The Senate met from 9.30 am until 10.25 pm
New senators
Senators Thorp and Whish-Wilson were sworn in as senators to fill vacancies in the representation of Tasmania.
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2011-2012
Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2011-2012
[passed by the House of Representatives on 20 June 2012]
- Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2012-2013
Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2012-2013
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2012-2013
[passed by the House of Representatives on 20 June 2012]
- Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (National Children’s Commissioner) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 21 June 2012]
- Broadcasting Services Amendment (Improved Access to Television Services) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 20 June 2012]
- Passenger Movement Charge Amendment Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 20 June 2012]
- Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No. 2) Bill 2012
Pay As You Go Withholding Non-compliance Tax Bill 2012
[passed by the House of Representatives on 20 June 2012]
The following bill was debated
- Health Insurance (Dental Services) Bill 2012 [No. 2]–second reading debate commenced [first speaker]
The following bills were passed
- Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Maintaining Address) Bill 2011 and a related bill [The bills will now be assented to]
Notices of motion
To exempt a bill from the cut-off order [to enable consideration this period of sittings – 18 to 28 June 2012]
- Tax Laws Amendment (Managed Investment Trust Withholding Tax) Bill 2012
Messages from the House of Representatives reported
- Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 and a related bill–agreeing to the amendments made by the Senate to the bills [the bills will now be assented to]
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Reports tabled
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee–Higher education and skills training to support agriculture and agribusiness in Australia [report] [a motion to take note of the report was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
- Treaties Joint Committee–125th report–Treaties tabled on 7 and 28 February 2012 [report] [a motion to take note of the report was agreed to]
Government responses tabled
- Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee–Statutory oversight of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
- Gambling Reform Joint Select Committee–Interactive and online gambling and gambling advertising and Interactive Gambling and the Broadcasting Amendment (Online Transactions and Other Measures) Bill 2011
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–Iraqi wheat debt: Repayments for wheat growers
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 7 of 2012 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Government Investment Funds Amendment (Ethical Investments) Bill 2011–Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee–to report by 22 August 2012
- Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Bill 2012 and a related bill–Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–to report by 15 August 2012
- Maritime Powers Bill 2012 and a related bill–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–to report by 20 August 2012
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Australia’s Food Processing Sector Select Committee–25 June 2012 from 4.00 pm and 27 June 2012 from 11.30 am–private meetings
- Community Affairs Legislation and References Committees–26 June 2012 from 12.30 pm–private meetings
- Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee–
- 22 June 2012 from 9.30 am–public meeting
- 28 June 2012 from 10.00 am–private meeting
- Economics Legislation Committee–22 June 2012 from 2.00 pm–private meeting
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–22 June 2012 from 9.30 am–public meeting–Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2012
- Environment and Communications Legislation Committee–21 June 2012 from 1.00 pm–private meeting
- Human Rights Joint Committee–21 June 2012 from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm–public meeting
- Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee–15 August and 22 August 2012 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm–private meetings, followed by private briefings
Reporting dates extended
The Senate extended reporting dates for the following inquiries:
- Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee–
- Management of the Murray-Darling Basin–to report by 12 September 2012
- Foreign Investment Review Board national interest test–to report by 12 September 2012
Notice of motion to refer a matter to a committee
The Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Milne) gave a notice of motion to refer a matter relating to electricity bill increases to the Economics References Committee–to report by 23 August 2012.
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, including Governor-General’s Proclamations]
Orders for the production of documents
Notice of motion
Senators Cormann and Johnston gave a notice of motion to require the Minister representing the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Wong) to table correspondence between ASIC and the Financial Ombudsman Service in relation to changes in the terms of reference for the Financial Ombudsman Service–no later than noon on 28 June 2012.
Documents tabled
- 2 petitions and a petitioning document
- Government documents
- Response to a Senate resolution about Schizophrenia Awareness Week–from Minister for Mental Health and Ageing (Mr Butler) [resolution agreed to on 10 May 2012]
Ministerial statement tabled
The Minister for Finance and Deregulation (Senator Wong) tabled a ministerial statement about homelessness [a motion to take note of the statement was agreed to].
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motions agreed to
Motions negatived
Motion debated
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 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