Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

welcomes:

(i)

the Japanese resolution in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly First Committee, entitled ‘Renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons’ (L32), which Australia co-sponsored and was adopted on 26 October 2006 by 168 votes in favour, 4 votes against and 8 abstentions, and

(ii)

the joint Australia-Mexico-New Zealand resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (L48) which was passed by the First Committee on 26 October 2006 by 175 votes in favour, 2 votes against and 4 abstentions;

(b)

notes that:

(i)

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, at Princeton University on 28 November 2006, emphasised the urgency of eliminating nuclear weapons,

(ii)

the Seventh Summit of Peace Nobel’s in Rome calls for the elimination of nuclear weapons as a matter of the utmost urgency, and

(iii)

the United States of America and the Russian Federation have made significant cuts to their nuclear arsenal as agreed in the 2002 Moscow Treaty;

(c)

supports ongoing government efforts, including through the next NPT Review conference cycle commencing with the first session of the Preparatory Committee in April 2007, to:

(i)

encourage further steps leading to nuclear disarmament, to which all states parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are committed under Article VI of the Treaty, including deeper reductions in all types of nuclear weapons,

(ii)

stress the necessity of a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies to minimise the risk that these weapons will ever be used and to facilitate the process of their total elimination,

(iii)

call on the nuclear-weapon states to further reduce the operational status of nuclear systems in ways that promote international stability and security, and

(iv)

emphasise the need for all states to take further steps and effective measures towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, with a view to achieving a peaceful and safe world free of nuclear weapons; and

(d)

urges all states which have not already done so to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as soon as possible and to support an early start to negotiation on a fissile material cut-off treaty.

Senator Vanstone to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Migration Act 1958, and for related purposes. Migration Amendment (Review Provisions) Bill 2006.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the resolution of the Ministerial Council of Police and Emergency Management on 17 November 2006 to request that the Treasurer (Mr Costello) introduce a compulsory consumer product safety standard under the Trade Practices Act 1974 requiring that all cigarettes manufactured in, or imported into, Australia must meet an identified performance standard based on that adopted in the United States of America and Canada, that no more than 25 per cent of cigarettes tested in accordance with the Australian Standard will exhibit a full length burn,

(ii)

that at least six Australians every year lose their lives because of fires caused by cigarettes,

(iii)

that a report provided to the Department of Health and Ageing in 2004 estimated that at least 7 per cent of bushfires are caused by discarded cigarettes,

(iv)

that Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation expert, Mr Stephen Moreton, in evidence given to the Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee on 1 November 2006, confirmed that fire conditions would be as bad or worse over the next 6 months than in 1983,

(v)

that research by Professor Pitman and colleagues from Macquarie University has estimated that the bushfire risk would increase by 25 per cent by 2050 due to climate change and could rise as high as 40 to 100 per cent in some areas, and

(vi)

that low fire risk cigarettes, which have a lower propensity to burn when left unattended, are a practical and effective way to reduce fires from cigarettes; and

(b)

calls on the Government to work with the New South Wales Government to fast track the regulatory impact statement required under the Council of Australian Governments ‘Principles and Guidelines for National Standard Setting and Regulatory Action by Ministerial Councils and Standard-Setting Bodies’, so that the mandatory standard for low fire risk cigarettes can be introduced as a matter of urgency.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the opening address by the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation (Senator Abetz) to the 15th Australian Weeds Conference in September 2006 in which he acknowledged that:

•   weeds are one of the most important natural resource management issues Australia faces today,

•   weeds are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in this country, and

•   for the sake of Australia’s economic wellbeing, our future health and our biodiversity – we must be up to the challenge,

(ii)

that weeds seriously deplete biodiversity and cost the Australian economy approximately $4 billion per year,

(iii)

that funding for the Weeds Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management runs out in 2008,

(iv)

the application for funding for the years 2007 to 2014 by its replacement, the Invasive Plants Cooperative Research Centre, was rejected,

(v)

that, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, farmers spent over 4 million days working on weeds in the 2004-05 period, and

(vi)

the negative impact that de-funding the Weeds Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) will have on farmers, park managers, natural resource management managers and the meat, livestock and cropping industries; and

(b)

calls on the Government to fund a national body in 2007, so as to create a seamless transition from the existing Weeds CRC, which can deliver nationally-coordinated and collaborative weed research.

Senator Ellison to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That the time allotted for consideration of the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2006 be as follows:

All remaining stages––commencing immediately until 11 pm, on Thursday, 7 December 2006.

(2)

That this order operate as an allocation of time under standing order 142.

Senator Ellison to move on the next day of sitting:

That—

(1)

The days of meeting of the Senate for 2007 be as follows:

Autumn sittings:

Tuesday, 6 February to Thursday, 8 February

Monday, 26 February to Thursday, 1 March

Tuesday, 20 March to Thursday, 22 March

Monday, 26 March to Thursday, 29 March

Budget sittings:

Tuesday, 8 May to Thursday, 10 May

Winter sittings:

Tuesday, 12 June to Thursday, 14 June

Monday, 18 June to Thursday, 21 June

Spring sittings:

Tuesday, 7 August to Thursday, 9 August

Monday, 13 August to Thursday, 16 August

Spring sittings (2):

Monday, 10 September to Thursday, 13 September

Monday, 17 September to Thursday, 20 September

Spring sittings (3):

Monday, 15 October to Thursday, 18 October

Monday, 22 October to Thursday, 25 October

Monday, 5 November to Thursday, 8 November

Monday, 26 November to Thursday, 29 November

Monday, 3 December to Thursday, 6 December.

(2)

Estimates hearings by legislative and general purpose standing committees for 2007 be scheduled as follows:

2006-07 additional estimates:

Monday, 12 February and Tuesday, 13 February and, if required, Friday, 16 February (Group A)

Wednesday, 14 February and Thursday, 15 February and, if required, Friday, 16 February (Group B).

2007-08 Budget estimates:

Monday, 21 May to Thursday, 24 May (Group A)

Monday, 28 May to Thursday, 31 May (Group B)

Monday, 12 November and Tuesday, 13 November (supplementary hearings—Group A)

Wednesday, 14 November and Thursday, 15 November (supplementary hearing—–Group B).

(3)

Committees consider the proposed expenditure in accordance with the allocation of departments to committees agreed to by the Senate.

(4)

Committees meet in the following groups:

Group A:

Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

Finance and Public Administration

Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport

Group B:

Community Affairs

Economics

Employment, Workplace Relations and Education

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

(5)

Committees report to the Senate on the following dates:

(a)

Wednesday, 21 March 2007 in respect of the 2006-07 additional estimates; and

(b)

Tuesday, 19 June 2007 in respect of the 2007-08 Budget estimates.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that 9 December 2006 will mark 5 years since Mr David Hicks was detained; and

(b)

calls on the Government to ensure that Mr Hicks receives a fair trial.