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No. 18/2008
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
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The Senate met from 9.30am until 7.55pm
Legislation
Bills and related documents available on BillsNet <www.aph.gov.au/bills/index.htm>
Bills considered
The following bills were introduced
- Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008 [passed by the House of Representatives on 19 March 2008]
- Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Repeal Bill 2008 [passed by the House of Representatives on 19 March 2008]
- Statute Law Revision Bill 2008 [new Senate bill]
- Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network) Bill 2008 [new Senate bill]
The following bills were exempted from the cut-off order [to enable consideration in this period of sittings]
- Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008
- Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Repeal Bill 2008
- Tradex Scheme Amendment Bill 2008
The following bills were debated
The following bills were passed
- Infrastructure Australia Bill 2008–1 Australian Democrats and 5 Opposition amendments agreed to [The House of Representatives will now consider the amendments made by the Senate–see Journals entries nos 5 and 26]
The following bills were defeated by a majority vote
- Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008 and a related bill–defeated at the second reading
Notice of motion
To introduce a bill
- A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Improved access to baby bonus) Amendment Bill 2008–notice given by Senator Stott Despoja [private senator's bill]
Committees
For scheduled public committee hearings
For committee reports
Reports tabled
- Public Works Joint Committee–
- 1st report of 2008–71st annual report
- 2nd report of 2008–HMAS Creswell redevelopment, Jervis Bay Territory
- 3rd report of 2008–Land Engineering Agency test services relocation, Monegeetta, Victoria
- 4th report of 2008–Refurbishment of staff apartments, Australian Embassy complex, Tokyo, Japan
- Scrutiny of Bills Committee–Alert Digest No. 2 of 2008 and 2nd report of 2008 [contain assessments of bills on civil liberties and related grounds]
New inquiries
Selection of Bills Committee report
The Senate adopted report no. 3 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and made the following references:
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Fair Bank and Credit Card Fees) Amendment Bill 2008–Economics Committee–to report by 16 September 2008
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Emergency Response Consolidation) Bill 2008–Community Affairs Committee–to report by 7 May 2008
- Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Communications Fund) Bill 2008–Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee–to report by 30 April 2008
- Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2008–Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee–to report by 1 May 2008
Other references
- Australia's mandatory Last Resort Home Warranty Insurance scheme–Economics Committee–to report by May 2008
- Australia's space science and industry sector–Economics Committee–to report by October 2008
- Meat marketing–Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee–to report by 4 September 2008
- Provisions of Schedule 1 of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008–Electoral Matters Joint Committee–to report by June 2009
Establishment of select committee
The Senate established the Select Committee on Remote Indigenous Communities.
Notices of motion given
To extend a reporting deadline
- State Government Financial Management Select Committee –to report by 27 August 2008
To refer matters to committees
- Broadcasting Code of Conduct–Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee–to report by 9 June 2008
- Management of Australia's waste streams–Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee–to report by August 2008
- Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network) Bill 2008–Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee–to report by 7 May 2008
To enable a committee to use earlier records
- Economics Committee to have power to consider and use records from the previous Parliament relating to its consideration of an earlier version of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Fair Bank and Credit Card Fees) Amendment Bill 2008
Membership
The Senate agreed to various changes to committee membership
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
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
A statement of compliance for the Veterans' Affairs portfolio was 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 delegation–ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly 28th General Assembly, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 to 24 August 2007 and bilateral visit to Indonesia, 24 to 27 August 2007
- Government documents
Other business
Questions without notice and issues arising during question time–first question
Matters of public interest debate–first speaker
Adjournment debate–first speaker
Motion agreed to
Motion negatived
- Tibet–moved by the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown)
Statement by President
The President made a statement relating to the appointment of Mr Alan Thompson as Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services.
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
Contact details
Inquiries, comments and suggestions:
phone 6277 3021
e-mail: sds@aph.gov.au
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