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No. 48/2011
Senate Daily Summary
Thursday, 15 September 2011
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The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.43 pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Defence Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 14 September 2011]
- Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment (Oils in the Antarctic Area) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 14 September 2011]
The following bills were debated
- Carbon Tax Plebiscite Bill 2011 [No. 2] [private senator’s bill]–second reading debate continued [first speaker ]
- National Health Reform Amendment (National Health Performance Authority) Bill 2011–second reading debate continued [first speaker ]
The following private senator’s bill was defeated by a majority vote
- National Broadband Network Financial Transparency Bill 2010 (No. 2)–defeated at second reading [first speaker ]
The following bills were passed
- Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment Bill 2011 and a related bill [These bills will now be assented to]
- Horse Disease Response Levy Bill 2011 and 2 related bills [These bills will now be assented to]
- Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Amendment (Inventory) Bill 2011 [The bill will now be assented to]
- Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Early Release of Superannuation) Bill 2011 [The bill will now be assented to]
Message from the House of Representatives
Reported
- Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (National Regulator) Bill 2011–agreeing to the amendment made by the Senate [The bill will now be assented to]
See Committees for details of reports relating to legislation
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Reports tabled
Reports on legislation
- National Health Reform Amendment (Independent Hospital Pricing Authority) Bill 2011–Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee [report]
- Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Fair Protection for Firefighters) Bill 2011–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
Other report
- Treaties Joint Committee–119th report–Treaty tabled on 5 July 2011 [report] [a motion to take note of the report was agreed to]
Documents tabled
- Regulations and Ordinances Committee–Ministerial correspondence relating to the scrutiny of delegated legislation for the period January to July 2011
Government responses tabled
- Economics References Committee–Augmented tax assessments
- Publications Joint Committee–Inquiry into the development of a digital repository and electronic distribution of the Parliamentary Papers Series–Recommendation 5
- Scrutiny of New Taxes Select Committee–The student amenities fee – Another tax by another name
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 12 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Constitutional Corporations (Farm Gate to Plate) Bill 2011–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 24 November 2011
- Qantas Sale Amendment (Still Call Australia Home) Bill 2011–Rural Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee–to report by 2 November 2011
- Quarantine Amendment (Disallowing Permits) Bill 2011–Rural Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee–to report by 2 November 2011
Variation of appointment
The Senate agreed to a variation to the resolution appointing the Cyber Safety Joint Select Committee [The House of Representatives will now consider the variation made by the Senate].
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Australia’s Clean Energy Future Legislation Joint Select Committee–15 September 2011–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Community Affairs References Committee–22 September 2011 from 4.30 pm–Commonwealth contribution to former forced adoption policies, and the Professional Services Review Scheme–public meeting
- Electoral Matters Joint Committee–21 September 2011 from 9.30 am to 11.00 am–Funding of political parties and election campaigns–public meeting
Reporting date extended
The Senate extended the reporting date for the inquiry of the Community Affairs Legislation Committee into Schedule 3 of the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 to 19 September 2011.
Notices of motion
To extend a reporting deadline
- Scrutiny of Bills Committee–Future direction and role of the committee–to report by 30 November 2011
To refer a matter to a committee
- Higher education and skills training for agriculture and agribusiness–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee–to report by 1 March 2012–notice given by the Chair of the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee (Senator Back)
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
Notice of motion
Senator Fierravanti-Wells gave a notice of motion to require the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing (Senator Ludwig) to table advice relating to audits of dentists by Medicare Australia–no later than 5.00 pm on 31 October 2011.
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency contracts published on the Internet
A correction to the letter of advice for the Innovation, Industry, Science and Research 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]
Documents tabled
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports and government responses were discussed [see Journals entries 41 and 42].
Ministerial statement tabled
The Minister for Finance and Deregulation (Senator Wong) tabled a ministerial statement about the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry, along with the Commonwealth response to the interim report of the commission of inquiry.
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motions agreed to
Motion negatived
Motion debated
Statement by President
The President made a statement relating to remarks made by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Senator Carr) in question time on 14 September 2011.
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