Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Select Committee on Mental Health be extended to 28 April 2006.

Senators Kemp and Lundy to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

congratulates the Australian Olympic Team for achieving an outstanding result at the Winter Olympics in Torino;

(b)

particularly congratulates medal winners Dale Begg-Smith and Alisa Camplin in helping the Australian team achieve its second best result at the Winter Olympics;

(c)

congratulates the Olympic Winter Institute and the Australian Institute of Sport on their key contributions to the preparation of the Australian Winter Olympic team; and

(d)

acknowledges the important contribution of the Australian Sports Commission to the preparation of the team.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Insiders program on Sunday, 26 February 2006, the Treasurer (Mr Costello) said that he thinks ‘we can offer a tolerant Australia which respects the rights and liberties of all as long as we’ve got agreement on a few key points. One is a secular state’, and

(ii)

on Monday, 27 February 2006 during question time, the Minister for Finance and Administration (Senator Minchin) said ‘It is a fact that in Australia, as a long part of the Western tradition, there is a separation of church and state’; and

(b)

calls on the Government, if it is serious about a secular state, to take steps to:

(i)

remove religious references from statutory oaths and pledges,

(ii)

abolish official parliamentary prayers,

(iii)

remove tax advantages that solely apply for religious purposes, and

(iv)

consider other ways of achieving a true separation of church and state.

Senator McLucas to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following matter be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 17 August 2006:

An examination of the funding and operation of the Commonwealth-State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA), including:

(a)

an examination of the intent and effect of the three CSTDAs to date;

(b)

the appropriateness or otherwise of current Commonwealth/state/territory joint funding arrangements, including an analysis of levels of unmet needs and, in particular, the unmet need for accommodation services and support;

(c)

an examination of the ageing/disability interface with respect to health, aged care and other services, including the problems of jurisdictional overlap and inefficiency; and

(d)

an examination of alternative funding, jurisdiction and administrative arrangements, including relevant examples from overseas.

Senator Coonan to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, and for other purposes. Broadcasting Services Amendment (Subscription Television Drama and Community Broadcasting Licences) Bill 2006.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the recent reports of abuse on residents of aged care nursing homes; and

(b)

calls on the Government and all state and territory governments to protect older Australians by:

(i)

exploring the introduction of mandatory reporting of suspected abuse,

(ii)

exploring the potential benefits of pre-employment police checks for aged care workers, and

(iii)

supporting the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Whistleblowers) Bill 2002 [2004] which seeks to make reprisals against whistleblowers illegal and punishable by fine or imprisonment.

Senators Allison and Stott Despoja to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the current speculation about Iran’s capabilities and intentions with regard to its possible development of nuclear weapons,

(ii)

with deep concern, the threat of military action being considered against Iran, including the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, and

(iii)

successive resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly on negative security assurances and guarantees from the nuclear weapon states that nuclear weapons will never be used against non-nuclear armed states, and the importance of that principle in ensuring that non-nuclear weapon states have no motive to acquire nuclear weapons;

(b)

urges the Government to pursue a resolution of the Iranian crisis based on the following principles:

(i)

no use of any military intervention whatsoever by any party, for any reason,

(ii)

a clear commitment by all nuclear-armed parties not to use nuclear weapons in this situation, and to recommit to the doctrine of no ‘first use’ of nuclear weapons,

(iii)

a clear commitment by all parties to the global elimination of nuclear weapons, including reaffirmation of the Final Declaration of the 2000 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review conference, and relevant UN General Assembly resolutions, including the L28 resolution sponsored by Japan and Australia,

(iv)

the implementation of the 1995 Non-Proliferation Treaty Resolution on a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, implementation of the annual consensus-adopted UN General Assembly resolutions on the ‘Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East’,

(v)

a diplomatic path to the removal of tensions between the United States of America, Israel and Iran, involving compromise on all sides (except where the development or threat of nuclear weapons is concerned), recognising the legitimate security concerns of all parties including Israel and Iran, and refraining absolutely from inflammatory statements, and

(vi)

encouragement of all states parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to remain within that framework and all non-states parties to join that regime; and

(c)

conveys the text of this resolution to all UN Security Council missions and their foreign ministers or secretaries of state, and the Governments of Iran and Israel.

Senator Moore to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the following reports of the Community Affairs References Committee be extended to 22 June 2006:

(a)

workplace exposure to toxic dust; and

(b)

petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal communities.

Senator Wong to move five sitting days after today:

That the Declaration of percentage of Commonwealth supported places to be provided by Table A providers for a course of study in medicine, made under paragraph 36-35(1)(b) of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, be disallowed.