Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to present a bill for an act to amend the Fair Work Act 2009, to make amendments consequential on the enactment of that act, and for other purposes.

Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to present a bill for an act to provide for an appropriation for the Australian Government Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing, and for related purposes.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to present a bill for an act to provide for a Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services, and for related purposes.

to present a bill for an act to amend the Social Security Act 1991, and for related purposes.

Laurie Ferguson (Reid, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to present a bill for an act to amend the Migration Act 1958, and for related purposes.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

4 June 2009 is the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, in which an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 peaceful protesters were killed by the Chinese armed forces under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party leaders;

(b)

in the 20 years since Tiananmen Square the Chinese Communist Party has continued to deny the Chinese people a voice in their own government, and has continued to repress arbitrarily those calling for greater openness, democracy and freedom in China; and

(c)

China continues to deny Chinese workers the right to form free and independent trade unions, resulting in the continuing exploitation of Chinese workers and an unacceptably high rate of workplace deaths and injuries; and

(2)

calls on the Chinese Government to cease repression against political and religious dissidents and its citizens generally, and to announce a timetable for a transition to democratic government in China.

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes that 4 June 2009 is the 20^th anniversary of the free elections in Poland, elections which were the beginning of the end of communist party rule not only in Poland but in all the countries of central and eastern Europe, and eventually also in the republics of the Soviet Union;

(2)

congratulates the people of Poland for their courageous struggle over more than 40 years to reclaim their independence and to restore democracy and freedom, and on the increasing security, prosperity and freedom which Poland has enjoyed since 1989; and

(3)

recalls that it was the Solidarity free trade union which led the successful struggle of the Polish people to achieve independence and democracy in Poland.

Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes:

(a)

that the Area Consultative Committees (ACCs) were first formed by the Hawke Labor Government as regional advisory bodies to Federal Parliament;

(b)

the Howard Government gave them real purpose by restructuring their activities to act as a ‘shop front’ to assist regional communities through the process of applying for Commonwealth government grants;

(c)

the ACCs had an advisory role in regards to community benefits and assessed the viability of proposed projects;

(d)

there were 54 ACCs Australia-wide and they were not-for-profit incorporated bodies under the relevant State associations incorporation Acts, operating with around $300,000 per ACC of operational funding from the former Federal government;

(e)

the Boards are voluntary with a ministerially appointed Chairman and Deputy Chairman; and

(f)

that by contrast to Regional Australia’s loss of national resources and control over development, the Government has established a Better Cities unit in Sydney;

(2)

condemns the Government for:

(a)

its decision to eliminate ACCs;

(b)

its lack of commitment to locally generated initiatives through the ACCs;

(c)

the loss of about 150 jobs around the nation;

(d)

its failure to facilitate a seamless transition of staff to the new State based bodies despite an assurance from the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, earlier last year;

(e)

its failure to value and recognise the volunteer effort, including the unpaid skills and abilities of community members;

(f)

its lack of leadership and clarity of decision making in the handling of the transition process;

(g)

the disingenuous way the Minister has treated the chairmen and executive officers of ACCs over the past 18 months; and

(h)

being willing to pass to the Government of Western Australia the total operational funding for ACCs in that State without any process of transparent accountability;

(3)

recognises:

(a)

the tremendous work carried out by the ACCs and the important role they played in business development and job creation in regional and rural Australia;

(b)

the work carried out by the executive officers, staff and the Board chairmen and the voluntary contribution by members of the board;

(c)

the value of the decentralised nature of the ACCs and the capacity, therefore, to consider the needs and interests of local communities and local areas in rural and regional Australia; and

(d)

through community effort, the relatively small amount of funding of $300,000 granted to each of the ACCs was multiplied many times due to the voluntary effort by the committees, local governments and members of the community; and

(4)

calls on the Government to:

(a)

reconsider its decision to ignore staff of the ACCs and take steps to re-locate them in the new arrangements; and

(b)

recognise and acknowledge the detrimental effect the current Government policy is likely to have on the development and job creation capacity and the fair dispersal of funding for projects across the regions.

Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

expresses its concern about the grave humanitarian situation of the Tamil peoples of Sri Lanka, many of whom are presently detained in camps following the recent conflict in Sri Lanka;

(2)

calls upon the Sri Lankan Government:

(a)

to allow full access to United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to the camps to provide all necessary aid; and

(b)

to agree to an independent international investigation into war crimes alleged to have been committed by both parties during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka; and

(3)

expresses its hope that Sri Lanka can move forward from this difficult period in peace and with full respect for the human rights of all its peoples.