The Senate met from 9.30 am until 7.27 pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bill was introduced
- Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Amendment Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 18 September 2012] [Minister’s second reading speech]
The following bills were debated
- Marriage Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2012–second reading debate continued [first speaker]
The following bills were passed
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Declared Commercial Fishing Activities) Bill 2012 [The Bill will now be assented to]
- Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 4) Bill 2012 [The Bill will now be assented to]
Motion agreed to
The Senate debated and agreed to a motion to vary the hours of meeting and routine of business for 20 September 2012 to enable the Marriage Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2012 to be considered [first speaker].
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Reports tabled
- Human Rights Joint Committee–3rd report of 2012–Examination of legislation in accordance with the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011: Bills and legislative instruments introduced 10 to 14 September 2012 [a motion was moved to take note of the report]
- Scrutiny of Bills Committee–Alert Digest No. 11 and 11th report of 2012 [contains assessments of bills on civil liberties and related grounds]
New inquiry
The Senate referred matters relating to the fresh ginger import risk analysis to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee to report by 29 November 2012.
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Economics Legislation Committee–20 September 2012 from 3.30 pm–private meeting
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Joint Committee–9 October 2012 from 5.30 pm–public meeting–Care of ADF personnel wounded and injured on operations
Notices of motion
To refer matters to committees
- Detention, treatment and trial of Mr David Hicks–Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee–to report by 27 March 2013–notice given by Senator Wright
- Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Excessive Noise from Wind Farms) Bill 2012–Environment and Communications References Committee–to report by 29 November 2012–notice given by Senators Madigan and Xenophon
- The involuntary or coerced sterilization of people with disabilities in Australia–Community Affairs References Committee–to report by 24 April 2013–notice given by the Chair of the Community Affairs References Committee (Senator Siewert)
To hold meetings when the Senate is sitting
- Community Affairs Legislation and References Committees–9 October and 30 October from 12.30 pm–private meetings
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to the membership of committees.
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
Document tabled
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research (Senator Evans) tabled a statement relating to an order concerning the Minerals Resource Rent Tax [The document was tabled in response to the order of the Senate agreed to on 17 September 2012].
Motions defeated
The Senate did not agree to the following orders:
Notice of motion
Senator Siewert gave a notice of motion to require the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to table documents relating to a longitudinal study of Indigenous children–no later than 28 September 2012.
Documents tabled
Ministerial statements tabled
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research (Senator Evans) tabled ministerial statements about–
- the future of workers’ penalty rates and public holidays [a motion to take note of the statement was agreed to]
- the investment in nuclear medicine and treatment [a motion was moved to take note of the statement]
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
Motion negatived
Matter of public importance discussed
Notices of motion
Notices of motion given today are available in the Senate Journals [see Journals entries 10, 24 and 36].
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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.
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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