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page | Senate Daily Summary
No. 46/2008
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The Senate met from 9.30am until 7.36pm
Senators
Senator Sherry was sworn in as a senator for Tasmania.
Senators
Pratt ,
Xenophon and
Bilyk gave their first speeches.
Legislation
Bills and related documents available on BillsNet <www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm>
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 [passed by
the House of Representatives on 27 August 2008]
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Other Legislation Amendment
Bill 2008 [passed by the House of Representatives on 26 August
2008]
- Therapeutic Goods Legislation Amendment (Annual Charges) Bill
2008 [passed by the House of Representatives on 27 August
2008]
The following bills were debated
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Removal of the Higher
Education Workplace Relations Requirements and National Governance
Protocols Requirements and Other Matters) Bill 2008–second
reading agreed to [details of the bill will be considered on a
future sitting day]
- Migration Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2008–second
reading agreed to and
committee of the whole commenced–10 Government amendments
to be determined
- National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical and Other
Benefits—Cost Recovery) Bill 2008–second reading debate
commenced [first
speaker ]
Notice of motion
To introduce a private senator’s bill
- Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill
2008–notice given by Senator Xenophon
See Committees for details of reports
relating to legislation
Committees
For scheduled public
committee hearings
For committee
reports
Reports tabled
Reports on legislation
-
Excise Legislation Amendment (Condensate) Bill 2008 and a
related bill–Economics Committee
- National Fuelwatch (Empowering Consumers) Bill 2008 and a
related bill–Economics Committee–Interim
report
-
Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy Surcharge Thresholds) Bill
2008–Economics Committee
Other reports
- Scrutiny of Bills Committee–PDF
210KB of 2008 and
PDF 847KB of 2008 [contain assessments of bills on civil
liberties and related grounds]
- Selection of Bills Committee–Report
no. 8 of 2008 [report adopted]
New inquiry
The Senate agreed to refer
matters relating to the provision of water
from and sustainable management of the Murray-Darling Basin
system to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
Committee.
Proposed references
The Senate did not agree to refer the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Other Legislation Amendment
Bill 2008 to the Environment, Communications and the Arts
Committee. [first
speaker]
The Senate continued to debate a motion moved by the Leader of the
Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) to refer matters relating to
the
Exclusive Brethren to the Community Affairs Committee. The
debate will continue on the next day of sitting. [first
speaker]
Private meeting
The Senate authorised the Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee to hold a private meeting while the Senate is sitting on
27 August 2008.
Reporting dates extended
The Senate extended reporting dates for the following
inquiries:
- Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other
Measures) Bill 2008–Legal and Constitutional Affairs
Committee–to report by 28 August 2008
- Lobbying code of conduct–Finance and Public
Administration Committee–to report by 3 September 2008
- State Government Financial Management Select Committee–to
report by 17 September 2008
- Waste management in Australia and the Drink Container Recycling
Bill 2008–Environment, Communications and the Arts
Committee–to report by 3 September 2008
Notices of motion given
To refer matters to committees:
-
Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill
2008–Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
Committee–to report by 30 September in conjunction with the
committee’s inquiry into the provision of water from and
sustainable management of the Murray-Darling Basin system
-
Western Australian gas crisis–Economics
Committee–to report by 14 October 2008
To extend a reporting deadline:
- Implementation, operation and administration of the legislation
underpinning Carbon Sink Forests–Rural and Regional Affairs
and Transport Committee–to report by 3 September 2008
Membership
The Senate appointed Senator Hanson-Young as a member of the
Migration 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]
Orders for the production of
documents
Motion agreed to
The Senate ordered the Minister for Climate Change and Water
(Senator Wong) to table
documents relating to the Coorong and Lower Lakes by no later
than 12 noon on 28 August 2008
Motion defeated
A motion moved by Senator Milne requiring
documents relating to the potential marine impact of effluent
from the Gunns pulp mill to be tabled was defeated.
Documents tabled
Ministerial statement tabled
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing
(Senator McLucas) tabled a ministerial statement about unannounced
visits at nursing homes.
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question
time–first
question
Matters of public interest debate–first
speaker
Adjournment debate–first
speaker
Motions agreed to
Motion negatived
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