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No. 3/2008

Wednesday, 13 February 2008

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The Senate met from 9.30am until 7.52pm

National Apology to the Stolen Generations

The Leader of the Government in the Senate (Senator Evans) moved a motion offering a National Apology to the Stolen Generations. The motion was debated and agreed to.

A subsequent motion to take note of the apology was also debated. Debate will continue on a later sitting day.

Legislation

Bills and related documents available on BillsNet <www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm>

Bills considered

The following bills were introduced

• Cross-Border Insolvency Bill 2008 [new Senate bill]
• Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2008 [private senator's bill]
• Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Review of Prudential Decisions) Bill 2008 [new Senate bill]

The following private senator's bills introduced by Senator Fielding were restored to the Notice Paper

• Alcohol Toll Reduction Bill 2007
• Qantas Sale (Keep Jetstar Australia) Amendment Bill 2007
• Trade Practices (Creeping Acquisitions) Amendment Bill 2007

Notices of motion

To introduce private senator's bills

• Marriage (Relationships Equality) Amendment Bill 2008–notice given by Senator Nettle
• Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008–notice given by Senator Bartlett

To exempt bills from the cut-off order [to enable consideration this period of sittings]

Notice given by the Minister for Human Services (Senator Ludwig)–

• Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008
• Appropriation (Drought and Equine Influenza Assistance) Bill (No. 1) 2007-2008
• Appropriation (Drought and Equine Influenza Assistance) Bill (No. 2) 2007-2008
• Cross-Border Insolvency Bill 2008
• Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Review of Prudential Decisions) Bill 2008

To restore bills to the Notice Paper

• Notice given by Senator Bartlett to restore 25 private senators' bills to the Notice Paper at the stage reached in the last Parliament

Delegated legislation

See Disallowance Alert for a complete list of notices of motion to disallow (and outcomes)

Committees

For scheduled public committee hearings

For committee reports

Estimates

• The Senate agreed to a motion establishing committee groupings and dates for estimates hearings for 2008.
• The Special Minister of State (Senator Faulkner) tabled particulars of proposed additional expenditure. The Senate referred the particulars to committees, for consideration at estimates hearings next week.

Additional information

The Finance and Public Administration Committee tabled additional information arising from additional estimates 2002-03 and 2006-07, and budget estimates 2007-08.

Allocation of departments and agencies

The Senate amended the names of two of its committees and allocated departments and agencies to standing committees.

Notices of motion given

To establish select committees:

• Housing Affordability in Australia Select Committee–to report by 16 June 2008
• State Government Financial Management Select Committee – to report by 16 June 2008

To refer matters to a committee

• Australia's mandatory Last Resort Home Warranty Insurance scheme–Economics Committee–to report by May 2008

Membership

• The Senate agreed to the appointment of members to committees.
• Messages from the House of Representatives were reported asking the Senate to agree to resolutions re-establishing joint committees. The Senate will consider the messages on a later sitting day.
• The Senate also reinstated a temporary order relating to substitute membership arrangements.

Documents

Documents tabled

• Commonwealth Ombudsman–Report for 2006-07 on the Ombudsman's activities in monitoring controlled operations conducted by the Australian Crime Commission, Australian Federal Police and the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
• Government documents [and considered]
• 4 petitions

Other business

Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question

Adjournment debate–first speaker

Days of meeting for 2008

The Senate agreed to a motion establishing the days of meeting for 2008.

Motions agreed to

• Death of Australian Defence Force personnel– moved by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Minchin) [see Journals entries 18, 19 and 20]

Motion negatived

• United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre for Southern Lebanon–moved by the Leader of the Australian Democrats (Senator Allison)

Address-in-reply

Debate commenced on the Address-in-reply to the Governor-General's speech and will resume on a later sitting day.

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 on the Internet 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 , on the Internet at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/index.htm

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

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