Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Wednesday, 16 August 2006, from 4.30 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into water policy initiatives.

Senators Chris Evans, Bartlett and Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that the National Indigenous art awards ceremony was held in Darwin on 11 August 2006; and

(b)

congratulates all winners and particularly Ngoia Napaltjarri Pollard for her work ‘Swamps West of Nyirripi’ which won the main prize.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee on women in sport and recreation in Australia be extended to 6 September 2006.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the consensus statement released on 14 August 2006 on draft ‘Medicare Item 16400: Antenatal care in rural and remote communities’, which reflects the concerns of the Australian Nursing Federation, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia, the Australian College of Midwives, the Association of Australian Rural Nurses, the Australian Practice Nurses Association, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the College of Nursing and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists;

(b)

acknowledges that the statement expresses concerns about the safety and quality of care that would be provided under the proposed new item within the current descriptor and explanatory notes, specifically:

(i)

that safe and high quality antenatal care can only be provided by a qualified health professional with appropriate education, that is, a qualified midwife, a nurse with midwifery qualifications, an obstetrician or a general practitioner with a diploma in obstetrics or equivalent qualifications, and

(ii)

that the signatories to the statement do not support the inclusion of nurses without midwifery qualifications on the list of eligible care providers for the item number 16400 descriptor and explanatory notes; and

(c)

calls on the Government to modify the item so that only adequately qualified professionals are able to provide antenatal care.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

alarming rates of deforestation are occurring in south east Asia and the Pacific region through illegal and unsustainable logging practices,

(ii)

unsustainable management of natural resources will have long-term negative economic, environmental and social consequences for countries in which illegal logging is occurring,

(iii)

illegal trade of forest timber contributes to corruption, money laundering, organised crime and human rights abuses, and threatens the viability of responsible companies that want to invest in sustainable practices,

(iv)

there is a widespread presence of suspected illegal timber from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in Australia,

(v)

the Government had committed to addressing the problem prior to the 2004 Election and has since reaffirmed this commitment, and

(vi)

voluntary approaches to dealing with illegal timber and wood product imports will be neither fast enough nor effective enough; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

immediately legislate to stop the importation of illegal timber and wood products into Australia, and

(ii)

phase in over 2 years a requirement for only timber and wood products from credibly certified sources to be imported.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the launch on 1 August 2006 of the Clinton Climate Initiative, dedicated to fighting climate change in practical and measurable ways,

(ii)

that President Bill Clinton was joined by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to announce the first project of the initiative, and

(iii)

that urban areas are responsible for over 75 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world;

(b)

notes that the initiative will:

(i)

create a purchasing consortium that will pool the purchasing power of the cities to lower the prices of energy saving products and accelerate the development and deployment of new energy saving and greenhouse gas reducing technologies and products,

(ii)

mobilise the best experts in the world to provide technical assistance to cities to develop and implement plans that will result in greater energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions, and

(iii)

create and deploy common measurement tools and Internet-based communications systems that will allow cities to establish a baseline on their greenhouse gas emissions, measure the effectiveness of the program in reducing these emissions and to share what works and what does not work with each other; and

(c)

commends this scheme and urges the Federal Government and state governments to assist local government in Australia’s capital cities to join the initiative and introduce:

(i)

more energy efficient lighting for traffic and street lights,

(ii)

building codes and practices that make use of more effective insulation, more energy efficient windows, more energy efficient heating and ventilation systems and more energy efficient lighting,

(iii)

more energy efficient municipal water and sanitation systems,

(iv)

localised, cleaner electric generation system,

(v)

biofuels or hybrid technologies for city buses, garbage trucks and other vehicles,

(vi)

schemes to reduce traffic congestion,

(vii)

use the biomass from city garbage dumps to generate electricity, and

(viii)

more intelligent design of electric grids both across the city and within office and municipal buildings.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the evaluation, released in July 2006, of the South Australian Sexual Health and Relationships Education (Share) project 2003-2005 which:

(i)

recognised the Share program as current best practice in sex education, moving from a model of sex education focussing on the human reproductive system to a broader sexual health promotion encompassing sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles,

(ii)

found it essential that sexual health and relationships education acknowledges young people as diverse and sexual beings, provides an appropriate and comprehensive curriculum context, is positive about sexuality, moves beyond information provision, addresses issues of gender and the social and cultural world in which young people make decisions and refrain from teaching abstinence alone, and

(iii)

placed a high priority on supporting the professional development and training of teachers with well-resourced, sympathetic experts to support, guide and advise; and

(b)

calls on the Government to take to the next meeting of education ministers a proposal to develop a national framework of comprehensive, evidence-based sex education for students in all Australian schools.

Senator Kemp to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following matter be referred to the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by the first sitting day in 2007:

Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector, with particular reference to:

(a)

the current size and scale of Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector;

(b)

the economic, social and cultural benefits of the sector;

(c)

the overall financial, cultural and artistic sustainability of the sector;

(d)

the current and likely future priority infrastructure needs of the sector;

(e)

opportunities for strategies and mechanisms that the sector could adopt to improve its practices, capacity and sustainability, including to deal with unscrupulous or unethical conduct;

(f)

opportunities for existing government support programs for Indigenous visual arts and crafts to be more effectively targeted to improve the sector’s capacity and future sustainability; and

(g)

future opportunities for further growth of Australia’s Indigenous visual arts and craft sector, including through further developing international markets.

Senator Abetz to move on Wednesday, 16 August 2006:

That the Senate—

(a)

dissociates itself from the notice of motion given on 9 May 2006 by the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) relating to the Exclusive Brethren;

(b)

regrets the ongoing deferral of the motion by Senator Bob Brown;

(c)

condemns the use of parliamentary processes to vilify lawful religious minorities; and

(d)

calls on Senator Bob Brown to withdraw his motion immediately.