Senator Pratt to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the pledge, first made by Australia in the year 2000, to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion are currently subjected,

(ii)

that with only 5 years until the international goals to address extreme poverty are due, there is now an urgent need to recommit ourselves to this task, and

(iii)

that our actions of the past 20 years have already succeeded in halving rates of extreme poverty, and within a generation we can and will make poverty history; and

(b)

welcomes the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign to ensure that we do our fair share to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals.

*772        Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Abetz): To move—That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, no later than noon on Thursday, 13 May 2010, all modelling, costings, consultancy statements and other relevant documents used by the Government to inform its response to the ‘Henry Review’ (Australia’s Future Tax System report).

*773        Senator Ludlam: To move—That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Trade, no later than 4 pm on 15 June 2010, the following:

(a)

documents containing National Interest Assessments on the Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Project (the project);

(b)

documents containing assessments of the project authored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, AusAID and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism;

(c)

documents containing the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation environment and social impact assessment; and

(d)

any document benchmarking or evaluating compliance of the project with the Equator Principles or the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards.

Senator Ludwig to move on the next day of sitting:

That the order of the Senate agreed to on 13 February 2008, relating to the allocation of departments and agencies to legislative and general purpose standing committees, be amended to read as follows:

Environment, Communications and the Arts

Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Finance and Public Administration

Finance and Deregulation

Human Services

Parliament

Prime Minister and Cabinet

Senator Birmingham to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water, no later than noon on 13 May 2010, a copy of the following reports relating to the Green Loans program, as referred to by the Minister in her 10 March 2010 statement to the Senate (Senate Hansard, p. 1521):

(a)

the audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers into the assessor accreditation process and adherence to the Protocol for Assessor Accrediting Organisations; and

(b)

the report of the independent inquiry in relation to contractual agreements and procurement processes entered into during the final design and implementation of the program.

Senator Birmingham to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts, no later than noon on 13 May 2010, a copy of correspondence from the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts (Mr Garrett) dated 14 August, 27 August, 28 October and 30 October 2009 addressed to the Prime Minister (Mr Rudd) regarding the Home Insulation Program.

Senator Birmingham to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Prime Minister, no later than noon on 13 May 2010, a copy of correspondence from the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts (Mr Garrett) dated 14 August, 27 August, 28 October and 30 October 2009 addressed to the Prime Minister (Mr Rudd) regarding the Home Insulation Program.

Senator Cash to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

under the agreement reached between the Commonwealth Government and the states, stimulus funding under the Government’s Nation Building and Jobs Plan is to be additional to existing state spending efforts,

(ii)

as part of its inquiry into the Primary Schools for the 21st Century school building program, the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee is seeking to ensure that states and territories have maintained their planned spending on primary schools and have not reduced their spending as a consequence of receiving stimulus funding through the Government’s Nation Building and Jobs Plan,

(iii)

the committee received evidence in November 2009 that maintenance of spending effort is being monitored through quarterly reports by the states and territories to Heads of Treasury,

(iv)

the committee wrote to the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury (Dr Ken Henry) in December 2009 requesting copies of these quarterly reports,

(v)

the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury wrote back to the committee, also in December 2009, declining to provide the reports on the basis that to do so would not be in the public interest as it would damage relations between the Commonwealth and the states, but noting that a decision on whether to provide the reports was ultimately a matter for the Treasurer (Mr Swan),

(vi)

the committee then wrote to the Treasurer on 8 February 2010, noting its disagreement with the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury’s assessment that provision of the reports would damage relations between the Commonwealth and the states, and requesting provision of the quarterly reports by no later than 26 February 2010,

(vii)

having received no formal response, the committee again wrote to the Treasurer on 15 March 2010, asking that the reports be provided by 26 March 2010,

(viii)

when the Treasurer finally responded to the committee’s correspondence on 20 April 2010, he refused the committee’s request on the basis that to release the quarterly reports (either publicly or in camera) could reasonably be expected to cause damage to relations with the states and would therefore not be in the public interest, and

(ix)

the committee continues to disagree with the grounds advanced by the Treasurer for failing to provide the reports, for the following reasons:

(a)

if all states and territories have complied with the requirement to maintain their spending effort, the committee does not see how any damage could be caused by providing evidence to confirm this fact,

(b)

if any state or territory has not complied with the requirement to maintain its funding effort, it is an explicit feature of the National Partnership Agreement on the Nation Building and Jobs Plan that such a failure may be made public, and

(c)

state and territory capital spending on schools will ultimately be made public through various budget papers and reports and the committee is merely seeking this information in a more timely fashion in order to progress its current inquiry; and

(b)

orders that there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Treasurer, no later than 4 pm on Thursday, 13 May 2010, the quarterly reports as requested.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the growing body of evidence that the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), used in plastics, including food packaging, is harmful to humans even in minute quantities and is unsuitable for use in babies’ products, such as baby bottles and food containers,

(ii)

that research has linked BPA to a range of health problems, including reproductive problems, endometriosis (a chronic gynaecological disease), heart disease, diabetes and abnormalities in liver enzymes, among other conditions,

(iii)

the recent letter by eight toxicologists and cancer specialists from the United States of America (US), Britain and Italy, published in The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom on 8 April 2010, that calls for the products containing BPA used for baby and children’s food and liquid packaging to be withdrawn and replaced by less hazardous substances,

(iv)

that children’s products containing BPA have been banned in Denmark, Canada and a number of states in the US,

(v)

that a number of manufacturers have voluntarily stopped using BPA in babies’ products, demonstrating that alternatives are available, and

(vi)

that Food Standards Australia New Zealand permits the continued use of this chemical in babies’ products in Australia; and

(b)

calls on the Rudd Government to reassess the public health risk of BPA to all Australian consumers.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts (Senator Wong), by 13 May 2010, the following documents relating to the shortfin and longfin mako shark and the porbeagle shark during and since December 2008 when those species were listed on the United Nations Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the convention):

(a)

all briefings from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (the department) to the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts in relation to the listings on the convention and subsequently in relation to listing the species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; and

(b)

any briefings and advice received by the department or the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts from scientific experts or bodies or other government departments in relation to those three species.

Senator Xenophon to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

calls on:

(i)

the Government and the Inspector-General of Taxation to give assurances that any and all employees of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will be invited to provide information to the Inspector-General of Taxation’s review into the ATO’s Change Program, and

(ii)

the Government and Inspector-General of Taxation ensures that there be no prejudice against employees of the ATO for providing information to the Inspector-General of Taxation; and

(b)

requests that all employees of the ATO who provide information to the Inspector-General for Taxation be afforded protection under sections 15 and 16 of the Inspector-General of Taxation Act 2003, and exempted from any breach of section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914 in relation to the review.

Senator Xenophon to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

formally recognises the genocide committed against the Armenian people in 1915, including the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians;

(b)

joins with countries including Poland, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Lebanon, more than 40 states of the United States of America, the Vatican, the European Parliament, and also the states of New South Wales and South Australia, in condemning the 1915 massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government;

(c)

notes that the intention of this recognition is to play a positive role in the healing process for the survivors of this event and their descendants; and

(d)

acknowledges that from 1915 to 1929, the Armenian Relief Fund of Australia provided humanitarian assistance to victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Senator Trood to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee on Australia’s administration and management of the Torres Strait be extended to 2 September 2010.

Senator Ian Macdonald to move on the next day of sitting:

That the resolution of the Senate of 25 June 2008, as amended, appointing the Select Committee on the National Broadband Network, be amended to omit “12 May 2010”, and substitute “17 June 2010”.

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

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to establish an independent Office of the Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People, and for related purposes. Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill 2010.

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

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the recent decision by the Rudd Government to suspend the processing of asylum claims from Sri Lankan and Afghan nationals for 3 and 6 months respectively, and

(ii)

in 2009, Australia received just 1.6 per cent of all asylum claims lodged in the world’s 44 industrialised nations, with less than half of this number arriving by boat;

(b)

recognises that this new policy is in breach of Australia’s international obligations under the:

(i)

United Nations Refugee Convention,

(ii)

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and

(iii)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

(c)

congratulates the joint statement from 45 non-government organisations from 16 countries, in condemning the Australian Government’s decision to suspend the processing of asylum claims for Sri Lankans and Afghans; and

(d)

calls on the Government to immediately reverse its suspension of asylum applications, restoring the right of people seeking protection from persecution to have their claims assessed in a fair and timely manner.

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

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the treacherous, and sometimes fatal journey asylum seekers who arrive by boat take in reaching Australia, including the reports as early as the week beginning 9 May 2010 of the five Australia-bound asylum seekers who perished at sea in an attempt to find assistance for their stricken vessel; and

(b)

calls on the Government to immediately conduct a public investigation and review into the protocols for monitoring and intercepting boat arrivals, and report back to the Senate by 30 June 2010.

Senator Stephens to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate notes:

(a)

that from 10 May to 16 May 2010 is National Volunteer Week, the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia;

(b)

that one in four, or more than 5 million Australians, volunteer in their communities;

(c)

that Australian volunteers contribute more than 700 million hours of community service to many areas of society, including community health care, heritage and arts, environment conservation, emergency services, education, social justice and sports and international aid;

(d)

their service contributes approximately $42 billion to our economy each year, with the community value of their efforts far exceeding dollar measurement;

(e)

that volunteering promotes active citizenship, builds connections and creates stronger communities, shaping Australia into a country in which we can be proud; and

(f)

that as a nation we say ‘thank you’ to our volunteers, and volunteering organisations, for their contribution to all facets of Australian life.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the $435 million Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, which was intended to provide grants to support the commercialisation of emerging renewable generation technologies, was first announced by the Government in the budget 2 years ago,

(ii)

applications closed on 15 April 2009, and four projects were awarded funding of $235 million on 6 November 2009, and

(iii)

more than one year after applications closed, significant funding remains outstanding; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

expedite the allocation of the remaining funding, and

(ii)

make clear which renewable energy projects it announces in the budget context are being funded with allocations held over from previous budget allocations and which is additional and new funding.

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

That the Senate—

(a)

notes the Australian Constitution was drafted at the Windsor Hotel, Melbourne, in 1898 and it housed many of Australia’s ‘founding fathers’ during the formative years of our Parliament, accommodating prime ministers, politicians, actors, performers and celebrities; and as such

(b)

recognises the national heritage significance of the Windsor Hotel.

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

That the Senate calls on the Government to commission a feasibility study into the staged construction of a high speed rail network on the east coast of Australia, which could deliver accessible fast, reliable, ecologically-sustainable long-distance transport.

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

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Standing Committee of Privileges on the provisions of the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Bill 2009 be extended to 4 June 2010.

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

That the Standing Committee of Privileges be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 13 May 2010, from 4 pm to 7 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into the provisions of the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Bill 2009.