No. 4/2008
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The Senate met from 9.30am until 7.06pm
The
Senate will meet again on 11 March 2008 . Senate committees
will meet from 18 to 22 February next week to consider
additional
estimates.
National Apology to
the Stolen Generations
The motion to take note of the apology was further
debated and agreed to.
Legislation
Bills and related documents available on BillsNet www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008 [passed by
the House of Representatives on 13 February 2008 ]
- Appropriation (Drought and Equine Influenza Assistance) Bill
(No. 1) 2007-2008 and a related bill [passed by the House of
Representatives on 13 February 2008 ]
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Fair Bank and
Credit Card Fees) Amendment Bill 2008 [private senator’s
bill]
- Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2008 [private
senator’s bill]
- Poker Machine Harm Reduction Tax (Administration) Bill 2008
[private senator’s bill]
- Renewable Energy Legislation Amendment (Renewable Power
Percentage) Bill 2008 [private senator’s bill]
- Rights of the Terminally Ill (Euthanasia Laws Repeal) Bill 2008
[private senator’s bill]
- Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008 [private
senator’s bill]
Bills restored to the Notice Paper
The Senate agreed to restore
25 private senators’ bills to the Notice Paper at the
stage reached in the last Parliament.
The following bills were exempted from the cut-off order [to
enable consideration in this period of sittings]
- Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008
- Appropriation (Drought and Equine Influenza Assistance) Bill
(No. 1) 2007-2008 and a related bill
The following bills were passed
- Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008
- Appropriation (Drought and Equine Influenza Assistance) Bill
(No. 1) 2007-2008 and a related bill
[These bills will now be assented to]
Notice of motion to introduce a bill
- National Commissioner for Children Bill 2008–notice given
by Senator Bartlett [private senator’s bill]
Committees
For scheduled public
committee hearings
For committee
reports
New inquiries
The Senate
referred the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to
Forward with Fairness) Bill 2008 to the Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations Committee to report by 28 April 2008.
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted
report no. 1 of 2008 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and
referred the Alcohol Toll Reduction Bill 2007 to the Community
Affairs Committee to report by 18 June 2008.
Reports relating to inquiries of the 41st Parliament
Recommendations made to the Senate to readopt certain inquiries
not disposed of at the end of the 41st parliament, were agreed to
as follows:
-
Community Affairs Committee–
- Inquiry into the cost of living pressures on older
Australians–to report by 20 March 2008
- Inquiry into mental health services in Australia –to
report by 26 June 2008
-
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee–
- Inquiry into Australia ’s involvement in peacekeeping
operations–to report by 15 May 2008
- Monitor progress on the implementation of reforms to Australia
’s military justice system and to report to the Senate on its
findings
-
Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee–
- Inquiry into climate change and the Australian agricultural
sector–to report by 4 September 2008
Establishment of select committees
The Senate established the following
select committees:
- Agricultural and Related Industries
- Housing Affordability in Australia
- State Government Financial Management
Membership
The Senate agreed to the appointment of members to committees
[see Journals entries nos
39 and
45] , and concurred with the
resolutions of the House of Representatives relating to the
appointment of joint committees.
Documents
Delegated legislation
See Disallowance
Alert for a complete list of notices of motion to disallow (and
outcomes)
-
Clerk’s documents were tabled [legislative instruments
and other documents required by statute to be tabled]
Orders for the production of documents–Orders with
continuing effect
Departmental and agency contracts published on the Internet
A statement of compliance for the Australian Research Council
was tabled [Letters of advice about certain contracts valued at
$100 000 or more entered into by departments and agencies are
required
to be tabled twice a year]
Other documents tabled
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses
and Auditor-General’s reports were discussed
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question
time–first
question
Adjournment debate–first
speaker
Motions agreed to
-
Myanmar –moved by Senator Stott Despoja
-
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change–moved by Senator Milne
-
Whaling in the Southern Ocean–moved by Senator
Siewert
Motions negatived
Motion debated
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate
Journals.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Online
The Senate Daily Summary is available on the Internet
at www.aph.gov.au/senate
It is issued by the Senate Table Office as a convenient summary
of each day’s proceedings in the Senate. For a complete
account see the official record, the Journals of the
Senate, on the Internet at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/index.htm
Related resources
The Order of Business (or ‘Senate Red’) and
the Dynamic Red (which updates the Order of
Business throughout the sitting day) are also available on the
Internet at www.aph.gov.au/senate
Contact details
Inquiries, comments and suggestions:
phone 6277 3021
e-mail: sds@aph.gov.au