Senate debates

Thursday, 16 February 2017

• Statements (0 speeches)
  • Questions on Notice (2 speeches)
    In accordance with the resolution of the Senate, I provide information in relation to responses to three categories of questions taken on notice, or, in the third case, documents ordered to be...
• Business (0 speeches)
  • Rearrangement (1 speech)
    by leave—I move: That— (1) The Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017, the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Bill 2017 and the Independent Parliamentary...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Preliminary Assessment Process) Bill 2017; Second Reading (9 speeches)
    We in Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party regard freedom of speech as a fundamental human right, even though there is no formal recognition of the right in our legal system. Last week at a rally...
• Notices (0 speeches)
  • Withdrawal (2 speeches)
    Pursuant to notice given on 15 February 2017, I withdraw business of the Senate notice of motion No. 2 standing in my name for 20 March 2017 proposing the disallowance of the Financial Framework...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Selection of Bills Committee; Report (5 speeches)
    I present the second report of 2017 of the Selection of Bills Committee and I seek leave to have the report incorporated into Hansard. Leave granted. The report read as follows SELECTION OF BILLS...
• Business (0 speeches)
  • Consideration of Legislation (1 speech)
    I move: That the order of general business for consideration today be as follows: (a) general business orders of the day: no. 39 Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Full Face Coverings in...
  • Leave of Absence (2 speeches)
    by leave—I move: That leave of absence be granted to Senator Payne for today on account of ministerial business. Question agreed to.
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Economics References Committee, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee; Reporting Date (1 speech)
    Thank you, Clerk. Does any senator wish to have the question put on any proposal? No, so I shall now proceed to the discovery of formal business.
  • Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee; Reference (13 speeches)
    At the request of Senators O’Sullivan, Bernardi, Hanson, Hinch and Leyonhjelm, I move: That the following matter be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References...
  • Senators' Interests Committee; Reference (8 speeches)
    I move: That the following matter be referred to the Standing Committee of Senators' Interests for inquiry and report by 23 March 2017: Whether the form of the register should be amended to...
  • Environment and Communications References Committee; Reference (5 speeches)
    I move: That— (a) the Senate notes the failure to comply with the Senate orders for the production of documents agreed to on 13 and 14 February 2017, relating to the Perth Freight Link; (b)...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Government Agencies: Decentralisation (2 speeches)
    I, and also on behalf of Senator McKenzie and O'Sullivan, move: That the Senate notes that: (a) over many years, state and federal governments and local communities have seen the benefits of...
  • Parliamentarians' Entitlements (13 speeches)
    Thank you.
  • Pensions and Benefits (4 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes the essential role of social security payments in the budgets of many struggling Australians and Australian families; (b) notes the likely unfair impact...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Lending to Primary Production Customers Committee; Appointment (2 speeches)
    I move: That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Lending to Primary Production Customers, be established to inquire into and report on the regulation and practices of...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Myanmar (1 speech)
    With great appreciation for the unanimous view of the Senate I move: That the Senate— (a) notes:   (i) the deeply concerning United Nations report, released on 3 February 2017,...
  • Imports (8 speeches)
    I ask that notice of motion No. 232 standing in my name have the name of Senator Kim Carr added to it, and I move the motion: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) dumping of...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Competition and Consumer Legislation Amendment (Small Business Access to Justice) Bill 2017; First Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the law in relation to the costs of actions taken by persons who suffer loss or damage as a result of breaches of the...
  • Competition and Consumer Legislation Amendment (Small Business Access to Justice) Bill 2017; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill. Leave granted. I table an explanatory memorandum and I seek leave to have...
• Notices (0 speeches)
  • Withdrawal (1 speech)
    I withdraw general business notice of motion No. 230.
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Strengthening Communities Grants (4 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) pursuant to a decision of the 2016-17 Federal Budget, the Department of Social Services is currently undertaking a redesign of the...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Publications Committee, Select Committee on Red Tape; Membership (2 speeches)
    The President has received letters requesting changes in the membership of committees.
  • Economics Legislation Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the chair of the Ecomomics Legislation Committee, Senator Hume, I present the report of the committee on the provisions of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Misuse of Market...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017; Second Reading (24 speeches)
    I rise to speak on the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. I would indicate to the Senate that the opposition supports this bill. As was stated by the member for McMahon...
  • Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017; In Committee (3 speeches)
    I have three series of amendments that I intend on moving. As I said, the first one is related to the removal of all retrospective elements in the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Taxation (16 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. Last year, the minister advised the Senate: There will be no change to the 50 per cent CGT discount for...
  • Renewable Energy Target (9 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. Can the minister inform the Senate what the impact on the economy would be of another state-based 50 per cent renewable energy target?
  • Pensions and Benefits (6 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. On Monday the Treasurer said: The balance of the savings achieved through that bill will be provided and debited...
  • Economy (13 speeches)
    Like a dog, my question is to Senator Cormann representing the Treasurer—
  • Medicare (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health, Senator Nash. I refer to the Prime Minister, who, on the eve of the 2 July election, gave an absolute guarantee that nobody...
  • Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (8 speeches)
    As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I refer the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Brandis, to revelations that Islamist activist Yassmin...
  • Mining (12 speeches)
    My question is to the very sophisticated Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator Canavan. Can the minister provide an update on major resource projects in northern Australia,...
  • Defence Procurement (19 speeches)
    My question is to the Attorney-General, Minister representing the Minister for Defence. It is axiomatic that, if Defence wastage is eliminated or significantly reduced, the same defence...
  • Broadband (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Regional Development, Senator Nash. TheYoung Witness, in a story titled 'NBN is a dud in Young say locals', reports the NBN is delivering speeds half of those...
  • Child Care (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Education and Training, Senator Birmingham. Will the minister update the Senate on the cost pressures faced by families with small children in child care?
  • Medicare (16 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health, Senator Nash. I refer to the new Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, who says: I have and we have a rock solid commitment to the...
  • Food Security (9 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Fierravanti-Wells. Can the minister advise the Senate what the Turnbull government is doing to improve food...
• Questions without Notice: Additional Answers (0 speeches)
  • Australia Post (1 speech)
    I wish to correct an answer I gave in response to a question last Thursday. I inadvertently referred to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, the PGPA Act, rather than...
• Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
  • Taxation (8 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by Senator Brandis to the question I asked. Once again, we see a government in absolute chaos. We see a rabble of the government. We see Phil...
  • Economy (1 speech)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to questions without notice asked by me today. I would like to explain, in the five minutes I...
• Budget (0 speeches)
  • Consideration by Estimates Committees (1 speech)
    I present additional information received by committees relating to the following estimates: Document not available at the time of publishing.
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Human Rights Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I present the Human rights scrutiny report: report 1 of 2017. Ordered that the report be printed. I seek leave to have the tabling...
  • Environment and Communications Legislation Committee; Additional Information (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Chair of the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, Senator Paterson, I present additional information received by the committee on its inquiry into the provisions...
  • Public Accounts and Audit Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present report No. 460: Public sector governance—inquiry based on Auditor-General's report 29 (2015-16). I seek leave to...
  • Publications Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Chair of the Publications Committee, I present the fourth report of the Publications Committee. Ordered that the report be adopted.
  • Economics References Committee, Migration Committee, Select Committee on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan; Government Response to Report (1 speech)
    I present three government responses to committee reports as listed at item 15 on today's Order of Business. In accordance with the usual practice, I seek leave to have the documents incorporated...
  • Membership (2 speeches)
    The President has received letters requesting changes in the membership of committees.
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Bill 2017; First Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time. Question agreed to. Bill read a first time.
  • Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Bill 2017; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speech read as follows— NATIVE TITLE AMENDMENT...
  • Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Full Face Coverings in Public Places) Bill 2017; Second Reading (8 speeches)
    I rise to speak on my private senator's bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Full Face Coverings in Public Places) Bill 2017. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Criminal Code...
  • Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015; Second Reading (11 speeches)
    I do not want to upset anybody in this place but I have some terrible news for you: you are all going to die. And I have news that is even more tragic: I am also going to die. I cannot say when...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Environment and Communications References Committee; Membership (2 speeches)
    The President has received letters requesting changes in the membership of committees.
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • Consideration (1 speech)
    At this stage we should move to the consideration of documents, but I understand that an informal agreement has been reached that they not be considered today. If that is the wish of the Senate...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017; In Committee (49 speeches)
    by leave—First of all, I move amendments (1) to (14) on sheet 8044, which all deal with the retrospectivity element: (1) Schedule 1, item 3, page 5 (lines 12 to 16), omit "No person other...
  • Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill 2017; Third Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Bill 2017, Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017; Second Reading (31 speeches)
    I rise to support these bills on behalf of the opposition. The reform has been a long time coming. We have needed this reform ever since the former member for Mackellar decided that a helicopter...
  • Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Bill 2017, Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017; In Committee (15 speeches)
    by leave—I move all amendments on sheet 8045 together: (1) Clause 1, page 1 (line 8), after "Parliamentary", insert "and Commonwealth Government Employees". (2) Clause 3, page 2 (line 14),...
  • Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Bill 2017, Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017; Third Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That these bills be now read a third time. In doing so, I would like to thank Senate colleagues in particular for their understanding in allowing the passage of this bill and the...
  • Treasury Laws Amendment (Bourke Street Fund) Bill 2017; Second Reading (6 speeches)
    I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Bourke Street Fund) Bill 2017. This bill will provide tax deductibility for donations to the Bourke Street Fund, which has been...
  • Treasury Laws Amendment (Bourke Street Fund) Bill 2017; Third Reading (3 speeches)
    As no amendments to the bill have been circulated, I shall call the minister to move the third reading unless any senator requires that the bill be considered in Committee of the Whole.
• Adjournment (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    I move: That the Senate do now adjourn. Senate adjourned at 20 : 59