Senator Fifield to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that there are six schools for deaf and hearing impaired students in Melbourne but no dedicated school for blind and vision impaired students;

(b)

acknowledges that whilst mainstream schooling is appropriate for many children with disabilities, some children require more intensive support in specialist environments for a period of time;

(c)

supports the right of parents to choose the educational setting that best meets the needs of their child;

(d)

commends the parents involved in the Insight Education Centre for the Blind and Vision Impaired for their tireless advocacy and hard work on behalf of blind and vision impaired children; and

(e)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

establish a Commonwealth Disability and Carer Ombudsman to undertake a nationwide audit of special schools that cater for particular disabilities to establish the needs that exist across Australia, and

(ii)

provide $2.2 million in capital funding to the Insight Education Centre for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

Senator Mason to move on the next day of sitting:

That—

(a)

the Senate notes recommendation 1 of the interim report of the Building the Education Revolution (BER) Implementation Taskforce (the Orgill report), which reads as follows, ‘In the interest of transparency and public accountability, the Taskforce recommends that each education authority publish school specific project cost data related to BER P21 in a nationally common structure with consistent definitions’; and

(b)

in the interest of transparency and public accountability in relation to the BER program, there be laid on the table no later than Tuesday, 23 November 2010, school specific project cost data related to each BER P21 school project, in a nationally common structure with consistent definitions.

Senator Ludwig to move on the next day of sitting:

That—

(a)

consideration of general business order of the day no. 15 (Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) Bill 2010) have precedence over all government business on Thursday, 18 November 2010; and

(b)

at 12.45 pm, the Restoring Territory Rights (Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation) Bill 2010 be interrupted to allow consideration of bills listed on the daily Order of Business, under the heading ‘At 12.45 pm’.

Senator Fifield to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate notes the Gillard Government’s failure to undertake a cost benefit analysis of their National Broadband Network plan to ensure the most cost effective delivery of competitive broadband services to all Australians in a manner responsive to our future needs.

Senator Bushby to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Economics References Committee be authorised to meet during the sitting of the Senate on Monday, 22 November 2010 and Thursday, 25 November 2010 for private briefings.

Senator Ronaldson to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Act 1973 to provide for fairer indexation, and for related purposes. Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Amendment (Fair Indexation) Bill 2010.

Senator Fisher to move on 18 November 2010:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Senator Conroy), by 22 November 2010, the following documents relating to the National Broadband Network:

(a)

the complete text of the departmental ‘Red Book’ advice provided to the incoming Government about the National Broadband Network (NBN), including text ‘blacked out’ in the version of the ‘Red Book’ publicly released on 16 November 2010 and, including in particular, text reflecting NBN Co’s view of any recommendations made in the McKinsey and Company and KPMG Implementation Study;

(b)

in respect of sites chosen for early roll-out of the NBN:

(i)

the criteria (including engineering advice) used as the basis for choosing each of the stage 1 and seven stage 2 sites in Tasmania (to which the Minister referred to in Senate Estimates on 25 May 2010), and

(ii)

the ‘commercial, construction and local authority acceptance criteria’ (to which reference is made on p. 12 of the NBN Co annual report for 2009-10, tabled in the Senate on 15 November 2010) used as the basis for choosing each of the first and second release sites around the rest of Australia; and

(c)

the agreed set of enterprise bargaining agreement principles ‘signed and agreed by the ACTU, coordinating right through with the CEPU and a range of other unions’ (to which the Minister referred to in Senate Question Time on 15 November 2010) and on which the Minister based his reassurance (also made during Senate Question Time on 15 November 2010) that ‘there is no suggestion at all that there would be a wages blow-out’ in rolling out the NBN.

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

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Banking Act 1959 to place controls on changes in the variable interest rates of ADIs, and for related purposes. Banking Amendment (Controls on Variable Interest Rate Changes) Bill 2010.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

that the planned Wandoan coal mine in Queensland would, at its peak coal production, contribute the equivalent of 0.17 per cent of total global emissions according to Xstrata’s own numbers,

(ii)

that approximately 108 of the 186 world nations have annual domestic emissions less than what will result from this single mine each year,

(iii)

that the emissions from burning this coal would neither be affected by a domestic carbon price nor be relevant to the mine’s assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act),

(iv)

the statement by the Prime Minister on 17 November 2010 that ‘it is up to this generation of people and the generations coming up fast behind it to take the action necessary to tackle climate change’, and

(v)

the hypocrisy of approving new coal mines while arguing that climate change is real and urgent; and

(b)

calls on the Government to give itself the power to stop such hugely polluting developments by introducing a long-promised greenhouse trigger into the Act.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that a statement from a group of the world’s largest investors, representing US$15 trillion:

(i)

calls for domestic and international policies to ‘unlock the vast benefits of low-carbon markets and avoid economic devastation caused by climate change’,

(ii)

cites potentially 20 per cent losses to gross domestic product by 2050 if climate change goes unabated,

(iii)

notes the benefits of both a carbon price and regulation in driving investment into renewable energy and other clean technologies, and

(iv)

calls for emissions targets, strong and sustained price signals, energy and transportation policies, the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies, adaptation measures and corporate disclosure of climate risk to be implemented;

(b)

applauds the moves by elements of Australian business to embrace the opportunities provided by ambitious climate action; and

(c)

calls on the Government to consider the increasing benefits of swiftly transforming the economy for low to zero emissions.