House debates
Monday, 25 May 2009
- Employment and Workplace Relations Amendment Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Consideration of Senate Message (1 speech)
Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation for requested amendments announced. Bill returned from the Senate with amendments. Ordered that the amendments be considered...
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- Private Members’ Motions (1 speech)
In accordance with standing order 41(h), and the recommendations of the Whips adopted by the House on 13 May 2009, I present copies of the terms of motions for which notice has be given by the...
- Days and Hours of Meeting (1 speech)
I advise the House that the Deputy Speaker has fixed today, Monday, 25 May 2009, at 4 pm as the time for the next meeting of the Main Committee, unless and alternative day or hour is fixed.
- Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Medical Devices and Other Measures) Bill 2008; Law and Justice (Cross Border and Other Amendments) Bill 2009; Social Security Legislation Amendment (Digital Television Switch-over) Bill 2009; Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Referred to Main Committee (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That the bills be referred to the Main Committee for further consideration. I can inform all honourable members that this motion is supported by the Chief Opposition Whip,...
- Appropriation Bill (NO. 1) 2009-2010; Appropriation Bill (NO. 2) 2009-2010; Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (NO. 1) 2009-2010 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (10 speeches)
Debate resumed from 14 May, on motion by Mr Swan: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
I inform the House that the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism will be absent from question time this week as he is attending the G8 meeting of energy ministers in Rome...
- Queensland and New South Wales Floods (0 speeches)
- (4 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I seek to make a statement on indulgence concerning the recent flood situation in Queensland and New South Wales.
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Economy (4 speeches)
Will the Prime Minister at last level with the Australian people and tell this House the maximum amount of government debt his budget will create, expressed as a sum of money?
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- (2 speeches)
I inform the House that we have present in the gallery this afternoon members of a parliamentary delegation from the People’s Republic of China. The delegation is led by Madam Chen Zhili,...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Economy (4 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer stand by his statement of 20 May this year that the peak debt will be $315 billion?
- Infrastructure (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the government supporting local economies by investing in the nation’s road...
- Economy (8 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. This afternoon the Prime Minister has said that gross debt will peak at $300 billion and a few minutes later the Treasurer has said that it will...
- Nation Building and Jobs Plan (2 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline for the House the role of nation-building infrastructure in the government’s comprehensive plan to stimulate the economy?
- Budget (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I ask the Prime Minister in what year will the government debt he is creating reach its maximum and how long will it take to pay it off?
- Education Funding (4 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on what the...
- Economy (34 speeches)
Mr Speaker, my question is again to the Prime Minister. I refer to his previous answer in which he said ‘net debt is projected to be 3.8 per cent of GDP in 2020’. Could the Prime...
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- (2 speeches)
Forty-six years ago today, on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, the Organisation of African Unity was formed. Therefore, it is a pleasure to inform the House that we have present in the gallery this...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Infrastructure (17 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What is the role of local capital works in cushioning the impact of the global economic...
- Economy (9 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to the Prime Minister’s answer a little earlier where he said peak debt would be $300 billion. The Treasurer said peak debt will be...
- Infrastructure (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women. Can the minister inform the House of the government’s progress in supporting jobs by building 20,000 new...
- Northern Australia: Resources (4 speeches)
My question without notice is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister would be aware that the northern one-third of Australia has over 50 per cent of our arable land and 305 million megalitres...
- Renewable Energy (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. How is the Australian government supporting solar technologies and helping grow the green economy?
- Budget (15 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. Is the Treasurer aware of the apparent memory loss of the member for Petrie this morning when she conveniently was unable to recall the deficit figure in the...
- Indigenous Communities (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Will the minister update the House on plans to improve living conditions in the Alice Springs town...
- Education (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Education. I refer the minister to her failure to answer the member for Sturt’s question. Will the minister guarantee that students currently in their gap...
- North Korea (4 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister advise the House concerning reports that North Korea has conducted an underground nuclear explosion?
- Samson and Delilah and MR Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell Am (0 speeches)
- (2 speeches)
On indulgence: I rise to note two significant events in Australia’s cultural and film history that have taken place over the past week. The first is the news today that the film Samson and...
- Auditor-General’S Reports (0 speeches)
- Reports Nos 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of 2008-09 (1 speech)
—I present the Auditor-General’s Audit reports Nos 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37 of 2008-09 entitled Audit report No. 32, Performance audit: management of the tendering process for the...
- Documents (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Documents are presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members. Details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings, and I move: That the House take note of...
- Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2009-2010; Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2009-2010; Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2009-2010 (0 speeches)
- Petitions (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Petitions, and in accordance with standing order 207, I present the following petitions:
- Responses (1 speech)
Ministerial responses to petitions previously presented to the House have been received as follows:
- Responses; Gaza Strip (0 speeches)
Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter dated 26 February 2009, regarding a petition recently submitted by the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils for consideration by the Standing Committee on...
- Responses; Waterfall Gully Road (0 speeches)
Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter dated 26 February 2009 about a petition submitted for the Committee’s consideration regarding an upgrade of Waterfall Gully Road in South Australia....
- Responses; Millennium Development Goals (0 speeches)
Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letters of 26 February 2009 on behalf of the Holy Family Catholic Church of Menai and the Western Heights Uniting Church of Herne Hill, regarding the Millennium...
- Responses; Special Broadcasting Service (0 speeches)
Mrs Irwin Funding of SBS Thank you for your letter dated 26 February 2009 and attached petition concerning funding for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). SBS is one of Australia’s most...
- Responses; Rent Assistance (0 speeches)
Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 29 October 2008 to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin MP about the Rent Assistance...
- Statements (1 speech)
This is the first opportunity since 16 March for petitions to be presented in my capacity as Chair of the Standing Committee on Petitions. On that date, I advised the House of a public hearing...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Economics Committee; Report (4 speeches)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Economics, I present the committee’s report entitled Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia annual report 2008 (first report), together with the...
- Economics Committee; Report: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. Question agreed to.
- Family, Community, Housing and Youth Committee; Report (4 speeches)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth, I present the committee’s report, incorporating additional comments, entitled Who cares…? Report on the...
- Family, Community, Housing and Youth Committee; Report: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. Question agreed to.
- Migration Committee; Report (4 speeches)
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, I present the committee’s report, incorporating a dissenting report, additional comments and a minority report, entitled Immigration...
- Migration Committee; Report: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. Question agreed to.
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- Equal Rights and Opportunities (2 speeches)
I move: That the House:(1)reaffirms its commitment to the right of all Australians to enjoy equal rights and opportunities and be treated with equal respect regardless of race, colour, culture,...
- Adjournment (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Order! It being 9.30 pm, I propose the question: That the House do now adjourn.
- Mr John Howard (1 speech)
I rise tonight to comment on a recently released book covering the final term of the Howard government, the rise to the leadership of the Labor Party of the current Prime Minister and the success...
- Queensland and New South Wales Floods (1 speech)
I would like to give the House an update on the major flooding that has had a devastating impact on the cities, towns and rural areas across my electorate of Page this week and, indeed, in the...
- Kokoda Mateship Trek (3 speeches)
’Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free.’ Those words have never meant more to me than when I walked the Kokoda Trail with my good mate the member for Blaxland and...
- Petition: Murray-Darling River System (1 speech)
I present a petition that has been found to be in order by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Petitions. Fifty families live on the east side of the eastern main channel in...
- International Students (1 speech)
I wish to draw attention to the importance and worth of international students studying in Australia and to raise some concerns about their experiences while they are here. I think we in this...
- Business (0 speeches)
- Rearrangement (1 speech)
I move: That orders of the day Nos. 1, 2 and 3, government business, be postponed until the next sitting. Question agreed to.
- Law and Justice (Cross Border and Other Amendments) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (3 speeches)
Debate resumed from 19 March, on motion by Mr McClelland: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Social Security Legislation Amendment (Digital Television Switch-over) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (11 speeches)
Debate resumed from 13 May, on motion by Mr Shorten: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Statements by Members (0 speeches)
- Blair Athol Accommodation and Support Program (2 speeches)
I recently had the honour of attending an event to celebrate 30 years of service delivery by the Blair Athol Accommodation and Support Program on the southern Gold Coast. Thirty years ago, Tweed...
- Higher Education (1 speech)
I am very pleased tonight to table the petition that you see before you, which is a national petition driven by the National Tertiary Education Industry Union’s Our Universities Matter...
- Youth Allowance (1 speech)
I wish to highlight for the benefit of the House a petition which is circulating in Gippsland. This petition is in direct response to the Rudd government’s flawed decision to change the...
- Brother Richard Doheny FSP (1 speech, 22 comments)
I recently attended the funeral of a great man, Brother Richard Doheny FSP, who passed away on 13 May 2009 at the age of 74. Brother Richard was a man of devotion and commitment. He was devoted...
- Cowan Electorate: Lake Joondalup Lifestyle Village (1 speech)
I recently visited the Lake Joondalup Lifestyle Village in Ashby to see the public performance of the Village Vaudeville Group. The Village Vaudeville Group’s show was presented by the...
- Blair Electorate: Scenic Rim Community Hydrotherapy and Health Management Complex (1 speech)
On 17 May this year I was present at the turning of the first sod at the Scenic Rim Community Hydrotherapy and Health Management Complex at Elizabeth Terrace at Boonah. This is a project that is...
- Seniors Health Card (1 speech)
My speech is one of thanks to the thousands of pensioners and self-funded retirees in my electorate of Tangney who have put people power back on the political map. Before the election in 2007,...
- Ms Ruby Wilson (1 speech)
I would like to say a few words in honour of Ruby Violet Wilson, a long-time member of the Labor Party, who died in March aged 95. Ruby joined the Labor Party when she moved from the country to...
- Franchising (1 speech)
The report of the inquiry into the franchise industry was handed to the Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors and the Service Economy on 1 December last year. That report contained...
- Australian Seabird Rescue (1 speech)
I want to commend Rochelle Ferris, the General Manager of the Australian Seabird Rescue Inc WildlifeLink Sanctuary, which is in North Creek Road in Ballina, for the wonderful work she is doing...
- Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea (1 speech)
I write to congratulate Ray and Shirley Wehbe, two of my local residents, for hosting Australia’s best and most delicious Biggest Morning Tea. Every year Ray and Shirley Wehbe open their...
- St Dominic’s College (1 speech)
I rise to offer my congratulations to St Dominic’s College, Penrith, which this year celebrates its golden jubilee. The school held a number of commemorative events earlier this month to...
- International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (2 speeches)
As a former United Nations peacekeeper and as the Chair of the Australia-UN Parliamentary Group, I am moved to note that 29 May is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. UN...
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- ADF Personnel and 'Undeclared Operations' (8 speeches)
I move: That the House:(1)recognises and commends service undertaken by all those who have served the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the people of Australia in the name of Australia;(2)takes...
- Chronic Disease (5 speeches)
I move: That the House:(1)notes that:(a)chronic disease is one of the country’s most critical health challenges;(b)more than 50 per cent of the Australian population already...
- Iran: Baha’i detainees (7 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Turnour: That the House:(1)notes with serious concern that:(a)seven Baha’i community members in Iran have been charged with spying, insulting religious...
- Grievance Debate (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Debate resumed from 16 March.
- Roads (1 speech)
I would like to begin with a little history which, as will become evident and as is so often the case, has great bearing on events today. In 1955, the noted town planner and architect Gordon...
- Ms Sylvia Whilesmith; Mr John Armitage (1 speech)
I wanted to put into the Hansard record a eulogy I recently gave. I said: We are met here at St Bernadette’s Lalor Park, family and friends, to welcome back Sylvia Amy Whilesmith, to...
- Energy Efficiency; Green Energy (1 speech)
I rise tonight to speak on two grievances. The first grievance I share with many in Australia who have seen through the wheel spins and the word spinning of the Rudd government to recognise that...
- Western Sydney Transport (1 speech)
I cannot agree with everything that the member for Dunkley has said, but I do support his proposal for a ‘do not knock’ register. As governments at federal, state and local levels...
- Queensland and New South Wales Floods (1 speech)
I rise to speak about events on the mid-North Coast and North Coast of New South Wales over the past weekend—the floods, high winds and significant coastal damage that has occurred. This is...
- Sport (2 speeches)
I want to use the time available to me tonight to talk about sport. Australia is often accused, mostly by Australians, of having an unhealthy obsession with sport. The truth, of course, is that...
