House debates

Thursday, 26 May 2011

  • Business (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I remind members that when they come into the chamber they should ensure their phones are set so that they will not disturb proceedings. This is one of the small gestures members could make to...
  • Privilege (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      On Monday the member for Dickson raised as a matter of privilege whether the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing had deliberately misled the House in responding to a question from the member...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Rearrangement (45 speeches)
      by leave—I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following item of private Members' business being called on, and considered immediately:...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Statements by Members (0 speeches)
    • Armenian Genocide (1 speech)
      This year, on 22 April, I attended with the member for Bennelong a function held by the Sydney Armenian community to mark the 96th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Today, as a member of this...
    • Victorian Government (1 speech)
      This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of the Australian Education Union, and I rise today to show my support for their fight against the 'Failyou' Baillieu Liberal...
    • Egypt (1 speech)
      I call on this parliament, and through it the government, to encourage the new Egyptian administration to foster religious and social tolerance within its borders. Recently, sectarian violence...
    • Launceston City Council Heritage Awards (1 speech)
      I rise today to congratulate all of the winners in the recently announced Launceston City Council Heritage Awards. The council's Heritage Advisory Committee started the annual awards in 2008 to...
    • Gillard Government (1 speech)
      It is my melancholy duty to inform the House that the Gillard government has broken another promise. I am not talking about the Prime Minister's claim, 'There will be no carbon tax under a...
    • Petition: Health and Hospitals (1 speech)
      I present a petition on behalf of certain citizens of and visitors to Tamborine Mountain, Queensland, and surrounding areas in relation to improving registered nurses pay and better per-bed...
    • Oromian Australians (1 speech)
      On Saturday 7 May this year, I was privileged to meet with over 200 Australians from Oromia. We met in Flemington in my electorate of Melbourne. Many members of this place may not be aware of the...
    • F3 to M2 Link (1 speech)
      I would like put on record, in light of recent inaccurate comments in this House and in the Central Coast media, my absolute support for the long-awaited F3 to M2 link, and I record the support...
    • Faust, Mr Sam (1 speech)
      On a day when all Queenslanders are justifiably proud of our State of Origin footballers, you could be forgiven for not noticing the fact that they were wearing black arm bands last night. It was...
    • Climate Change (1 speech)
      Today I take this opportunity to bring to the attention of the House of Representatives the growing youth movement for climate change action and the grassroots support for action on climate...
    • Johnson, Mr Peter and Mrs Rosie (1 speech)
      Rosie and Peter Johnson and their three children are your typical Aussie battling family. What sets them apart is that they have been dealt a massive blow with the downturn of our local economy...
    • National Palliative Care Week (2 speeches)
      This morning I attended the National Palliative Care Week breakfast launch. The theme for this year's launch is 'Let's chat about dying', which is a pretty confronting subject but essential to...
  • Statements on Indulgence (0 speeches)
    • National Sorry Day (2 speeches)
      Today is Sorry Day and as you would see it is being marked by many members in the House wearing the emblem of Sorry Day. That means it is the anniversary of the tabling in this parliament of the...
    • Reference to Main Committee (1 speech)
      by leave—I move: That further statements by indulgence in relation to National Sorry Day be permitted in the Main Committee. Question agreed to.
  • Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I inform the House that the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government and Minister for the Arts will be absent from question time today as he is attending Mr Bill...
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Asylum Seekers (6 speeches)
      Mr Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister. I can guarantee that no asylum seeker sent to Nauru will be subject to caning. Can the Prime Minister make the same guarantee about asylum...
    • Cancer (15 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Why is it important for Australians to get behind the Cancer Council's Biggest Morning Tea campaign and how can every Australian take action...
    • Asylum Seekers (5 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to her answer in the House earlier this week, when she refused to rule out Malaysia's right of veto over the 800 asylum seekers to...
    • Tobacco Products (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. What is the government's approach to tackling smoking and the activities of tobacco companies? On what advice has the government based its...
    • Asylum Seekers (3 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. I refer the minister to his complementary protection legislation, passed by the parliament yesterday, that now enables asylum...
    • Younger People in Residential Aged Care Program (4 speeches)
      Thank you, Mr Speaker. You may recognise what I have here in my hand.
    • Climate Change, Tobacco Products (5 speeches)
      My question is to Prime Minister. Why is it vital to be guided by the facts and evidence when it comes to tackling climate change and reducing smoking rates? How is the government undertaking an...
    • Mining (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer direct the Grants Commission not to reduce Western Australia's share of the GST and not to penalise Western Australia as a result of its...
    • Climate Change (5 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Will the minister update the House on the progress of the government's carbon farming initiatives? How have these reforms...
    • Coal Industry (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer agree with the Minister for Resources and Energy that stopping Australian coal exports will lead to other countries using lower quality,...
    • Economy (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Would the Treasurer update the House on recent economic data and what this says about our economy and the importance of continuing to invest in jobs?
    • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: Erbitux (169 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to comments in his budget speech that the government will 'make new medicines and immunisations more affordable'. Is the Treasurer aware of...
    • Infrastructure: Pacific Highway (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to evidence in Senate estimates yesterday that the duplication of the Pacific Highway will cost an additional $7 billion above everything...
    • Business of the House (6 speeches)
      I have a very relevant question to the Leader of the House. I ask him: how are members of the House approaching negotiations on the conduct of the proceedings of the House?
    • Carbon Pricing (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer, and I refer the Treasurer to the announcement that SA power provider ETSA Utilities will raise household power bills in South Australia by 10 per cent this year...
    • Employment (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and Minister for the Status of Women. How are key components of the budget targeted to get the very long term unemployed...
    • Carbon Pricing (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to the fact that an average school in Victoria is spending up to $58,000 a year on power and other utilities. Will the government compensate...
    • Indigenous Education (3 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. Will the minister inform the House of the government's commitment to Indigenous education and how this has been...
  • Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
    • (21 speeches)
      Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
  • Committees (0 speeches)
    • Selection Committee; Report (1 speech)
      I present the Selection Committee report No. 22 relating to the consideration of bills. The report will be printed in today's Hansard. Copies of the report have been placed on the table. The...
  • Auditor-General's Reports (0 speeches)
    • Report No. 44 of 2010-11 (1 speech)
      I present the Auditor-General's Audit report No. 44 of 2010-11 entitled Performance audit: AusAID's management of tertiary training assistance: Australian Agency for International Development....
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • Presentation (1 speech)
      A document is presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members. Details of the document will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
    • Economy (43 speeches)
      I have received letters from the honourable member for North Sydney and the honourable member for Kennedy proposing that definite matters of public importance be submitted to the House for...
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • Gillard Government (5 speeches)
      I might just pick up from where that great blues man, the member for Casey, was going in that respect. The Assistant Treasurer, who did dub in that contribution in the MPI—
    • Middle East (1 speech)
      While the death of Osama Bin Laden brought an understandable analysis of its effect on Islamic extremism, there continues to be inadequate recognition of the fact that the Israeli-Palestinian...
    • Regional Health Services (1 speech)
      Heidi Maree Clarke-Lewis was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her when she entered Wagga Wagga Base Hospital on the evening of Thursday, 30 April 2009. Only six months earlier, on 18...
    • Petrie Schools Summit (1 speech)
      Today I rise to speak about the Petrie Schools Summit for 2011. This is a summit that I run each year and which brings together students, principals and teachers from schools across the...
    • Future Fund (1 speech)
      Mr Speaker, you and others in this place may have seen the front page of the Age this morning, with its lead story headlined 'Australia investing in nuclear arms'. Australia's $74 billion Future...
    • Building the Education Revolution Program (1 speech)
      Today I would like to inform the House of the status of the some of the many Building the Education Revolution projects in my electorate of Deakin. On many previous occasions in this place I have...
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      The following notice was given:
  • Constituency Statements (0 speeches)
    • Petition: Eaton Post Office (1 speech)
      I rise to present a petition for a post office in Eaton. The locality is in the shire of Dardanup. It is a rapidly growing community in my electorate in the south-west of Western Australia, with...
    • Noble Park Primary School (1 speech)
      On Saturday, 7 May I attended the centenary celebrations of Noble Park Primary School. Starting life with 26 students in 1911, it grew to 100 students by 1917 and now has 260 students. The...
    • Moncrieff Electorate: Workplace Relations (1 speech)
      I rise to speak about ongoing industrial action, namely strikes, that is taking place at the Gold Coast University Hospital building site. This hospital is an important piece of infrastructure...
    • Budget (1 speech)
      I would like to talk about some great news from the federal budget—specifically from the health infrastructure fund regional priority round—for the Huon Valley community and...
    • Macular Degeneration (1 speech)
      This week marks the 10th anniversary of Macular Degeneration Awareness Week, and I rise today to support this initiative. How precious is our sight? Seeing the beauty of the world around us is...
    • Chifley-Blair Sister Schools Project (1 speech)
      An excellent speech by the member for Ryan—I wholeheartedly endorse those sentiments. Statistically, Australians are the most charitable people in the world and, since the Queensland floods...
    • Remote Area Television Licences (1 speech)
      I rise today to highlight this Labor government's refusal yet again to listen to the concerns of remote and rural communities across Maranoa and rural Australia. In particular, I refer today to...
    • Canberra Electorate: Small Business (1 speech)
      I would like to use this opportunity to talk about the recent forum I organised and moderated for Canberrans looking to start a small business. As someone who has gone through the difficult,...
    • Kooyong Electorate: National Disability Insurance Scheme (1 speech)
      I rise to speak on an issue which is of great concern to all people in Kooyong, the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme. When I was at university I was a volunteer tennis coach for the...
    • Braddon Electorate: Volunteers (2 speeches)
      One of the great advantages and privileges we have in our job is to see what ordinary everyday Australians do for each other in volunteering. It is the 10th anniversary of the United Nations...
  • Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      Before calling the Clerk to introduce the next item of business, I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming Father Peter Rose, the Parliamentary Chaplain, to the gallery. He has got...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
    • Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2011-2012; Second Reading (16 speeches)
      Before the debate is resumed on this bill, I remind the Main Committee that, pursuant to the resolution agreed to by the House on 10 May 2011, this order of the day will be debated concurrently...
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • Percival, Mr Greg, OBE (1 speech)
      Today I would like to pay tribute to former Campbelltown mayor and state Liberal MP Mr Greg Percival OBE, who passed away on 9 May 2011. I would also like to pay my respects to Greg's wife,...
    • Kingston Electorate: South Australia Innovation and Investment Fund (1 speech)
      I am pleased to speak about a very important event that happened in my electorate last week. It was a pleasure to join Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research,...
    • Youth Allowance (1 speech)
      I rise to speak on the appalling treatment of regional students and their families by Labor over the last year and a half. The coalition has been fighting tooth and nail to reverse a disgraceful...
    • Building the Education Revolution Program (1 speech)
      I rise to talk about the nine Building the Education Revolution openings that I have done in schools in my local electorate since the start of April. It has been a very busy six weeks for these...
    • Southern Moreton Bay Islands (1 speech)
      The stunning Southern Moreton Bay Islands are truly a series of jewels in Moreton Bay, and it is a unique honour for me to represent these populations, which are on some of the few subtropical...
    • Chifley Electorate: National Green Jobs Corps (1 speech)
      Having lived in Western Sydney nearly all my life, it has been amazing to see how the place has changed. The pace of development has been incredible. Paddocks have been transformed into housing...
  • Questions in Writing (0 speeches)
    • Telstra: Fibre Access Network (Question No. 287) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: (1) How many kilometres of fibre access network does Telstra...
    • Universal Service Obligation (Question No. 288) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: In respect of the new proposed arrangements for the Universal...
    • Broadband (Question No. 289) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: In respect of NBN Co Limited's business case, what assumptions...
    • Broadband (Question No. 290) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: In respect of potential street cabinets and fibre splitters to be...
    • Universal Service Obligation (Question No. 292) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: In respect of the new arrangements that are proposed for the...
    • Broadband (Question No. 293) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: (1) When was the decision made by the Government, announced on 7...
    • Broadband (Question No. 294) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 21 March 2011: In respect of the decision made by the Government, announced on 7...
    • Bradfield Electorate: Post Offices (Question No. 321) (2 speeches)
      asked the Minister representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, in writing, on 24 March 2011: In light of the recent decision by Australia Post to close...