Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senators Wong and Keneally, and on behalf of Senator Ayres, and on behalf of Senators Dodson and McCarthy, move general business notices of motion Nos 1100, 1102 and 1110 together:

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 1100

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Australian Government is responsible for borders, quarantine, and assisting Australians in jeopardy and stranded overseas,

(ii) since the Prime Minister capped international passenger arrivals on 13 July 2020, the crisis faced by Australians stranded overseas has worsened,

(iii) the Senate has previously called on the Government to:

(A) increase quarantine capacity and put all options on the table to return stranded Australians, especially from India,

(B) bring stranded Australians home by Christmas 2020, as the Prime Minister promised he would do, and

(C) expand safe and effective federal quarantine capacity and ensure everyone is welcomed home with care and compassion,

(iv) the Morrison Government still has no comprehensive plan to help every stranded Australian return home, and

(v) on 30 April 2021, the Government announced 'a temporary pause on travellers from India entering Australian territory' and that 'Failure to comply with an emergency determination under the Biosecurity Act 2015 may incur a civil penalty of 300 penalty units, five years' imprisonment, or both'; and

(b) calls on the Government to help Australians in India return, rather than jailing them, and fix our quarantine system rather than leaving our fellow Australians stranded.

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 1102

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) mining companies contracting out permanent jobs to labour hire has grown dramatically in the past decade,

(ii) most labour hire workers in coal mining are employed as casuals, even though they do the same work as permanents, with full-time hours and rosters set up to a year in advance,

(iii) in the Hunter Valley coalfields, 43% of open cut coal miners are employed on labour hire arrangements,

(iv) most of these labour hire workers are employed casually and receive substantially worse pay and conditions than mineworkers employed by the mine owner or operator,

(v) labour hire workers are typically paid 30-40% less than permanents in the coal industry, and

(vi) analysis by the McKell Institute shows that the lower wages paid to labour hire coal miners in the Hunter Valley costs the region up to $282 million year in economic activity, compared to workers being employed directly in permanent jobs; and

(b) further notes that, on 18 March 2021, One Nation, the National Party and the Liberal Party voted to amend the Fair Work Act, entrenching casualisation for coal mineworkers in the Hunter Valley.

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 1110

That the Senate—

(a) notes that Reconciliation Week takes place every year between 27 May and

3 June and celebrates two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey - the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court's decision in the Mabo case;

(b) notes that this year's theme 'More than a word - Reconciliation takes action' recognises the necessity of taking bolder steps to address the continuing effects of colonisation and heal relationships between the broader Australian community and First Nations people;

(c) acknowledges the role of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and now Reconciliation Australia in providing national leadership on reconciliation, including holding organisations and institutions accountable for making tangible changes through the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program;

(d) notes that the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is the only political party to have committed to a RAP;

(e) congratulates the seven First Nations emerging leaders who are present in Parliament this week as part of the ALP's First Nations Leadership Program under its RAP; and

(f) commits to take more courageous action on reconciliation, including to realise the objectives articulated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.