Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present Report No. 27 of the Selection Committee relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and private members' business on Monday 15 March 2021 and the consideration of bills. The report will be printed in the Hansard for today and the committee's determinations will appear on tomorrow's Notice Paper. Copies of the report have been placed on the table.

The report read as follows—

Report relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and of private Members' business and the consideration of bills introduced 22 February 2021

1. The committee met in private session on Tuesday, 23 February 2021.

2.   The Committee deliberated on items of private Members' business items listed on the Notice Paper and notices lodged on Tuesday, 23 February 2021, and determined the order of precedence and times on Monday, 15 March 2021, as follows:

Items for House of Representatives Chamber (10.10 am to 12 noon)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1   Ms Steggall: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Sex Discrimination Act1984, and for related purposes. (Sex Discrimination Amendment (Prohibiting All Sexual Harassment) Bill 2021)

  (Notice given 23 February 2021.)

Presenter may speak to the second reading for a period not exceeding 10 minutes—pursuant to standing order 41. Debate must be adjourned pursuant to standing order 142.

2   Mr Falinski: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the final report of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry highlighted widespread misconduct across the financial sector;

(b) the Commissioner, the Honourable Kenneth Madison Hayne AC QC, made clear that primary responsibility for misconduct in the financial sector lies with the institutions concerned and their boards and senior management;

(c) the final report made specific note that the transparency and internal governance processes of a number of financial institutions did not meet community standards;

(d) after a request from the Treasurer on 1 August 2019, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics has run an inquiry into the review of the four major banks and other financial institutions which seeks to review the financial sector's implementation of recommendations from the Royal Commission; and

(e) IFM Investors is an Australian investment management company which is wholly owned by 27 Australian superannuation funds and which manages $148 billion as of September 2020;

(2) is disappointed that IFM Investors has refused to provide information to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, including the:

(a) reported $36 million bonus to a single fund manager;

(b) severance payment and terms for staff alleged to have engaged in sexual harassment; and

(c) details and terms of bonuses paid by IFM Investors to their executives and fund managers, paid from Australian's compulsory superannuation; and

(d) deliberate attempt to launder transparency and accountability of the use and misuse of Australian's compulsory superannuation by keeping information confidential from the Parliament of Australia; and

(3) calls upon the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics to use its power to compel evidence and documents from IFM Investors to ensure transparency and accountability and to ensure that IFM Investors is acting in the best interests of ordinary Australians, not fund managers.

  (Notice given 23 February 2021.)

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Falinski—10 minutes.

Next Member speaking—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 1 x 10 mins + 4 x 5 mins]

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

3   Dr Aly: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) 12 March 2021 is the 100th anniversary of Edith Cowan's election to the seat of West Perth in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, making her the first woman elected to any Australian parliament;

(b) Edith Cowan was an extraordinary and tireless advocate for the rights of women and children, and she sought and won election to the Legislative Assembly in an effort to strengthen those rights; and

(c) in addition to her elected office, she was also a campaigner for women's suffrage, a major contributor to many social welfare organisations and a noted jurist;

(2) recognises Edith Cowan's remarkable legacy, which is commemorated in the names of Edith Cowan University and the federal electoral division of Cowan, as well as in artistic works such as the play, With Fire in her Heart: The Edith Cowan Story, a retelling of her life which premiered at the 2021 Perth Fringe Festival; and

(3) commits to upholding Edith Cowan's contributions to Australian civil society by working to further the rights of women and children in all spheres of Australian life.

  (Notice given 15 February 2021.)

Time allotted—45 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Dr Aly—10 minutes.

Next Member speaking—10 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

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

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

4   Ms Owens: To move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Western Sydney is Australia's third largest economy, and accounted for more than half of Sydney's population growth from 2012 to 2018;

(2) notes that:

(a) jobs growth in Western Sydney has been increasingly limited to population-driven sectors like construction, which have been hit hard by COVID-19;

(b) there is a jobs deficit affecting Western Sydney's growing professional workforce, which is forced to commute long distances for employment;

(c) a fast, reliable internet connection is basic infrastructure that is needed to attract new businesses and industries, and therefore essential to promoting jobs growth in Western Sydney; and

(d) NBN's recent announcement of 130 'business fibre zones' includes four zones in suburbs on Sydney Harbour, but only one in Western Sydney, in Parramatta; and

(3) calls on the Government to urgently improve NBN connectivity for businesses and households to support sustainable jobs growth in Western Sydney.

  (Notice given 26 October 2020.)

Time allotted—remaining private Members' business time prior to 12 noon

Speech time limits—

Ms Owens—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

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

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

Items for Federation Chamber (11 am to 1.30 pm)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1   Mr Watts: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) video games are a large and growing market—Australians spent $3.6 billion on games in 2019, more than double the amount they spent in 2012;

(b) video gaming is a mainstream activity—two thirds of Australians play video games with an average age of 37; and

(c) globally, the video games industry generates more than double the revenue of the music and film industries combined; and

(2) recognises that:

(a) Australia is home to a talented community of game developers and publishers, but proportionately the Australian industry is much smaller than its peers in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom;

(b) video game development provides remote working opportunities and jobs for the regions—in the UK, 55 per cent of video game industry employment is outside of London and the south-east;

(c) the video game industry provides a variety of jobs—in Australia, 34 per cent are software programmers, 19 per cent are artists and 11 per cent are business or marketing professionals;

(d) the skills developed in our domestic video game industry are transferrable into roles in adjacent innovative and growth industries like cyber security, software engineering and data analytics; and

(e) video games could help drive the post-COVID economic recovery in Australia, creating jobs and expanding a significant export market.

  (Notice given 2 February 2021.)

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Watts—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.

2   Mr Entsch: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) 24 March 2021 is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, a day to commemorate precious lives lost and recognise the serious impacts COVID-19 is having on TB services globally;

(b) TB remains one of the world's deadliest airborne infectious diseases, killing more than 4,000 people every day, among them 700 children, and close to 15 million people in the last decade;

(c) COVID-19 is exacerbating inequalities, making it difficult to reach people with life-saving TB prevention and treatment;

(d) five to eight years of global progress in the fight against TB is likely to be lost due to disruption of services resulting from COVID-19—1.4 million more people are likely to die from TB in the next five years if urgent action is not taken;

(e) Australia committed to the targets agreed in the Political Declaration of the United Nations High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB in 2018; and

(f) the UN Secretary-General's 2020 report found that progress in meeting the UNHLM targets on TB is far too slow to meet the 2022 deadline;

(2) acknowledges that the:

(a) Government's series of announcements of $1.1 billion to support global and regional COVID-19 response and recovery will save millions of lives;

(b) Government pledge of $242 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) will save millions of lives;

(c) investment of $13.3 million from the Government in 2019 will support antimicrobial resistance and drug-resistant TB research in Pacific island countries;

(d) Government's investment in TB research and development has resulted in the development of a new, 6 months, all-oral TB drug therapy thereby reducing the previous 18-month long treatment for drug resistant TB that consisted of multiple injections and thousands of pills; and

(e) Government's investments in multilateral agencies such as the Global Fund has supported countries' responses to the COVID-19 crisis; and

(3) calls on the Government to increase:

(a) our TB investment in the Asia Pacific region to sustain routine TB services and safeguard the progress made so far; and

(b) investment in TB research and development to meet the commitments made by Australia at the 2018 UNHLM on TB.

  (Notice given 22 February 2021.)

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Entsch—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.

3   Mr Hill: To move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that after over 7 years of this Government, Australia is falling behind the rest of the world on numerous key measures of economic and social success;

(2) notes that, in relation to:

(a) the economy, even before the COVID-19 pandemic the Government had badly mismanaged the economy with reputable data and global rankings showing that:

(i) real wages in Australia were 0.7 per cent lower in 2019 compared to 2013, with Australia ranked third last out of 35 OECD countries to wage growth;

(ii) over 8 years of the current Government, Australia's productivity rate has been steadily declining, from 2013 when Australia ranked tenth among 34 OECD nations, to 2018 when Australia ranked fifth last;

(iii) Australian household debt as a share of GDP sits at 119.4 per cent of GDP, the second highest rate out of 41 countries assessed;

(iv) Australia is now the third most unaffordable housing market within the OECD; and

(v) Australia is lagging behind in the jobs recovery from this recession;

(b) education outcomes:

(i) Australian children's educational outcomes have slipped in both national and international terms, with Australia slipping in science and mathematics outcomes; and

(ii) OECD data confirms Australia has high tertiary tuition costs by global standards with the average annual borrowing by Australian students in tertiary programs rising by 36.7 per cent in just four years;

(c) environmental outcomes:

(i) Australia's rate of greenhouse gas emissions per capita has been the highest in the world;

(ii) Australia ranks second worst globally for government climate policy;

(iii) by 2018 Australia ranked 18 out of 25 of the world's top energy-consuming countries with sharp declines from 2014 and 2016; and

(iv) Australia has the second highest level of biodiversity deterioration in the world;

(d) numerous other measures, Australia is falling behind and ranks poorly, for instance:

(i) First Nations Australians have the lowest life expectancy amongst First Nations people globally;

(ii) Australia now ranks only 8 out of 11 high-income countries for healthcare affordability;

(iii) Australia now ranks sixth worst in the OECD for obesity rates;

(iv) Australia's global ranking for the proportion of women in the lower house of the national parliament fell from a high of thirty-second place in 2010 to forty-eighth place in 2019, noting that only 23 per cent of the entire coalition Government party room are women;

(v) Australia is ranked sixty-first globally for fixed broadband speeds;

(vi) investment in research and development in Australia has fallen significantly as a percentage of GDP under the current Government; and

(vii) Australia has become more corrupt under this Prime Minister, slipping to eleventh place on the Corruption Perception Index;

(3) acknowledges that with a possible federal election this year, Australians have a right to question:

(a) how well they are doing under this visionless Government; and

(b) whose side the Government is on; and

(4) condemns the Government for spending $1 billion of taxpayer funds on government advertising, racking up over one trillion dollars' worth of debt with nothing to show for it and wasting the economic recovery.

  (Notice given 16 February 2021.)

Time allotted—45 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Hill—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 9 x 5 mins]

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

4   Mr Ramsey: To move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that, gas:

(a) will be central to our ongoing economic recovery;

(b) is a crucial input in our manufacturing sector, which employs over 850,000 Australians; and

(c) provides the firmed electricity generation needed to balance Australia's record levels of renewable investment; and

(2) calls on all Members of the House to support the Australian gas sector and the important role it plays in creating jobs, providing affordable energy and reducing emissions.

  (Notice given 22 February 2021.)

Time allotted—remaining private Members' business time prior to 1.30 pm

Speech time limits—

Mr Ramsey—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 9 x 5 mins]

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

Items for Federation Chamber (4.45 pm to 7.30 pm)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices—continued

5   Mr Bandt: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) during the pandemic the wealth of Australia's billionaires grew by 25 per cent;

(b) the Prime Minister's 2020 Budget contained $99 billion a year in subsidies to big corporations and the very wealthy; and

(c) one in three big corporations in Australia pays no tax;

(2) calls on the Government to ensure the big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax.

  (Notice given 23 February 2021.)

Time allotted—30 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Bandt—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

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

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

6   Mr Conaghan: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government is providing record funding for road safety measures around the nation through the:

(a) $2 billion Road Safety Program delivering low cost road safety improvements such as better road markings, shoulder sealing, new barriers, better signage and other technologies building on the $500 million Targeted Road Safety Works Program;

(b) $12 million for the Road Safety Innovation Fund to support road safety research and the development of new technologies;

(c) $4 million Road Safety Awareness and Enablers Fund, with 20 projects already underway to improve education and promotion of road safety matters;

(d) $8 million Driver Reviver Site Upgrades Program;

(e) $5.5 million for a new Road Safety Data Hub, to better collate data on a national level and inform future infrastructure investment decisions; and

(f) broader $110 billion infrastructure pipeline, upgrading roads across Australia; and

(2) recognises there is more to do but congratulates the Government for its commitment to improving road safety around the nation.

  (Notice given 22 February 2021.)

Time allotted—40 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Conaghan—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 8 x 5 mins]

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

7   Ms Claydon: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) on 28 March 2021 the Government intends to cease the Jobkeeper scheme, despite widespread calls from economists and businesses alike to extend the scheme as the economy continues to suffer;

(b) travel agents have been pleading for more targeted support given the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on their businesses, and the brutal reality that there is no snap-back for their industry;

(c) the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, the peak body representing the nation's travel industry, has highlighted multiple flaws in the Government's $128m support package for embattled travel agents, which has provoked confusion and uncertainty; and

(d) travel agents say they'll be forced to close because the Government's support package is so poorly designed it won't help them;

(2) acknowledges that Jobkeeper has been a lifeline for travel agents, and has allowed them to keep their doors open to continue to assist their clients with refund recoveries and those seeking to return home; and

(3) urges the Government to:

(a) listen to the travel sector and respond to their calls for more targeted support to help them survive the detrimental impacts of COVID-19; and

(b) extend ongoing support to those sectors of the Australian economy who are most impacted by COVID-19 and who will be amongst the last to recover.

  (Notice given 2 February 2021.)

Time allotted—40 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Ms Claydon—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 8 x 5 mins]

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

8   Mr Zimmerman: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) that in December 2020 the Government passed Australia's first ever national waste legislation, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, through the Parliament and that this legislation implemented a waste export ban; and

(b) measures introduced by the Government to increase recycling, including the Recycling Modernisation Fund and the National Waste Action Plan; and

(2) commends the Government for providing national leadership on this important issue and for working with state and territory governments and industry to boost onshore recycling processing, providing economic reform and effective environmental management.

  (Notice given 22 February 2021.)

Time allotted—45 minutes.

Speech time limits—

Mr Zimmerman—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 9 x 5 mins]

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

Orders of the day

1   Family Law Amendment (A Step Towards a Safer Family Law System) Bill 2020 (MrPerrett): Second reading—Resumption of debate (from22February2021).

Time allotted—remaining private Members' business time prior to 7.30 pm

Speech time limits—

All Members—5 minutes each.

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

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

3. The committee determined that the following referral of bills to a committee be made—

Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy:

Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs:

THE HON A. D. H. SMITH MP

Speaker of the House of Representatives

24 February 2021