Senate debates

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

  • 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 call the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Days and Hours of Meeting (1 speech)
      by leave—I move: That: (a) on Wednesday, 10 June 2020:   (i) the hours of meeting shall be midday to adjournment,   (ii) the routine of business shall be as set out in...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Some 437 First Nations people have died in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody....
    • COVID-19: Small Business (8 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Cash, the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business. How is the Morrison government extending support to help Australia's 3.5 million small and family...
    • Sheean, Ordinary Seaman Edward (Teddy) (24 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Defence, Senator Reynolds. Mr Mark Sullivan, the chair of the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal, wrote to the minister out of concern that she had...
    • Child Care (8 speeches)
      My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Education in the Senate. Minister, free child care has hugely benefited thousands of Australian families. While the package rolled...
    • Australian Defence Force (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Defence, Senator Reynolds. Can the minister outline how the Morrison government is ensuring Defence's record investment in capability is continuing to support...
    • JobKeeper Payment (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Last Friday Mr Morrison was asked if he could guarantee that JobKeeper would remain until the end of September. He...
    • Live Animal Exports (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, Senator Ruston. Happy birthday, by the way, Senator! My question relates to the ban in...
    • Child Care (11 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Payne. On Monday the government announced it was going to force parents to start paying some of the most expensive childcare fees in the world....
    • COVID-19: Employment (8 speeches)
      My question is for the Minister for Youth and Sport, Senator Colbeck. What initiatives has the Morrison government put in place to support young Australians impacted by COVID-19 crisis to get...
    • Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (14 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Ruston. I note that it has been nearly 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in...
    • Pensions and Benefits (25 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Nadia Sievewright was a young nursing student when Centrelink hit her with debts totalling $25,000. She was told...
  • Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
    • Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, JobKeeper Payment, Child Care (10 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of answers given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women (Senator Payne) to questions asked by...
    • Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answer by the Minister representing the Minister for Indigenous Australians (Senator Ruston) to a question without notice asked by Senator Siewert today...
    • Child Care (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Education (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Faruqi today...
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Presentation (1 speech)
      On behalf of the Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation, I give notice of my intention at the giving of notices on the next day of sitting to withdraw business of the Senate...
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Leave of Absence (2 speeches)
      by leave—I move: That leave of absence be granted to Senator McCarthy for Wednesday 10 June to Thursday 11 June 2020 for personal reasons and to Senator Brown for Wednesday 10 June to...
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Withdrawal (1 speech)
      I withdraw general business notice of motion No. 575 standing in my name for today.
    • Postponement (1 speech)
      I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator. There being no such request, we will move to the discovery of formal business.
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Australian Bravery Decorations (1 speech)
      Before moving general business notice of motion No. 592, I ask that the name of Senator Dodson be added to the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senator Dodson, move: That the Senate— (a)...
    • Community Television (7 speeches)
      Before moving general business notice of motion No. 588, I ask that the name of Senator Ciccone be added to the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senators Marielle Smith, Kitching and Ciccone,...
    • Science (7 speeches)
      Before moving general business notice of motion No. 589, I ask that the names of Senators Bilyk, Brown, Polley and Urquhart be added to the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senators Rice, Bilyk,...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Covid-19 (7 speeches)
      I ask that general business notice of motion No. 593, standing in my name for today and relating to the impact of COVID-19 on low-income countries, be taken as a formal motion.
  • Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
    • Covid-19 (12 speeches)
      A letter has been received from Senator Hanson: Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion: "Allowing...
  • Auditor-General's Reports (0 speeches)
    • Report No. 37 of 2019-20; Consideration (2 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the document. The ANAO found that the Department of Home Affairs's so-called management of the procurement of garrison support and welfare in fact was full of...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Answers to Questions on Notice (0 speeches)
    • COVID-19: Freedom of Information (1 speech)
      I table a response to a question taken on notice by the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann, during questions without notice on 14 May 2020 relating to COVID briefings and...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Regulations and Determinations (0 speeches)
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Presentation (1 speech)
      by leave—on behalf of Senator Dodson I give notice, that on the next day of sitting, I shall move: That the Senate— (a) expresses strong concern about the destruction of the sacred...
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • COVID-19: Superannuation (1 speech)
      On 23 March this year the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, announced the second instalment of the most significant set of measures to support the Australian community and the Australian economy...
    • Indigenous Australians (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to speak about a colleague of mine in Western Australia, Donna. I recently received an email from Donna. She works really hard in her community and has done an amazing job in...
    • COVID-19: Black Lives Matter Demonstrations (1 speech)
      A civil democratic society is a fragile flower which relies on people exercising the virtues of self-discipline and self-restraint—virtues which were disappointingly absent in the...
    • Dismissal of the Whitlam Government (1 speech)
      Many Australians will remember 11 November 1975, the day that Gough Whitlam was dismissed as Prime Minister by Governor-General John Kerr. This political and constitutional crisis was recently...
    • Broadband (1 speech)
      In recent days the National Broadband Network has reached its goal of connecting 11.5 million premises and it's officially complete—officially but not actually complete. The minister says...
    • Pennicott, Mrs Edna Florence, OAM (1 speech)
      Tonight I want to speak about a true hero of the local area of Kingborough in southern Tasmania. I'm really proud to say that this person is a very, very dear friend of mine. Her name is Mrs Edna...
    • Illicit Drugs (1 speech)
      I rise today to speak in support of the surprise announcement from the Victorian government that a second supervised injecting facility will be established in the Melbourne CBD, and that the site...
    • Western Australia: COVID-19 (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to speak about the impact of the coronavirus challenge in my home state of Western Australia and why it's critical that we continue to stay the course. There is no precedent for...
    • Pensions and Benefits (2 speeches)
      Where's the apology for robo-debt? That's what hundreds of thousands of Australians want to know. Where's the apology for 470,000 unlawful demands for money? Where's the apology for the...
    • Tasmania: Forestry Industry (1 speech, 1 comment)
      It's hard to believe that in a time of climate emergency, in the middle of a biodiversity crisis—a period in history that's been labelled as the sixth 'great extinction'—that legal...
    • Queensland Government (1 speech)
      On the weekend protests, I've never seen so many selfish people in one place at the same time putting our state's recovery at risk, and the Queensland Labor Party should be held to account for...
    • Nichols, Mr Denis (1 speech)
      I suppose we can just put that kind of contribution down to the Rennick effect. That's the modern Liberal Party. It's worried about an imaginary war on imaginary statues, but there is not a word...
    • COVID-19: Gold Coast (1 speech)
      Like many other parts of Queensland the Gold Coast is having a very tough time at the moment. Key industries, like tourism and construction, are really feeling the pinch in the wake of COVID-19....
    • COVID-19: Overseas Students (1 speech)
      I rise to bring to the attention of the Senate the plight of more than 800,000 international students who are currently residing in Australia. They have chosen Australia, in a highly competitive...
    • China (1 speech)
      My warnings about the skulduggery of the communist regime in China go back to early 2018. Since the Wuhan coronavirus I have intensified my criticisms and advocated that it can no longer be...
    • Hong Kong (1 speech)
      Australia has a distinguished history in the promotion of human rights throughout the world. As a people, we believe that all men and women are born free and equal and that respect for their...
    • Pensions and Benefits (1 speech)
      I rise this evening to talk about robodebt. Talking about it is something that many of us even dared to dream about: the fact that people will get refunded those illegally raised debts. The news...
    • Queen's Birthday Honours (1 speech)
      It's not easy for me to stand up here now and speak about the Queen's birthday honours at the moment. That's not because I don't support them or, indeed, Her Majesty. I very much do. It's because...
    • Workplace Relations (3 speeches)
      I begin tonight by reminding the Senate and Senator Stoker that I spoke out against family violence in my first speech. It was about family violence I had experienced in my own family. So the...
    • Lendlease (1 speech)
      In the Senate sittings that took place before coronavirus impacted our country, I began a series of speeches that aimed to put the spotlight on a number of Australian businesspeople little known...
    • International Cooperation (1 speech)
      The coronavirus global pandemic has changed the world like no other event this century. When the story of the early 21st century is written, only the tragic events of 9/11 will feature as...
    • Live Animal Exports (2 speeches)
      I rise to highlight the recent judgement in the Federal Court in the matter of Brett Cattle Company Pty Ltd v Minister for Agriculture. With much of the media's attention on other pressing issues...