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No. 55/2011
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
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The Senate met from 12.30 pm until 8.48 pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were debated
- Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 and a related bill–second reading debate commenced [first speaker ]
The following bill was passed
- Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Bill 2010 [The bill will now be assented to]
Notices of motion
To exempt bills from the cut-off order [to enable consideration this period of sittings – 16 August to 30 November 2011]
- Business Names Registration Bill 2011 and 2 related bills
- National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2011
To vary the hours of meeting and routine of business
Notices were given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) to vary the hours of meeting and routine of business on 12 and 13 October 2011 to enable the Government’s legislative program to be considered.
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
Report on legislation
- Australia’s Clean Energy Future Legislation Joint Select Committee–Advisory report on the Clean Energy Bills and the Steel Transformation Plan Bill 2011 [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated – first speaker]
Other reports
- Australia’s Immigration Detention Network—Joint Select Committee–Interim report [report] [a motion to set a final reporting date of 30 March 2012 was agreed to]
- Community Affairs References Committee–The effectiveness of special arrangements for the supply of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medicines to remote area Aboriginal Health Services [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated – first speaker]
- Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee–Exposure drafts of Australian privacy amendment legislation: Part 2–Credit reporting [report]
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee–Australia’s arrangement with Malaysia in relation to asylum seekers [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
- Scrutiny of New Taxes Select Committee–Interim report–The Carbon Tax: Economic pain for no environmental gain [report] [a motion was moved to take note of the report]
Documents tabled
- Community Affairs References Committee–The social and economic impact of rural wind farms–Submissions and additional information [a motion to take note of the documents was agreed to]
- Scrutiny of New Taxes Select Committee–The mining tax: A bad tax out of a flawed process–Additional information
Privileges Committee
A motion to amend standing order 18 to vary the membership of the Privileges Committee, was moved by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig) and agreed to.
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Community Affairs Legislation Committee–11 October 2011 from 4.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Community Affairs References Committee:
- 11 October 2011 from 4.30 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- 12 October 2011 from 4.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Electoral Matters Joint Committee–12 October 2011 from 9.30 am to 11.00 am–Funding of political parties and election campaigns–public meeting
- Environment and Communications References Committee–11 October 2011 from 12.35 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee–11 October 2011 from 5.00 pm–Government’s response to kidnappings of Australian citizens overseas–public meeting
- Gambling Reform Joint Select Committee–11 October 2011 from 4.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1), followed by a private briefing
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee–11 October 2011 from 1.45 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee–12 October 2011 from 11.30 am to noon–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1), and from noon to 1.00 pm–public meeting
Notices of motion
To extend reporting deadlines
- Community Affairs References Committee–Regulatory standards for the approval of medical devices–to report by 8 November 2011
- Environment and Communications References Committee–Recent programming decisions made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation–to report by 13 October 2011
To hold meetings when the Senate is sitting
- Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity Joint Committee–13 October 2011 from 11.00 am to noon–in camera hearing
- Australia’s Immigration Detention Network Joint Select Committee–22 November 2011 from 4.00 pm–public meeting
- Migration Joint Committee–2 November 2011 from 10.30 am to noon–public meeting
- Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee:
- 2 November 2011 from 11 am to noon–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1), followed by a private briefing, and from noon to 1.00 pm–public meeting
- 23 November 2011 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Treaties Joint Committee–31 October 2011 from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm–public meeting
To refer a matter to a committee
- Impact of fixed currencies on international trade–Economics References Committee–to report by 28 February 2012–notice given by Senator Xenophon
Membership
The Senate agreed to the following changes to committee membership:
- Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee–Senator Hanson-Young appointed
- Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee–Senator Thistlethwaite to replace Senator Stephens on 17 and 18 October 2011, and Senator Stephens to be appointed as a participating member
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]
Notice of motion to approve a determination
- Health Insurance (Extended Medicare Safety Net) Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 3), made under subsection 10B(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 [homepage]–notice given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig)
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 export of apples from New Zealand to Australia was tabled [The letter was tabled in response to the order of the Senate agreed to on 20 September 2011] [a motion was moved to take note of the report].
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency appointments and vacancies
Letters of advice for various agencies were tabled [see Journals entries 37 and 46] [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
Letters of advice for various agencies were tabled [see Journals entries 38 and 47] [Lists of all grants approved are required to be tabled 7 days before the commencement of budget, supplementary budget and additional estimates hearings]
Documents tabled
- Australian National Audit Office–Annual report for 2010-11–Corrections
- Government documents [see Journals entries nos 2 and 34] [and considered]
- Responses to Senate resolutions about–
- Broadcast of the South Australian National Football League–from the Head of ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs (Ms McLeish) [resolution agreed to on 15 September 2011]
- Burdekin Falls Dam–from the Premier of Queensland (Ms Bligh) [resolution agreed to on 17 August 2011]
- Burma and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi–from the Minister for Trade (Mr Emerson) [resolution agreed to on 7 July 2011] [a motion to take note of the document was agreed to]
- 2 petitions
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motion agreed to
Motions negatived
Questions on notice–Failure to provide answers
Senator Johnston asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence (Senator Evans) why answers had not been provided to 19 questions on notice asked on 21 March, 29 April, 23 June and 5 July 2011. Senator Evans provided an explanation. A motion moved by Senator Johnston to take note of the explanation was agreed to.
Matter of public importance discussed
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
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