Senate debates

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

• Statement by the President (0 speeches)
  • Usher of the Black Rod (1 speech)
    Senators will note that I was escorted in by a new face today. Our new Usher of the Black Rod, Mr John Begley, has now joined the Department of the Senate. Welcome. Honourable senators: Hear, hear!
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Meeting (1 speech)
    I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator.
• Privilege (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    By letter dated 6 September 2018, Senator Anning has raised a matter of privilege concerning his first speech and asked me to consider whether a contempt may have been committed. As I have...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Tobacco Plain Packaging Amendment Bill 2018; Second Reading (7 speeches)
    I note that I am resuming from just prior to the adjournment last night.
  • Tobacco Plain Packaging Amendment Bill 2018; In Committee (20 speeches)
    The question is that the bill stand as printed.
  • Tobacco Plain Packaging Amendment Bill 2018; Third Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill 2018; Second Reading (3 speeches)
    I rise to speak on at the Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill 2018. Labor supports this bill, which provides further regulation of the industry administering debt agreements. The...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Aged Care (20 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Senator Scullion. In May of this year, the Labor Party raised serious concerns about the aged care...
• Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    I draw to the attention of honourable senators the presence in the chamber of a parliamentary delegation from Malaysia, led by the Speaker of Malaysia's House of Representatives, His Excellency...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Superannuation (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Cormann. How is the Liberal-National government supporting Australians by ensuring that they have stability and certainty in...
  • Aged Care (19 speeches)
    My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Senator Scullion. Page 101 of Budget Paper No. 2 in the 2016-17 budget states that: The government...
  • Lobbying to Political Parties (16 speeches)
    This is not my first speech. My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Today The Guardian Australia reported that not a single lobbyist has been punished...
  • Aged Care (28 speeches)
    My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, Senator Scullion. What is the Liberal-National government doing to ensure that older Australians are...
  • National Disability Insurance Scheme (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Fifield. Will the minister update the Senate on the rollout of the NDIS in our home state of...
  • Veterans (8 speeches)
    First I'd like to acknowledge the brave service men and women in the gallery and thank them for their service. Honourable senators: Hear, hear! My question is to the Minister representing the...
  • Great Barrier Reef Foundation (9 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. The chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Dr John Schubert, told a Senate inquiry this morning that he was...
  • Trade (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Birmingham. Will the minister advise the Senate on how the Liberal-National government helps Australian farmers and...
  • Members of Parliament: Conduct (12 speeches)
    My question is to the minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Last night, the Liberal member for Gilmore, Ann Sudmalis, told the House of Representatives about the Liberal...
• Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
  • Aged Care (5 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs (Senator Scullion) to questions without notice asked by Senators O'Neill, Brown and Chisholm today...
  • Lobbying to Political Parties (1 speech)
    This is not my first speech. I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance and the Public Service (Senator Cormann) to a question without notice asked by...
• Condolences (0 speeches)
  • McKiernan, James Philip 'Jim' (8 speeches)
    It is with deep regret I inform of Senate of the death on 10 August this year James Philip 'Jim' McKiernan, a senator for the state of Western Australia from 1985 to 2002. I note in the gallery...
• Notices (0 speeches)
  • Withdrawal (1 speech)
    I withdraw general business notice of motion No. 1063 standing in my name for today relating to self-defence laws.
  • Postponement (1 speech)
    I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator. There being none, I shall now proceed to the discovery of formal business.
• Business (0 speeches)
  • Consideration of Legislation (1 speech)
    I move: That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Supporting Australian Farmers) Bill 2018, allowing it to be considered during...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Life Insurance (1 speech)
    At the request of Senators O'Neill, Ketter and Di Natale, I move: That the Senate: (a) notes:   (i) that the fear of insurance implications has been shown to deter the uptake of...
  • Migration (10 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate: (a) notes:   (i) the past comments made by Minister Dutton, supporting the plight of the white South African farmers and suggesting that they be given priority...
  • Whaling (8 speeches)
    I, and also on behalf of Senator Whish-Wilson, move: That the Senate: (a) notes that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has rejected Japan's bid to overturn a long-standing ban on...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (7 speeches)
    by leave—I move: That the Senate directs that the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, in relation to its inquiry into the provisions of the Federal Circuit and Family...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Aged Care (3 speeches)
    Before I move this motion, I seek leave to add the names of Senator Storer and Senator Griff.
  • Newstart (7 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) the Newstart payment has barely increased in real terms in the past 24 years,   (ii) nearly half of Newstart recipients...
  • Ministerial Conduct (11 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate: (a) notes:   (i) that on 17th September 2018, the Guardian Australia launched a series of damning articles about the practices of lobbyists in the Australian...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Environment and Communications References Committee; Reference (5 speeches)
    I move: That the following matters be referred to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report by the second sitting Wednesday in February 2019: The impact of...
• Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
  • Koala Population (11 speeches)
    I inform the Senate that at 8.30 am today, six proposals were received in accordance with standing order 75. The question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was determined by lot....
• Petitions (0 speeches)
  • Internet Services (1 speech)
    by leave—I present to the Senate a petition relating to better access to internet services for those living in the rural areas of Alice Springs, from 293 signatories, which is not in...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee; Additional Information (1 speech)
    On behalf of the chair of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, I present additional information received by the committee during its inquiry into the Criminal Code and...
  • Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee; Report (5 speeches)
    I present the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee on the proposed comprehensive and progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership together with a Hansard...
  • Public Accounts and Audit Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present report No. 473, Defence major projects report: inquiry based on Auditor-General's report 26 (2017-18). I move: That the...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Customs Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018, Customs Tariff Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018; First Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That these bills may proceed without formalities, may be taken together and be now read a first time. Question agreed to. Bills read a first time.
  • Customs Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018, Customs Tariff Amendment (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation) Bill 2018; Second Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speeches read as follows— CUSTOMS AMENDMENT...
  • Modern Slavery Bill 2018; 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.
  • Modern Slavery Bill 2018; 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— MODERN SLAVERY BILL...
  • Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill 2018; Second Reading (2 speeches)
    I am not going to go into a lot of the details of the Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill 2018, as other speakers will do that, but I will just mention a few points. The bill amends...
  • Bankruptcy Amendment (Debt Agreement Reform) Bill 2018; In Committee (3 speeches)
    I table a supplementary explanatory memorandum relating to the government amendments to be moved to this bill.
• Adjournment (0 speeches)
  • Tasmanian Bureau of Meteorology (1 speech)
    I rise this evening to express my grave concerns about plans to move weather forecasting from Tasmania to Melbourne and Brisbane. Under this dysfunctional Liberal government, critical jobs at the...
  • Illicit Drugs (1 speech)
    In my state of New South Wales, two people tragically died and 15 others were hospitalised from suspected overdoses at the Defqon 1 festival over the weekend. My heart goes out to their families....
  • Mental Health (1 speech)
    What do we do in times of crisis? We call 000 and hope like hell they can help. Whether it's a car crash, a house fire, a flash flood, a heart attack or an armed robbery, we know our first...
  • Liberal Democrats (1 speech)
    Recently Senators Hanson and Hinch argued on morning television about their achievements. It was much ado about nothing. That's not the case with the Liberal Democrats. We have clear principles,...
  • Feed The Little Children (1 speech)
    Tonight I want to pay tribute to the work of the wonderful team at Feed The Little Children in Broome. At the end of last month I had the privilege of joining the team in their work. Broome is by...
  • Safe Schools (1 speech)
    Fifty years ago, if a communist pervert had proposed that our nation's children be forced to listen to sexually deviant propaganda, they would probably have been strung up. Today, this disgusting...
  • Pet Food Industry (1 speech)
    How much do we value our pets? That's the question at the heart of the current inquiry into pet food regulations. For owners who gave evidence at the public hearings, the answer was never in...
  • Dairy Industry (1 speech)
    I won't be buying cheap milk after learning about the devastation that $1-a-litre milk has caused dairy farmers and the threat it poses to the supply of fresh milk for our children and...
  • Marine Parks (1 speech)
    Just a month after unveiling a plan to further protect marine life in New South Wales, this week the New South Wales government have axed no-fishing zones in their planned future Sydney marine...
  • Road Safety (1 speech)
    Last week in the parliament, something extraordinary happened. It wasn't the chaos and dysfunction we've seen for the last couple of weeks. It was a presentation of a report into a road safety...
  • Residential Care (1 speech)
    Tonight our nation is caught within a moment of decision. Before us now is a question: will justice be done for disabled people or will we once again miss the opportunity to ensure that those in...
  • Nuclear Waste (1 speech)
    I apologise for not being able to speak when I should have done. Senators' speeches such as we've just heard are very powerful and emotional. Senator Gallacher's speech reminded me of the impact...
  • Facing North (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to make mention of the Facing North event here at Parliament House this week. It's a celebration of all things Territory. It's a celebration of our success, our businesses, our...
  • Operation Flinders Foundation (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to speak about a great South Australian initiative related to troubled youth. Three weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to Leigh Creek and Yankaninna to take part in...
  • India: Floods, Immigration Detention (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to speak on the devastating floods that took place last month in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Throughout August, the Malayan people of Kerala were affected by the region's...
  • Bisexual Awareness Week (1 speech)
    This week is international Bisexual Awareness Week, or Bi Week as it's known. It's an important week for the LGBTIQ+ community and for me personally, as a proud bisexual woman and a member of...