Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate:

(a)

notes the recent polling conducted by the Australian Research Group on community attitudes to climate change solutions which found that:

(i)

Australians want to embrace new, clean renewable energy technologies to deal with the challenge of climate change,

(ii)

Australians support a future based on new renewable energy industries rather than a continuing reliance on coal or a move to nuclear power, and

(iii)

the renewable options of more solar panels (91 per cent support) and more wind turbines (82 per cent support) were favoured alongside the proposal of reducing overall energy consumption (78 per cent support); and

(b)

calls on the Government to introduce effective policies that will result in significant clean energy investment and greenhouse abatement through support for:

(i)

the renewable energy market, by extending and expanding the existing Mandatory Renewable Energy Target, a renewable energy trading ‘green’ certificate scheme,

(ii)

the increased deployment of solar power through dual market of continuing the photovoltaic rebate scheme and introducing a feed-in-tariff,

(iii)

energy efficiency markets, by introducing a national energy efficiency target and an energy efficiency trading ‘white’ certificate scheme, and

(iv)

a transition to clean energy, by introducing a carbon emissions target and carbon emissions trading ‘black’ certificate scheme.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate:

(a)

notes that:

(i)

8 March is International Women’s Day,

(ii)

International Women’s Day is now an official holiday in Armenia, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, and

(iii)

recent average weekly earnings data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that female earnings are 66 per cent of male earnings; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

take immediate action to address wage discrepancies between Australian men and women,

(ii)

reinstate the Office for the Status of Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and

(iii)

repeal the WorkChoices legislation, which is disadvantaging female workers.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate:

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the term ‘comfort women’ refers to an estimated 200 000 women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Government during World War II,

(ii)

the enslavement of comfort women was officially commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan to include gang rape, forced abortions, sexual violence, human trafficking and numerous other crimes against humanity,

(iii)

for the past 16 years, since 1992, survivors in Korea have been holding weekly ‘Wednesday demonstrations’, and

(iv)

on 7 March 2007 the ‘Friends of Comfort Women’ in Australia will hold a similar Wednesday demonstration at midday outside the Japanese Consulate in Sydney; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

demand an official and unequivocal apology from the Japanese Government for its sexual enslavement of comfort women during the duration of World War II,

(ii)

urge the Japanese Government to establish a system of payment and reparations to the comfort women, and

(iii)

urge the Japanese Government to accurately teach the history of comfort women in Japanese schools.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate:

(a)

notes:

(i)

that on 28 February 2007 people around the world will participate in an international day of action against the proposed Salween dams in Burma and along the Thai-Burma border, and

(ii)

the Salween dams will permanently degrade Southeast Asia’s longest free flowing rivers, fisheries, floodplains, teak forests and wildlife habitats, and flood villages and fertile agricultural land; and

(b)

calls on the Government to oppose the dams and to place pressure on the Thai and Burmese Governments to halt plans to dam the Salween River.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate calls on the Government to return Mr David Hicks to Australia.

Senator Stephens to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate:

(a)

notes the sudden death of Mr Murray Chapman in Canberra on 23 February 2007;

(b)

acknowledges:

(i)

the contribution of Mr Chapman’s energy, commitment and dedication to the land rights movement during his long and distinguished career in Aboriginal affairs at both the national and the state level, with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Indigenous Land Corporation, and

(ii)

his appointment, in November 2003, as New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council Administrator, a position he served with distinction until his sudden and premature passing; and

(c)

expresses its condolences to Mr Chapman’s family, the Land Council network and the broader Indigenous community.