Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the recommendations of the whips relating to the consideration of private members’ business on Monday, 26 May 2008. Copies of the report have been placed on the table.

The report read as follows—

Pursuant to standing order 41A, the Whips recommend the following items of private Members’ business for Monday 26 May 2008. The order of precedence and allotments of time for items in the Main Committee and Chamber are as follows:

1 Mr Gibbons: To move—That the House:

(1)   notes the need for Australian businesses to be globally competitive in order to sustain economic prosperity after the current resources boom;

(2)   notes the alarming decline in Australia’s productivity and export performance over the last five years;

(3)   notes research findings that less than one in five Australian businesses is currently “world class”;

(4)   notes the Government’s election commitments and subsequent policy announcements about measures to improve national productivity including public investment in education, skills training and national infrastructure;

(5)   notes research findings that people management practices are the predominant factor affecting company productivity and performance;

(6)   notes research findings that indicate Australian managers are paying insufficient attention to workplace practices and employee satisfaction; and

(7)   supports the establishment of a National Commission for Workplace Innovation and Excellence that will, in conjunction with the business community, trade union movement, professional associations and education providers:

(a)

identify workplace factors that positively impact on workplace innovation, excellence and productivity including human resource management practices and organisational culture;

(b)

develop policies that promote workplace innovation, excellence and productivity including best practice models, codes of practice, awareness programs, business exchanges and awards; and

(c)

support research, management education and training in conjunction with higher education providers and professional associations.

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits —

Mover of motion—5 minutes.

First Opposition Member speaking—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Whips recommend that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day.

2 Mr Wood: To move—That the House:

(1)   notes that:

(a)

microfinance has proven to be a particularly effective and sustainable means of eradicating poverty;

(b)

microfinance borrowers, particularly women, generate income that allows them to feed, clothe, educate and care for the health of their children;

(c)

in December 2006, 93 million of the poorest people had access to microfinance services, which is a 12-fold increase since 1997;

(d)

in support of the poverty eradication goal of the Millennium Development Goals, the Microcredit Summit Campaign, launched in 1997, is working to expand microfinance to 175 million of the poorest people by 2015;

(e)

the Microcredit Summit Campaign is holding an Asia-Pacific Microcredit Summit in Bali between the 29^th and 30^th July 2008;

(f)

the Asia-Pacific region contains 64 per cent of the world’s population who live in absolute poverty, and as such it has a large unmet need for credit and other financial services; and

(g)

the Bali Summit is a significant opportunity to examine ways to expand the use and effectiveness of microfinance in the region and to realise the Government’s policy objective of reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region; and

(2)   urges the Australian Government to send the appropriate Minister and appropriate Shadow Minister as leaders of an Australian delegation to the Asia-Pacific Microcredit Summit in Bali in July 2008

Time allotted—35 minutes.

Speech time limits —

Mover of motion—10 minutes.

First Government Member speaking—10 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 2 x 10 mins and 3 x 5 mins ]

The Whips recommend that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day.

3 Ms Owens: To move—That the House notes:

(1)   that Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week will be held from 24 February to 2 March 2008;

(2)   that ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer death in women, with nearly 1,200 Australian diagnoses each year and nearly 800 Australian deaths from it each year;

(3)   that when ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the outlook is very good—as many as 90% of women diagnosed early are cured. However, 75% of women are diagnosed at the advanced stage when it is very difficult to treat;

(4)   that it is a devastating disease that is difficult to diagnose early and treat at an advanced stage. A woman dies every 10 hours largely because of the lack of early detection tests and poor knowledge of the disease throughout the community;

(5)   that a recent Senate Community Affair’s inquiry into gynaecological cancer in Australia (tabled 27 February 2007) identified a need for increased awareness amongst the broader community about gynaecological cancers and symptoms and better educational support for general practitioners;

(6)   that a survey commissioned by the National Breast Cancer Centre has revealed that half of all Australian women believe incorrectly that a pap smear will detect ovarian cancer and that 56% of women are unable to correctly name any signs or symptoms of the disease; and

(7)   the need for greater focus on education and additional research funding to help Australian scientists to find early detection markers and more effective treatments of this insidious disease.

Time allotted—remaining private Members’ business time prior to 8.30 pm

Speech time limits —

Mover of motion—5 minutes.

First Opposition Member speaking—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day.

Notices recommended for House of Representatives Chamber (8.30 to 9.30 pm)

1 Mr Truss: To move—That the House:

(1)   notes that:

(a)

the Queensland Government will soon deliver an environmental impact assessment of its proposed Traveston Crossing Dam to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;

(b)

the Traveston Crossing Dam is an expensive, inefficient, unreliable and environmentally destructive option for delivering water to Brisbane;

(c)

the Traveston Crossing Dam will displace hundreds of Mary Valley families, inundate some of the finest farm land in south east Queensland, and destroy at least $1 billion of infrastructure;

(d)

the Traveston Crossing Dam will decimate the habitat and threaten the survival of the rare or endangered Mary River turtle, the Australian lung fish, the Mary River cod and a range of other species; and

(e)

the Traveston Crossing Dam will significantly reduce water flows into the Great Sandy Straits Ramsar listed wetlands, threatening fish breeding, Dugong feeding areas and the waters of Hervey Bay and World Heritage listed Fraser Island; and

(2)   calls on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, the Hon Peter Garrett MP to exercise his powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to reject the Traveston Crossing Dam absolutely.

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits —

Mover of motion—10 minutes.

First Government Member speaking—10 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 2 x 10 mins and 2 x 5 mins ]

The Whips recommend that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day.

2 Mr Turnour: To move—That the House:

(1)   congratulates the Government on bringing down a budget that:

(a)

begins tackling Australia’s 16 year high inflation rate and puts downward pressure on interest rates so as to ease the pressure on family budgets;

(b)

delivers on the Government’s election commitments restoring confidence in an electorate cynical about political promises; and

(c)

sets out a plan to tackle the long term challenges facing the nation so as to secure our prosperity into the future.

Time allotted—remaining private Members’ business time prior to 9.30 pm

Speech time limits —

Mover of motion—5 minutes.

First Opposition Member speaking—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day.

Report adopted.