Senate debates

Tuesday, 15 August 2006

  • Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment Bill 2006 (0 speeches)
    • In Committee (42 speeches)
      Consideration resumed from 14 August.
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Telstra (4 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. Is the minister aware of the Prime Minister’s statement last Friday that the government does not want to dud...
    • Energy (2 speeches)
      I direct my question to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, representing the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Will the minister outline to the Senate what steps the...
    • Telstra (4 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Minchin, Minister for Finance and Administration. I again refer the minister to the Prime Minister’s claims that the government does not want to dud existing...
    • Medicare (2 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Rod Kemp, representing the Minister for Human Services. Will the minister inform the Senate of the action that the government is taking to make Medicare rebates easier...
    • Telstra (4 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister for Finance and Administration. Is the minister aware of comments by his colleague the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the...
    • Climate Change (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell. Will the minister inform the Senate of what action the government is taking to manage the impacts of climate...
    • Economy (4 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Finance and Administration, representing the Treasurer. Has the government noted that chapters 1 and 6 of the recently released OECD Economic Survey of...
    • Forestry (4 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Abetz. Is the minister aware of the New South Wales government’s new draft code of practice for private...
    • Telstra (9 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Minchin, Minister for Finance and Administration. Can the minister confirm that UBS Australia, Caliburn Partnership, ABN AMRO Rothschild, Goldman Sachs JBWere, Gavin...
    • Commonwealth Land Development Process (6 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Senator Ian Campbell. In view of Minister Truss’s statement that, as the Commonwealth is the...
    • National Security (4 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Ellison, Minister for Justice and Customs. Does the minister recall his claims yesterday about successful airport security enhancements, particularly at regional...
    • Illicit Drugs (2 speeches)
      My question is also to the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Ellison. Will the minister update the Senate on the Australian government’s commitment to the fight against illicit...
    • Westpoint (11 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Coonan, the Minister representing the Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer. I refer the minister to the Westpoint scandal in which 4,000 Australians lost $300...
  • Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
    • Telstra (9 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked today. It was only 12 months ago that the government secured legislative support for its...
    • Economy (2 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance and Administration (Senator Minchin) to a question without notice asked by Senator Murray today relating to...
  • Petitions (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      The Clerk: Petitions have been lodged for presentation as follows:
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Withdrawal (1 speech)
      On behalf of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, and pursuant to notice given at the last day of sitting, I now withdraw business of the Senate notices of motion Nos 1 and 4...
    • Postponement (0 speeches)
      The following items of business were postponed: Business of the Senate notice of motion no. 3 standing in the name of the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) for today, proposing...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Middle East (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      by leave—I move the motion as amended: That the Senate—(a)welcomes the announcement of the United Nations sponsored ceasefire; and(b)calls on the Australian Government to take a...
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I move:That the Senate—(a)notes the admission by the Centre for Low Emission Technology that, even if carbon capture and storage technology were to eventually prove 100 per cent effective,...
  • Climate Change (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I move:That the Senate—(a)notes:(i)the launch on 1 August 2006 of the Clinton Climate Initiative, dedicated to fighting climate change in practical and measurable ways,(ii)that President...
  • Sexual Health and Relationship Education (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I move:That the Senate—(a)notes the evaluation, released in July 2006, of the South Australian Sexual Health and Relationships Education (Share) project 2003-2005 which:(i)recognised the...
  • Water Management (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I move:That, in recognition of Australia’s growing water management issues and the role that recycling may be able to play in helping to sustainably meet the demands for water, the Senate...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • National Indigenous Art Awards (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      I, and also on behalf of Senator Kemp, Senator Evans and Senator Bartlett, move:That the Senate—(a)notes that the National Indigenous art awards ceremony was held in Darwin on 11 August...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • Tabling (1 speech)
      I present a memorandum of understanding between the Minister for Police and Emergency Management for Tasmania, the Attorney-General for Tasmania, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      Order! It being 6.50 pm, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of government documents.
    • Innovating Rural Australia (2 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the document. This document, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Innovating rural Australia: research and development corporation...
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech)
      Order! There being no further consideration of government documents, I propose the question: That the Senate do now adjourn.
    • Fuel: Ethanol (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to talk about ethanol. In the 2001 election the government announced a policy for a target of 350 million litres of biofuels by 2010. For many years I have been a very strong...
    • Defence: Helicopters (1 speech)
      If we return to April, May and June this year, there was a lot of topical discussion about various platforms being purchased by the government. In particular, there was a series of decisions with...
    • Mr Geoffrey Bruce Blyth (1 speech)
      Late last Friday in Canberra I read my home newspaper the West Australian. I am not a reader of death notices, but I often glance at the obituaries to see who their subject is. Way back in the...
    • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (1 speech)
      This evening I would like to address the issue of one of Australia’s most successful public policies, to congratulate the government on the healthy state of the Pharmaceutical Benefits...
    • Immigration (1 speech)
      Yesterday we saw the government withdraw the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006. The Australian statute books are better off without it. The bill was intended to be...
    • Immigration; Weeds (3 speeches)
      The debate on immigration over recent years has had a number of complex sides to it, but one side is very clear and is one that the Labor Party would never understand—that is, Liberal Party...
    • Queensland State Election; Legal Opinions; Defence Force: High Readiness Reserve; Parliamentary Superannuation (3 speeches)
      It is good to know that Senator Macdonald is going to shout them all tonight, too, so congratulations on that. I wanted to start off tonight by talking about the Queensland state election. I am...
    • National Airspace System (1 speech)
      In May this year, my colleague Mr Kelvin Thomson brought to the attention of the other place his concern about Mr John Anderson’s trading in AWB shares in the period immediately before the...
    • Australian Christian Heritage Forum (1 speech)
      I stand tonight to speak about the first Australian Christian Heritage Forum, held in Parliament House, Canberra on Sunday, 6 August, and Monday, 7 August, this year. Nearly 400 Christian...
    • International Day of Peace (1 speech)
      This evening I want to talk about the 25th anniversary of the UN declared International Day of Peace. By doing the maths, people will know that the first internationally declared International...
    • Community Development Employment Program (2 speeches)
      In response to a question from ABC radio in Far North Queensland last week about the collapse of the Community Development Employment Program in the region and the financial and social damage...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • Tabling (0 speeches)
      The following government document was tabled: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—Innovating rural Australia: Research and development corporation outcomes—Report for...