Senate debates

Tuesday, 7 March 2023

• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Meeting (1 speech)
    I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator.
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fees) Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022; Second Reading (8 speeches)
    Today I rise to speak on these three bills before the Senate that relate to the Prostheses List and private health insurance. This is the first step in the legislative process. These are the most...
  • Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fees) Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022; In Committee (38 speeches)
    I table a supplementary explanatory memorandum relating to the government amendment to be moved to the Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List...
• Statements by Senators (0 speeches)
  • Swan Valley (4 speeches)
    Today I rise to talk about a hidden gem of Western Australia: Swan Valley. I recently had the pleasure of showcasing the Swan Valley to Kevin Hogan, the shadow minister for trade and tourism. The...
  • Clean Up Australia Day (1 speech)
    A couple of days ago, on Sunday 5 March, it was Clean Up Australia Day. This is an annual event that sees thousands of Australians get out and about in their communities to clean up, fix up and...
  • Asylum Seekers (1 speech)
    Two hours ago I walked out onto the lawns of Parliament House and met with hundreds of my fellow Australians who don't have all the privileges that we in this place usually take for granted. The...
  • Welcome to Country Ceremonies (1 speech)
    Welcome to country ceremonies are now as ubiquitous as they are inescapable. Australians are forced to sit through these rituals everywhere from the commencement of parliament to school...
  • Trucking Industry (1 speech)
    Hundreds of truck drivers and their families are marching on Aldi stores around Australia today, demanding that Aldi take responsibility for the crisis in their supply chain. Already 45 people...
  • National Assistance Card (1 speech)
    I'm very excited to inform the Senate of an innovative nationwide project that was started in my state of Tasmania. The National Assistance Card is an initiative of the Brain Injury Association...
  • Cost of Living (1 speech)
    I rise today in March 2023. It's just two short months away from May 2023, when we will the first-year anniversary of this government and we'll see their second budget delivered. They are under...
  • Trucking Industry (1 speech)
    I know two minutes isn't long, but I want to carry on from my dear friend and colleague Senator Sheldon's comments. Senator Sheldon talked about the TWU's Principles for Fair and Sustainable...
  • Racism (1 speech)
    Today Diversity Council Australia released groundbreaking research on the experiences of culturally and racially marginalised women in leadership, and it contains disturbing findings....
  • Building and Construction Industry (1 speech)
    Many Canberrans have seen the news of another building company facing financial difficulties, and I want to raise the urgent issue of security of payments for subcontractors and their staff. This...
  • FermenTasmania (1 speech)
    I rise to speak today about an exciting project that has been under development in our home state of Tasmania for several years and will soon come to fruition. The Fermentation Hub at Legana, in...
  • Albanese Government: Live Animal Exports (1 speech)
    With the election of the Albanese government and the backing of the Greens, Labor has relaunched its war on Australia's farmers. Kevin Rudd took away their water in the Murray-Darling Basin....
  • Israel (1 speech)
    The Greens are deeply concerned about the current situation in Israel. While hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens go out on the streets to protest the undemocratic measures being taken by...
  • New South Wales: Water (1 speech)
    We should be getting used to this government failing to live up to its promises, and none more so than on water. In October, following the Ministerial Council meeting of Murray Darling ministers,...
  • BIRD, Ms Lorraine (1 speech)
    I rise to speak about the life of Lorraine Bird. Lorraine Bird was a school cleaner and a union member. Her passing, at the age of 69, reminds me of just how much one person who believes in...
• Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
  • Superannuation: Taxation (23 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. During the 2022 election campaign, Mr Albanese said, 'We've said we have no intention of making any super changes'....
  • Manufacturing Industry (10 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. What is the Albanese government doing to revitalise Australian manufacturing and address key national challenges?
  • Superannuation: Taxation (14 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Yesterday, Senator Gallagher, you said to the chamber that the purpose of the government's new doubling of super...
  • Economy (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Last month, the RBA said that as much as three-quarters of the increase in inflation is a result of supply shocks,...
  • Manufacturing Industry (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Industry and Science, Senator Farrell. Can the minister please update the Senate about what the government is doing to support...
  • Homelessness (13 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Housing, Senator Farrell. The Productivity Commission's latest report on government services showed that over a third of people...
  • Superannuation: Taxation (16 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Farming families are frequently cash poor, but they make a living off farmland whose value has tripled on paper over...
  • Housing Australia Future Fund (16 speeches)
    My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Housing, Senator Farrell. Minister, cost-of-living pressures are hitting Tasmanians hard. The current average rent is 550 bucks a...
  • Agriculture Industry (8 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Minister, how will the government's $15 billion investment in the National Reconstruction Fund support the very important...
  • Cost of Living (12 speeches)
    My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Prior to the election last year, the now Treasurer said, 'This is a full-blown cost-of-living crisis, a triple whammy...
• Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
  • Answers to Questions (25 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answers to all questions asked by Coalition senators. What we saw in question time today was a Labor Party who have fundamentally failed to understand...
  • Economy (1 speech)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice he asked today relating to interest rates. As I stand here to...
• Motions (0 speeches)
  • Ukraine (9 speeches)
    I move: That the general business notice of motion standing in the name of Senators Bilyk and Van, relating to Ukraine, be called on immediately and considered for 60 minutes, after which the...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Public Works Joint Committee; Reference (1 speech)
    At the request of Senator Gallagher, I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing...
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • Australian Carbon Credit Units; Order for the Production of Documents (1 speech)
    At the request of Senator Hanson-Young, I move: That— (a) the Senate rejects the Minister for Climate Change and Energy's claim of public interest immunity, outlined in a letter received by...
  • Deputy Chair of ASIC; Order for the Production of Documents (5 speeches)
    At the request of Senator Bragg, I move: That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, by no later than midday on Thursday, 9 March 2023, the report of an...
  • Solicitor-General; Order for the Production of Documents (5 speeches)
    I move: That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Attorney-General, by no later than midday on Monday, 20 March 2023: (a) advice provided to the Attorney-General's...
• Matters of Urgency (0 speeches)
  • Climate Change (12 speeches)
    We'll now move to urgency motions. I'm going to deal with the urgency motion put forward by Senator David Pocock, who has submitted a proposal under standing order 75: Pursuant to Standing Order...
• Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
  • Albanese Government (22 speeches)
    A letter has been received from Senator Canavan: Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion: The Albanese...
• Documents (0 speeches)
  • Asylum Seekers (1 speech)
    by leave—I table a document, which is in the form of an open letter, signed by 502 medical professionals expressing their concern about the harmful effects of Australia's offshore detention...
• Committees (0 speeches)
  • Education and Employment Legislation Committee; Additional Information (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Chair of the Education and Employment Legislation Committee, Senator Sheldon, I present additional information received by the committee as listed at item 16 on today's order of...
  • Electoral Matters Joint Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I present the report of the committee on the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022, and I move: That the Senate...
  • Public Works Joint Committee; Report (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works I present the committee's first report of 2023.
  • Privileges Committee; Report (12 speeches)
    I present the 183rd report of the Committee of Privileges regarding a possible obstruction of the work of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement. I move: That recommendation 2 of...
  • Electoral Matters Joint Committee; Report (1 speech)
    I rise to take note of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters report on the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill, which has already been tabled by the government whip. I...
  • Intelligence and Security Joint Committee; Government Response to Report (2 speeches)
    I present the government's response to the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on its inquiry into national security risks affecting the Australian higher...
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Joint Committee; Report (2 speeches)
    I move: That the Senate take note of the report. I wish to take note of the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs on its inquiry into community...
• Bills (0 speeches)
  • Migration Amendment (Evacuation to Safety) Bill 2023; Report from Committee (1 speech)
    On behalf of the Chair of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Senator Green, I present the report of the committee on the Migration Amendment (Evacuation to Safety) Bill...
  • Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fees) Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022; In Committee (68 speeches)
    I just have a few more questions, if the minister would so oblige, following on from some questions I was asking this morning. I was wondering, Minister: when will the removal of the 400-plus...
  • Private Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Medical Device and Human Tissue Product List and Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (Prostheses Application and Listing Fees) Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2022, Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Amendment (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022; Third Reading (1 speech)
    I move: That these bills be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bills read a third time.
  • Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Bill 2022; Second Reading (2 speeches)
    STON (—) (): I'm pleased to be able to stand today to make a contribution in relation to the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Bill 2022. This bill amends the Therapeutic...
• Adjournment (0 speeches)
  • Age of Consent (1 speech)
    In 1977 a group of French leftist intellectuals signed a petition for children to be able to legally give sexual consent. Now, there are some sections of society that have wanted to lower the age...
  • Tasmania: Hillwood Berries (1 speech)
    I rise to speak about a recent visit to Hillwood Berries farms, at Hillwood in northern Tasmania. Hillwood Berries is a national supplier of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and...
  • Iraq War (1 speech)
    The Australian Senate spent an hour today debating a motion around the one-year anniversary of the war of aggression by the Russian government on the sovereign state of Ukraine, an illegal,...
  • Tasmania: Callington Mill (1 speech)
    If you were to assign a symbol that would recognise human ingenuity and encapsulate the technological advancement of our society, what would it be? A plane or a car? Perhaps a computer, or...
  • Homelessness (1 speech)
    Hear, hear for Oatlands! I love me a bit of Oatlands. What kind of words are there to describe what it's like to be homeless? Is it possible to really communicate what it feels like to someone...
  • Northern Territory: Housing (1 speech)
    I want to talk today about priorities. There are few matters more fundamental to government than the safety of its citizens. Providing the conditions for safety and prosperity should be No. 1,...
  • New South Wales Government (1 speech)
    Sometimes the happenings of New South Wales politics are so deeply dystopian it seems like it couldn't really be that bad. Surely, you'd think, no serious adults could behave like that, but then...
  • Cashless Debit Card (1 speech)
    Last week, I did something that the Prime Minister of Australia still hasn't bothered to do. I visited the Western Australian northern Goldfields towns of Laverton and Leonora. The people of...
  • Victoria: Heavy Vehicles, Pensions and Benefits, Tibetan Uprising Day (1 speech)
    In 2015 the residents of Footscray, in the western suburbs of Melbourne, secured a curfew on heavy trucks from the Andrews Labor government. Footscray is my home, so I know what a huge win this...
  • Freedom of Religion (1 speech)
    I rise to speak this evening in relation to the Labor government's review of religious educational institutions and anti-discrimination laws, which, to be frank, has become an absolute car...
  • Therapeutic Goods Administration (1 speech)
    In my capacity serving the people of Queensland and Australia, I note that during the last Senate estimate hearings, Adjunct Professor John Skerritt, Deputy Secretary, Health Products Regulation...
  • COVID-19: Vaccination (11 speeches)
    If there's one thing I've learnt in my 3½ years of being a senator it's that, if anyone thinks that this country is being run by the people in this chamber or in the other place, they are...