Senate debates

Tuesday, 25 August 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.
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Senate Temporary Orders (19 speeches)
      I seek leave to make a five-minute statement relating to temporary arrangements on the general business notice of motion.
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • COVID-19: Aged Care (16 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. Yesterday the minister said, 'We are in a relatively good position.' What percentage of all COVID-19 deaths...
    • COVID-19: State and Territory Border Closures (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Border travel restrictions imposed by state and territory governments have negatively impacted the lives and...
    • COVID-19: Aged Care (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. Yesterday the minister said, 'We have been extremely fortunate.' Does the minister really believe the 100...
    • Higher Education (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Education. At least 16 members of the government, including the Prime Minister, went to uni while it was free, but your latest cruel,...
    • COVID-19: Vaccine (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health, Senator Cash. Can the minister update the Senate on the Morrison government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy?
    • COVID-19: Aged Care (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. When did the minister first learn he had been cut out of decision-making in the aged-care emergency response?...
    • COVID-19: Economy (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Birmingham. How is the Morrison government growing a COVID-safe economy by supporting Australian exporters and helping to...
    • National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister Reynolds. On 5 February 2020 the Prime Minister announced that the Australian government would establish...
    • COVID-19: Aged Care (16 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck. When asked on Friday whether he'd briefed the cabinet between 10 July and 5 August, the minister said: I...
    • COVID-19: People with Disability (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Ruston. How is the Morrison government ensuring people with disability and their carers have access to appropriate and...
    • Liberal Party of Australia (14 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. In response to allegations aired earlier this year about branch stacking and misuse of public funds by members of...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
  • Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
    • COVID-19: Aged Care (5 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians (Senator Colbeck) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today...
    • National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Defence (Senator Reynolds) to a question without notice asked by Senator Lambie today relating to the mental health of...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Faruqi today relating to...
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Withdrawal (1 speech)
      Pursuant to notice given at the last day of sitting, I now withdraw business of the Senate notice of motion No. 1 standing in my name and the names of Senator Kitching and Senator Carr.
  • Condolences (0 speeches)
    • Mason, Mr Colin Victor James (3 speeches)
      It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death, on 18 July 2020, of Colin Victor James Mason, a senator for the state of New South Wales from 1978 to 1987. I call the Leader of the...
    • Madigan, Mr John (1 speech)
      It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate about the death, on 16 June 2020, of former senator John Madigan, from Victoria, a senator from 2011 to 2016. A time for that condolence motion is...
  • Business (0 speeches)
    • Leave of Absence (1 speech)
      by leave—I move: That Senator Canavan be granted leave of absence for today for personal reasons. Question agreed to.
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Rearrangement (1 speech)
      At the request of Senator Ruston, I move: That on Tuesday, 25 August 2020, consideration of the business before the Senate be interrupted at approximately 5 pm, but not so as to interrupt a...
  • Condolences (0 speeches)
    • Munro, Mr Lyall, Sr (1 speech)
      At the request of Senators Sheldon, Ayres, Keneally, McCarthy, Dodson, McAllister and O'Neill, I move: That the Senate— (a) honours the life and acknowledges the death of Mr. Lyall Munro...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Australian Citizenship Ceremonies (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) acknowledges the exemplary work of all Department of Home Affairs staff who assisted the Government to overcome social isolation challenges, and continue to...
    • Coronavirus Supplement (10 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that the Government is cutting the Coronavirus Supplement by $300 a fortnight from 25 September 2020; (b) acknowledges that there is uncertainty around...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • MV Al Kuwait; Order for the Production of Documents (4 speeches)
      I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 728 standing in the name of Senator Farrell before asking that it be taken as a formal motion. Leave granted. I amend the motion to...
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Bonner, Mr Neville Thomas, AO (1 speech)
      I, and also on behalf of Senators Canavan, Scarr, McGrath, O'Sullivan, Dean Smith and Stoker, move: That the Senate— (a) notes that, on 17 August 1971, Neville Thomas Bonner was sworn in as...
    • Aged Care (4 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) currently the Australian Government has no quality outcome reporting for home care and reports on only three indicators for...
    • 43rd Parliament (5 speeches)
      At the request of Senator Di Natale, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that, 10 years ago, the Australian people elected a Parliament where no single party had a majority; (b) affirms that...
    • Climate Change: National Farmers' Federation (7 speeches)
      Before moving general business notice of motion No. 729, I ask that the name of Senator Watt be added to the motion. At the request of Senators Ayres and Watt, I move: That the Senate— (a)...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • COVID-19: Aged Care; Order for the Production of Documents (5 speeches)
      At the request of Senator Keneally, I move: That— (1) There be laid on the table by the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, by no later than 12pm on 26 August 2020, the following...
    • COVID-10: State and Territory Border Closures (5 speeches)
      I, and also on behalf of Senators Davey, Canavan, McDonald and McMahon, move: That the Senate— (a) notes that regional border communities across Australia are home to hundreds of thousands...
  • Matters of Urgency (0 speeches)
    • Aged Care (8 speeches)
      I inform the Senate that, at 8.30 am today, 18 proposals were received in accordance with standing order 75. The question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was determined by lot....
  • Parliamentary Representation (0 speeches)
    • Valedictory (19 speeches)
      Let me begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation from whose land I am speaking today, the Ngunawal and Ngambri people on whose land our national parliament meets and the...
  • Matters of Urgency (0 speeches)
    • Aged Care (7 speeches)
      Thank you very much, Madam Deputy President. I, too, rise to speak on this matter of public urgency brought before the chamber by Senator Lines—yourself. Frankly, all this motion does is...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
    • Procedure Committee; Report (1 speech)
      At the request of Senator Lines, I move: That the recommendation in paragraph 1.1 of the Procedure Committee's first report of 2020 be adopted. Question agreed to.
    • Human Rights Committee; Report (1 speech)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the reports. I'm pleased to speak to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights' eighth and ninth scrutiny reports of 2020, which were presented out of...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
    • Joint Select Committee on Road Safety; Report (3 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate take note of the interim report. This is of course an interim report because the work of the committee has been disrupted by the pandemic, as have so many other things....
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • Manufacturing (1 speech)
      When you talk to Tasmanians and Australians about what our economy should look like as we look forward to defeating COVID-19 and getting our businesses back up and running at full speed, there is...
    • Northern Territory Election (1 speech)
      I would like to share with the Senate an incredible weekend in the Northern Territory with the Northern Territory election and commend Chief Minister Michael Gunner on being able to take a second...
    • COVID-19: Young People (1 speech)
      I rise to speak on the impact COVID has had on young people and the future they face. It's hard to overstate how rapidly and dramatically COVID-19 has changed the world for young people. But we...
    • Member for Boothby (1 speech)
      Politics is not for the faint of heart. We in this chamber are no strangers to criticism, be it criticism from the public or criticism from the media. There's nothing wrong with the eye of...
    • Family and Domestic Violence (1 speech)
      The pandemic has emphasised the importance of home. As opportunities to be out and in the company of others have been lost or restricted, we've retreated to our houses. We've video-called our...
    • Renewable Energy (1 speech)
      Everybody talks about going back to normal after this crisis. But I don't want to go back to normal on some things; I think we can do better than that. We have the opportunity to reset and...
    • COVID-19: Victoria (1 speech)
      I rise as a senator for Victoria, a state that I love and that is sadly now in a state of disaster—I don't mean just those who have lost lives in COVID-19. I give my condolences to the 438...
    • Lung Cancer (1 speech)
      I rise to speak on a topic which some in this chamber will understand is quite a difficult topic to talk about at the moment: lung cancer. I do so because there has never been a more important...
    • Derby District High School (1 speech)
      I rise to lend my support to the Derby community in Western Australia's Kimberley region as it campaigns for urgent upgrades to Derby District High School. In early July, at the invitation of...
    • COVID-19: Aviation Industry (1 speech)
      Tonight I want to draw to the Senate's attention the state of the aviation industry, an industry that has been decimated by the global health pandemic only to be kicked in the guts by the...
    • Economy (1 speech)
      An unfortunate truth from COVID-19 is that generous government payments like JobKeeper and JobSeeker will need to be reduced in order to increase incentive, kickstart job growth and restore the...
    • Australasian Shunt Registry (1 speech)
      I've been contacted by the Hydrocephalus Support Association and the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia about the future of the Australasian Shunt Registry. The registry was established in 2013...
    • COVID-19: Tasmania (1 speech)
      Tonight I rise to speak about how the Tasmanian government has navigated the coronavirus pandemic firmly and compassionately over the past six months. This steady leadership has ensured my home...
    • Sheean, Ordinary Seaman Edward (Teddy) (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to speak about those in our country who have gone before us—generations gone by who laid down their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice for the generations to come. In this...
    • COVID-19: Queensland (1 speech)
      I want to begin my contribution tonight by acknowledging the very real economic impact that COVID-19 has had on regional Queensland, particularly on Far North Queensland, where tourism is a major...
    • Live Animal Exports (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to talk about an issue that's very close to my heart. As many in this place would know, I'm a passionate advocate for agriculture, particularly agriculture in my home state of...
    • Tasmania: COVID-19 (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to speak about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our way of life across the country and in my home state of Tasmania. Specifically, I want to reflect on the last four months,...
    • COVID-19: Employment (1 speech)
      These are really tough times. This extraordinary health crisis has created an extraordinary jobs crisis, with our first recession in almost 30 years. People are doing it tough. People are losing...
    • Liberal Party of Australia (1 speech)
      Well, here we go again. Once again we have shocking evidence of the corruption that goes to heart of both the major parties. Now, we know that both of them have been engaging in industrial-scale...
    • Sexual Harassment (1 speech)
      Tonight I want to put on the record the experience of a heroic young Australian, a young woman who deserves a medal for bravery and resilience. AMP tried to silence her. Tonight I use my platform...
    • Aged Care (1 speech)
      I rise to speak on the issue of urgent aged-care reform. Last week the Prime Minister said in response to questions asked on ABC's News Breakfast that the Commonwealth regulates aged care, but...
    • Ridd, Professor Peter (1 speech)
      I rise this evening to reflect on recent developments in the case of James Cook University and Professor Peter Ridd. It gives me no pleasure to do so, especially because James Cook University is...
    • National Cabinet (1 speech)
      Tonight I rise to speak about an issue at the very centre of the governance of our country: Prime Minister Morrison's so-called national cabinet. National cabinet has been widely regarded as a...
    • Renewable Energy: Economy (1 speech)
      As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I wonder whether people know that Liberal, Labor, Nationals and Greens climate policies and renewables subsidies are costing households $13...
    • Victoria: COVID-19 (1 speech)
      I rise in this adjournment debate to raise concerns about the scope of the restrictions being imposed on Victorians under the state of emergency declared in March. Victorians understand that we...