Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will briefly return now, because we have clarity on the selection of bills issue. The amendment from Senator Siewert is about a different bill but it is an addition to the amendment of Senator Collins to effectively add something to the amendment of Senator Collins.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm speaking on the amendment very briefly, to help clarify matters. There are two ways that amendments could be moved here. One is to amend a particular section of the report to be dealt with as a discrete item to be voted upon, and then for amendments to other sections of the report to be moved as separate items. Senator Siewert has chosen to seek to move an amendment on an unrelated matter, which I think is causing the confusion, but, to follow the path that has been chosen, I move the following amendment unrelated to the previous two amendments:

At the end of the motion, add:

"and in respect of the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2018, the bill not be referred to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report."

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your amendment is a foreshadowed amendment to Senator Siewert's amendment to Senator Collins's amendment, because it is contrary?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm following the path that my preceding colleagues have chosen.

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

For clarity, that's the way we've been advised for a long time and that's what the practice has been. It is always confusing. Maybe what we should be doing is clarifying the way we approach amendments so that we're not amending an amendment like that when we're talking about the selection of bills.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm conscious that we're in a time-limited part of debate today, so I will put Senator Fifield's amendment first.

Question agreed to.

That negates Senator Siewert's amendment, so I'm not going to put Senator Siewert's amendment now. The question is that Senator Collins' amendment be agreed to.

Question agreed to.

The question is that the Selection of Bills Committee report, as amended, be adopted.

Question agreed to.