches)
Debate resumed from 9 August, on motion by Mr Abbott: That the House take note of the following document: Australian Defence Force commitment to Afgahistan—Ministerial Statement, 9 August 2006.
