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No. 62/2008
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The Senate met from 9.30am until 6.43pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents available on BillsNet <www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm>
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management (Repeal and
Consequential Amendment) Bill 2008 [private senator’s
bill]
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
and Other Legislation Amendment (Further 2008 Budget and Other
measures) Bill 2008 [passed by the House of Representatives on 25
September 2008]
- International Tax Agreements Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2008
[passed by the House of Representatives on 24 September 2008]
The following bill was debated
- Save Our Solar (Solar Rebate Protection) Bill 2008 [No.
2]–second reading debate commenced [first
speaker]
The following bills were passed
- AusLink (National Land Transport) Amendment Bill 2008
- Australian Research Council Amendment Bill 2008
- Excise Legislation Amendment (Condensate) Bill 2008 and a
related bill–messages were reported advising that the House
had made the
amendments requested by the Senate–the bills were read a
third time
- Tax Laws Amendment (Luxury Car Tax) Bill 2008–a message
was reported advising that the House had made the amendments
requested by the Senate–the third reading of the bill was
debated and agreed to
[These bills will now be assented to]
Change to routine of business
The Senate agreed to vary the routine of business for 25
September 2008 to allow the Government’s legislative program
to be considered [see Journals entries nos
25 and
46].
Message to the House of Representatives
A motion moved by the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator
Bob Brown) requiring the Senate to send a message to the House of
Representatives requesting that the House immediately consider the
Urgent Relief for Single Age Pensioners Bill 2008 was agreed
to.
See Committees for details of reports
relating to legislation
Committees
For scheduled public
committee hearings
For committee
reports
Estimates
Additional information arising from estimates hearings was
tabled.
Reports tabled
Report on legislation
Other reports
- Community Affairs Committee–Towards
recovery: Mental health services in Australia [a motion to take
note of the report was
debated]
- Publications Committee–5th
Report [report adopted]
Documents tabled
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee–Family Law
Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Bill
2008–Additional information
- Senators’ Interests Committee–Various
registers of interests and gifts
- Community Affairs Committee–Workplace exposure to toxic
dust
- Electoral Matters Joint Committee–Review of certain
aspects of the administration of the Australian Electoral
Commission
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee–
- An appropriate level of protection? The importation of salmon
products: A case study of the administration of Australian
Quarantine and the impact of international trade arrangements
- Biosecurity Australia’s import risk analysis for pig
meat
- Administration of Biosecurity Australia: Revised draft import
risk analysis for bananas from the Philippines
- Administration of Biosecurity Australia: Revised draft import
risk analysis for apples from New Zealand
- The administration by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry of the citrus canker outbreak
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted
report no. 12 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the
following references:
- Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Radio) Bill
2008–Environment, Communications and the Arts
Committee–to report by 13 October 2008
- Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television
Switch-over) Bill 2008–Environment, Communications and the
Arts Committee–to report by 25 November 2008
- Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management (Repeal and
Consequential Amendment) Bill 2008–Environment,
Communications and the Arts Committee–to report by 10
November 2008
- National Rental Affordability Scheme Bill 2008 and a related
bill–Community Affairs Committee–to report by 20
November 2008
- Social Security Legislation Amendment (Employment Services
Reform) Bill 2008–Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations Committee–to report by 24 November 2008
- Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 5) Bill
2008–Economics Committee–to report by 13 October
2008
- Tax Laws Amendment (Education Refund) Bill 2008–Economics
Committee–to report by 13 October 2008
- Temporary Residents’ Superannuation Legislation Amendment
Bill 2008 and a related bill–Economics Committee–to
report by 20 November 2008
Other references
Reporting dates extended
The Senate extended reporting dates for the following
inquiries:
- Management of the Murray-Darling Basin system and the Emergency
Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill 2008–Rural and
Regional Affairs and Transport Committee–to report by 3
October 2008
- Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff) Bill
2008–Environment, Communications and the Arts
Committee–to report by 10 November 2008
- Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth
Laws—Superannuation) Bill 2008 and Same-Sex Relationships
(Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—General Law Reform)
Bill 2008–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee–to
report by 14 October 2008
Membership
The Senate discharged Senator Cormann from and appointed Senator
Parry to the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings Joint
Committee.
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]
Notices of motion to disallow given
The Chair of the Standing Committee on Regulations and
Ordinances gave a
notice of motion to disallow two determinations relating to
fees for water and sewerage services for
Christmas Island and the Territory of
Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Notice of intention to withdraw notices
The Chair of the Standing Committee on Regulations and
Ordinances gave a
notice of intention to withdraw notices to disallow the
following delegated legislation:
Documents tabled
- Auditor-General–Audit
report no. 5 of 2008-09
- Department of the Senate–Register of Senate senior
executive officers’ interests, incorporating statements of
registrable interests of senior executive officers lodged between
24 June and 23 September 2008
- Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice–12th edition,
2008
-
A petition
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses
and Auditor-General’s reports were discussed
Ministerial statement tabled
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
(Senator Carr) tabled a ministerial statement entitled Caring
for our country [a
motion to take note of the statement was debated]
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question
time–first
question
Adjournment debate–first
speaker
Motion agreed to
Motions negatived
Temporary chairs of committees
A warrant was tabled nominating Senator Ellison as a temporary
chair of committees.
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate
Journals.
Statistics
Statistics on the work of the Senate this week will be available
in the Statistical
Summary, which forms part of StatsNet–the
Department of the Senate’s online statistical collection.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
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