Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present report number 14 of the Selection Committee relating to private members’ business on Monday, 20 October 2014. The report will be printed in the Hansard for today and the committee's determinations will appear on tomorrow's Notice Paper. Copies of the report have been placed on the table.

The report read as follows—

Report relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and of private Members' business

1. The committee met in private session on Tuesday, 30 September 2014.

2. The committee determined the order of precedence and times to be allotted for consideration of private Members' business on Monday, 20 October 2014, as follows:

Items for House of Representatives Chamber (10.10 am to 12 noon)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1 MR WILKIE: To present a Bill for an Act to give the community rights in relation to the development of phone towers and certain telecommunications facilities, and for related purposes. (Telecommunications Amendment (Giving the Community Rights on Phone Towers) Bill 2014)

(30 September 2014.)

Time allotted—10 minutes .

Speech time limits—

Mr Wilkie 10 minutes.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 1 x 10 mins]

Presenter may speak to the second reading for a period not exceeding 10 minutes—pursuant to standing order 41.

2 MS T. M. BUTLER: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) in the document 'Our Plan', the Liberals and Nationals promised Australians, prior to the election that: 'We will deliver greater stability and certainty on superannuation—we won't move the goalposts. … We will ensure that no more negative unexpected changes occur to the superannuation system so that those planning for their retirement can face the future with a higher degree of predictability';

(b) the Government has subsequently revealed, in breach of that promise, that there will be a freeze on superannuation guarantee increases until at least July 2025;

(c) the Prime Minister has said of the changes that: 'By delaying the increase in the superannuation guarantee levy we are keeping more money in workers' pockets';

(d) between 7 September 2013 and 2 September 2014, the Fair Work Commission received thousands of applications for approval of enterprise agreements; and

(e) enterprise agreements' nominal expiry dates can be up to four years after the enterprise agreement is approved;

(2) recognises that:

(a) parties negotiate the terms of enterprise agreements, including terms providing for pay increases, having regard to, among other things, the superannuation guarantee rate;

(b) the parties who negotiated enterprise agreements for which applications for approval were made between 7 September 2013 and 2 September 2014 would have done so on the basis that the superannuation guarantee rate would increase during the life of the agreement;

(c) employees to whom such enterprise agreements apply are generally covered by 'no further claims' provisions, so they are not at liberty to negotiate for greater pay increases; and

(d) accordingly, any money that is not going into their superannuation fund will also not be going into their pockets, despite the Prime Minister's claim; and

(3) accordingly, calls on the Government to:

(a) concede workers, whose enterprise agreements were negotiated between the election and 2 September 2014, have lost 'money in their pocket' because the negotiations were conducted on the basis there would be 'no negative change to superannuation'; and

(b) enable those workers to renegotiate pay increases, to compensate for the unexpected freeze on superannuation.

(Notice given 23 September 2014.)

Time allotted—30 minutes .

Speech time limits—

Ms T. M. Butler 5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

3 MR WOOD: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes with concern that:

(a) over the past five years, the average number of suicide deaths per year in Australia is 2,415;

(b) in 2012, 1,901 males and 634 females died through suicide—an average of 6.9 deaths by suicide every day;

(c) suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for men under 44 and women under 34; and

(d) Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2009 shows us that more people die from suicide than from road deaths;

(2) recognises that the Government and the community must do everything they can to prevent death by suicide; and

(3) calls on the House to acknowledge all Australian lives lost to suicide and the suffering felt by their friends and families.

(Notice given 25 September 2014.)

Time allotted—50 minutes .

Speech time limits—

Mr Wood 10 minutes.

Next Member 10 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 2 x 10 + 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

4 MR CONROY: To move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the importance of Government support for child care in order to improve workforce participation and early childhood education;

(2) condemns the Government for its $157 million cut to Family Day Care (FDC) funding by changing the eligibility for the FDC component of the Community Support Program and forcing existing services to re-apply;

(3) notes that:

(a) FDC:

(i) supports more than 98,000 families and 165,000 children across Australia; and

(ii) employs more than 25,000 educators, as well as coordination unit staff;

(b) Department of Education figures indicate that over 80 per cent of all FDC services will be denied essential funding due to these cuts; and

(c) these cuts will force FDC services to increase fees, reduce services or close; and

(4) calls on the Government to reverse its cruel and short-sighted decision to cut FDC funding.

(Notice given 30 September 2014.)

Time allotted—remaining private Members' business time prior to 12 noon.

Speech time limits—

Mr Conroy—5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes. each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

Items for Federation Chamber (11 am to 1.30 pm)

PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Notices

1 MR CHAMPION: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) Australian Hearing:

(i) has delivered hearing services since 1947 and currently provides services to children, young adults, Indigenous Australians and age pensioners every year; and

(ii) provides services at 468 hearing services centres and visiting sites throughout Australia including many rural and regional centres;

(b) the National Commission of Audit recommended Australian Hearing be privatised; and

(c) the Government has responded to this recommendation by funding a scoping study in the budget;

(2) acknowledges:

(a) that the Australian Government provides funding to Australian Hearing that is vital for the provision of hearing health services;

(b) that Australian Hearing delivers quality, low cost hearing health services to over 450,000 people every year; and

(c) the privatisation of Australian Hearing will result in an interruption to service delivery and impact the quality of services and access to services; and

(3) calls upon the Government to:

(a) reject the National Commission of Audit recommendation to privatise Australian Hearing;

(b) ensure that the Australian Hearing research division and National Acoustic Laboratories be guaranteed certainty of continued operation at current capacity or greater;

(c) guarantee the service level and quality of the current hearing health services provider; and

(d) provide certainty to rural and regional centres in the provision of hearing health services to the same standard or better than the current provider.

(Notice given 24 September 2014.)

Time allotted—30 minutes .

Mr Champion 5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

2 MR MATHESON: To move:

That this House:

(1) notes that National Police Remembrance Day will be held on 29 September 2014;

(2) recognises and acknowledges the significant role that officers across Australia make to our local communities and the great deal of risk and sacrifice that comes with the job;

(3) acknowledges the:

(a) ultimate sacrifice made by the officers who have been tragically killed in the course of their duty, and honours their lives and memories; and

(b) good work of Police Legacy who look after the remaining loved ones of the police officers that have been killed in the line of duty; and

(4) expresses gratitude and reaffirms its support for the nation's police officers whose dedication and commitment ensure continuous peace and safety across our communities.

(Notice given 30 September 2014.)

Time allotted—50 minutes .

Mr Matheson 5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 10 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

Orders of the day

SUPERANNUATION: Resumption of debate on the motion of Ms T. M. Butler—That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) in the document 'Our Plan', the Liberals and Nationals promised Australians, prior to the election that: 'We will deliver greater stability and certainty on superannuation—we won't move the goalposts. … We will ensure that no more negative unexpected changes occur to the superannuation system so that those planning for their retirement can face the future with a higher degree of predictability';

(b) the Government has subsequently revealed, in breach of that promise, that there will be a freeze on superannuation guarantee increases until at least July 2025;

(c) the Prime Minister has said of the changes that: 'By delaying the increase in the superannuation guarantee levy we are keeping more money in workers' pockets';

(d) between 7 September 2013 and 2 September 2014, the Fair Work Commission received thousands of applications for approval of enterprise agreements; and

(e) enterprise agreements' nominal expiry dates can be up to four years after the enterprise agreement is approved;

(2) recognises that:

(a) parties negotiate the terms of enterprise agreements, including terms providing for pay increases, having regard to, among other things, the superannuation guarantee rate;

(b) the parties who negotiated enterprise agreements for which applications for approval were made between 7 September 2013 and 2 September 2014 would have done so on the basis that the superannuation guarantee rate would increase during the life of the agreement;

(c) employees to whom such enterprise agreements apply are generally covered by 'no further claims' provisions, so they are not at liberty to negotiate for greater pay increases; and

(d) accordingly, any money that is not going into their superannuation fund will also not be going into their pockets, despite the Prime Minister's claim; and

(3) accordingly, calls on the Government to:

(a) concede workers, whose enterprise agreements were negotiated between the election and 2 September 2014, have lost 'money in their pocket' because the negotiations were conducted on the basis there would be 'no negative change to superannuation'; and

(b) enable those workers to renegotiate pay increases, to compensate for the unexpected freeze on superannuation.

(Notice given 23 September 2014.)

Time allotted—20 minutes .

All Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

Notices—continued

3 Mr E. T. Jones: To move:

That this House:

(1) welcomes Australia's contribution to the Multinational Observer Group at the recent Fijian election;

(2) notes that the conditions were in place for Fijians to exercise their right to vote freely;

(3) recognises Fiji's place as an important neighbour and strong nation in the Pacific;

(4) thanks the Australian High Commission and the Australian public servants who worked hard to ensure a good and fair result; and

(5) congratulates the Fijian people on the turn out and the manner in which they conducted themselves on polling day.

(Notice given 24 September 2014.)

Time allotted—20 minutes .

Mr E. T. Jones 5 minutes.

Other Members—5 minutes each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.

Orders of the day — continued

FAMILY DAY CARE: Resumption of debate on the motion of Mr Conroy—That this House:

(1) recognises the importance of Government support for child care in order to improve workforce participation and early childhood education;

(2) condemns the Government for its $157 million cut to Family Day Care (FDC) funding by changing the eligibility for the FDC component of the Community Support Program and forcing existing services to re-apply;

(3) notes that:

(a) FDC:

(i) supports more than 98,000 families and 165,000 children across Australia; and

(ii) employs more than 25,000 educators, as well as coordination unit staff;

(b) Department of Education figures indicate that over 80 per cent of all FDC services will be denied essential funding due to these cuts; and

(c) these cuts will force FDC services to increase fees, reduce services or close; and

(4) calls on the Government to reverse its cruel and short-sighted decision to cut FDC funding.

(Notice given 30 September 2014.)

Time allotted—remaining private Members' business time prior to 1.30 pm.

All Members—5 minutes. each.

[Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins]

The Committee determined that consideration of this should continue on a future day.