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No. 14/2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
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The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.31 pm
Legislation
For bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Combating the Financing of People Smuggling and Other Measures Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 22 March 2011]
- Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Provisional Voting) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 23 March 2011]
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Election Commitments and Other Measures) Bill 2011 [passed by the House of Representatives on 22 March 2011]
- Product Stewardship Bill 2011 [Senate bill]
- Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Bill 2011 and a related bill [Senate bills]
- Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Amendment Bill 2010 [passed by the House of Representatives on 22 March 2011]
The following bill was debated
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2010–second reading debate commenced [first speaker ]
The following bills were passed
- Civil Dispute Resolution Bill 2010–3 Government amendments agreed to [the House of Representatives will now consider the amendments made by the Senate]
- National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Bill 2010 [2011] and 2 related bills [the House of Representatives will now consider these bills]
- Schools Assistance Amendment (Financial Assistance) Bill 2011–1 Australian Greens second reading amendment agreed to [expressing a view about the policy of the bill] [the bill will now be assented to]
Message from the House of Representatives
- Australian Civilian Corps Bill 2010–agreeing to the amendments made by the Senate [the bill will now be assented to]
Committees
For scheduled public committee hearings
For committee reports
Reports tabled
- Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity Joint Committee–Examination of the annual report for 2009-10 of the Integrity Commissioner [report]
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee–Industry Skills Councils [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
- Legislation committees–Reports–Examination of annual reports tabled by 31 October 2010
- Parliamentary Budget Office Joint Select Committee–Report [a motion to take note of the report was agreed to]
- Procedure Committee–First report of 2011–Question time–Temporary order [consideration of the report will take place on a future sitting day]
- Public Works Joint Committee–
- Scrutiny of Bills Committee–Alert Digest No. 3 of 2011 and 3rd report of 2011 [contain assessments of bills on civil liberties and related grounds] [a motion to take note was agreed to]
New inquiries
- Administration of health practitioner registration–Finance and Public Administration References Committee–to report by 13 May 2011 [terms of reference]
- Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill 2011–Exposure draft and explanatory memorandum–Rural Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee–to report by 10 May 2011
- Operational issues relating to grain export–Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee–to report by 2 November 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:
- Migration Joint Committee–11 May 2011 from 10.30 am till 12.30 pm–Public meeting
- Reform of the Australian Federation Select Committee–24 March 2011–Private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
Reporting date extended
The Senate extended the reporting date for the inquiry of the Reform of the Australian Federation Select Committee to 20 June 2011.
Notices of motion
To establish a committee
- Australia’s Food Processing Sector Select Committee–to inquire into the regulatory environment for Australia’s food processing and manufacturing companies by 30 June 2012–notice given by Senator Colbeck
To refer matters to committees
- Matters relating to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme–Community Affairs References Committee–to report by 18 August 2011–notice given by the Chair of the Community Affairs References Committee (Senator Siewert)
- Standing order 55(2) to (5) relating to the meeting of the Senate–Procedure Committee–notice given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig)
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to committee membership.
Messages from the House of Representatives were reported advising of various appointments to joint committees.
Documents
Delegated legislation
See Disallowance Alert for a complete list of notices of motion to disallow (and outcomes)
Orders for the production of documents
Notice of motion given
Senator Colbeck gave a notice of motion to require the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (Senator Conroy) to table a copy of the Interim Report on the Tasmanian Forestry Negotiations prepared by Mr Bill Kelty–by 6.00 pm on 24 March 2011, or within 24 hours of receipt of the report from Mr Kelty.
Order with continuing effect
Indexed lists of departmental and agency files published on the Internet
Statements of compliance for various agencies were tabled [Letters of advice about certain files created by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Documents tabled
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Matters of public interest debate–first speaker
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motions agreed to
Matter of public importance discussed
Statements
Senator Brandis made a statement relating to remarks made during a Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee hearing on 16 March 2011. The President made a related statement.
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 . 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