Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Hansard source

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That provisions of paragraphs 5 to 8 of standing order 111 not apply to the Laws Amendment (2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance) Bill 2020, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings.

I also table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement was not available at the time of publication

Senator Griff to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

  (i) with deep concern, the Government's decision to privatise aged care assessments from April 2021 with a tender to be held this year, and

  (ii) the Government's decision was not made in consultation with State Health Ministers;

(b) recognises that there are eighty aged care assessment teams (ACAT) operating across the nation which include state-employed multi-disciplinary teams of nurses, geriatricians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and social workers who work at public hospitals, to expertly assess the more complex level of care required by individual elderly Australians;

(c) further notes the recent statement by the Chair of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety on ACAT privatisation that:

  (i) the Royal Commission's Interim Report did not endorse the Government's position on privatising ACAT, and

  (ii) the Commission has not yet made a recommendation about which sector or mechanism will best achieve an integration of Regional Assessment Services and the Aged Care Assessment Teams;

(d) acknowledges that:

  (i) health experts argue that no private providers can offer the expertise to adequately assess the often complex needs of hundreds of thousands of elderly Australians, and

  (ii) outsourcing assessment teams would have a serious detrimental impact on the delivery of proper care; and

(e) calls on the Federal Government to consult with the state health ministers on the issue of ACAT privatisation, as a matter of urgency.

Senator Dean Smith to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that 6 February 2020, marks the 68th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia and Head of the Commonwealth;

(b) recognises the enduring role that Her Majesty has played as a symbol of peace and stability across the Commonwealth; and

(c) extends to Her Majesty, its appreciation for the sense of duty and extraordinary grace in which she fulfils her duties as Queen of Australia and Head of the Commonwealth.

Senator Abetz to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes the Australian citizenship pledge, which in part reads as follows:

I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey; and

(b) calls on all schools to consider having the citizenship pledge recited by students on appropriate occasions.

Senator Ruston to move on the next day of sitting:

That on Monday, 10 February 2020:

(a) the sitting of the Senate shall be suspended from 11 am until 2.30 pm, to enable senators to attend the address by His Excellency Mr Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia;

(b) the routine of business from not later than 2.30 pm shall be as follows:

  (i) questions without notice,

  (ii) motions to take note of answers until 4 pm, and

  (iii) consideration of private senators bills until 5.20 pm; and

(c) following conclusion of consideration of private senators bills, the Senate return to the routine of business.

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

That the Senate notes—

(a) that Norwegian oil giant, Equinor, has received its second of four rounds of approvals from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, the government regulator responsible for oversight into exploratory petroleum drilling in the Great Australian Bight;

(b) the deep community opposition to 'big oil' drilling in one of our most pristine ocean environments and sites of natural heritage in the world; and

(c) that tens of thousands of Australians continue to fight for the Bight, in forums both formal and informal, as communities across the country unite to reject Equinor's disastrous plan.

Senators Griff and Patrick to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes a number of recent examples of questionable conduct by Government Ministers that may fall under the purview of an independent anti-corruption commission, if one existed federally, including:

  (i) numerous allegations against the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Mr Angus Taylor, including questions over the $80 million purchase of overland flow water licences and his ties to a company accused of clearing endangered grassland, and claims of document falsification in relation to the Sydney Lord Mayor,

  (ii) Senator Bridget McKenzie and the 'sports rorts' affair, and

  (iii) suspected leaks of classified information from Minister Peter Dutton's office about the costs of medically evacuating refugees, where the confidential information was reportedly de-classified at a time the Australian Federal Police was still investigating the leak; and

(b) further notes that the Government's proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) would not have the ability to make public findings of corruption, and can only refer potentially criminal behaviour, and will fail to expose improper conduct of Members of Parliament and public servants; and

(c) calls on the Federal government to strengthen its proposed CIC and introduce a bill to create a federal anti-corruption commission that will have the power to hold public hearings and to make public findings of corruption.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) there are over 3 million people in Australia living in poverty including over 700,000 children,

  (ii) Newstart and Youth Allowance have not had an increase in real terms for over 25 years,

  (iii) the Government's continued failure to act has meant that those trying to survive on Newstart are falling even further behind, prompting the Australian Council of Social Service to call for an urgent $95 increase in Newstart, and

  (iv) the Government's position on Newstart is out of step with community expectations; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to make it a priority to help address poverty in Australia by raising Newstart and Youth Allowance by at least $95 a week.

Senator Griff to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) recognises transparency and accountability in Government are the hallmarks of a strong democracy;

(b) acknowledges trust in government has reached an all-time low compounded by recent scandals;

(c) notes, with concern, the results of the Australian National University 2019 Australian election study that:

  (i) satisfaction with democracy is at its lowest level (59%) since the constitutional crisis of the 1970s,

  (ii) trust in Government has reached its lowest level on record, with just 25% believing people in government can be trusted, and

  (iii) 56% of Australians believe that the Government is run for 'a few big

interests', while just 12% believe the Government is run for 'all the people'; and

(d) further acknowledges that winning back people's trust is among the most urgent challenges facing political leaders;

(e) recognises rebuilding trust with voters involves tightening the rules around political donations;

(f) further recognises that donations to political parties revealed in the Australian Electoral Commission disclosures published on Monday demonstrate the need for urgent political donations reform;

(g) recognises that, ideally, the Government should ban corporate donations from vested interests that seek to influence government policy; and

(h) calls on the Federal Government, as a minimum, to:

  (i) lower the disclosure threshold for political donations to $1000; and

  (ii) for real time disclosures of donations to political parties.

Senator Faruqi to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) the issue of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination has caused significant mental, emotional and financial stress for communities where PFAS have contaminated land and water, including the communities around the RAAF bases in Williamtown and Richmond in New South Wales, the Oakey Army Aviation Centre in Queensland, and RAAF Base Tindal at Katherine in the Northern Territory,

  (ii) it has been more than 14 months since the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade tabled its report, Inquiry into the management of PFAS contamination in and around Defence bases, and the Federal Government has still not issued its response, and

  (iii) communities are waiting anxiously on the Government's response to the key recommendations of the Committee, such as that the Federal Government appoint a Coordinator-General to coordinate the national response to the PFAS contamination issue; undertake measures to improve participation in the voluntary blood testing program for PFAS; and assist property owners and businesses in affected areas for

demonstrated, quantifiable financial losses associated with PFAS contamination, including the possibility of buybacks; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to immediately release its response to the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade report into management of PFAS contamination in and around Defence bases.

Senator Faruqi to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) unprecedented bushfires across Australia have burnt at least 10 million hectares of land, primarily in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia,

  (ii) an estimated 800 million animals have been killed in NSW, with national impact to more than 1 billion animals, including kangaroos, koalas, bats and reptiles, and

  (iii) wildlife carers have been on the frontline, rescuing and caring for injured animals, often at great emotional, financial, physical and emotional cost and sacrifice; and

(b) thanks wildlife carers for their work in saving animals during the recent horrific bushfires.

Senator Waters to move on the next day of sitting:

The Senate—

(a) notes:

  (i) the overall national toll for women killed by violence since the start of 2020 already stands at 6, as reported by Counting Dead Women Australia from Destroy The Joint,

  (ii) there is no national government reporting program to record the ongoing toll of women killed by violence in real time,

  (iii) on average, one woman is murdered every week by her current or former partner,

  (iv) according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey 201:

     (A) more than 370,000 Australian women are subjected to violence from men each year,

     (B) 1 in 3 Australian women has experienced physical violence,

     (C) 1 in 5 Australian women has experienced sexual violence,

     (D) 1 in 6 Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner,

     (E) 1 in 4 Australian women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner,

     (F) Australian women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate partner, and

     (G) Australian women are 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalised for assault injuries arising from family and domestic violence than men, with hospitalisation rates rising by 23% since 2014-15;

  (v) in 2017, young women aged 15-34 accounted for more than half of reported sexual assaults,

  (vi) there is growing evidence that women with disabilities are more likely to experience violence,

  (vii) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women report experiencing violence at 3.1 times the rate of non-Indigenous women,

  (viii) in 2016-17, Indigenous women were 32 times as likely to be hospitalised due to family violence as non-Indigenous women,

  (ix) the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-22 states that the overall prevalence of violence against women will only start to decrease in the very long term as gender roles change,

  (x) the Fourth Action Plan recognises that demand for domestic and family violence services has increased, and will continue to increase; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

  (i) recognise domestic violence against women as a national security crisis,

  (ii) adequately fund frontline domestic, family and sexual violence and crisis housing services to ensure that all women seeking safety can access these services when and where they need them,

  (iii) legislate for 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave so that women don't have to choose between paying the bills and seeking safety,

  (iv) ensure that all government funded counselling services for domestic and family violence are delivered by expert family violence service providers in accordance with the National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Interventions,

  (v) implement all 25 recommendations of the 2015 Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration report, Domestic Violence in Australia, tabled 20 on August 2015; and

  (vi) maintain and publish an official real-time national toll of women killed by violence in Australia.

Senator Ruston to move on the next day of sitting:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance) Bill 2020, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings.