Senator Payne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 13 September 2007, from 4 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into Australia’s involvement in international peacekeeping operations.

Senator Parry to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 13 September 2007, from 9.30 am to 11.45 am, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into the refurbishment of staff apartments at the Australian embassy complex in Tokyo, Japan.

Senator Wong to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

between 1932 and 1945, more than 200 000 women and children of Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian, Burmese and Dutch origin were kidnapped or forced into a sex slavery system enforced by the Japanese Imperial Army,

(ii)

these victims, some as young as 12, were systematically raped and tortured in so-called ‘comfort stations’, and coerced to have sex with up to 40 soldiers a day, every day for years,

(iii)

62 years later the Japanese Government still refuses to accept responsibility for this crime, or acknowledge its guilt, or to apologise to the hundreds of thousands of women who suffered from these inhumane deeds, and

(iv)

44 members of the Japanese Parliament recently took out an advertisement in the Washington Post denying that this sex slavery ever occurred; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

urge the Japanese Diet to pass a resolution to formally apologise to the women who were forced into sexual slavery during the Second World War,

(ii)

urge the Japanese Government to provide fair compensation to these victims, and

(iii)

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

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that the Medical University of South Carolina has conducted a sophisticated meta-analysis of 17 research papers covering 136 nuclear sites throughout the Western World with the following findings:

(i)

death rates from leukaemia for children up to 9 years of age were between 5 per cent and 24 per cent higher depending on their proximity to nuclear facilities,

(ii)

death rates from leukaemia for those up to 25 years of age were 2 per cent to 18 per cent higher, and

(iii)

incidence rates of leukaemia were increased by 14 per cent to 21 per cent in zero to 9 year olds and 7 to 10 per cent in zero to 25 year olds;

(b)

considers that research such as this shows the health impact of nuclear activity; and

(c)

urges the Government not to proceed with uranium enrichment or nuclear power reactors in Australia in the light of this research.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

acknowledges the World Heritage significance of the Tarkine wilderness in the north-west of Tasmania;

(b)

notes that a nomination for the Tarkine to be listed on Australia’s National Heritage list was submitted in 2004; and

(c)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

put the Tarkine on the National Heritage List,

(ii)

progress the Tarkine towards World Heritage listing,

(iii)

support the development of a strategic plan, and a conservation management plan for the development of the region and the protection of the Tarkine’s outstanding natural and cultural values, and

(iv)

support the development of sensitive and appropriate eco-tourism infrastructure in the region and reject costly and destructive proposals.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the call by the Obesity Policy Coalition for urgent government action to tackle Australia’s escalating obesity crisis, including:

(i)

a ban on the marketing of unhealthy food to children under 16 years of age in all media, such as television, the Internet, e-mail and mobile phones,

(ii)

a mandatory ‘traffic light’ labelling system on the front of food packaging, and

(iii)

removing the goods and services tax exemption for breakfast cereals that are high in sugar; and

(b)

urges the Government to dramatically increase funding for the prevention of obesity in children and adolescents and to actively pursue changes to macro-environment strategies, such as food marketing and labelling.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

150 industrialised countries bound by the Kyoto Protocol met in the week beginning 27 August 2007 in Vienna and agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5 per cent by 2012 and reached a non-binding agreement to target new cuts of 25 to 40 per cent by 2020 in an extension of the treaty,

(ii)

the meeting also agreed on a position to take to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change annual meeting in Bali in December 2007 to make substantial progress towards a final post-2012 agreement to extend Kyoto into a second commitment period,

(iii)

the meeting agreed that the 25 to 40 per cent reduction was necessary if global warming was to be constrained to a temperature increase of between 2 and 2.4 degrees Celsius,

(iv)

the meeting officially recognised the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 that global greenhouse emissions needed to be stabilised in the next 10 to 15 years and then substantially reduced by mid-century, and

(v)

Australia and the United States of America were the only two industrialised nations not involved in the talks; and

(b)

concurs with the agreement reached at the Vienna meeting and urges the Government to:

(i)

re-engage with the Kyoto Protocol process in time for the Bali meeting, and

(ii)

adopt a target for greenhouse cuts of at least 25 per cent by 2020.

Senator Abetz to move on the next day of sitting:

That, on Tuesday, 11 September 2007:

(a)

the hours of meeting shall be 2.30 pm to 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm to adjournment;

(b)

the routine of business shall be:

(i)

questions,

(ii)

the items specified in standing order 57(1)(b)(iii) to (ix), and

(iii)

from 7.30 pm, government business only; and

(c)

the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 10 pm.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following matter be referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties for inquiry and report by 3 December 2007:

The Australia-Russia Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed on 7 September 2007, with particular reference to:

(a)

the ramifications of the agreement with respect to global and regional security;

(b)

the risk that Australian uranium would be exported from the Russian Federation (Russia) to third states, contrary to agreements;

(c)

the 2005 Russian deal to sell uranium to Iran to fuel the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant, in spite of widespread fears about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program;

(d)

the implications of the agreement for sale of nuclear fuel to India;

(e)

the extent to which the supply of Australian uranium would enable Russia to increase its export of nuclear material;

(f)

the abuse of the rule of law, including corporate law, under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule;

(g)

the ability to verify Russia’s compliance with any agreed safeguards noting, in particular, the European Parliament’s resolution of 10 May 2007 on the European Union-Russia Summit which expressed concern about, inter alia:

(i)

Russia’s lack of respect for human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, and the rights of civil society and individuals to challenge the authorities and hold them accountable for their actions,

(ii)

the use of force by Russian authorities against peaceful anti-government demonstration and reports of the use of torture in prisons, and

(iii)

the restriction of democratic freedoms in the run-up to the Duma elections in December 2007 and the presidential elections in March 2008; and

(h)

any related matters.

Senator Abetz to move on the next day of sitting:

That consideration of the business before the Senate on Wednesday, 19 September 2007 be interrupted at approximately 5 pm, but not so as to interrupt a senator speaking, to enable Senator Bushby to make his first speech without any question before the chair.