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No. 08/2012
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
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The Senate met from 12.30 pm until 10.39 pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents
Bills considered
The following bill was introduced
- Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2012 [passed by the House of Representatives on 16 February 2012]
The following bills were debated
- Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Amendment Bill 2011–second reading agreed to [first speaker ] and committee of the whole commenced–2 Australian Greens amendments to be determined
- National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010–committee of the whole continued
Message from the House of Representatives
- Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP and Other Measures) Bill 2011 [2012]–agreeing to the bill without amendment [the bill will now be assented to]
Committees
Scheduled public committee hearings
Committee reports
Meetings during the sitting of the Senate
The Senate authorised the following meetings to be held while the Senate is sitting:
- Australia’s Immigration Detention Network Joint Select Committee–29 February 2012 from 5.30 pm–public meeting
- Cyber Safety Joint Select Committee–14 March 2012 from 4.15 pm–public meeting
- Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–29 February 2012 from 1.50 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1)
- Electoral Matters Joint Committee–29 February 2012 from 9.30 am to 11.30 am–public meeting–Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Protecting Elector Participation) Bill 2012
- Gambling Reform Joint Select Committee–28 February 2012 from 4.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1), followed by an in camera hearing
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–1 March 2012 from 4.00 pm–public meeting–Access to Justice (Federal Jurisdiction) Amendment Bill 2011
- Migration Joint Committee–14 March 2012 from 10.30 am–public meeting
- Treaties Joint Committee–28 February 2012 from 8.00 pm–private meeting otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1), followed by a private briefing
Reporting dates extended
The Senate extended reporting dates for the following inquiries:
- Community Affairs Legislation Committee–
- Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 and a related bill–to report by 13 March 2012
- 2011-12 additional estimates–to report by 29 March 2012
- Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee–
- Crimes Amendment (Fairness for Minors) Bill 2011–to report by 4 April 2012
- Migration Amendment (Removal of Mandatory Minimum Penalties) Bill 2012–to report by 4 April 2012
- Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010–to report by 6 June 2012
Notices of motion
To refer bills to committees
- Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2012–Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee–to report by 8 May 2012–notice given by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Abetz)
- Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Trustee Obligations and Prudential Standards) Bill 2012–Corporations and Financial Services Joint Committee–to report by 13 March 2012–notice given by Senator Cormann
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 a Governor-General’s proclamation]
Orders for the production of documents
Motion defeated
The Senate did not agree to a motion requiring the Minister representing the Prime Minister (Senator Evans) to table a report relating to the arrest and detention overseas of Mr Mamdouh Habib.
Orders 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]
Departmental and agency contracts published on the Internet
Letters of advice for various agencies were tabled [Letters of advice about certain contracts valued at $100 000 or more entered into by departments and agencies are required to be tabled twice a year]
Documents tabled
- Australian parliamentary delegations–
- Council of Europe–Strasbourg–57th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly–Bucharest–3 to 9 October 2011–Report
- Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum–20th annual meeting–Tokyo–8 to 12 January 2012–Report [a motion to take note of the report was debated and agreed to – first speaker]
- Government documents [and considered]
- Response to a Senate resolution about the Kurdish community–from the Victorian Minister for Police and Emergency Services (Mr Ryan) [resolution agreed to on 15 September 2011]
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motion negatived
Matter of public importance discussed
Statement by President
The President made a statement relating to the donation of items used by the Usher of the Black Rod and pieces of furniture to the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
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.
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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