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No. 10/2011
Thursday, 3 March 2011
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The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.24 pm
Legislation
For bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011
Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011
- Corporations and Other Legislation Amendment (Trustee Companies and Other Measures) Bill 2011
- Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Enrolment and Prisoner Voting) Bill 2010
- Health Insurance Amendment (Compliance) Bill 2010
[passed by the House of Representatives on 3 March 2011]
The following bills were debated
- Environment Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) Bill 2010 [private senator’s bill]–second reading debate commenced [first speaker ]
- National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010–second reading debate commenced [first speaker ]
The following bill was defeated by a majority vote
- Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising (Broadcasting Amendment) Bill 2010 [private senator’s bill]–defeated at second reading [first speaker ]
The following bills were passed
- Evidence Amendment (Journalists’ Privilege) Bill 2010 [private member’s bill]–2 Australian Greens amendments agreed to [the House of Representatives will now consider the amendments made by the Senate]
- National Health and Hospitals Network Bill 2010–8 Australian Greens amendments agreed to [the House of Representatives will now consider the amendments made by the Senate]
- Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2010 [this bill will now be assented to]
Message from the House of Representatives
- Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010–agreeing to the amendment made by the Senate [this bill will now be assented 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
- Autonomous Sanctions Bill 2010–Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee [report]
Other reports
- Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee–421st report–The role of the Auditor-General in scrutinising government advertising [a motion to take note of the report was agreed to]
- Publications Committee–4th Report [report adopted]
Documents tabled
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–Additional information–
- Migration Amendment (Visa Capping) Bill 2010
- Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
- Regulations and Ordinances Committee–Ministerial correspondence relating to the scrutiny of delegated legislation for the period July to December 2010
Government responses tabled
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee–Primary Schools for the 21st Century–Interim report [response]
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–Natural resource management and conservation challenges [response] [a motion to take note of the response was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
New committee
The Senate amended and concurred with a resolution of the House of Representatives to establish a Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network.
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 2 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Dividend and Other Measures) Bill 2011–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 21 March 2011
- Combating the Financing of People Smuggling and Other Measures Bill 2011–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 21 March 2011
- Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping) Bill 2011–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 22 June 2011
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Bioregional Plans) Bill 2011–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 13 May 2011
- Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and a related bill–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 21 March 2011
Other references
- Capacity of communication networks and emergency warning systems to deal with emergencies and natural disasters–Environment and Communications References Committee–to report by 2 November 2011 [terms of reference]
- Future direction and role of the Scrutiny of Bills Committee–Scrutiny of Bills Committee–to report by the last sitting day in June 2011 [terms of reference]
- Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011, a related bill and related matters–Economics References Committee–to report by 2 May 2011 [terms of reference]
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee–3 March 2011 from 4.30 pm–Criminal Code Amendment (Cluster Munitions Prohibition) Bill 2010
- Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee–3 March 2011 from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm–private briefing
Reporting date extended
The Senate agreed to extend the reporting date for the inquiry of the Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee into Biosecurity and quarantine arrangements to 6 July 2011.
Notice of motion given
The Chair of the Privileges Committee (Senator Johnston) gave a notice of motion to refer matters to the committee relating to the adequacy of advice available to officers giving evidence to Senate committees and providing information to the Senate and senators.
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to committee membership [see Journals entries nos 46 and 50].
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, including Governor-General’s Proclamations]
Orders for the production of documents
Motion agreed to
The Senate ordered the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (Senator Arbib) to table documents relating to the appointment of Ms Catherine Deveny as a disabilities ambassador for the International Day of People with Disability, no later than noon on 21 March 2011.
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency appointments and vacancies
A letter of advice for the Treasury portfolio was tabled [Lists of appointments made and existing vacancies are required to be tabled 7 days before the commencement of budget, supplementary budget and additional estimates hearings]
Departmental and agency contracts published on the Internet
A letter of advice for the Finance and Deregulation portfolio 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]
Departmental and agency grants
A letter of advice for the Treasury portfolio was tabled [Lists of all grants approved are required to be tabled 7 days before the commencement of budget, supplementary budget and additional estimates hearings]
Indexed lists of departmental and agency files published on the Internet
A statement of compliance for the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs was tabled [Letters of advice about certain files created by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Documents tabled
- Government document–Innovation Australia–Report for 2009-10
- President of the Senate–Report of the official visit to the Republic of Tunisia–19 to 21 September 2010
- A petitioning document
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports were discussed
Ministerial statement tabled
The Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship (Senator Lundy) tabled a ministerial statement on the Universal Periodic Review, and a draft report of the working group [a motion to take note of the statement was debated and agreed to – first speaker].
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motion agreed to
Motion debated
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.
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Online
The Senate Daily Summary is available on the Internet at www.aph.gov.au/senate . On sitting days it provides a summary of each day’s proceedings in the Senate.
Estimates at a Glance is issued this week by the Senate Table Office as a convenient guide and index for information relating to the consideration of estimates by Senate committees.
Further information
Senate Briefs, prepared by the Senate Procedure Office, provide general information about the estimates process:
No. 4: Senate Committees
No. 5: Consideration of Estimates by the Senate Committees
No. 13: Rights and Responsibilities of Witnesses before Senate Committees
Contact details
Inquiries, comments and suggestions:
phone 6277 3021
e-mail: sds@aph.gov.au