Senate debates

Tuesday, 2 February 2021

• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Meeting (1 speech)
    I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator.
• Statement by the President (0 speeches)
  • COVID-19: Senate Procedure (1 speech)
    Before we move on: as I have advised whips and leaders, we will recommence locking the doors upon the calling of divisions. The doors will be kept open during the sittings of the Senate but will...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 2) Bill 2020; 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.
  • Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 2) Bill 2020; Second Reading (18 speeches)
    I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard. Leave...
  • Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 2) Bill 2020; In Committee (24 speeches)
    Through you, Chair, to the minister: I flagged this issue in my second reading contribution. What is the government doing to ensure that the additional costs that providers may incur due to these...
  • Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 2) Bill 2020; Third Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
  • Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2020; Second Reading (16 speeches)
    When the Native Title Act was passed in 1993 Paul Keating described it as an opportunity 'to do justice to the historic Mabo decision'. According to Keating, the act had twin goals: firstly, to...
• Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    I table for the information of the Senate a revised ministry list, and I seek leave to have the document incorporated into Hansard. Leave granted. The document read as follows— SECOND...
• Shadow Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    by leave—On 28 January 2021 Mr Albanese announced changes to the allocation of portfolios held by shadow ministers and assistant ministers. I seek leave to table the revised shadow ministry...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Pensions and Benefits (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Why is the Prime Minister cutting JobKeeper, cutting JobSeeker and cutting wages when his government has spent...
• Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
  • (1 speech)
    Senators, I draw to your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Ambassador of Switzerland to Australia, His Excellency Mr Pedro Zwahlen. On behalf of all senators, I wish you a warm...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Economy (7 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Can the minister update the Senate on how the Morrison government's economic recovery plan is working in 2021...
  • JobKeeper Payment: Tourism (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Payne. Tourism operators in Cairns have warned the Morrison government that thousands of jobs...
  • Climate Change (11 speeches)
    My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, representing the Prime Minister. US President Joe Biden has made climate action a priority. He has taken dramatic action against...
  • Myanmar (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne. Will the minister update the Senate on developments in Myanmar?
  • COVID-19: Vaccine (17 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Colbeck. On 7 September Mr Morrison promised that 'Australians will be among the first in the world to...
  • Superannuation (18 speeches)
    It is an honour to ask this question of the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, Senator Hume. Can the minister inform the Senate why the Morrison government...
  • Donations to Political Parties (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Birmingham. Minister, Mr Ed Killesteyn used to be responsible for policing our donation laws when he was commissioner of the Australian...
  • Member for Hughes (30 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. The Liberal member for Hughes, Mr Craig Kelly, has made a range of statements, including: … you don't...
  • COVID-19: Pacific (16 speeches)
    I am delighted to ask the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Seselja, his first question as a minister of our government. Can the minister advise the Senate on how...
• Answers to Questions on Notice (0 speeches)
  • Question No. 1905 (4 speeches)
    I ask the Minister representing the Prime Minister for an explanation as to why an answer has not been provided to question on notice No. 1905, relating to community sport infrastructure grants.
• Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
  • Member for Hughes (8 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator O'Neill today relating to the member for...
  • Donations to Political Parties (2 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Lambie today relating to donations to...
• Notices (0 speeches)
  • Withdrawal (1 speech)
    I withdraw general business notice of motion No. 957 standing in the names of Senators Sterle and Ciccone.
• Condolences (0 speeches)
  • Jeffery, Major General Hon. Philip Michael, AC, AO (Mil.), CVO, MC (Retd) (5 speeches)
    It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 18 December 2020 of Major General the Hon. Philip Michael Jeffery AC, AO, CVO, MC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of...
• Notices (0 speeches)
  • Postponement (1 speech)
    I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator.
• Business (0 speeches)
  • Leave of Absence (2 speeches)
    by leave—I move: That leave of absence be granted to the following senators for personal reasons: Senators Pratt and McCarthy from 2 February to 4 February 2021; Senator Bilyk from 2...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Australian Charities (4 speeches)
    At the request of Senator Bilyk, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) charities employ over one million Australians and contribute nearly one tenth of Australia's national income,...
  • Coal-Fired Power Stations (8 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes the Hunter Valley has the best thermal coal in the world; and (b) calls on the Morrison Government to build a coal fired power station in the Hunter.
  • White Rock Quarry (11 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd proposes to expand the White Rock Quarry in the Adelaide Hills, (ii) the expansion of the quarry into...
  • Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program (8 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) 15 January 2021 marks a year since the release of the Australian National Audit Office's report on the award of funding under the Community...
  • COVID 19: Pensions and Benefits (7 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that when the Coronavirus Supplement was first introduced at the rate of $550 a fortnight it had a transformational impact on people's lives and lifted...
• Matters of Urgency (0 speeches)
  • Climate Change (13 speeches)
    I inform the Senate that at 8.30 am today 21 proposals were received in accordance with standing order 75. The question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was delivered by lot. As...
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; Consideration (3 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the document. I take note of this report because this is a very, very important review. It is required under the EPBC legislation that every ten years our...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Corporations and Financial Services Committee; Report (1 speech)
    In respect of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services report Litigation funding and the regulation of the class action industry, dated December 2020, which was...
  • Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee; Report (2 speeches)
    In relation to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee's report, Policy, regulatory, taxation, administrative and funding priorities for Australian shipping, which was...
  • Tobacco Harm Reduction Select Committee; Report (1 speech)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the report. As deputy chair of the inquiry, I commend the report to the Senate. I will not seek leave to continue my remarks, thank you, Deputy President. The...
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • MV Al Kuwait, Federal Circuit Court of Australia; Order for the Production of Documents (1 speech)
    I table documents relating to the following orders for the production of documents: the order of the Senate of 31 August 2020 for the production of documents relating to the MV Al Kuwait voyage,...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Law Enforcement Committee, Treaties Committee; Membership (2 speeches)
    Order! The President has received letters requesting changes in the membership of committees.
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2020; Second Reading (2 speeches)
    Before the debate on the Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 was interrupted, I was about to take on some of the matters that had been raised by those opposite in relation to their...
  • Native Title Legislation Amendment Bill 2020; In Committee (19 speeches)
    I rise to make clear that Labor does not support the amendments put forward by the Greens, and I seek to make a few comments in relation to that. This bill was introduced on 17 October 2019, some...
• Adjournment (0 speeches)
  • Gender Dysphoria (1 speech)
    'It is right to call the treatment of gender-dysphoric children with puberty blockers experimental or innovative in the sense that there are currently limited studies and evidence of the...
  • Weatherill, Mr George (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to speak on the passing of a beloved union and Labor comrade, George Weatherill, who died on Sunday 23 January 2021 at the age of 84. The South Australian trade union movement and...
  • JobSeeker Payment (1 speech)
    I rise this evening to speak on the government's intention to return the JobSeeker payment to $40 a day. Despite still being in the midst of a pandemic and a recession, in just 58 days this...
  • Tasmanian Australian of the Year Awards (1 speech)
    Tonight I rise to acknowledge our 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, and also recognise her fellow 2021 Tasmanian Australian of the Year award winners: Brian Williams, Toby Thorpe and Edna...
  • Morrison Government (1 speech)
    Well, 2020 is done. It was a tough year for all Australians, and 2021 will have its own challenges. There are over two million people who don't have a job or don't have enough hours to get by. If...
  • Google (1 speech)
    In recent weeks Google made an explicit threat to deny service to Australians if this parliament passes the media bargaining code. It is an outrageous threat for a business to make against...
  • Operation K9 (1 speech)
    Mr Acting President: Unmoved he heard the evening hymn of hate, Unmoved would gaze into his master's eyes. For all the sorrows men for men create In search of happiness wise dogs despise, Finding...
  • Defence Personnel: Suicide (1 speech)
    Australia has lost more Defence Force personnel to suicide than we have lost on the front line. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has reported that the rate of suicide among male...
  • Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales: Telecommunications (1 speech)
    I rise to speak about one of the Central Coast's most resilient, most beautiful yet perhaps most underserviced communities. I am of course speaking about the Mangrove Mountain community and the...
  • Euthanasia (1 speech)
    Let us never forget those among us who face challenges every minute of every day that we cannot possibly even imagine—people who have reached a stage in their lives where continuing to live...
  • Queensland: Tourism (1 speech)
    The last time the Prime Minister visited Cairns was to campaign for the LNP in the Queensland state election. When he was there, he told Far North Queenslanders that he would have their back,...
  • Extremism (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to speak about the scourge of far Right extremism and its normalisation in our politics and our culture. A couple of weeks ago we saw the end of the catastrophic Trump presidency...
  • Assange, Mr Julian Paul (1 speech)
    We've just witnessed what decades of powerful people lying has led to. Truth in politics goes back a long way, I'll give you that. But the post-truth world, this concept that somehow you can...
  • Homelessness (1 speech)
    I sit here tonight aware that in my community right now so many people are losing their homes. Fifty-six is the latest count. I'm sadly certain that will rise. They're losing their homes to a...
  • Pell, Cardinal George, AC (1 speech)
    In my last speech in this place regarding Cardinal Pell, I noted that alleged facts regarding crimes for which he was convicted were implausibility heaped upon improbability, especially when...
  • Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Tame, Ms Grace (1 speech)
    I rise to speak on ovarian cancer, as I do every February for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. This is an incredibly important cause, and it is a time when we recognise and support women diagnosed...
  • COVID-19: Overseas Travel (1 speech)
    Today I once again raise the plight of temporary visa holders who have been stranded overseas due to Australia's international border closure. In particular, I want to talk about the children who...
  • Manufacturing (1 speech)
    I am a passionate believer in Australia's manufacturing industry, and, hence, I am a passionate supporter of the Scott Morrison government's advanced manufacturing strategy. If the last year has...
  • JobSeeker Payment, Google (1 speech)
    One of the only good things to come out of last year was when the government upped JobSeeker payments by $550 a fortnight. I know how much that money meant to people. It gave more than a million...
  • Mining Industry (1 speech)
    As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia I have a duty to raise and fix issues that are both hurting and concerning everyday Australians. As a senator, I work for the people....
  • Trade Unions (1 speech)
    The union movement's disgraceful 'stop the bus' campaign invites the rightful retort 'stop the BS'. The unions involved know the campaign is based on falsehoods and is cynically designed to scare...
  • Human Rights (1 speech)
    As Australian Greens spokesperson on foreign affairs, it's a sad reality that too often I have to rise to speak in this place of attacks on human rights around the world. We will continue to...
  • Western Australia: Bushfires (1 speech)
    I rise tonight to speak on the current situation in Western Australia, where an absolutely dreadful wildfire is racing through the north and east of the city of Perth, heading down towards...
  • Auditor-General's Report No. 6 of 2018-19 (1 speech)
    Before I commence my adjournment speech, I seek leave to table Auditor-General's report No. 6 of 2018-19, Army's protected mobility vehicle—light, a confidential report issued under section...
  • Western Australia: Bushfires, Resources Industry (1 speech)
    I wanted to take the opportunity before we wrap up tonight to join Senator Brockman in expressing my concern on behalf of the opposition about the bushfire situation that we face in Western...