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Senate Daily Summary
No. 31/2011
Monday, 4 July 2011
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The Senate met from 10.00 am until 10.26 pm
Senators
Certificates of election for senators elected on 21 August 2010 to serve in the Senate from 1 July 2011 were tabled. The senators made and subscribed the oath or affirmation of allegiance.
Election of officers
Senators Hogg (ALP, Qld) and Ludlam (AG, WA) were both proposed to take the office of President of the Senate. Senator Hogg was declared elected after a ballot was held (Senator Hogg 62 votes, Senator Ludlam 9 votes).
Senators Parry (LP, Tas) and Ludlam were both proposed to take the office of Deputy President of the Senate and Chair of Committees. Senator Parry was declared elected after a ballot was held (Senator Parry 61 votes, Senator Ludlam 9 votes).
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 23 June 2011]
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Demand Driven Funding System and Other Measures) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 23 June 2011]
- Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment (Oil Transfers) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 23 June 2011]
- Statute Stocktake Bill (No. 1) 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 23 June 2011]
The following bills were passed
- Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment (Child Care and Other Measures) Bill 2011
- Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2011
- Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test and Other Provisions) Bill 2011
- Military Justice (Interim Measures) Amendment Bill 2011
- Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Amendment (Registration of Foreign Proceeds of Crime Orders) Bill 2011
- National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Home Loans and Credit Cards) Bill 2011
[The bills will now be assented to]
Notices of motion
To introduce a private senator’s bill
- Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill (No. 2) 2011–notice given by Senator Hanson-Young
To discharge a private senator’s bill from the Notice Paper
- Migration Amendment (Declared Countries) Bill 2011–notice given by Senator Hanson-Young
Message from the House of Representatives
- Remuneration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011–agreeing to the amendments made by the Senate [The bill will now be assented to]
Bills assented to
Assent to a number of laws was reported in the Senate
See Committees for details of reports relating to legislation
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Reports tabled
Reports on legislation
- Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test and Other Provisions) Bill 2011–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee [report]
- Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and a related bill– State government insurance in Australia–Economics References Committee [interim report] [a motion to extend the final reporting date to 29 July 2011 was agreed to]
Other reports
- Christmas Island tragedy of 15 December 2010 Joint Select Committee [report]
- Finance and Public Administration References Committee–Superannuation claims of former and current Commonwealth public service employees [report]
- Reform of the Australian Federation Select Committee–Australia’s federation: An agenda for reform [report]
- Scrutiny of New Taxes Select Committee–The mining tax: A bad tax out of a flawed process [report]
Documents tabled
- Senators’ Interests Committee–Register of senators’ interests incorporating statements of registrable interests and notifications of alterations of interests lodged between 14 December 2010 and 30 June 2011
- The social and economic impact of rural wind farms–Community Affairs References Committee–Additional information
Government responses tabled
- Electoral Matters Joint Committee–Report on the 2007 federal election–Events in the division of Lindsay–Review of penalty provisions in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Joint Committee–Review of the Defence annual report 2008-09
- Ministerial Discretion in Migration Matters Select Committee–Report
Notices of motion
To extend reporting deadlines
- Community Affairs Legislation Committee–2011-12 Budget estimates–to report by 7 July 2011
- Community Affairs References Committee–
- Funding and administration of mental health services in Australia–to report by 20 September 2011
- Supply of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines to remote area Aboriginal Health Services–to report by 11 October 2011
To hold meetings when the Senate is sitting
- Migration Joint Committee–17 August 2011 from 10.30 am to noon–public hearing
- National Broadband Network Joint Committee–5 July 2011–
- from 6.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- from 6.15 pm–public hearing
- Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee–6 July 2011 from noon to 1.00 pm–National funding agreements–public hearing
To refer matters to committees
- Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–
- to report by 9 September 2011–notice given by Senator Siewert
- to report by 15 September 2011–notice given by Senator Marshall
To amend the terms of reference of a committee inquiry
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee–Procurement procedures for defence capital projects–notice given by Senator Xenophon
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to committee membership
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
Document tabled
A letter to the President of the Senate from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) relating to the import protocol for apples from New Zealand was tabled [The letter was tabled in response to the order of the Senate agreed to on 23 June 2011].
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency grants
A letter of advice for the Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities 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 Fair Work Ombudsman was tabled [Letters of advice about certain files created by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Documents tabled
- Auditor-General–Audit report no. 57 of 2010-11
- Department of the Senate–Register of Senate senior executive officers’ interests incorporating notifications of alterations of interests of Senate senior executive officers lodged between 14 December 2010 and 30 June 2011
- Government documents
- Response to a Senate resolution about a report into bank fees and charges–from the Secretary of the Reserve Bank of Australia (Mr Dickman) [resolution agreed to on 21 June 2011]
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motion agreed to
Motion negatived
- Student visas for citizens of Libya, Syria and Bahrain–moved by Senator Hanson-Young
Matter of public importance discussed
Questions on notice–Failure to provide answers
The Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) asked the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (Senator Wong), the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Conroy) and the Minister representing the Special Minister of State (Senator Wong) why answers had not been provided to questions on notice nos 4, 340 and 660
Personal explanation
The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) made a personal explanation relating to the live export of animals.
Party appointments
The Leaders in the Senate of the Liberal Party, the Nationals, and the Australian Greens advised the Senate of various party appointments.
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate Journals.
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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