The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.48 pm
The Senate will meet again on 29 October 2012. Senate committees will meet from 15 to 18 October 2012 to consider supplementary budget estimates.
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Clean Energy (Charges—Excise) Amendment Bill 2012
Clean Energy (Charges—Customs) Amendment Bill 2012
Excise Tariff Amendment (Per-tonne Carbon Price Equivalent) Bill 2012
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment (Per-tonne Carbon Price Equivalent) Bill 2012
Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment (Per-tonne Carbon Price Equivalent) Bill 2012
Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—Auctions) Amendment Bill 2012
[bills passed by the House of Representatives on 11 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speeches]
- Dental Benefits Amendment Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 11 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- Federal Circuit Court of Australia Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 10 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Maximum Payment Amounts and Other Measures) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 10 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Streamlining and Other Measures) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 10 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- National Health Security Amendment Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 10 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account Bill 2012
Social and Community Services Pay Equity Special Account (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012
[bills passed by the House of Representatives on 11 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speeches]
- Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Further 2012 Budget and Other Measures) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 11 October 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
The following bills were exempted from the cut-off order [to enable consideration in this period of sittings – 14 August to 29 November 2012]
- Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012 and a related bill
The following bills were debated
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Making Marine Parks Accountable) Bill 2012–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
- Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2012–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
- Migration Legislation Amendment (Student Visas) Bill 2012–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
The following bills were passed
- Customs Amendment (Smuggled Tobacco) Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Amendment Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- National Portrait Gallery of Australia Bill 2012 and a related bill [first speaker]
[These bills will now be assented to]
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Estimates
Additional information received relating to estimates hearings was tabled.
Reports tabled
Report on legislation
- Corporations Legislation Amendment (Derivative Transactions) Bill 2012–Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee [report]
Other report
- Publications Committee–20th report [report] [a motion to adopt the report was agreed to]
Documents tabled
- Access to unpublished committee documents–Joint Select Committee on Certain Family Law Issues, 1995
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–Management of the Murray-Darling Basin: the Basin Plan–Second interim report–Addendum [a motion to take note of the document was agreed to]
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 13 of 2012 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Bill 2012–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 19 November 2012
- Freedom of Information Amendment (Parliamentary Budget Office) Bill 2012–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 19 November 2012
- Higher Education Support Amendment (Streamlining and Other Measures) Bill 2012–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–to report by 19 November 2012
- Migration and Security Legislation Amendment (Review of Security Assessments) Bill 2012–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by the first sitting day in February 2013
- Minerals Resource Rent Tax Amendment (Protecting Revenue) Bill 2012–Economics Legislation Committee–to report by 29 November 2012
- Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Bill 2012–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 29 November 2012
- Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 19 November 2012
Other references
- Container deposit schemes–Environment and Communications References Committee–to report by 22 November 2012
- Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Excessive Noise from Wind Farms) Bill 2012–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 29 November 2012
Proposed reference
The Senate debated but did not agree to a motion moved by Senator Ludlam proposing to refer government amendments relating to the Defence Trade Controls Bill 2011 to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee [first speaker].
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Environment and Communications Legislation and References Committees–11 October 2012 from 1.00 pm–private meetings
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–11 October 2012 from 4.00 pm–public meeting–Foreign Investment Review Board national interest test
Membership
The Senate agreed to the following changes to committee membership:
- Economics Legislation Committee–Senator Milne to replace Senator Xenophon for the committee’s inquiry into the Minerals Resource Rent Tax Amendment (Protecting Revenue) Bill 2012
- Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–
- Senator Furner to replace Senator Singh for the committee’s consideration of the 2012-13 supplementary Budget estimates on 15 October 2012
- Senator Hanson-Young to replace Senator Waters for the committee’s inquiry into the Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012
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
Motions defeated
The Senate did not agree to the following orders:
Orders with continuing effect
Departmental and agency appointments and vacancies
Letters of advice for various portfolios were tabled [see Journals entries 37 and 47] [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 portfolios were tabled [see Journals entries 38 and 48] [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
- Department of the Senate–Report for 2011-12
Documents discussed
Government documents, committee reports, government responses and Auditor‑General’s reports were discussed.
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motions agreed to
Motion negatived
Notices of motion
A notice of motion given today is 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.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Online
The Senate Daily Summary is available 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.
Follow the Australian Senate on Twitter: @AuSenate
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