Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to provide for ex gratia payments to be made to the stolen generation of Aboriginal children, and for related purposes. Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

among Indigenous Australians, blindness and visual impairment is significantly higher than in other populations,

(ii)

most blindness and vision loss is preventable or correctable and for each $1 spent on eye care there is a $5 return,

(iii)

trachoma is the most common cause of infectious blindness and Australia is the only developed country that still has blinding endemic trachoma:

(a)

the study Surveillance report for active trachoma, 2006 for which Aboriginal children from most regions of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia were screened, showed prevalence rates of active trachoma of 16 per cent in rural Darwin, 30 per cent in Katherine, 21 per cent in Barkly, 18 per cent in Alice Springs Remote, 18 per cent in Nganampa, 18 per cent in Tullawon, 12 per cent in Pika Wiya, 18 per cent in Kimberley, 53 per cent in Pilbara, and 19 per cent in Western Austalia’s midwest and goldfields,

(b)

rates of active trachoma are highest in young children and for children aged 0-5 who were for the most part not included in the survey and therefore rates could be expected to be higher,

(c)

concerted trachoma control activities over the past 10 years have eliminated active trachoma in Morocco, Oman and Iran, and

(d)

even in Niger, the poorest country in Africa, trachoma is being controlled by an active intervention program,

(iv)

cataracts occur more commonly in Aboriginal people, and Indigenous Australians report vision loss from cataracts 50 per cent more commonly than mainstream Australia, and

(v)

few Aboriginal people have access to refractive services, although 20 per cent of all children need glasses and there is an almost universal need for reading glasses over the age of 40;

(b)

according to the Centre for Eye Research Australia, trachoma can be eliminated in Australia, vision loss substantially reduced and equality in eye health for all Australians achieved within 5 years; and

(c)

urges the Government to provide $25 million over 5 years for:

(i)

antibiotics for active trachoma, screening and programs promoting facial cleanliness, environmental improvement and trichiasis surgery for later stage trachoma to prevent irreversible blindness,

(ii)

sustainable programs for screening for diabetic retinopathy and timely laser treatment,

(iii)

regular eye examinations, and

(iv)

current eye health data.

Senator Minchin to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the contempt in which the Australian Labor Party (ALP) has historically held upper houses around the country, including a platform to abolish all upper houses until 1979, the abolition of the upper house in Queensland and a current policy to abolish the South Australian Legislative Council,

(ii)

that the Prime Minister (Mr Rudd) has reduced the number of sitting weeks in the Senate in 2008, and

(iii)

that the Deputy Prime Minister (Ms Gillard) has already demanded legislation be passed without adequate scrutiny in the Senate; and

(b)

given the above, condemns the Rudd Labor Government for continuing the ALP’s legacy of inherent contempt for the Senate.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent this resolution having effect.

(2)

That the following bills be restored to the Notice Paper and that consideration of each bill resume at the stage reached in the 41st Parliament:

Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006

Constitution Alteration (Appropriations for the Ordinary Annual Services of the Government) 2001 [2004]

Constitution Alteration (Electors’ Initiative, Fixed Term Parliaments and Qualification of Members) 2000 [2004]

Electoral (Greater Fairness of Electoral Processes) Amendment Bill 2007

Electoral Amendment (Political Honesty) Bill 2003 [2004]

Euthanasia Laws (Repeal) Bill 2004

Genetic Privacy and Non-discrimination Bill 1998 [2004]

Ministers of State (Post-Retirement Employment Restrictions) Bill 2002 [2004]

National Market Driven Energy Efficiency Target Bill 2007

Parliamentary Charter of Rights and Freedoms Bill 2001 [2005]

Patents Amendment Bill 1996 [2004]

Peace and Non-Violence Commission Bill 2007

Privacy (Data Security Breach Notification) Bill 2007

Privacy (Extension to Political Acts and Practices) Amendment Bill 2006

Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising Bill 2006

Public Interest Disclosures Bill 2007

Repatriation of Citizens Bill 2007

Republic (Consultation of the People) Bill 2001 [2004]

Same-Sex Marriages Bill 2006

Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Bill 2007

State Elections (One Vote, One Value) Bill 2001 [2004]

Taxation Laws Amendment (Scholarships) Bill 2005

Textbook Subsidy Bill 2003 [2004]

Uranium Mining in or near Australian World Heritage Properties (Prohibition) Bill 1998 [2004]

Workplace Relations (Guaranteeing Paid Maternity Leave) Amendment Bill 2007.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

in December 2007 Ausra Inc. announced that it will build a manufacturing plant in Nevada for solar thermal power systems,

(ii)

Ausra’s innovations in mirror systems have brought the price of solar power down to the level of gas-fired power and is expected soon to be price competitive with coal-fired power, and

(iii)

the plant will produce 700 MW a year in solar thermal power systems for the American Southwest;

(b)

congratulates the founder of Ausra, world-renowned, Dr David Mills, for this development and for his longstanding solar technology innovation at the University of Sydney, including:

(i)

the evacuated tube solar water heater technology that is now in use in 60 per cent of these units worldwide,

(ii)

the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector for use in solar thermal energy,

(iii)

photovoltaic systems, and

(iv)

a solar steriliser design which won a World Health Organization award in 2002;

(c)

regrets that the economic benefits of this important innovation in renewable, clean, base load power have been lost to Australia; and

(d)

urges the Government to:

(i)

recognise that Australia, like Nevada and California, has excellent sources of solar energy from which to generate solar thermal base load power, and

(ii)

provide the necessary incentives for the technology to also be established in Australia.

Senator Ellison to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on State Government Financial Management be established to inquire into and report upon:

Commonwealth and state and territory fiscal relations and state and territory government financial management, including:

(a)

Commonwealth funding to the states and territories – historic, current and projected;

(b)

the cash and fiscal budgetary positions of state and territory governments – historic, current and projected;

(c)

the level of debt of state/territory government businesses and utilities – historic, current and projected;

(d)

the level of borrowing by state/territory governments – historic, current and projected;

(e)

an examination of state/territory net government debt and its projected level – historic, current and projected;

(f)

the reasons for any government debt including an analysis of the level and efficiency of revenue and spending;

(g)

the level of investment in infrastructure and state-owned utilities by state and territory governments;

(h)

the effect of dividends paid by state-owned utilities on their ability to invest;

(i)

present and future ownership structures of current and former state-owned utilities and the impact of ownership on investment capacity; and

(j)

the effect of investment by state-owned utilities on Australia’s capacity constraints.

(2)

That the committee present its final report on or before 16 June 2008.

(3)

That the committee consist of 6 senators, as follows:

(a)

2 to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

(b)

3 to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; and

(c)

1 to be nominated by minority groups or independents.

(4)

That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that all members have not been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(5)

That the committee elect as chair one of the members nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

(6)

That the quorum of the committee be 3 members.

(7)

That the chair of the committee may, from time to time, appoint another member of the committee to be the deputy chair of the committee, and that the member so appointed act as chair of the committee at any time when there is no chair or the chair is not present, at a meeting of the committee.

(8)

That, in the event of an equality of voting, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(9)

That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 3 or more of its members, and to refer to any such subcommittee any of the matters which the committee is empowered to consider, and that the quorum of a subcommittee be 2 members.

(10)

That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and such interim recommendations as it may deem fit.

(11)

That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(l2)

That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Senator Ellison to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Housing Affordability in Australia be established to inquire into and report upon:

The barriers to home ownership in Australia, including:

(a)

the taxes and levies imposed by state and territory governments;

(b)

the rate of release of new land by state and territory governments;

(c)

proposed assistance for first home owners by state, territory and the Commonwealth governments and their effectiveness in the absence of increased supply;

(d)

the role of all levels of government in facilitating affordable home ownership;

(e)

the effect on the market of government intervention in the housing sector including planning and industrial relations laws;

(f)

the role of financial institutions in home lending; and

(g)

the contribution of home ownership to retirement incomes.

(a)

2 to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate;

(b)

3 to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; and

(c)

1 to be nominated by minority groups or independents.

Senator Milne to move on 11 March 2008:

(1)

That the Senate notes:

(a)

the housing affordability crisis in Australia and the need for a national affordable housing agreement;

(b)

the need to upgrade Australia’s building stock and strengthen building regulations to increase the energy efficiency of existing and new buildings, both residential and commercial;

(c)

the central role played by the Housing Industry Association in developing government policy;

(d)

the relationship between housing affordability and mandatory privatised last resort builders warranty insurance particularly, the increasing number of complaints from builders and consumers concerning the failure of the last resort warranty insurance regime to provide consumer or builder protection; and

(e)

the decision in March 2002 to remove all Commonwealth and state regulatory controls over last resort warranty insurance.

(2)

That the following matter be referred to the Economics Committee for inquiry and report by May 2008:

Australia’s mandatory Last Resort Home Warranty Insurance scheme, including:

(a)

the appropriateness and effectiveness of the current mandatory privatised Last Resort Builders Warranty Insurance scheme in providing appropriate consumer protection and industry management;

(b)

the reasons for and consequences of the ministerial decisions relating to the removal of consumer protection provisions in respect of Corporations Regulation 7.1.12(2);

(c)

the ramifications for the future supply of this insurance product following the draft recommendations from the Productivity Commission report released in December 2007;

(d)

the full investigation of the market failure of this insurance product in Tasmania which has resulted in the Tasmanian Government announcing in January 2008 that the product is to be scrapped over the next 12 months;

(e)

any potential reforms and their costs and benefits which may lead to appropriate consumer and builder protection and improved housing affordability; and

(d)

any related matters.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 to create marriage equality for all relationships regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and for related purposes. Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2008.