House debates

Monday, 16 June 2008

  • Main Committee (0 speeches)
    • Private Members’ Motions (1 speech)
      In accordance with standing order 41(h) and the recommendations of the whips adopted by the House on 28 May 2008, I present copies of the terms of motions for which notice has been given by the...
  • Dental Benefits Bill 2008; Dental Benefits (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
    • Second Reading (10 speeches)
      Debate resumed from 29 May, on motion by Ms Roxon: That these bills be now read a second time.
  • Governor-General’S Speech (0 speeches)
    • Address-in-Reply (1 speech)
      I remind the House that the Address-in-Reply will be presented to His Excellency the Governor-General at Government House at 5 pm tomorrow.
  • Condolences (0 speeches)
    • Mr Milivoj Emil (Misha) Lajovic (1 speech)
      I inform the House of the death on Thursday, 5 June 2008 of Milivoj Lajovic, a former senator who represented the state of New South Wales from 1975 till 1985. As a mark of respect to the memory...
    • Mr Dick Turner (2 speeches)
      Mr Speaker, on indulgence: it is with great sadness that I inform the House of the death of Queensland state of origin great Dick ‘Tosser’ Turner. Dick was known as the godfather of...
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Fuel Prices (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I draw the Prime Minister’s attention to the fact that petrol has gone through the roof, to $1.60 a litre, having risen more than 23c on average since...
    • Western Australian Gas Explosion (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the Commonwealth response to the recent gas explosion in Western Australia?
    • Fuel Prices (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, given that the ACCC and four government departments have found that fuel prices in rural and regional areas are likely to rise under your...
    • Workplace Relations (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister inform the House how the government is building a strong safety net for Australian workers and how this safety net compares with...
    • Economy (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to last week’s release of the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index, which shows that consumer confidence has dropped 23.3 per...
    • Budget (19 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on the ways the budget will fight inflation and help families meet the rising costs of living and whether there are any...
    • Alcohol Abuse (5 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, given that the government is moving to declare the consumption of four middies of beer as ‘binge drinking’, will you...
    • Budget (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation. What steps has the government taken to ensure a tight fiscal position in the next financial year? Are there any threats to this position?
    • Member for Robertson (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his press conference last week regarding the conduct of the member for Robertson on 6 June at the Iguana bar. Will the Prime...
    • Fuel Prices (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on steps the government has taken to engage with the global community on skyrocketing petrol costs that are hurting Australian...
    • Member for Robertson (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his previous answer. Will the Prime Minister guarantee that none of the staff of the member for Robertson who provided...
    • Oil Conference (4 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism. Would the minister kindly inform the House about the purpose of the Saudi oil conference to be held in Jeddah...
    • Member for Robertson (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister, and I refer the Prime Minister to his reference to a police investigation in his previous answer. Has the Prime Minister referred the 6 June Iguana bar...
    • National Secondary School Computer Fund (4 speeches)
      My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the Deputy Prime Minister inform the...
    • Member for Robertson (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his previous answer. The Prime Minister has ignored the fact that the current investigation into the Iguana bar incident is a...
    • Zimbabwe (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister update the House on developments in Zimbabwe? What action is Australia and the international community taking in response to...
    • Member for Robertson (29 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister require the member for Robertson to make a statement to this House in relation to the events of 6 June at the Iguana bar,...
    • Alcohol Abuse (13 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing—
  • Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
    • Question Time (15 speeches)
      Mr Speaker, given that, in relation to page 538 of the House of Representatives Practice, you are taking a different approach to questions to that of your three predecessors, will you also be...
  • Auditor-General’S Reports (0 speeches)
    • Report No. 40 of 2007-08 (1 speech)
      I present the Auditor-General’s Performance Audit report No. 40 of 2007-08 entitled Taxpayers’ Charter—follow-up audit: Australian Taxation Office. Ordered that the report be...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      Documents are tabled in accordance with the list circulated to honourable members earlier today. Details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.
  • Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
    • Western Australian Gas Explosion (2 speeches)
      by leave—On Tuesday, 3 June, following a pipeline failure on Varanus Island off north-west Western Australia, Apache Energy’s Varanus Island gas plant ceased production, reducing gas...
    • Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum (22 speeches)
      by leave—I rise to make a ministerial statement to the House on a significant trans-Tasman meeting which took place in Wellington, New Zealand on 13 and 14 June—the Australia-New...
  • Petitions (0 speeches)
    • (2 speeches)
      Order! I present petitions in accordance with standing order 207.
    • Responses (1 speech)
      The Clerk: Ministerial responses to petitions previously presented to the House have been received as follows:
    • Responses; Anti-Vehicle Mines (0 speeches)
      Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 17 March 2008 concerning a petition on anti-vehicle mines. Australia supports a global restriction on anti-vehicle mines that cannot be detected by...
    • Responses; Iraq (0 speeches)
      Dear Mrs Julia Irwin Thank you for your letter of 8 May 2008 concerning a petition submitted by Mr Graham Perrett MP, Member for Moreton, regarding Australia’s involvement in Iraq. I note...
  • Tax Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Reduction) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
    • Returned from the Senate (0 speeches)
      Message received from the Senate returning the bill without amendment or request.
  • Dental Benefits Bill 2008; Dental Benefits (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Rearrangement (1 speech)
      by leave—I move: That, unless otherwise ordered, at the commencement of the Main Committee meeting tomorrow, the first item of business shall be Members’ statements, each for no...
  • Dental Benefits Bill 2008; Dental Benefits (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
    • Zimbabwe (7 speeches)
      I move: That the House:(1)notes the grave and ongoing humanitarian and political crisis in Zimbabwe;(2)expresses its concern at the unacceptable delay in the release of official results from the...
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      Order! It being 9.30 pm, I propose the question: That the House do now adjourn.
    • Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service (1 speech)
      I also commend the member for Fremantle on the previous motion. I had originally wanted to speak on that matter. Unfortunately I was too late for the list, but I have spoken on it twice in the...
    • Employment (1 speech)
      Mr Speaker, it is a pleasure to see you here late this evening with your guiding hand on the adjournment debate. I rise to address the issue of the demand for skilled workers in my electorate of...
    • Western Australian Gas Explosion (1 speech)
      I rise to inform the House of the crisis in my electorate of Forrest as a result of the gas explosion at Varanus Island three weeks ago. The explosion stripped 30 per cent from Western...
    • Blair Electorate: Ipswich Hospice Care (1 speech)
      Making the transition from life to death is often an extraordinarily difficult process—the loss of function, the loss of the ability to walk and talk, to feed oneself and to attend to the...
    • Ngarang-Wal Gold Coast Aboriginal Association (1 speech)
      On Thursday, 12 June I visited the Pine Ridge Conservation Park at Runaway Bay where the Ngarang-Wal Gold Coast Aboriginal Association Inc. has completed an important project of protective and...
    • Concern Australia (1 speech)
      Tonight I rise with a great deal of pleasure to talk about the wonderful work of an organisation called Concern Australia and an innovative program that it runs in the suburb of Dandenong. The...
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • (2 speeches)
      The following notices were given:
  • Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2008-2009 (0 speeches)
    • Consideration in Detail (123 speeches)
      Consideration resumed from 5 June. Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Proposed expenditure, $2,710,381,000
  • Statements by Members (0 speeches)
    • Perth Airport (1 speech)
      Last evening I had the misfortune of transiting through Perth Airport. I raise this issue because I was asked to by staff of the Perth Airport as I endeavoured to find my way through. I have...
    • Mr Kaise Stephan (1 speech)
      Kaise Stephan, who lives in Abbotsbury in the electorate of Fowler, will set out in July to swim the English Channel, something that a number of Australians have attempted and some have succeeded...
    • Regional Partnerships (1 speech)
      I call on the government to reverse its decision to reject the Bunbury and Districts Hockey Association’s application for Regional Partnerships funding. The association comprises regional...
    • Hasluck Electorate: Swan Valley (1 speech)
      The electorate of Hasluck has many attributes and one of the best of those is the Swan Valley. One of Perth’s premier tourist destinations, it is located in the heart of the city of Swan,...
    • Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (1 speech)
      Last Wednesday, 11 June, I was pleased to attend the Runaway Bay Village at 98 Bayview Street to speak to the men and women who reside at the village, and they raised two concerns regarding the...
    • Dobell Electorate: Wyong Family History Group (1 speech)
      I rise to commend the work of the volunteers of the Wyong Family History Group. It is an organisation that has been running now for 25 years, and on the June long weekend I had the pleasure of...
    • Mallee Electorate: Wimmera-Mallee Stock and Domestic System (1 speech)
      I want to raise a matter to do with the most important project in the federal division of Mallee, and that is the piping of the Wimmera-Mallee stock and domestic system. It is appalling that...
    • Bass Electorate: Crime Prevention (1 speech)
      I had the pleasure of representing the Minister for Home Affairs at the official opening of a wonderful crime prevention project in my electorate of Bass. Youth on Paterson is an initiative of...
    • Forrest Electorate: Walpole Sea Rescue Group (1 speech)
      I rise to ask the government which program in the 2008 budget will fund the Walpole Sea Rescue Group’s badly needed sea rescue headquarters. Walpole is a wonderful small regional town of...
    • Red Nose Day (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to call on my colleagues in this House to support Red Nose Day, which is on Friday, 27 June. I am pleased to advise you all that on the Saturday just gone I held a stall for SIDS...
    • Dobell Electorate: Rugby League Club (2 speeches)
      I rise to talk about the need to have a permanent rugby league club on the Central Coast of New South Wales. We have a fantastic stadium on the Central Coast. The National Rugby League at the...
  • Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
    • Mental Health Services (22 speeches)
      Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Pyne: That the House:(1)recognises the importance of providing state-of-the-art mental health care for the mentally ill;(2)acknowledges that the way to help the...
    • Autism (8 speeches)
      Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Hayes: That the House:(1)affirms its recognition that a combination of special education, speech therapy, occupational therapy and behavioural interventions has...
    • Hormone Treatments (5 speeches, 5 comments)
      Debate resumed, on motion by Fran Bailey: That the House:(1)recognises the unapproved recipients of hormone treatments, including young men and boys who received human growth hormone, between...
  • Grievance Debate (0 speeches)
    • (0 speeches)
      Question proposed: That grievances be noted.
    • Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1 speech)
      The accusations of ABC bias which have been outed in the media over recent weeks during Senate estimates have come as no surprise to me. In September of last year I brought to the attention of...
    • China (1 speech)
      In recent years there has been a rapid rise in China’s military and economic development, with growing global influence. Much uncertainty surrounds China’s future course, in...
    • Kalgoorlie Electorate (1 speech)
      My grievance this evening is substantial. In 2011 there will be a census. Prior to the new government coming into power there was an allocation of some additional $20 million to assist in the...
    • Wages (1 speech)
      In tonight’s grievance debate, I want to raise the issue of the double standards that I believe prevail in the setting of wages in our community. I do so in light of the impending decision...
    • Indigenous Communities: Education (1 speech)
      In this grievance debate, I want to raise the issue of Indigenous education and the impact of pornography in remote and mainstream Australian communities, which allows some of the most vulnerable...
    • Public Transport (2 speeches)
      In my speech in the address-in-reply debate in February this year, I praised the work of the activist organisation GetUp! in putting together and promoting a people’s agenda for this,...