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No. 04/2011
Thursday, 10 February 2011
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The Senate met from 9.30 am until 6.19 pm
The Senate will meet again on 28 February 2011. Senate committees will meet from 21 to 24 February 2011 to consider additional estimates.
Legislation
For bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Higher Education Support Amendment (No. 1) Bill 2011 [Senate bill]
- National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 [Senate bill]
- Wild Rivers (Environmental Management) Bill 2011 [private senator’s bill]
The following bill was debated
- Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Budget Measures) Bill 2010––second reading debate continued [first speaker ]
The following bills were passed
- Education Services for Overseas Students Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 [2011]
- Social Security Amendment (Income Support for Regional Students) Bill 2010 [private senator’s bill]
[The House of Representatives will now consider these bills]
Notice of motion to introduce a private senator’s bill
- Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping) Bill 2011–notice given by Senator Xenophon
Messages from the House of Representatives
Returning the following bills without amendment
- Aviation Crimes and Policing Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 [2011]
- Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Identity Crimes and Other Measures) Bill 2010 [2011]
[These bills will now be assented to]
Committees
For scheduled public committee hearings
For committee reports
Estimates
- Additional information arising from estimates hearings was tabled.
- The Minister for Small Business (Senator Sherry) tabled particulars of proposed expenditure, and the Senate referred the particulars to committees for examination and report.
Reports tabled
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee–Donor conception practices in Australia [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated – first speaker]
- Publications Committee–3rd Report [report adopted]
Documents tabled
- Regulations and Ordinances Committee–Delegated legislation monitor–Disallowable legislative instruments tabled in the Senate in 2010
- Work of Committees–1 July to 31 December 2010
Government responses tabled
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–Management of the removal of the rebate for AQIS export certification functions
- Treaties Joint Committee–99th report–Treaties tabled on 3 December 2008 and 3 February 2009
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 1 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Foreign Acquisitions Amendment (Agricultural Land) Bill 2010–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 15 June 2011
- Human Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010–Community Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 22 March 2011
- National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures—Access Arrangements) Bill 2010–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 16 March 2011
- National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Bill 2010 [2011] and 2 related bills–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–to report by 21 March 2011
- Tax Laws Amendment (2010 Measures No. 5) Bill 2010–Schedule 2–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 24 March 2011
Other references
- Impact of supermarket price decisions on the dairy industry–Economics References Committee–to report by 15 April 2011 [terms of reference]
- Sale of timber assets by the South Australian Government–Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee–to report by 15 April 2011 [terms of reference]
Reporting date extended
The Senate agreed to extend the reporting date for the inquiry of the Community Affairs References Committee into the Commonwealth contribution to former forced adoption policies to 30 June 2011.
Membership
The Senate discharged Senator Faulkner from and appointed Senator O’Brien to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade 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]
Notice of intention to withdraw notices
The Chair of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances (Senator Stephens) gave notice of her intention to withdraw notices to disallow 4 instruments.
Orders for the production of documents
Motion agreed to
The Senate again ordered that a report by the Productivity Commission relating to superannuation funds be tabled [see also Journals of the Senate for 16 November 2010].
Statements tabled
The Minister for Small Business (Senator Sherry) tabled statements in response to the following orders of the Senate:
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency appointments and vacancies
A letter of advice for the Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy 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 grants
A letter of advice for the Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy 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 Austrade was tabled [Letters of advice about certain files created by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Documents tabled
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports were discussed
Ministerial statement tabled
The Minister for Small Business (Senator Sherry) tabled a ministerial statement on the commemoration of the 2nd anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires [a motion to take note of the statement was debated – first speaker].
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motions agreed to
Motion negatived
Matter of public importance discussed
Personal explanation
Senator Heffernan made a personal explanation relating to remarks made by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Senator Conroy) during question time on 9 February 2011.
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
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