Senator Crossin to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on the provisions of the Crimes Amendment (Working With Children—Criminal History) Bill 2009 be extended to 19 November 2009.

Senator Barnett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the following reports of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee be extended to 26 November 2009:

(a)

access to justice; and

(b)

Australia’s judicial system and the role of judges.

Senator Barnett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Tuesday, 17 November 2009, from 4 pm to 5.30 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into Australia’s judicial system and the role of judges.

Senator Cormann to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

a)   Notes that:

1)   the Rudd Government is ignoring the accelerating crisis in aged care, in particular the serious financial viability challenges faced by aged care providers involved in the provision of high care beds;

2)   the Government appears to justify its inaction by pointing to advice from the Department of Health and Ageing, also submitted to various Senate committees, that “efficient” aged care providers are financially viable;

3)   the Senate has sought to verify those claims by seeking access to the de-identified data from the audited General Financial Purpose Accounts, which the Department of Health and Ageing has been collecting from aged care providers since the 2004-05 financial year;

4)   on 13 August 2009, in answer to question on notice 1688, the Minister indicated that the de-identified data from the General Purpose Accounts was available on the Department of Health and Ageing website – when in fact it wasn’t;

5)   on 19 August 2009 the Senate ordered that the de-identified data from the General Purpose Accounts and associated reports from the years 2005-06 to 2008-09 be laid on the table;

6)   the Government eventually made the 2006-07 de-identified unit record data available;

7)   the Government refused to table the remaining information part of the Senate’s order, providing the following reasons in a letter dated 20 September 2009:

a)   information from 05-06 was of ‘poor quality’ and ‘could be misleading and not contribute to the public understanding of these issues’;

b)   Access Economic and KPMG reports of the 2006-07 data were to ‘inform the Cabinet’s deliberations’; and

c)   information from 2007-08 is incomplete, awaiting some late returns.

b)   Considers that the above grounds are either not supported by precedent or insufficient justification for the refusal to provide the requested information and documents to the Senate, noting in particular that:

1)   the Senate has previously explicitly rejected the proposition that information that may ‘confuse the public debate’ is a sufficient ground not to release information;

2)   not every document placed before Cabinet reveals the deliberations of Cabinet, and only if the reports in question revealed Cabinet deliberations would they conform with the recognised ground; and

3)   incomplete material can (and should) be tabled with a caveat as to its incompleteness.

c)   Rejects the Ministers grounds for withholding the national de-identified data and associated reports.

d)   Considers publication of the national de-identified data from the audited General Purpose Accounts and associated reports to be in the public interest.

e)   Again orders that there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing by no later than 12 pm on 18 November 2009, the following documents:

1)   National de-identified data from the audited General Purpose Accounts of aged care providers for:

i)   2005-06;

ii)   2007-08, including any report/analysis by the department and/or any third party consultant; and

2)   the report/analysis by Access Economics and KPMG based on the 2006-07 de-identified unit record data from the audited General Purpose Accounts of aged care providers.

Senator Cormann to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

Notes that:

1)   the Health Insurance Amendment (Revival of Table Items) Bill 2009 passed the Senate on 28 October 2009;

2)   the Clerk of the Senate provided advice that there was no constitutional barrier to the Senate introducing (and passing) this bill;

3)   the Minister for Health and Ageing told the House of Representatives on 29 October 2009, that the Government had legal advice that this bill was unconstitutional, that it should not have been introduced in the Senate and had not been appropriately passed;

4)   the Minister also told the House of Representatives that the Government, was “happy to provide that legal advice” (9.59am, 29/10/2009);

5)   subsequent and repeated requests to obtain a copy of the legal advice the Minister relied upon to make her claims on 29 October 2009 that the bill passed by the Senate was unconstitutional have been unsuccessful;

6)   eventually a copy of departmental advice dated 4 November 2009 was provided, advice which clearly had been drafted well after the Minister made her claims based on ‘legal advice’ on 29 October 2009, and after requests for a copy of that legal advice had been put to the Minister.

(b)

Orders that there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing in the Senate, by no later than 5pm on 17 November 2009, a copy of the legal advice referred to by the Minister on 29 October 2009, indicating that the Health Insurance Amendment (Revival of Table Items) Bill 2009 was unconstitutional.

Senator Minchin to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, no later than 10 am on Wednesday, 18 November 2009, a document outlining:

(a)

the selection process undertaken to appoint Mr Mike Kaiser as the Principal – Government Relations and External Affairs for NBN Co., as announced on 13 November 2009, including where and when the position was advertised, when the Minister became aware of the proposed appointment, whether there was any communications between the Prime Minister, the Minister and/or the office of the Prime Minister or the office of the Minister with the Executive Chairman of NBN Co., Mr Mike Quigley, about the appointment and the nature and timing of this communication; and

(b)

the annual starting salary for the position of Principal – Government Relations and External Affairs for NBN Co.

Senator Ronaldson to move on 24 November 2009:

That the definition of electioneering in subregulation 3AA(11) in item [1] of Schedule 1 of the Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 250 and made under the Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990, be disallowed.

Senator Hanson-Young to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

does not support the non-consultative process which has led to the closures of the Tasmanian, South Australian and Northern Territory offices of the National Archives of Australia;

(b)

recognises:

(i)

the disadvantages that will be faced by researchers, organisations and the general public as a result of the office closures, and

(ii)

that the number of reading room visits has remained steady over the past 5 years despite an increase in online requests and viewing; and

(c)

calls on the Government to reverse the decision to close the three offices to ensure all Australians have access to the archive collection in their state or territory.

Senator Bob Brown to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

congratulates the nation of Palau for giving a temporary home to six Uighur men who have been held by the United States of America (US) in Guantanamo Bay prison;

(b)

recognises that the men were cleared of all charges of war crimes and that the US acknowledges they cannot be sent back to China because of the risk of persecution;

(c)

notes the strong and vibrant Uighur community in Australia; and

(d)

calls on the Australian Government to consider the resettlement of the men in Australia.

Senator Ludlam to move on the next day of sitting:

That, on Tuesday, 17 November 2009:

(a)

the hours of meeting shall be 12.30 pm to 6.30 pm and 7 pm to 11.40 pm;

(b)

the routine of business from 7 pm shall be government business only; and

(c)

the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 11 pm.

Senator Trood to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee on the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2008 [No. 2] be extended to 25 February 2010.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the recent decision by the Northern Territory Government to refuse to provide renal health services to new interstate patients in the border regions of Western Australia and South Australia is leading to significant hardship and poor health outcomes and potentially putting lives at risk;

(b)

raises concern over the plight of Mr Patrick Tjungurrayi, a renown member of the Pupunya Tula group of artists who together raised a million dollars to establish dialysis services in Alice Springs and Kintore, which Patrick is now unable to access;

(c)

calls on the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, to convene an urgent meeting of the relevant state and territory ministers to negotiate an outcome to this impasse;

(d)

suggests that the Minister consider interim measures to address unmet demand prior to the establishment of the new 15 seat renal unit in Alice Springs, including the provision of additional resources to enable night dialysis; and

(e)

highlights the rising demand for kidney dialysis by Aboriginal Australians in central Australia and other regions and recommends that a longer term planning process is needed to assess and respond to projected growth in the need for renal services.

Senators Cormann, Fielding and Xenophon to move on 25 November 2009:

That the Health Insurance (Cataract Surgery) Determination 2009, made under subsection 3C(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973, be disallowed.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table, no later than 4 pm on 18 November 2009, the assessment by Geoscience Australia reportedly identifying prospective sites for underground carbon dioxide storage sites in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, referred to in an article, ‘New hope for viable clean coal projects’ published in The Australian on 24 October 2009.