Senate debates

Thursday, 11 May 2006

Notices

Presentation

Senator Humphries to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—
(a)
notes:
(i)
that 20 years have passed since the nuclear reactor accident which occurred on 26 April 1986 at Chernobyl, with adverse consequences for approximately 2 million people in each of Belarus, the Ukraine and Russia, with some 600 000 clean-up workers and more than 350 000 evacuees being exposed to high levels of radiation,
(ii)
some estimates that the radiation emitted by the Chernobyl blast delivered into the atmosphere 90 times the radioactive materials of the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima,
(iii)
that a radius of 30 kilometres around the Chernobyl reactor has been declared an exclusion zone that will be uninhabitable for centuries,
(iv)
that as far away as Britain, hundreds of farms are still suffering from low-level radioactive debris, which was borne thousands of kilometres by winds from Chernobyl,
(v)
that of the three most affected countries, the Ukraine has a special role as custodian of the Chernobyl reactor site, with the cost of a new sarcophagus likely to slow the development of its economy, and
(vi)
that the Ukraine and Belarus have, since independence, demonstrated good faith to the world community by eliminating their stockpiles of Soviet nuclear warheads, and the Ukraine has shut down the three remaining operable reactors on the Chernobyl site;
(b)
expresses concern that:
(i)
as time progresses there has been a gradual downgrading of awareness in the Australian and world community about the Chernobyl tragedy and its lessons,
(ii)
the affected people in Belarus, the Ukraine and Russia are not receiving appropriate treatment due to a lack of funding, alternative priorities and ignorance of the full consequences, which include thousands of thyroid cancers in the affected zone,
(iii)
difficult economic conditions in the Ukraine will hinder that country’s ability to fully respond to the challenge of securing the safety of the closed Chernobyl power station, and
(iv)
the Ukraine needs to secure the safety of currently operating reactors, especially in light of its plans to expand nuclear power; and
(c)
calls on the Government to:
(i)
consider the lessons of Chernobyl when implementing Australia’s nuclear energy policy, and its policy with respect to sales of Australian uranium to other countries,
(ii)
take steps, such as educational programs, to ensure that the lessons of Chernobyl are not forgotten by the generation that witnessed the catastrophe, nor missed by the generation of Australians that has been born since 1986, and
(iii)
ensure that open inquiry and debate are pursued in the consideration of nuclear power issues.

Senator Joyce to move on Wednesday, 14 June 2006:

That the Petroleum Retail Marketing Sites Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 73 and made under the Petroleum Retail Marketing Sites Act 1980, be disallowed.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)
That the Senate notes that the Community Affairs Legislation Committee report, Provisions of the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Other Measures) Bill 2005 and the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work) Bill 2005, tabled in the Senate on 28 November 2005 recommended:

…the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations reassess which of the guidelines under the package are to be disallowable by the Parliament; that is, that it ensure key aspects of the guidelines be determined by disallowable instruments. This will ensure consistency in application as well as appropriate Parliamentary scrutiny. In particular, the Committee recommends that guidelines dealing with what constitutes unsuitable paid employment, special family circumstances, suitable and unsuitable activities for participation, and compliance issues are based on disallowable instruments.

(2)
That the following matter be referred to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 14 September 2006:
The extent and effectiveness of the following regulations made under the Social Security Act 1991 in giving effect to the recommendation of the Community Affairs Legislation Committee’s report:
(a)
Social Security (Activity Agreement Requirements) (DEST) Determination 2006 [F2006L00390];
(b)
Social Security (Activity Agreement Requirements) (DEWR) Determination 2006 [F2006L00338];
(c)
Social Security (Activity Agreement Requirements) (FaCSIA) Determination 2006 [F2006L00348];
(d)
Social Security (Prospective Determinations for Parenting Payment Recipients) (DEWR) Guidelines 2006 [F2006L00336];
(e)
Social Security (Reasonable Excuse) (DEST) Determination 2006 [F2006L00397];
(f)
Social Security (Reasonable Excuse) (DEWR) Determination 2006 [F2006L00340];
(g)
Social Security (Reasonable Excuse) (FaCSIA) Determination 2006 [F2006L00350];
(h)
Social Security (Special Circumstances relating to a Person’s Family) (DEWR) Determination 2006 [F2006L00339];
(i)
Social Security (Special Circumstances relating to a Person’s Family) (FaCSIA) Determination 2006 [F2006L00349];
(j)
Social Security (Unsuitable Work) (DEWR) Determination 2006 [F2006L00341]; and
(k)
Social Security (Unsuitable Work) (FaCSIA) Determination 2006 [F2006L00347].

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

That the Criminal Code Amendment Regulations 2005 (No. 14), as contained in Select Legislative Instrument 2005 No. 298, specifying the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation, and made under the Criminal Code Act 1995, be disallowed.