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 amend the law relating to family assistance, social security, taxation and veterans' entitlements, and for related purposes.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to present a Bill for an Act to amend the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, and for related purposes.

Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for consideration and report: Development and construction of housing for the Department of Defence at Muirhead, Darwin, NT.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That this House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

the floods in Queensland, Victoria, NSW and Tasmania have devastated critical infrastructure, including roads, railway, housing, schools and service infrastructure;

(b)

the cost of re-building this critical infrastructure will be many billions of dollars;

(c)

the Australian labour market is currently experiencing critical shortages in a number of skilled occupations;

(d)

demand for workers in these occupations will increase substantially in order to rebuild critical infrastructure across the country;

(e)

almost 1 million people are currently in Australia on a variety of temporary visas;

(f)

more than 400 000 people are in Australia on student visas;

(g)

there is a backlog of more than 140 000 applications in the skilled migration program;

(h)

the current Government has been unable to process in a timely way, offshore visa applications across a range of categories, especially in the skilled categories; and

(i)

current processing times for sub-class 457 Business (Long Stay) Visas is between 3 to 12 months; and

(2)

calls for the Government to:

(a)

introduce, for a prescribed period of time, a regulation which allows the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship to waive all visa conditions which would otherwise prevent the holder of a temporary visa resident in Australia from making an onshore application to undertake paid work, where the:

(i)

Minister has declared a state of emergency for the purpose of the operation of these provisions;

(ii)

applicant has the support of a relevant employer or is sponsored by a State government; and

(iii)

applicant is seeking employment in an occupation nominated on the Skilled Occupation Lists or any other such occupation nominated for the purpose of these provisions by the Minister; and

(b)

re-instate all pre-existing visa conditions at the end of the specified period.

Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That this House:

(1)

notes:

(a)

the judgment of the Federal Court of Australia in Comcare v The Commonwealth (FCA 1331), and the report of the Queensland Coroner Inquest into the loss of the Malu Sara and in particular that:

(i)

the Court found that the respondent admitted liability;

(ii)

the Coroner found significant aspects of the investigation into the incident were severely flawed; and

(iii)

a number of agencies of both the Queensland Government and the Commonwealth Government were strongly criticised for their involvement in events leading up to and during the incident; and

(b)

the Court fined the respondent $242 000, the maximum penalty;

(2)

in light of both the judgment and the Coroner's report, calls on the Government to:

(a)

legislate to establish a Trust for the benefit of the families of the victims to commemorate the tragic loss;

(b)

transfer the fine imposed by the Court to the Trust, as well as allocate additional funds to provide continuing financial support to the victims' families and provide a lasting legacy to the community;

(c)

fully examine the Court's judgment, including the contractors and others named in the report of the Queensland Coroner into the same incident; and

(d)

construct appropriate memorials on Badu and Thursday Islands to properly commemorate this tragic event and provide respectful places for the families of the victims to pay their respects and remember their loved ones;

(3)

strongly encourages the Government to ensure that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's contract and tendering procedures are fully reviewed to ensure that lapses such as this do not occur again; and

(4)

expresses its deep sympathy to the victims of this tragedy.

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

to move:

That this House:

(1)

appreciates that meaningful employment is essential to the financial security, physical and mental health and sense of identity of all individuals;

(2)

remains concerned with the low workforce participation rate of individuals with a disability;

(3)

recognises the challenges faced by people with a disability in successfully obtaining work, particularly in surmounting barriers;

(4)

notes that:

(a)

eighteen and a half per cent of all Australians suffer from a disability;

(b)

data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that since 1993, workplace participation for people with a disability has steadily decreased to 53.2 per cent, compared to the continual increase of participation in those without disability to 80.6 per cent; and

(c)

the Australian Public Service Commissioner's Statistical Bulletin shows employment of people with a disability in the Australian Public Service has linearly dropped from a high of 5.5 per cent in 1996, to 3.1 per cent in 2010;

(5)

acknowledges the findings of chapters 2.4 (‘The employment experience of people with disabilities’) and 2.5.2 (‘Lack of Access to Transport’) of the National Disability Strategy Consultation Report, Shut Out, that:

(a)

there are still widespread misconceptions and stereotypes influencing the attitudes and behaviour of employers, recruiters and government;

(b)

there is considerable misunderstanding in the community and overestimation about the cost of workplace adjustments for people with a disability;

(c)

there is confusion about the impact of occupational health and safety requirements on people with a disability;

(d)

inflexibility of the Disability Support Pension acts as a disincentive to employment and the loss of healthcare benefits is a particular disadvantage; and

(e)

without access to transport, participation in critical activities such as education, employment and healthcare is difficult, if not impossible; and

(6)

calls on the Government to provide leadership and improve participation rates of people with a disability.