House debates
Monday, 26 October 2009
- 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 21 October 2009, I present copies of the terms of motions for which notice has been given by...
- Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Report from Main Committee (0 speeches)
Bill returned from Main Committee without amendment, appropriation message having been reported; certified copy of the bill presented. Ordered that this bill be considered immediately. Bill agreed to.
- Third Reading (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
- Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (4 speeches)
Debate resumed from 16 September, on motion by Mr McClelland: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Third Reading (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
- Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Income Support for Students) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (9 speeches)
Debate resumed from 20 October, on motion by Ms Gillard: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
I inform the House that the Treasurer will be absent from question time today as he is unwell. The Minister for Finance and Deregulation will answer questions on his behalf. The Minister for...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Asylum Seekers (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Has the Prime Minister received any advice that people smugglers are using his changes to Australia’s border protection policies since August 2008 to...
- Breast Cancer (3 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the importance of recognising Pink Ribbon Day and the challenge breast cancer presents for women and families...
- Asylum Seekers (29 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister’s claim that his changes to Australia’s border protection policies have no connection whatsoever with the dramatic...
- Infrastructure (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Will the minister outline to the House the importance of the infrastructure investment and...
- Asylum Seekers (8 speeches)
Mr Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister, and I refer the Prime Minister to this table, which graphically illustrates the incredible surge in people-smuggling activity from August 2008,...
- Employment (2 speeches)
Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Social Inclusion. What is the government doing to address the...
- Rail Infrastructure (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. The minister would recall announcing on 12 December 2008 a $290 million infrastructure...
- Budget (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation. What steps is the government proposing to return the budget to surplus?
- Asylum Seekers (3 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his earlier answer to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in which he said he was not aware of whether he or his...
- Emissions Trading Scheme (5 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science and Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change—
- Veterans (3 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. I refer the minister to the case of a Vietnam War veteran in my electorate who applied for a part-service pension and was told to...
- Climate Change (10 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. What risk does dangerous climate change pose to Australia’s environment and our way of life? How is the government...
- Nation Building and Jobs Plan (18 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. I refer the minister to these invoices issued to my constituent, a ceiling insulation installer, by the nearest...
- Breast Cancer (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. What is the government doing to support breast cancer initiatives?
- Aged Care (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Ageing. Minister, since the election of the government there have been no applications from aged-care facility providers in my electorate of Moore to invest in...
- Schools (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the minister update the House on the importance of listening...
- Australian War Memorial (9 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. Will the minister confirm to this House that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is spending $1.3 million on a consultancy to...
- Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
- (12 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
- Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
- Questions in Writing (4 speeches)
Under standing order 105(b), which refers to replies that have not been received within 60 days after a question has first appeared on the Notice Paper, could I ask you to write to the Minister...
- Documents (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Documents are presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members. Details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. I move: That the House take note of the...
- Business (0 speeches)
- Days and Hours of Meeting (1 speech)
by leave—For the benefit of members, the debate will commence on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation on Wednesday, after the introduction of some new bills. I have had...
- Suspension of Standing Orders (1 speech)
I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable notice No. 10, private members’ business, to be called on immediately. Leave granted. I move: That so much of the standing and sessional...
- Environment Protection (0 speeches)
- Disallowance Motion (6 speeches)
I move: That the inclusion of ecological communities in the list of threatened ecological communities (Lowland Native Grasslands of Tasmania), made on 18 June 2009 under section 181 of the...
- Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Income Support for Students) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Petitions (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Petitions, and in accordance with standing order 207, I present the following petitions:
- Responses; Coral Sea Heritage Park (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin, Thank you for your letter of 17 June 2009 seeking my response to a petition submitted to the Standing Committee on Petitions regarding a proposal to establish a Coral Sea Heritage...
- Responses; Youth Allowance (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 19 August 2009 referring to a petition from a group of families, students and friends requesting that the proposed changes to the workforce...
- Responses; Daylight Saving (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 19 August 2009 to the Prime Minister with regard to a petition concerning a national, uniform approach to daylight saving. The Prime Minister has asked...
- Responses; Queensland and New South Wales Floods (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 25 June 2009 about the Petition tabled on 23 June 2009 regarding the availability of the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment to those...
- Responses; World War II Sex Slavery (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 20 August 2009 forwarding a petition submitted to the Standing Committee on Petitions regarding justice for “comfort women”. The Australian...
- Responses; Youth Allowance (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 10 September 2009 referring to a petition requesting that the implementation date for the changes to the second and third elements of the workforce...
- Responses; Wakefield Electorate: Health Services (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 19 August 2009 to the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, regarding the current petition under the Committee’s consideration...
- Responses; Aged Care (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 9 June 2009 to the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, regarding a petition submitted for the consideration of the Standing...
- Responses; Australian Service Medal (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 19 August 2009 to the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon John Faulkner, on behalf of petitioner Mr Mark Rowell concerning eligibility for the...
- Responses; Youth Allowance (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 12 August 2009 referring to a petition from Gippsland residents requesting that the second and third elements of the workforce participation criterion...
- Responses; Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 11 June 2009 concerning two petitions submitted to the Standing Committee on Petitions regarding the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Tackling...
- Responses; Aboriginal Tent Embassy (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin Thank you for your letter of 11 June 2009 about three petitions that relate to Indigenous Australians which were submitted to the Standing Committee on Petitions for consideration...
- Statements (2 speeches)
Tonight I wish to speak about a petition which has come before the Standing Committee on Petitions and which I have just presented to the House. It illustrates something of the breadth of...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- United Nations Day (6 speeches)
I move: That the House:(1)notes that the 24 October is United Nations Day, celebrating the entry into force of the United Nations Charter (UNC) on 24 October 1945;(2)celebrates Australia’s...
- Adjournment (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Order! It being 9.30 pm, I propose the question: That the House do now adjourn.
- Kent Street Senior High School (1 speech)
The Kent Street Senior High School held a dinner on Saturday night, which I attended, to celebrate 30 years of aviation at the school. Aviation was first introduced into the school curriculum...
- Gas Industry (1 speech)
Tonight I would like to outline the importance of the gas industry to the future economic growth of Australia and, particularly, to the Northern Territory and my seat of Solomon. Honourable...
- Mr Charles Copeman AM (1 speech)
I rise tonight to pay tribute to a distinguished Australian, Charles Copeman AM, who last week was inducted into the mining hall of fame in Western Australia. The Australian Prospectors and...
- Gambling (1 speech)
Last week the Productivity Commission released its draft report on gambling in Australia. It is a report that focused on the effects of electronic gaming machines in our community. It is a...
- Defence Industries (1 speech)
I rise today to speak on a subject that I have been actively engaged on for some time. It concerns me even more so now that nothing has been done to address the issue. I refer to the ongoing...
- Isaacs Electorate: Noble Park Centenary (2 speeches)
Noble Park is 100 years old this year, and over the last two weeks our community has enjoyed some wonderful centenary celebrations. The primary event was a well-attended community festival,...
- Notices (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
The following notice was given:
- Constituency Statements (0 speeches)
- Science Funding (1 speech)
I rise to protest at the actions of the Rudd government in axing funding for high school science centres and its general lack of commitment to science. This government trumpeted its support for...
- Midland Highway (2 speeches)
I would like to make a comment about this government’s infrastructure fund and how the needs of Tasmania are already being met by the funding announced for the upgrade of the Midland...
- Farrer Electorate: Electoral Redistribution (1 speech)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—you are always nice. I would like to speak today on the electoral redistribution in New South Wales, the final announcement around which was made by the...
- Cunningham Electorate: Mr Jim Hagan (1 speech)
It is with great sadness that I rise to put on the record of this House the passing of a great gentleman from the seat of Cunningham, Mr Jim Hagan. I am very pleased that the member for Throsby...
- Ryan Electorate: School Chaplains (1 speech)
When a nation is in great deficit, when a national government has spent more money than it has received or is in the process of spending more money than it will receive, there are a huge number...
- Forde Electorate: Zamia Theatre (1 speech)
I rise today to speak about what I see as a victory for the seat of Forde and the community of Tamborine Mountain. It is great to see the member for Throsby is here in this chamber today when I...
- Flinders Electorate: Disability Services (1 speech)
I want to raise an issue of concern to a number of parents within my electorate and more parents throughout Victoria generally. I have been approached in particular by Maria Franca Lachman...
- Throsby Electorate: Community Spirit and Leadership Awards (1 speech)
I take this opportunity to congratulate the 33 students from local schools in the Throsby electorate who are the recipients of my annual Community Spirit and Leadership Awards. Time prevents my...
- National School Chaplaincy Program (1 speech)
The discovery in Senate estimates last week that the National Schools Chaplaincy Program has not been funded past mid-next year has caused considerable concern amongst students, parents, teachers...
- Solomon Electorate: 2009 Telstra Business Women’s Awards; Pink Ribbon Day (2 speeches)
I rise today to put on the record my congratulations to all the finalists and winners in the Northern Territory 2009 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. Last Friday I had the pleasure of...
- Tax Agent Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (1 speech)
Debate resumed from 22 October, on motion by Dr Emerson: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Consideration in Detail (1 speech)
Bill—by leave—taken as a whole.
- Health Insurance Amendment (Compliance) Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (3 speeches)
Debate resumed from 17 September, on motion by Mr Bowen: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- (2 speeches)
Before we proceed to the next bill, I wish to inform members that we have present in the gallery members of a delegation from the secretariat of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament...
- Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill 2009 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (8 speeches)
Debate resumed from 16 September, on motion by Ms Kate Ellis: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Statements by Members (0 speeches)
- Petition: Medicare Cataract Surgery Rebate (1 speech)
I rise to take the opportunity to raise the concern of hundreds of my constituents and other residents in the northern suburbs of Perth about the government’s decision to cut the rebate for...
- Paul Andrews (1 speech)
On Friday I was deeply saddened by the news that Paul Andrews, the former state member for Southern River, had died after a long battle with kidney disease and cancer. Paul was born on 11...
- Pacific Highway (1 speech)
On 22 October there was yet another horrific fatal accident on the Pacific Highway in my electorate, which involved three trucks and two cars. The accident occurred near Macksville. The Pacific...
- Paul Andrews (1 speech)
I want to join with my colleague the member for Brand and pay tribute to a former state Labor colleague, Paul Andrews. Paul passed away on Thursday night, 22 October, at the age of 54 after...
- National Schools Chaplaincy Program (1 speech)
I rise tonight and call on the government to continue funding the National Schools Chaplaincy Program. This initiative, which has been highly popular in my electorate and, I know, right across...
- avid’s Catholic Church (1 speech)
On Sunday 25 October I attended the special 40th anniversary church service at St David’s Catholic Church in the Makin electorate. The service was led by Father George Ryan who is presently...
- Maggie Richardson (1 speech)
Maggie Richardson, a senior from Lathlain in my electorate of Swan, has been given the prestigious WA Senior of the Year award for her outstanding contribution to the community. Maggie, who is 78...
- Ms Freda Whitlam AM (1 speech)
I recently had the pleasure of attending a civic reception at which the title ‘Honoured Citizen of the City of Penrith’ was bestowed upon a great woman, Freda Whitlam AM. Freda has...
- Mitchell Youth Leadership Forum (1 speech)
I want to congratulate everyone involved in this year’s Mitchell Youth Leadership Forum, which was successfully held last weekend in my electorate. The Mitchell Youth Leadership Forum has...
- Mr Malcolm Towle; Mr Mark Hutchings (1 speech)
I rise to pay tribute to a number of hard-working and selfless volunteers in my community. Two men from the electorate of Lindsay—Malcolm Towle, of Kingswood, and Mark Hutchings, of St...
- Gippsland Rotary Centenary House (2 speeches)
I was very impressed at the Gippsland Rotary Centenary House on Saturday night by a fundraising initiative to secure additional funding for the next nine units required by this magnificent...
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- National Landcare Week (6 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Chester: That the House:(1)notes that National Landcare Week, 7 to 13 September, in 2009 commemorated 20 years of service across Australia;(2)recognises that...
- Australian Food Labelling Standards (11 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Zappia: That the House:(1)notes the widespread calls from throughout the community to provide more clarity with respect toAustralian food labelling...
- Forgotten Australians (9 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mrs Gash:
- Magill Youth Training Centre (3 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Briggs: That the House:(1)notes that:(a)the young people detained in the Magill Youth Training Centre in South Australia are being held in degrading conditions;...
- Grievance Debate (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Debate resumed from 19 October.
- Gippsland Electorate: Gippsland Rotary Centenary House; Gippsland Electorate: Gippsland Plains Rail Trail (1 speech)
I rise to speak on two issues that certainly grieve me and many hundreds of people in my electorate: the federal government’s failure to provide funding to support the development of the...
- Far North Queensland: Infrastructure (1 speech)
The unemployment rate in Far North Queensland hit 13.8 per cent in September—one of the highest in the country, if not the highest. Unemployment has effectively doubled since the global...
- Asylum Seekers (1 speech)
We have almost got used to the government at question time leaning across and screaming abuse at the opposition, calling them people who locked up children, who continued to lock up children...
- Asylum Seekers; Preventative Health (4 speeches)
Before I go on with what I was about to say, I was listening very carefully to the member for Murray’s contribution to the grievance debate, which was about people smugglers and refugees. I...
- (1 speech)
Debate resumed from 19 October.
- Telstra; Herbert Electorate: Douglas Arterial Road (1 speech)
Labor hates Telstra. We have seen more evidence of it tonight, where the member for Hindmarsh has misled this chamber. I say to the member for Hindmarsh: I have open access to Telstra any time...
- Executive Remuneration (2 speeches)
My grievance today relates to the astronomical levels of remuneration that are now being paid by some of Australia’s leading public companies to their chief executive officers and other...
