House debates

Wednesday, 14 August 2024

Committees

Selection Committee; Report

9:01 am

Photo of Milton DickMilton Dick (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

I present report No. 29 of the Selection Committee relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and private members' business on Monday 19 August 2024. 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

1. The Committee met in private session on Tuesday, 13 August 2024.

2. The Committee deliberated on items of committee and delegation business that had been notified, private Members' business items listed on the Notice Paper and notices lodged on Tuesday, 13 August 2024, and determined the order of precedence and times on Monday, 19 August 2024, as follows:

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

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1 MS TINK: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Migration Act 1958, and for related purposes. (Migration Amendment (Limits on Immigration Detention) Bill 2024)

(Notice given 12 August 2024.)

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 MS DANIEL: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, and for related purposes. (Broadcasting Services Amendment (Prohibition of Gambling Advertisements) Bill 2024)

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

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.

3 MR DUTTON: To present a Bill for an Act to establish the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, and for related purposes. (Building and Construction Industry (Restoring Integrity and Reducing Building Costs) Bill 2024)

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

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.

4 MR DUTTON: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009, and for related purposes. (Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Removing Criminals from Worksites) Bill 2024)

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

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.

5 MS STEGGALL: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the frequency of severe weather events is the dominant reason home insurance premiums are skyrocketing, fast becoming unaffordable and in turn, fuelling inflation;

(b) severe weather events are already costing the Australian economy over $38 billion a year and this cost is predicted to rise to at least $73 billion per year by 2050 if climate change continues unmitigated;

(c) over 12 per cent of households are facing extreme insurance stress, paying more than four weeks of gross income to home insurance premiums, risking underinsurance of their properties;

(d) every $1 invested in climate adaptation measures can save up to $11 in disaster recovery; and

(e) the Government continues to allocate significantly less funding to resilience and adaptation than to disaster response and recovery, with less than ten per cent of Australian homes being climate risk resilient; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) allocate funding to:

(i) the Resilient Building Council to expand the home and business resilience ratings scheme to incentivise home adaptation measures and put downward pressure on insurance; and

(ii) expand the Australian sustainable finance taxonomy to include adaptation, to unlock global capital for private sector led resilience;

(b) include climate resilience and adaptation as a matter of priority in upcoming updates to the National Construction Code and require resilience for all government investments;

(c) accelerate the development of a national standard for climate adapted planning controls; and

(d) ensure equitable access to insurance by helping lower income households and communities facing home insurance stress and underinsurance in high risk areas.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 20 minutes.

Speech time limits

Ms Steggall 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

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

6 MRS PHILLIPS: To move:

That this House:

(1) recognises:

(a) the vital role early childhood education and care (ECEC) educators and teachers play in supporting young children's early learning and development;

(b) properly valuing and recognising the ECEC profession—including through fair wages—is critical to reversing attrition and growing the workforce;

(c) paying ECEC workers fairly is a crucial step in charting the course to a truly universal ECEC system; and

(d) the Government's historic announcement for a two-year, 15 per cent ECEC worker retention payment for ECEC workers, phased in from December 2024;

(2) notes that:

(a) one year on, the Government's cheaper child care reforms are delivering real cost of living relief to household budgets;

(b) the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's child care inquiry found that out-of-pocket costs dropped 11 per cent following the introduction of the Government's cheaper child care measures; and

(c) the Government's ECEC worker retention payment will be tied to a commitment from early learning services to limit fee increases to 4.4 per cent, an important condition that will keep downward pressure on fees for Australian families; and

(3) acknowledges that:

(a) since the election, there are 860 more ECEC services, around 68,000 more children in ECEC, and around 30,000 more ECEC workers; and

(b) between 2018 and 2022, fees under the previous Government increased by 22.8 per cent compared to the OECD adjusted average of 6.2 per cent.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 35 minutes.

Speech time limits

Mrs Phillips 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 7 x 5 mins]

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

7 MS PRICE: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Government's Play Our Way program:

(a) was announced 12 months ago, as a back-foot response to the Opposition's $250 million announcement for supporting community sporting infrastructure across the country;

(b) has left community sporting organisations in the lurch, with program applicants still unaware if they have been successful and frustrated by funding uncertainty; and

(c) was just more policy on the run from the Government, which has been proven by this significant, unexplained delay; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) stop prioritising photo opportunities over the real action needed to support sports participation in Australia; and

(b) support the sporting infrastructure communities need as more young Australians are inspired to get out there and get active, and immediately provide an update on the Play Our Way program.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

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

Speech time limits

Ms Price 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue at a later hour.

Items for Federation Chamber (11 am to 1.30 pm)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1 MS DANIEL: To move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that:

(a) early childhood education and care (ECEC) delivers benefits to children, families and the economy; and

(b) a universal ECEC system:

(i) means making quality services accessible to all children and families;

(ii) is an opportunity to unlock productivity and growth across the workforce and allow more women into the workforce if they want to work; and

(iii) would address cost of living pressures, productivity, gender equality and give all children the best start in life;

(2) notes that:

(a) ECEC sets children up for life;

(b) by the age of five, 90 per cent of a child's brain is fully developed;

(c) children who attend quality early childhood education are twice as likely to reach their developmental targets once at school;

(d) children experiencing disadvantage and vulnerability—who are likely to benefit most from ECEC services—are less likely to attend ECEC;

(e) the cost of ECEC in Australia is amongst the highest in OECD countries, representing a major cost of living pressure for many households; and

(f) ECEC enables mothers, in particular, to maintain a connection to the labour force when children are very young and allows for increasing hours of work as children grow; and

(3) calls on the Government to commit to, and provide, a pathway and timeline towards universal early education and care.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 20 minutes.

Speech time limits

Ms Daniel 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

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

2 MS BELYEA: To move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the popularity of the Government's Fee-Free TAFE policy, demonstrated by 500,000 enrolments since its commencement;

(2) recognises that Fee-Free TAFE is:

(a) driving enrolments in sectors with recognised skills shortages and securing a domestic workforce to deliver on current and future priorities;

(b) giving Australians access to the skills they need to ensure they have meaningful, well-paid jobs, and career progression;

(c) helping to ease cost of living pressures to make training a real possibility for half a million Australians; and

(d) assisting the country's response to the biggest skills shortages we have faced in 50 years; and

(3) supports the Government as it continues to invest in the Australian people by rolling out Fee-Free TAFE places in partnership with state and territory governments.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 30 minutes.

Speech time limits

Ms Belyea 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 WOOD: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes:

(a) that the Government cut $50 million in the October 2022-2023 budget from Round 7 of the Safer Communities Fund for early intervention high-risk youth programs, which was funded but not announced in the March 2022-23 budget; and

(b) the recent surge in youth crime in Victoria and Queensland, in particular requires an urgent and dedicated response from the Commonwealth Government to address and combat this serious issue, while the Victorian Government must reconsider its stance on weak youth bail laws and prioritise the safety of its citizens;

(2) condemns the Government for abandoning young Australians by scrapping this funding;

(3) calls on the Government to reinstate funding to provide for much-needed capital to organisations working with high-risk youth;

(4) congratulates the previous Government for investing $300 million in the Safer Communities Fund to keep local communities safer; and

(5) commends the Opposition for committing to working with states and territories in the future to develop uniform knife laws as a significant step towards ensuring the safety and security of all Australians.

(Notice given 12 August 2024.)

Time allotted 40 minutes.

Speech time limits

Mr Wood 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.

4 DR ANANDA-RAJAH: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes the Government has made medicines cheaper by:

(a) freezing the price of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines in the 2024-25 budget;

(b) delivering the largest price reduction in the 75-year history of the PBS; and

(c) introducing 60-day prescriptions for 184 common medicines;

(2) notes that since 1 July 2022, the Government has approved additional funding for 227 new and amended listings on the PBS, including:

(a) trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) which treats children with cystic fibrosis;

(b) selumetinib (koselugo) which treats symptomatic, inoperable benign nerve tumours in children two years old and over with neurofibromatosis type 1; and

(c) patisiran (onpattro) which treats hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis;

(3) acknowledges that five million Australians have saved more than $456 million on cheaper prescriptions since January 2023; and

(4) notes the Opposition's record of making medicines more expensive and its opposition to the Government's policies to make medicines cheaper for all Australians.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 30 minutes.

Speech time limits

Dr Ananda-Rajah 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.

5 MR BOYCE: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Great Artesian Basin:

(a) is unique, only one of its kind in the world;

(b) is the world's largest underground potable water source;

(c) covers 22 per cent of the area of Australia, 79 per cent of Queensland and 1.7 million square kilometres;

(d) is estimated to carry 65,000 cubic kilometres of water;

(e) is a vital resource for the agricultural industry and regional communities;

(f) supports significant Indigenous cultural values; and

(g) sustains a range of groundwater-dependent ecosystems; and

(2) calls on the Government to protect Australia's water aquifers and oppose Glencore's CTSCo Project to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2 hypercritical fluid) into the Great Artesian Basin.

(Notice given 3 June 2024.)

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

Speech time limits

Mr Boyce 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.

Items for Federation Chamber (4.45 pm to 7.30 pm)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices — continued

6 MS TEMPLEMAN: To move:

That this House notes that:

(1) the 2024-25 budget provided significant new investment in Australia's arts and cultural sector, including:

(a) $115.2 million over four years to support the long-term financial sustainability of the national arts training organisations and $36.4 million of indexed and ongoing funding from 2028-29 (including the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australian Film, Television and Radio School, NAISDA Dance College, Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Australian Ballet School, National Institute of Circus Arts, Australian National Academy of Music and the Australian Youth Orchestra);

(b) $14.5 million to support the production of Australian children's screen content, recognising the importance of Australian children seeing themselves reflected in the stories they watch;

(c) $9.3 million to expand and enhance the National Film and Sound Archive's capacity to digitise audio-visual materials at risk of irreversible degradation; and

(d) $5.2 million to expand and develop the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and Darwin Symphony Orchestra;

(2) these investments sustain the momentum that the national cultural policy, Revive has created in rebuilding Australia's cultural sector and safeguarding our cultural heritage; and

(3) the Government is delivering transformative new investment to the cultural sector after a decade of neglect and cuts by the previous Government.

(Notice given 28 May 2024.)

Time allotted 30 minutes.

Speech time limits

Ms Templeman 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.

7 MR VIOLI: To move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australian small businesses are at breaking point and are being failed by the Government; and

(2) notes that:

(a) under this Government, a record number of Australian businesses have become insolvent in the most recent financial year, including:

(i) 4,635 businesses in New South Wales;

(ii) 2,863 businesses in Victoria;

(iii) 2,036 businesses in Queensland;

(iv) 733 businesses in Western Australia;

(v) 194 businesses in the Australian Capital Territory;

(vi) 94 businesses in Tasmania; and

(vii) 43 businesses in the Northern Territory; and

(b) this Government is now the worst government for Australian business on record, having surpassed the 10,757 businesses collapsing under the Government of 2011-12; and

(c) Australian small businesses could survive a once-in-a-century pandemic but cannot survive the disastrous policies of this Government.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 50 minutes.

Speech time limits

Mr Violi 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

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

8 MS MASCARENHAS: To move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (CMPTI) will help build Australia's critical minerals industry by encouraging processing onshore and creating secure jobs in Australia; and

(2) notes the:

(a) Leader of Opposition says one thing about the CMPTI on the west coast and another on the east coast; and

(b) Shadow Treasurer is opposed to the CMPTI and has turned his back on the resources sector.

(Notice given 13 August 2024.)

Time allotted 20 minutes.

Speech time limits

Ms Mascarenhas 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

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

9 MR WALLACE: To move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australia and the world face the gravest geopolitical instability since the end of World War II;

(2) recalls that foreign interference remains the greatest immediate threat to Australia's sovereignty and security;

(3) notes:

(a) that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and the so-called axis of resistance continues to perpetrate malicious activities against critical infrastructure, public and private companies, agencies and democratic institutions across the world, including in Australia; and

(b) with concern that despite the urgent national security threats facing the nation, the Government has failed to:

(i) develop and deliver space defence and industry strategy, instead slashing funding for critical programs and global partnerships;

(ii) develop and deliver a comprehensive border security strategy, instead presiding over the worst border crisis since it was last in government;

(iii) engage industry to develop and deliver a strategy to secure and strengthen the supply of fuel, food, water, pharmaceuticals, industrial materials and critical minerals; and

(iv) quickly and adequately address the risks and opportunities associated with artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and other emerging technologies aligned with our Australia-United Kingdom-United States pillars;

(4) calls on the Government to expeditiously develop and implement a comprehensive national security strategy which:

(a) engages all levels of government, all areas of the public and private sector, and all members of the public through consultation and review;

(b) addresses the issues of security in food, water, fuel, pharmaceuticals, industrial materials, critical minerals, and technology;

(c) addresses the issues of skilled workforce development and recruitment, digital literacy and online safety, cyber security, and resilience in homes, businesses, communities, agencies and institutions;

(d) addresses issues highlighted in the broad and public consultation process and delineated in a national security strategy consultation paper and roadmap; and

(e) commences no later than January 2027; and

(5) further acknowledges and pays tribute to the late Senator Jim Molan AO DSC for his significant work on, and advocacy for, a 'grand strategy' or 'nation security strategy' to this end.

(Notice given 14 May 2024.)

Time allotted 20 minutes.

Speech time limits

Mr Wallace 5 minutes.

Other Members 5 minutes each.

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

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

10 MR PERRETT: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics will produce extensive beneficial impacts for Queensland and the nation, including economic, infrastructure, cultural, social, and environmental legacies;

(2) acknowledges that the local, state and Commonwealth governments have made a considerable effort to plan and prepare according to the International Olympic Committee's new norms; and

(3) recognises the diligence in planning for a lasting beneficial legacy for Brisbane, Queensland, and our nation from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic events.

(Notice given 28 May 2024.)

Time allotted 30 minutes.

Speech time limits

Mr Perrett 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.

Orders of the day

SPORT: Resumption of debate on the motion of Ms Price—That this House:

(1) notes that the Government's Play Our Way program:

(a) was announced 12 months ago, as a back-foot response to the Opposition's $250 million announcement for supporting community sporting infrastructure across the country;

(b) has left community sporting organisations in the lurch, with program applicants still unaware if they have been successful and frustrated by funding uncertainty; and

(c) was just more policy on the run from the Government, which has been proven by this significant, unexplained delay; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) stop prioritising photo opportunities over the real action needed to support sports participation in Australia; and

(3) support the sporting infrastructure communities need as more young Australians are inspired to get out there and get active, and immediately provide an update on the Play Our Way program.

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 = 3 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration

THE HON D. M. DICK MP

Speaker of the House of Representatives

14 August 2024