Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:

AusLink (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2008

Australian Research Council Amendment Bill 2008

Safe Work Australia Bill 2008

Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2008

I table statements of reasons justifying the need for these bills to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statements incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statements read as follows—

AusLink (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2008

Purpose of the bill

The bill amends the AusLink (National Land Transport) Act 2005 (the Act) in order to allow for the continuation of the Roads to Recovery program beyond 2009, to allow for better management of the Roads to Recovery funding list, and to enable funding of all projects in the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program which is due to commence 1 January 2009.

Reasons for Urgency

Passage of the bill is required to allow the continuation of the Roads to Recovery program beyond 1 July 2009. The Roads to Recovery program provides funding for local roads maintenance and upgrading. Funding is provided directly to local government authorities, and to State and Territory governments where they are responsible for roads in unincorporated areas. The Australian Government has committed to ongoing funding of the AusLink Roads to Recovery Program from 1 July 2009 until 2014. The Act currently provides for payments to be made only after 30 June 2005 and before 1 July 2009. This sunset clause needs to be removed.

Passage of the bill is also required in the 2008 Spring sittings to enable the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program to commence from 1 January 2009 and to ensure all projects under the program can be funded under the Act.

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government)

Australian Research Council Amendment Bill 2008

Purpose of the bill

The bill amends special appropriations in the Australian Research Council Act 2001 to:

• provide funding for the Future Fellowships – Establishment Budget measure;
• apply indexation to existing appropriation amounts in the Act; and
• create an additional out year financial forward estimate.

Reasons for Urgency

The bill enables the delivery of the Future Fellowships scheme consistent with the 2008-09 Budget measure Future Fellowships – Establishment. Future Fellowships are an election commitment through the 14 November Media Release entitled Keeping Our Best And Brightest In Australia – Labor’s Future Fellowships. The Future Fellowships are anticipated to be delivered commencing early (first quarter) calendar year 2009. To provide a basis for this expenditure, the amendments in the bill increase funding to ARC schemes via special appropriation. Passage of this legislation by the end of the Spring sittings will enable expenditure.

Secondly, the bill provides indexation for ARC existing schemes. As indexation is included as part of this bill, it follows that there is not excess funding within the Australian Research Council to otherwise provide funding for the Future Fellowships.

Thirdly, the bill creates a new out year financial forward estimate in the funding profile.

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research)

Safe Work Australia Bill 2008

Safe Work Australia (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2008

Purpose of the bill

The bills establish Safe Work Australia as an independent Commonwealth statutory body to improve occupational health and safety (OHS) outcomes and workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia.

Safe Work Australia will be an inclusive, tripartite body representing the interests of the Commonwealth, the States and Territories as well as workers and employers in Australia. Safe Work Australia will be a reform-focused body with the power to make recommendations directly to the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council (WRMC).

The bills play a pivotal role in realising the Government’s commitment to work cooperatively with State and Territory governments to harmonise OHS legislation and improve OHS outcomes and workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia

Reasons for Urgency

The Government has committed to work in partnership with the States and Territories to harmonise key laws and regulations, including OHS regulation, within five years of coming to office. OHS regulation was identified as a key area of reform at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in December 2007. At the COAG meeting of 3 July 2008, members signed an intergovernmental agreement for regulatory and operational reform and agreed to harmonise OHS legislation by 2011.

The establishment of an independent statutory body, and related legislation, is central to the Government’s policy to improve OHS outcomes and workers’ compensation arrangements in Australia. Safe Work Australia will be responsible for preparing a model act and model regulations to be considered by WRMC for adoption by the Commonwealth and States and Territories. In order to fulfil the election commitment it is imperative that the legislation establishing the body be passed early in the Spring sittings, to ensure that Safe Work Australia is able to meet the Government’s timetable.

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations)

Senator Joyce to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

calls on the Government to amend the Environmental and Natural Resource Management Guidelines in relation to the establishment of trees for the purposes of carbon sequestration, made under subsection 40-1010(3) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, in order:

(i)

to preclude the use of prime agricultural land where the effect of such use will have a detrimental impact on the regional economy,

(ii)

in the broader sense, not to put greater upward pressure on food inflation through the loss of production capacity, and

(iii)

to ensure that such carbon sinks are noted on the land title; and

(b)

reminds the Government that the Senate has the power to disallow those guidelines should the Government not amend them to achieve the above objectives.

Senator Conroy to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to broadcasting, and for other purposes. Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television Switch-over) Bill 2008.

Senator Chris Evans to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to migration, and for other purposes. Migration Legislation Amendment (Worker Protection) Bill 2008.

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

That the Senate—

(a)

recognises that the current global economic downturn, and particularly, the crisis in the banking and insurance industry in the United States of America will have serious negative implications for Australia and the rest of the world;

(b)

notes that:

(i)

executive pays in Australia have risen exponentially in the past 10 years, with the average total remuneration packages approximately $4.56 million in 2006,

(ii)

in 2006 the average remuneration package of the 10 highest paid chief executive officers (CEOs) in Australia was $11 749 074,

(iii)

the average salary for the top 100 CEOs, including those working for companies which are failing, was $1.8 million in 2006,

(iv)

the average Australian adult annual salary is $58 864, and

(v)

pensioners and other low income earners are currently experiencing considerable financial hardship yet the Government will not give them an additional $30 a week; and

(c)

calls on the Government to urgently introduce measures to address this inequity and restrict the unjustified and extravagant salaries paid to executives, including options such as capping the most extravagant executive salaries and investigating loopholes in taxation legislation for such salary earners.

Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, I give notice that, 15 sitting days after today, I shall move:

That the Social Security (Public Interest Certificate Guidelines) (DEEWR) Amendment Determination 2008, made under subparagraph 209(a)(i) and paragraph 209(b) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, be disallowed.

Senator Hanson-Young to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

Friday, 10 October 2008 is the sixth annual World Day Against the Death Penalty, and

(ii)

this day of action was established in 2003 by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in a commitment to the universal abolition of capital punishment; and

(b)

calls on the Rudd Government to urge the 60 remaining nation states that continue to use the death penalty as a form of punishment, to abolish the death penalty as a matter of urgency, and halt all executions of those sentenced to death.