House debates

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011 [2012], Migration Legislation Amendment (The Bali Process) Bill 2012; Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
    I seek leave to move a motion to refer bills to the Federation Chamber for further consideration. Leave not granted.
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament; Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to.
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Bill 2012, Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011, Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011; Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
    I again seek leave to move a motion to refer bills to the Federation Chamber for further consideration as per the agreement between the opposition and the government. Leave granted. I thank the...
  • Customs Amendment (Anti-dumping Improvements) Bill (No. 2) 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Introduction I am pleased to present: They represent the third tranche of legislation that implements the government's reforms to Australia's...
  • Customs Tariff (Anti-Dumping) Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. As I have just outlined, this bill allows for different forms of interim duty to be applied from those currently used. The methods for working...
  • Customs Tariff Amendment (Schedule 4) Bill 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Schedule 4) Bill 2012 contains amendments to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 that will repeal and replace schedule 4 of...
  • Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. This bill amends various taxation laws to implement a range of improvements. Schedule 1 amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to implement...
  • Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2012 reflects the government's commitment to more effective regulation...
  • Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill 2012; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. On 1 July 2008, the Australian government reformed wheat export marketing arrangements with the abolition of the single desk and the...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Public Works Committee; Approval of Work (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Special Minister of State, I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, it is expedient to carry out the following proposed work which...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Community Consultation) Bill 2011; Report from Committee (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, I present the committee’s advisory report on the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Community Consultation)...
  • Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Community Consultation) Bill 2011; Report from Committee and Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to.
  • Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011, Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012; Second Reading (28 speeches)
    I appreciate the opportunity to continue my remarks from last night, which were interrupted by the adjournment debate. The comments that I was making last night were related to the Electoral and...
• Statements by Members (0 speeches)
  • World Down Syndrome Day (1 speech)
    Today is World Down Syndrome Day and I would like to commend a group of parents in my electorate who have dedicated their lives to supporting families living with Down syndrome in Macarthur. The...
  • Kingston Electorate: Hackham West School (1 speech)
    I rise today to congratulate the Hackham West R-7 School in my electorate for their commitment to helping people with leukaemia through the World's Greatest Shave. This was brought to my...
  • Rabbit Plague (1 speech)
    As this is the second last sitting day before Easter, I take this opportunity not only to wish members a safe, happy and meaningful Easter but to raise an important and re-emerging threat to our...
  • France: Toulouse Tragedy (1 speech)
    I mourn the deaths in Toulouse, France of four innocent people—Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, his daughter Gabrielle Sandler, age 4, Arieh Sandler, age 5, and Miriam Monsonego, the daughter of the...
  • Harmony Day 2012 (1 speech)
    I also add my condolences. March 21 is Harmony Day, a day when all Australians celebrate our cultural diversity, and it is also the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial...
  • Petition: Sri Lanka (1 speech)
    I rise to table a petition on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The petition read as follows— To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives This petition of...
  • Hall, Mr Lincoln, OAM (1 speech)
    I inform the House that, at the age of 56, Lincoln Hall passed away this morning from mesothelioma. Lincoln Hall was one of Australia's foremost mountaineers and he was a friend. He was left to...
  • Harmony Day 2012, Central Coast Mariners (1 speech)
    Today is Harmony Day and the theme of this year's celebration focuses on the positive influence that sport has in our multicultural nation. So I am delighted to rise today to recognise the...
  • Jordan, Mr Frank (1 speech)
    I rise to pay tribute to the life of Frank Jordan, vice-patron and life member of the Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club, Olympian at the Helsinki games, founding father of the Cronulla Sutherland...
  • Bass Electorate: Small Business (2 speeches)
    I rise to congratulate a family in the north-east region of my electorate of Bass—Michael and Raylene Taylor. Michael and Raylene own and operate a specialist service that provides...
• Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    I inform the House that the Minister for Trade and Competitiveness will be absent from question time today and tomorrow as he is leading a trade delegation to Jakarta, Indonesia. The Minister for...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Carbon Pricing (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind the Prime Minister of an Energy Users Association report out today showing that Australian electricity prices are 70 per cent higher than in the...
  • Murray-Darling Basin (4 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the government securing the future of the Murray-Darling Basin?
  • Carbon Pricing (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware that Sunfresh Linen, which employs 130 people in Darra in suburban Brisbane, faces a carbon tax bill of at least $83,000 and...
  • Murray-Darling Basin (23 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Will the minister advise the House on the progress of consultation on the draft Murray-Darling...
  • Carbon Pricing (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. Are you aware of comments by the head of Queensland company Zarraffa's Coffee that: … it won't be long before coffee is an expensive commodity as we...
  • Commonwealth Grant Guidelines (4 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. The Commonwealth Grant Guidelines state that 'agencies are responsible for advising their ministers on the requirements of the Commonwealth Grant Guidelines,...
  • Taxation (5 speeches)
    My question is to the Treasurer. What benefits will flow throughout the Australian economy following the passage of the minerals resource rent tax? In particular, has the government assessed the...
  • Carbon Pricing (7 speeches)
    My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of findings of the Energy Users Association released today that show Queenslanders are paying amongst the highest...
  • Donations to Political Parties (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Special Minister of State. Will the minister update the House on recent reports of multimillion-dollar donations to political parties? What challenge does this represent to...
  • Mining (4 speeches)
    My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer confirm that BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata will not pay any of the government's new mining tax over the next three years?
  • Government Legislation (12 speeches)
    My question is to the Leader of the House. Will the Leader of the House outline how the government has progressed its policy and legislative agenda through the House? How has the government...
  • Budget (14 speeches)
    My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to the blow-out in this year's forecast budget deficit from $13 billion in the 2010 budget to $23 billion in the 2011 budget to $37 billion...
  • Coal Industry (10 speeches)
    My question is to the Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management. How does the government respond to claims about covert actions by overseas intelligence agencies allegedly undertaken...
  • Taxation (13 speeches)
    My question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, if a small business paying the company tax rate purchases a new ute worth $35,000 after 1 July this year, will not the first-year after-tax benefit...
  • Asylum Seekers (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. What work is being done in the national interest to tackle people-smuggling and to deter people from taking dangerous boat journeys...
  • Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (2 speeches)
    My question is to the Prime Minister. Given that your ministers have on 33 occasions deliberately failed to declare millions of dollars of grants to their own electorates—
  • Small Business (9 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Small Business. How will government policies like tax breaks support small businesses and help them to...
  • Minister for Infrastructure and Transport (19 speeches)
    Prime Minister, my question—
• Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
  • (7 speeches)
    Mr Speaker, I seek leave to give a personal explanation.
• Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
  • Questions in Writing (2 speeches)
    Mr Speaker, in accordance with standing order 105(b), 'Replies to written questions', I ask that you write to the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs seeking answers to the...
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • Presentation (1 speech)
    A document is presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members earlier today. Details of the document will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedingsand I move: That the House...
• Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
  • World Autism Day (2 speeches)
    Mr Speaker, I seek your advice. On 9 March 2012 Mr Murray Dawson-Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Autism Victoria, wrote to the Department of Parliamentary Services seeking to have the...
• Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
  • Budget (47 speeches)
    I have received letters from the honourable member for Goldstein and the honourable member for Chifley proposing that definite matters of public importance be submitted to the House for...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee; Report (3 speeches)
    On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs I present the committee’s report entitled In the wake of disasters:volume two: the affordability of residential strata...
  • Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee; Report and Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to.
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Judicial Misbehaviour and Incapacity (Parliamentary Commissions) Bill 2012, Courts Legislation Amendment (Judicial Complaints) Bill 2012; Report from Committee (3 speeches)
    On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I seek leave to make a statement on the Judicial Misbehaviour and Incapacity (Parliamentary Commissions) Bill 2012 and the...
  • Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Bill 2011; Consideration of Senate Message (1 speech)
    I move: That the amendments be agreed to. The Senate amendments amend clause 122 of the Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency Bill 2011 and make other consequential changes to...
  • Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Bill 2012; Third Reading (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011, Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012; Second Reading (11 speeches)
    Before I was interrupted for statements by members and for questions without notice, I was referring to Australia's great democracy and the pillars which underpin it. One of the essential pillars...
  • Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011, Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012; Consideration in Detail (13 speeches)
    The Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011 results probably from the deliberations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. One of the things that was a...
  • Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011, Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012; Third Reading (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012; Third Reading (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Superannuation Legislation Amendment (MySuper Core Provisions) Bill 2011 (5 speeches)
    The Superannuation Legislation Amendment (MySuper Core Provisions) Bill 2011 is part of the government's Stronger Super reforms package. The bill amends the Superannuation Industry (Supervision)...
• Adjournment (0 speeches)
  • Boothby Electorate: Tonsley Park Master Plan (1 speech)
    I rise to speak on the release by the South Australian state government of the Tonsley Park master plan yesterday. The intention of the master plan is to remediate and redevelop the Tonsley...
  • World Plumbing Day (1 speech)
    In private members' business on Monday night in the Federation Chamber, members debated a motion that was put forward by the member for Flinders marking World Plumbing Day, which was on 11 March....
  • Canning Walk for Autism (1 speech)
    This Friday, 23 March 2012, I will be commencing my Canning Walk for Autism with an official launch at the Mandurah foreshore at 8 am. This event will see me walk through the electorate of...
  • Fowler Electorate: Harmony Day (1 speech)
    As well as being my mother's birthday, 21 March is a significant day for all Australians. Today we celebrate our unique diversity and our harmonious community. This is Harmony Day. Today we...
  • Rural Doctors Association Parliamentary Breakfast (1 speech)
    'If rural practice was a patient, I would say that its condition would be critical.' Those were the words of Dr Maxine Percival as she addressed the third annual Rural Doctors Association of...
  • Chisholm Electorate: Harmony Day (1 speech)
    Today is Harmony Day and I am proud to be celebrating it with many people. I am sorry I am not back in my electorate, where I know many events are happening today. The continuing message for...
  • Bowman Electorate: Pinklands Sporting Complex (1 speech)
    Many here will be familiar with my story. The Pinklands Sporting Complex is a 22-hectare reserve in my electorate of Bowman, nestled against Moreton Bay, encircled by the beautiful Eprapah...
  • World Water Day, World Plumbing Day (1 speech)
    I bring to the House today an issue that I think is very important—the importance of clean water and sanitation ensuring safety and that the Millennium Development Goals are met. Water is...
  • Glasson, Hon. William (2 speeches)
    I rise to place on the Hansard record a tribute to a great Australian, certainly a great Queenslander, and the former member for Gregory in the Queensland parliament, the Hon. William Glasson,...
  • Mining, Forrest, Mr Andrew (4 speeches)
    Last Monday the Senate approved and passed the government's minerals resource rent tax. It, together with the petroleum resource rent tax, will be assisting Australia's businesses and workers by...
  • Broadband (1 speech)
    Five years ago precisely, on 21 March 2007, the then Labor opposition announced its broadband policy. Five years later, Australia's broadband penetration ranking has dropped and Labor's policy...
  • O'Connor Electorate: PortLink Inland Freight Corridor Plan (2 speeches)
    I am very pleased to speak to the House today about the nation-building project PortLink Inland Freight Corridor Plan in my electorate. This project is a significant infrastructure development...
• Constituency Statements (0 speeches)
  • RAAF Medical Air Evacuation Transport Units (1 speech)
    I rise this morning to honour a group of courageous, formidable and extraordinary women whose stories have not often been recorded in our history books, but who nonetheless played an important...
  • Walsh, Mr Sean Francis Morrough , Crouch, Mr John , Radisich, Ms Jaye Amber, MP (1 speech)
    In my capacity as the member for Perth, it is my sad duty to make some remarks today about the recent passing of three stalwart members of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor...
  • 100th Anniversary of the Farmers and Settlers Association (1 speech)
    Next week marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the forerunner of the Nationals: a Farmers and Settlers Association was formed on 28 March 1912 in Perth. A year later the...
  • World Down Syndrome Day (1 speech)
    I rise today to acknowledge that today is World Down Syndrome Day. The reason that 21 March is World Down Syndrome Day is that 21/3 represents the three copies of chromosome 21, which is unique...
  • Forrest Electorate: Busselton (1 speech)
    I am proud to announce that my electorate of Forrest is home to Western Australia's newest city. The future of the city of Busselton shines very brightly. When Busselton officially celebrated its...
  • Kempsey District Hospital Redevelopment (1 speech)
    Thanks to more money going to regional and rural hospitals in this 43rd Parliament than ever before from the Commonwealth, lobbying is now in full swing within the mid-North Coast local health...
  • McPherson Electorate: McPherson Community Achiever Awards (1 speech)
    I am very pleased to speak today about the McPherson Community Achiever Awards which I hosted last year and am hosting again this year. It was one of my top priorities upon my election to each...
  • Clarendon Vale Child and Family Centre (1 speech)
    I would like to talk about an opening that I attended in my electorate last Friday with our Premier, Lara Giddings. It was the opening of the new child and family centre in Clarence Plains, in...
  • Bennelong Electorate: Pollie Pedal (1 speech)
    I rise to speak about a great Australian charity event, sponsored by a great Bennelong business. The annual Pollie Pedal is a cycling event started in 1998 by several federal and state...
  • Petrie Electorate: National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (2 speeches)
    I rise today to congratulate the students and teachers of Southern Cross Catholic College at Scarborough, who on Friday joined with me in standing up and saying 'No way!' to bullying in our...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011, Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011; Second Reading (25 speeches)
    As I was saying, there is flexibility as to when and how advisers obtain the renewal notice in relation to their ongoing financial advice. The bill also provides additional grace periods if a...
  • Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Bill 2012; Second Reading (8 speeches)
    In rising to speak to the Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Bill 2012 I do so foreshadowing that the coalition intends to send this to a Senate committee. We are in...
  • Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Bill 2012; Consideration in Detail (9 speeches)
    I note that the terminology used in all the clauses of the bill refers to judges but nowhere does the bill make it clear that we are talking only about federal judges. I would like to ask the...
  • Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011, Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011; Second Reading (13 speeches)
    The Corporations Amendment (Future of Financial Advice) Bill 2011 and the Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Bill 2011 seek to address the obvious need for...