Senate debates
Tuesday, 12 February 2019
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Meeting (1 speech)
I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator. There being none, I will move on.
- Parliamentary Representation (0 speeches)
- Tasmania (1 speech)
I inform the Senate that Senator Bushby resigned his place as a senator for the state of Tasmania on 21 January 2019. Pursuant to the provisions of section 21 of the Constitution, the...
- Parliamentary Office Holders (0 speeches)
- Temporary Chairs of Committees (1 speech)
Pursuant to standing order 12, I lay on the table a warrant revoking the warrant nominating Senator Dean Smith as a Temporary Chair of Committees.
- Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
I table for the information of the Senate a revised ministry list. I seek leave to have the document incorporated into Hansardand to make a short statement. Leave granted. The document read as...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Statement by the President (0 speeches)
- Parliamentary Computing Network (1 speech)
As senators are aware, the Australian parliamentary computing network has recently been the subject of a security incident. As soon as the incident was identified, the Department of Parliamentary...
- Motions (0 speeches)
- Murray-Darling Basin (24 speeches, 3 comments)
by leave—I move: (1) That the Senate: (a) notes with alarm: (i) the crisis that has unfolded in Menindee Lakes over the summer with unprecedented fish deaths, (ii)...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Before I come to Senator O'Neill, I draw to the attention of honourable senators the presence in the gallery of a delegation of parliamentary staff from Malaysia. On behalf of all senators, I...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (15 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Can the minister confirm that the decision to hold a royal commission into the banks, 26 times after the...
- Climate Change (8 speeches)
My question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate representing the Prime Minister. Minister, we're back for our first question time after summer, and since we were last here we've had...
- Pet Food Industry (8 speeches)
My question is to Senator Canavan, representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Yesterday the media ran a story saying Minister Littleproud asked the working group reviewing pet...
- Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education, Senator Cash. In May last year the minister publicly stated that she had issued instructions for a...
- National Security (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs, Senator Cash. Minister, what measures have the Liberal-National government put in place to secure our nation's borders?
- Child Sexual Abuse (7 speeches)
My question is to Senator Cash, who is representing the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Dutton. Everybody in this chamber, and probably across Australia, knows I've campaigned for years on one...
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Order! Could I take the time to draw to the attention of honourable senators the presence of a parliamentary delegation from the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, led by the Hon. Lidia Norberta...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education (19 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education, Senator Cash. I refer to the minister's previous statement to Senate estimates on 25 October 2017...
- Queensland: Floods (8 speeches)
My question is to Senator Canavan, representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. The minister would be well aware that the area I live in in North Queensland, where I'm based,...
- Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education (9 speeches)
My question is to Senator Cash, the Minister representing the Attorney-General. On 23 May 2018, the minister admitted to Senate estimates that taxpayers are funding her legal representation in...
- al-Araibi, Mr Hakeem (9 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne. Can the minister provide an update on Hakeem al-Araibi, a Bahraini footballer, who has received protection in Australia?
- Motions (0 speeches)
- Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
- Condolences (0 speeches)
- Scholes, Hon. Gordon Glen Denton, AO (5 speeches)
It is with deep regret I inform the Senate of the death on 9 December 2018 of the Hon. Gordon Glen Denton Scholes AO, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- Cooney, Bernard Cornelius 'Barney' (10 speeches)
It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 9 February 2019 of Bernard 'Barney' Cornelius Cooney, a senator for the state of Victoria from 1984 to 2002. I call the Leader of...
- Neville, Paul Christopher (1 speech)
It is also with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 1 January 2019 of Paul Christopher Neville, a member of the House of Representatives for the division of Hinkler, Queensland...
- Business (0 speeches)
- Leave of Absence (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That leave of absence be granted to Senator Abetz from 12 February to 14 February 2019, for personal reasons. Question agreed to.
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Reporting Date (1 speech)
I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator. There being none, we will move on.
- Notices (0 speeches)
- Withdrawal (3 speeches)
I withdraw general business notice of motion No. 1338, relating to the Assistant Treasurer, standing in my name for today.
- Motions (0 speeches)
- Queensland: Floods (3 speeches)
by leave—I, and also on behalf of all other Queensland senators, move: That the Senate— (a) notes the heartbreak and loss suffered by the residents of the Townsville region following...
- Notices (0 speeches)
- Presentation (1 speech)
by leave—I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move: That the Senate notes that: The South Australian Royal Commission into the Murray-Darling Basin has recently reported...
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Documents (0 speeches)
- Motions (0 speeches)
- National Rental Affordability Scheme (12 speeches)
I wish to inform the chamber that Senator Storer will also sponsor the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senator Storer, move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) the National...
- Dugongs (1 speech)
I move: That the Senate— (a) recognises: (i) the sovereign right of Indigenous Australians to hunt culturally significant species under the Native Title Act 1993 (the Act), and...
- United Nations Youth Representative Program (4 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) the Youth Representative Consultation Report was released in December 2018, (ii) the report, written by Mr Amos...
- Fishing Industry (1 speech)
I move: That the Senate— (a) takes note of the importance of the fishing industry to the Queensland economy, which was worth $294 million in 2015-16, and the particular significance of this...
- President of the Maldives (1 speech)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) the recent Maldivian presidential election held on 23 September 2018, and (ii) that His Excellency Ibrahim Mohamed Solih,...
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Documents (0 speeches)
- Motions (0 speeches)
- Poverty (4 speeches)
At the request of Senator Moore, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) Micah, a movement of Australian Christians, churches and organisations, are raising their voices...
- National Security (5 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) acknowledges that ASIO and Australian Federal Police have extensive data on the country-of-origin of potential extremists; (b) notes that, in other issues in...
- Family Law (11 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) acknowledges that: (i) male suicides increase significantly over Christmas, and (ii) discriminatory aspects of Australia's family law...
- Child Support (11 speeches)
I move: That the Senate calls on the Federal Government to establish a royal commission to inquire into the child support system and the family law system, with the terms of reference to include:...
- Great Australian Bight (8 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) a six year survey of the Great Australian Bight (the Bight), conducted as part of a joint effort by the South Australian Research...
- Queensland: Crocodiles (10 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes the threat that crocodiles pose to humans, livestock and aquaculture in Central, North and Far North Queensland; (b) recognises that, whilst it is always...
- Donations to Political Parties (5 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) trust in Australian democracy has halved in the last decade, with fewer than 41% of Australian citizens reporting a sense of...
- Parliamentarians' Entitlements (4 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) the revelations last year of dual citizenship and holding office for profit under the Crown that led to some of those sitting in the...
- Donations to Political Parties (5 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes: (i) the Australian Electoral Commission published figures about political donations received in the 2017-18 financial year on 1 February...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Motions (0 speeches)
- In Home Care Program (7 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that: (i) changes to the In Home Childcare Program, including to the hourly rate cap, have had the unintended consequence of leaving hundreds...
- Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges (10 speeches)
I move: That the Senate— (a) recognises that Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges provide vital skills to graduates, and contribute to the viability of the Queensland agricultural...
- United Nations Global Compact on Refugees (2 speeches)
I ask that general business notice of motion No. 1309 standing in my name for today, relating to the UN Global Compact on Refugees, be taken as a formal motion.
- Cambodia (8 speeches)
I ask that general business notice of motion No. 1340 standing in my name for today, relating to Cambodia, be taken as a formal motion.
- Paris Agreement (2 speeches)
I ask that general business notice of motion No. 1330 standing in my name for today, relating to the Paris climate deal, be taken as formal.
- Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
- Banking and Financial Services (28 speeches)
I inform the Senate that at 8.30 am today seven proposals were received. In accordance with standing order 75, the question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was determined by...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Select Committee on Electric Vehicles; Report (1 speech)
As chair of the Select Committee on Electric Vehicles, it's my great pleasure to report to the Senate on the outcome of this important inquiry, and I move: That the Senate take note of the...
- Corporations and Financial Services Committee; Report (1 speech)
I move: That the Senate take note of Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services report Options for greater involvement by private sector lifeinsurers in worker...
- Adjournment (0 speeches)
- Ovarian Cancer (1 speech)
I rise this evening to speak in support of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. This year, the theme is 'It's time for ovary action'—a clever play on words. You can make what you want of its...
- Shark Bay (1 speech)
This summer we've had a very strong focus on some of the climate extremes our country is facing. Also over the last couple of weeks, due to family circumstances, I've been giving a lot of thought...
- Government (1 speech)
We have to get government under control. Government is a result of politicians with no principles, public servants whose first principle is to look after their own careers and a legacy of...
- Australian Public Service (1 speech)
An efficient, professional and well-resourced public service is at the heart of a healthy democracy. Without it, people cannot get the services they expect and deserve, and respect for the...
- Petrie Electorate (1 speech)
I rise tonight to update the Senate on Labor's activities in my duty electorate of Petrie, with special emphasis on the issue of aged care. Aged care will be a key battleground in the next...
- Australia Day Honours (1 speech)
I rise this evening to offer my most sincere and heartfelt congratulations to this year's Australia Day Honours recipients. Those recognised by these honours are Australians from all across our...
- Murray-Darling Basin (1 speech)
Just a few weeks ago, I was out at Menindee to see firsthand the Murray-Darling Basin in ecosystem collapse. The Darling River, the Barka, is dying. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan isn't working...
- Hillier, Mr Gavin Maxwell (1 speech)
I rise tonight to honour Gavin Hillier, a courageous unionist, a fiercely loyal Labor man and a flamboyant Elvis fan. I convey my sadness and deepest condolences to his relatives and friends....
- Members of Parliament: Conduct (1 speech)
I rise tonight to share my disappointment at another case of serious sexual harassment by a current senator that is currently under investigation—a married senator. This same senator has...
- International Year of Indigenous Languages (1 speech)
2019 has been determined as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. This gives us an opportunity both here and across the world to celebrate and engage in conversations about Indigenous...
- China (1 speech)
I seek leave to table three documents to better inform the Senate on matters I wish to bring to the Senate's and nation's attention. Leave not granted. Australia in recent times has experienced...
- Tasmania: Bushfires, Climate Change (1 speech)
Once again, bushfires have plagued Tasmania for the start of 2019. It is not something that Tasmanians are unfamiliar with. We suffered terrible losses around Lake Mackenzie in the Tasmanian...
- Private Health Insurance (1 speech)
I rise today to comment on the government's response, tabled outside of sittings last December, to the report Value and affordability of private health insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs....
- Neville, Mr Paul Christopher (1 speech)
I was sad to hear of the passing of former Nationals MP Paul Neville at the start of this year. Mr Neville was one of the greats—a true gentleman with a wicked sense of humour. Neville...
- Murray-Darling Basin (11 speeches)
I would like to take this opportunity to speak about the Murray-Darling Basin—a subject of vital importance to South Australia and Australia generally. By way of introduction, I want to...
- Coal Seam Gas Mining (1 speech)
I rise to speak tonight on an issue that I think is emblematic of the struggle of communities in being heard by politicians in this place against the interests of big corporates. It's something...
- Gender and Sexual Orientation, Environment (1 speech)
I found last week pretty difficult. We had two full days of hearings into the proposed legislation to end discrimination in schools, the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Removing Discrimination...
- Kerin, Professor Paul (1 speech)
I rise tonight to pay tribute to Professor Paul Kerin. Sadly, Professor Kerin passed away on 30 December last year. Paul was an economist, an adviser, a mediator, a media commentator and a...
- Building and Construction Industry (1 speech)
I've spoken before in this place about the very great problem experienced by many small businesses, particularly in the building industry, in the form of phoenix companies. This involves the...
