The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.12 pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Commonwealth Government Securities Legislation Amendment (Retail Trading) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 11 September 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Making Marine Parks Accountable) Bill 2012 [private senator’s bill] [introducer’s second reading speech]
The following bills were debated
- Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Amendment Bill 2012–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
- Government Investment Funds Amendment (Ethical Investments) Bill 2011–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
The following bills were passed
- Customs Tariff Amendment (2012 Measures No. 1) Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Customs Tariff Amendment (Schedule 4) Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Bill 2012 and a related bill [first speaker]
- International Monetary Agreements Amendment (Loans) Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Legislative Instruments Amendment (Sunsetting Measures) Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Maritime Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
- Statute Law Revision Bill 2012 [first speaker]
- Statute Stocktake (Appropriations) Bill (No. 1) 2012 [first speaker]
- Transport Safety Investigation Amendment Bill 2012 [first speaker]
[These bills will now be assented to]
The following bill was defeated by a majority vote
- Environment Protection (Beverage Container Deposit and Recovery Scheme) Bill 2010–defeated at second reading [first speaker ]
Notices of motion
To introduce a private senator’s bill
- Competition and Consumer Amendment (Australian Food Labelling) Bill 2012–notice given by the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Milne)
To exempt a bill from the cut-off order [to enable consideration this period of sittings – 14 August to 29 November 2012]
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Declared Fishing Activities) Bill 2012–notice given by the Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations (Senator Collins) [a statement of reasons was tabled justifying the need for the bill to be considered during this period of sittings]
See Committees for details of reports relating to legislation
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Report tabled
- Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Bill 2012–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee [report]
Government responses tabled
- Community Affairs References Committee–
- Regulatory standards for the approval of medical devices in Australia
- The social and economic impact of rural wind farms
[a motion was moved to take note of the responses]
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 11 of 2012 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and referred the Migration Amendment (Health Care for Asylum Seekers) Bill 2012 to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee to report by 20 November 2012.
Other reference
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Economics Legislation Committee–13 September 2012 from 3.30 pm–private meeting
- Electricity Prices Select Committee–17 September 2012 from 4.45 pm–private meeting
- Public Works Joint Committee–13 September 2012 from 5.00 pm–public meeting for the purpose of making an inspection
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
Orders with continuing effect
Indexed lists of departmental and agency files published on the Internet
A statement of compliance for the Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education portfolio was tabled [Letters of advice about certain files created by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Notices of motion
The following notices of motion were given requiring Ministers to table documents:
- The Minister representing the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (Senator Lundy) to table information relating to the provision of services on Nauru for the processing of asylum seekers–no later than 21 September 2012–notice given by Senator Hanson-Young
- The Minister representing the Treasurer to table information relating to the Minerals Resource Rent Tax–no later than noon on 19 September 2012–notice given by Senator Cormann
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
Motion debated
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate Journals [see entries 4 and 19].
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 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