Senate debates

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Statements by Senators (0 speeches)
    • Pell, Cardinal George, AC (1 speech)
      Yesterday evening I gave background to the case against Cardinal Pell, former Archbishop of Sydney and Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy in the Vatican. Today I continue the story by...
    • Indigenous Australians (1 speech)
      First, I acknowledge that we meet on the land of the Ngunawal and Ngambri people, and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. Earlier this year I asked if this parliament...
    • Climate Change (1 speech)
      [by video link] The WA community understand the urgent need to take action to address the climate crisis. We know that climate change is shaping our present right now. We also know that failure...
    • Developing Northern Australia (1 speech)
      I rise today to make a short contribution about a big part of our country, a big part of our nation: northern Australia. Only six per cent of Australians live, broadly speaking, north of the...
    • NAIDOC Week (1 speech)
      In this NAIDOC Week, with its theme of 'Always Was, Always Will Be,' I wish to acknowledge all the old people who've paved the way for Aboriginal people to be sitting in this chamber and in the...
    • Taiwan (1 speech)
      Today I will move a motion in relation to the status of Taiwan, an island territory that is a flourishing constitutional democracy with nearly 24 million people and is a key Australian trading...
    • Pensions and Benefits, Victoria: COVID-19 (1 speech)
      Firstly, on this Remembrance Day, I want to acknowledge all serving defence personnel, our veterans and, of course, the tens of thousands of Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice. The...
    • NAIDOC Week (1 speech)
      [Indigenous language not transcribed]. I pay my respects to the Ngunawal and Ngambri people as a Yanyuwa and Garrwa woman, a saltwater woman, li-Anthawirriyarra, of Borroloola in the Gulf of...
    • Groom By-Election (1 speech)
      In the brief time that I have available, I'd like to acknowledge the service that John McVeigh gave to the Commonwealth parliament, thank him and his family for the service they gave to Toowoomba...
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Senate Chamber: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. In 1992 Senator Ron Boswell said: This chamber must be one of the very few, if not the only chamber, of any...
    • Rural and Regional Australia: Employment (8 speeches)
      My question is to the
    • Coronavirus Supplement (20 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Ruston. How many unemployed Australians are there for every job vacancy right now, and how would the Morrison government's...
    • COVID-19: Income Support Payments (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Ruston. Minister, will you confirm that the government will never make jobseekers have to rely on a JobSeeker payment of...
    • Telecommunications (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Senator Reynolds. Can the minister inform the Senate how the Morrison-McCormack government...
    • Ministerial Conduct (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. A former Liberal government adviser with whom Minister Tudge had a relationship has lodged a formal complaint...
    • Northern Australia (17 speeches)
      My question is to Senator Ruston, the Minister representing the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia. Northern Australia is abundant in opportunity, providing the resources and an...
    • Members of Parliament: Conduct (8 speeches)
      My question is to the minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Ever since Four Corners aired on Monday, government members have been referencing the finance department's...
    • Attorney-General (11 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Monday night's Four Corners program aired offensive and sexist comments made by the Attorney-General, and a...
    • Gas Industry (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Senator Ruston. Minister, I recently travelled to the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern...
    • Minister for Families and Social Services (12 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Ruston. When I asked the minister about the budget measure for ongoing funding for 1800RESPECT the minister insisted: 'It...
    • National Security (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs, Senator Cash. In the wake of horrific events in Vienna and in Paris, can the minister outline to the Senate how the...
  • Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
  • Notices (0 speeches)
    • Withdrawal (1 speech)
      I give notice of my intention, at the giving of notices on the next day of sitting, to withdraw business of the Senate notice of motion No. 1 standing in my name for seven sitting days after...
    • Postponement (1 speech)
      I remind senators that the question may be put on any proposal at the request of any senator. There being none, we shall proceed.
  • Committees (0 speeches)
    • Public Works Committee; Reference (1 speech)
      On behalf of Senator Seselja, I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the PublicWorksCommitteeAct1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee...
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Workplace Safety (7 speeches)
      At the request of Senators Sheldon and Bilyk, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) on Sunday, 27 September 2020, Mr Dede Fredy died following a crash with a car three...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Senate Committee Proceedings (14 speeches)
      At the request of Senator Green, I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that:   (i) the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee has been conducting an inquiry...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Taiwan (12 speeches)
      I ask that general business notice of motion No. 843 be taken as a formal motion.
    • NAIDOC Week (4 speeches)
      I, and also on behalf of Senator McCarthy, move: That the Senate— (a) acknowledges that the NAIDOC Week is being held nationally from 8 to 15 November 2020, after being moved from July due...
    • Victoria: COVID-19 (11 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) congratulates the people of Victoria for their achievement in overcoming the second wave; (b) commends the people of Victoria for the sacrifices they have made...
    • Coronavirus Supplement (5 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) condemns the Government's announcement that it is cutting the Coronavirus Supplement to $150 a fortnight between January and March 2021 which will see people on...
    • World Economic Forum (8 speeches)
      I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that adopting the policies of the World Economic Forum's proposed 'Great Reset' would have a devastating impact on the economic wellbeing and individual...
    • Climate Change (8 speeches)
      I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion 848. Leave granted. I, and also on behalf of Senator Whish-Wilson, move the motion as amended: That the Senate— (a) notes that:...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Motions (0 speeches)
    • Queensland State Election (16 speeches)
      At the request of Senators Watt, Chisholm and Green, I move: That the Senate— (a) congratulates the Palaszczuk Labor Government on its re-election in Queensland; (b) recognises the strong...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Answers to Questions on Notice (0 speeches)
    • Foreign Interference (1 speech)
      I table a response to a question taken on notice during question time on Monday, asked by Senator Keneally, relating to foreign interference. I seek leave to have the correspondence incorporated...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • Women in Sport (1 speech)
      When Australia's peak sporting body was asked for advice on whether sports should allow males to play women's competitions, why weren't their first questions: Is that fair for female competitors?...
    • StandbyU Foundation, Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited (1 speech)
      I rise to put on the record my admiration and respect for two important groups in the Queensland community. One of them is based on the Gold Coast these days. It's called the StandbyU Foundation,...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      Over the last few months I've been participating in the Senate inquiry into unlawful underpayment of employees' remuneration, otherwise known as wage theft. This inquiry is soon going to focus on...
    • Workplace Relations: Food Delivery Industry (1 speech)
      I recently rose in this place to tell the stories of two food delivery workers, Dede Fredy and Xiaojun Chen, who lost their lives on the job for Uber Eats and Hungry Panda. Since I last spoke on...
    • Consumer Safety (1 speech)
      Earlier this year, three-year-old Brittney Conway swallowed a button battery. After weeks in the Queensland Children's Hospital and despite the best efforts of her doctors, Brittney died. Last...
    • Frecklington, Mrs Deborah (Deb), Queensland State Election (1 speech)
      I rise tonight to talk about an extraordinary regional woman who grew up in the Wandoan region and now lives, with her husband and family, at Kingaroy. I speak of course of Deb Frecklington....
    • Mining Industry: Goonyella Riverside Mine (1 speech)
      Tonight I want to draw the Senate's attention to the plight of workers at the Goonyella Riverside Mine near Moranbah, in Central Queensland. Recently, BHP distributed a memo to workers at the...