Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Standing Committee of Senators' Interests on the development of a draft code of conduct for senators be extended to 28 November 2011.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That there be laid on the table and presented to the President under standing order 166, no later than noon on Monday, 18 July 2011, non-commercial aspects of all reports and briefings prepared by the assessment panel for Australia Network tenders, as well as all correspondence between the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, and their respective departments, regarding the tender process, potential or actual tenderers, the tenders received and any changes proposed or actual to the tender process.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Select Committee on Australia's Food Processing Sector be authorised to hold a private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1) during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 7 July 2011.

Bill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 7 July 2011, from 4.45 pm, to take evidence for the committee's inquiry into biosecurity and quarantine arrangements.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   poor kidney health is a serious and growing problem for Aboriginal people in central Australia,

     (ii)   the Central Australian Renal Study was commissioned as a response to the growing demand for dialysis services in central Australia, the strain on health services, the alarming health outcomes faced by Aboriginal people and the constant conflict between state, territory and federal governments over funding responsibilities,

     (iii)   the report of the study published on 27 June 2011 is substantially different from the draft report that the George Institute for Global Health had submitted to the Federal Government 5 months earlier,

     (iv)   the majority of recommendations included in the draft report do not appear in the published report, and

     (v)   the detailed 'action plan' featured in the draft report does not appear in the published report which includes, instead a drastically-reduced 'potential implementation scenario'; and

  (b)   calls on the Federal Government to show leadership and dedicate resources to implement the Central Australian Renal Services Action Plan, as presented in the draft report, including:

     (i)   securing agreement and assurance from all jurisdictions regarding patient flow across state and territory borders and the recognition that many patients from the central Australian region will transfer to Alice Springs in accordance with the principle of being able to obtain treatment as close to home as possible,

     (ii)   implementing a hub and spokes model, with a regional hub service located in Alice Springs,

     (iii)   identifying sites during 2011 that are suitable for conversion to in-community haemodialysis,

     (iv)   assessing, during 2011, the suitability of the Substance Misuse Centre in Amata and the Ngaanyatjarra Health Service renal ready room for conversion to in-community haemodialysis facilities,

     (v)   bringing 15 new satellite chairs online by the end of 2012, along with the phased roll-out of nurse-supported dialysis in communities, with a rigorous assessment of its efficacy, cost-effectiveness and sustainability,

     (vi)   establishing a chronic kidney disease registry for the cross-border region, and

     (vii)   developing a renal care package to provide home and community care, similar to the Extended Assistance for Care in the Home package.

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   OIE [World Organisation for Animal Health] guidelines do not require stunning before slaughter of cattle,

     (ii)   without stunning, cattle can exhibit indicators of possible consciousness for up to 2 minutes after the throat is cut, leading to a slow and painful death, and

     (iii)   statements by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) on 21 June 2011, that Australia does not have the power to require Indonesia to stun cattle before slaughter; and

  (b)   calls on the Government immediately to end the live export trade of all animals given that the welfare standards which are acceptable to the Australian public and farmers cannot be guaranteed in overseas markets.

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

To move:

That consideration of the business before the Senate on the following days be interrupted at approximately 5 pm, but not so as to interrupt a senator speaking, to enable senators to make their first speeches without any question before the chair, as follows:

  (a)   Tuesday, 16 August 2011—Senators Singh and Di Natale;

  (b)   Wednesday, 17 August 2011—Senators Gallacher and Wright;

  (c)   Thursday, 18 August 2011—Senator Thistlethwaite;

  (d)   Monday, 22 August 2011—Senator Fawcett;

  (e)   Tuesday, 23 August 2011—Senators Urquhart and Waters;

  (f)   Wednesday, 24 August 2011—Senators McKenzie and Rhiannon; and

  (g)   Thursday, 25 August 2011—Senators Edwards and Madigan.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   on 9 July 2011 two new nations will emerge, the nations of South Sudan and Sudan, following an overwhelming vote for independence by voters in South Sudan's referendum for independence on 9 January 2011,

     (ii)   the two new nations futures are interdependent and their stability has broader regional security implications for north and east Africa,

     (iii)   the emerging picture confronting both new nations is dire and with significant political, humanitarian and developmental challenges as the overall security situation in Sudan is deteriorating at an alarming rate, with severe humanitarian consequences with millions of civilians in both Sudan and southern Sudan in need of protection and critical humanitarian assistance,

     (iv)   Sudan, after Zimbabwe, is the second largest recipient of Australia's humanitarian and development assistance and that since 2004, the Australian Government has provided $136 million to Sudan,

     (v)   the North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 ended more than two decades of civil war, however recent violence and outstanding issues such as border demarcation, oil sharing revenue, currency and citizenship status, are undermining prospects for peace and stability,

     (vi)   Sudan has the highest level overall of people remaining internally displaced according to the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the highest number of people newly displaced by conflict and as a result the plight of internally displaced persons and Sudanese refugees will therefore continue to be a shared legacy of decades of conflict;

  (b)   expresses deep concern at the protracted nature of the conflict and displacement in Darfur, now in its eighth year;

  (c)   notes that:

     (i)   the UN estimates that 300 000 people have been killed as a result of violence, malnutrition and starvation and 4 million people are in desperate need of aid, representing nearly two-thirds of the entire estimated Darfur population of 6.5 million, and an estimated 2.5 million people live in refugee camps in Darfur and neighbouring Chad, while others struggle to survive in remote villages, and

     (ii)   humanitarian relief efforts to provide assistance to vulnerable populations are being hampered by limited humanitarian access in some of the most affected conflict areas, including in Southern Kordofan and Darfur, and that insecurity and inaccessibility remains one of the biggest challenges facing the delivery of assistance by humanitarian agencies to vulnerable populations;

  (d)   urges the Governments of South Sudan and Sudan to reaffirm their commitment to peace, conflict prevention, the inclusion of the peripheral regions and ethnic minorities in political representation and decision making, and the recognition of cultural and ethnic diversity through durable political solutions; and

  (e)   encourages the Australian Government to continue assistance to address humanitarian and development needs in Sudan and South Sudan.

Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has embarked on a tour of Burma,

     (ii)   Kyaw Win, the second highest-ranking diplomat at the Burmese Embassy in Washington DC, has defected because of the Burmese Government's human rights violations and sham elections, adding that the current threats against Daw Suu's life 'must be taken seriously'; and

  (b)   requests the Government to:

     (i)   monitor Daw Suu's safety and welfare,

     (ii)   communicate to the regime that threats of harm or incarceration of her or her entourage are unacceptable,

     (iii)   pledge its continued support for genuine democracy and human rights in Burma,

     (iv)   call for national reconciliation and dialogue in Burma, involving all stakeholders, including Daw Suu, and

     (v)   call for the release of all political prisoners in Burma.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate notes:

  (a)   the release by the World Health Organization's cancer research report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which states that radio frequency electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones are 'possibly carcinogenic to humans' and asserts that heavy usage could lead to a possible increased risk of glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer;

  (b)   the warnings of Dr Charlie Teo, one of Australia's leading brain surgeons and former Australian of the Year finalist, that 'there is an increasing body of evidence that there is an association between brain tumours and mobile phones';

  (c)   that the Australian Government, though the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), welcomes the report and considers that the classification by IARC corresponds to the current ARPANSA advice, including its advice on practical ways in which people can reduce their exposure to the electromagnetic fields produced by wireless telephones;

  (d)   that the methods to reduce exposure include:

     (i)   limiting call time,

     (ii)   preferring the use of landline phones,

     (iii)   using hands-free or speaker options,

     (iv)   texting instead of making voice calls, and

     (v)   using phones in good signal areas which reduce power levels for communications; and

  (e)   that ARPANSA has also recommended parents encourage their children to use these methods of reducing exposure.

Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   expresses its condolence for the death on 2 July 2011 of Dr Itamar Franco, a former President of Brazil from 1992 to 1995;

  (b)   notes the contribution of Dr Franco in helping set his country on its current economic trajectory, in particular, the reforms he instituted in 1993 that enabled Brazil to overcome rampant hyperinflation; and

  (c)   acknowledges Dr Franco's achievement in Brazilian public and political life, where he was elected a national senator for the Socialist People's Party in 2010, and his legacy of integrity, courage and hard work.