Senate debates
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Meeting (1 speech)
If there is no objection, the meetings are authorised.
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Business (0 speeches)
- Consideration of Legislation (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder Commission of Inquiry Bill 2026 be called on immediately for debate, until the end of private senators' bills time....
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Business (0 speeches)
- Days and Hours of Meeting (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That, today, the Senate adjourn without debate at 5 pm. Question agreed to.
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Statements by Senators (0 speeches)
- Economy (1 speech)
This country's economy was in trouble before the conflict in the Middle East. Caught out was an unprepared, unresponsive and incapable Albanese Labor government. They were caught off guard. They...
- Marine Environment: Plastic Pollution (1 speech)
Nearly 14 years ago I gave my first senators' statement in this chamber on a matter was near and dear to my heart and one of the key reasons I got into parliament in the first place—the...
- Early Childhood Education and Care (1 speech)
Families are the foundation of our society. As Edmund Burke described, they are the 'little platoons' that shape our communities and our nation. Former prime minister John Howard said that a...
- Wages and Salaries (1 speech)
It gives me great pleasure to rise and put on the record some comments from a very good friend of mine and a very good friend of young Australian workers, Mr Gerard Dwyer, the secretary of the...
- Economy (1 speech)
Productivity growth is essential. In the past 10 years, productivity grew by less than a quarter of its 60-year average. Our productivity is flatlining. This was happening even before the...
- Western Australia: Tourism Industry (1 speech)
I rise to speak about a recent visit to Wadjemup—Rottnest Island—a place of profound cultural significance and one of Western Australia's most treasured destinations. Wadjemup means...
- Tasmania: Salmon Fishing Industry (1 speech)
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a number of Huon aquaculture sites in Southern Tasmania. When people debate salmon farming in this place or in the media, it can sometimes feels like an...
- Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (3 speeches)
Stevie Lee Nixon McKellar was a 27-year-old Gunggari man described by his mum Dr Raylene Nixon as cheeky and as the type who would care for strays, whether people or animals. He was a deeply...
- Babet, Senator Ralph Emmanuel Didier (1 speech)
I'm regularly criticised for being overtly Christian. I'm told to keep my faith private, to leave it at the door of this chamber and to speak as though God is irrelevant and truth is negotiable....
- Wages and Salaries (1 speech)
This week, we saw a hard-won fight for Australian young workers. Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission ruled to abolish junior pay rates for workers aged 18, 19 and 20 in this nation. It is a...
- Australian Parliament (1 speech)
What we've seen this week in this place is obscene. Labor and the Greens have struck another dirty deal: 22 bills being guillotined with little to no debate. The Senate is meant to be a house of...
- Nurses, Superannuation (2 speeches)
Access to the right care at the right time, close to home and at a cost people can afford are the hallmarks of our healthcare system, but none of this is possible without the healthcare workers...
- Health Care (1 speech)
I rise to speak today regarding an issue that is something that I've had quite a deal of connection to and that concerns me enormously with respect to where we are today. In 2019, the number of...
- Simpson Prize (1 speech)
I rise today to recognise two outstanding young Tasmanians who I recently had the opportunity to meet here in Parliament House. Rhylan Walters, from Scottsdale High School, was named Tasmania's...
- Taxation (1 speech)
Today, I'm going to read out an email that I received last week from a constituent, a self-described burnt-out mum from Blackwater in Central Queensland. She says: I am writing this with a level...
- South Australia: Marine Environment (1 speech)
I refer to South Australia's algal bloom crisis. When does a government's failure to act become a decision to conceal? That is the question South Australians are asking, and it is the question...
- Electric Vehicles: Road Transport Industry (1 speech)
This global oil shock has exposed our fuel vulnerabilities. If we are to become a more energy-resilient nation, then we need, as much as possible, to decouple ourselves from Middle Eastern oil....
- Easter (1 speech)
Easter is a time to celebrate Jesus's resurrection and the joy of Christianity. We live in a time when Christianity is under attack. I spoke of those world events earlier this week. Remember,...
- Cost of Living (1 speech)
Many Australians are doing it tough as we come into this Easter holiday break. But let me take you back just one month before the start of hostilities in the Middle East and before the impacts of...
- Western Australia: Charitable Initiatives (1 speech)
I rise proudly to mention to everyone who wants to listen that I just completed another mattress run up to the Kimberley. It's been a fantastic time. I want to thank Don Bantock from Bedshed....
- Sovereign Capability (2 speeches)
Let's just do a quick stocktake. The international price of oil is skyrocketing. Public transport remains underfunded and inaccessible for so many. Electric vehicle uptake has been deliberately...
- Workplace Relations (1 speech)
I want to take a moment to speak in support of the mighty Transport Workers' Union and the workers they represent across aviation. Aviation workers from across the country, from Qantas to Virgin,...
- Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1 speech)
There have been two more First Nations deaths in custody in the Northern Territory in less than a week. It means there are two more families who will never get their loved ones home and two more...
- Rural, Regional and Remote Australia: Cost of Living (1 speech)
The illegal US-Israel war on Iran is causing economic pain across this country, but price shocks for First Peoples living in remote communities are even deeper—but ignored. Yesterday, I met...
- Cost of Living (1 speech)
Australians are struggling to afford Easter this year under this Labor government. We enter this fuel crisis in the worst economic position when compared to our peers. Australians have suffered...
- Wages and Salaries (2 speeches)
Fairness at work, dignity in pay, and respect for young workers—I'd like to take the opportunity to congratulate the SDA on the hard fought campaign to ensure that 18- to 20-year-olds are...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Fuel (12 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. On Monday, the Prime Minister urged Australians to 'enjoy their Easter' and not cancel their holidays. Now we hear...
- Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
- Acknowledgement (1 speech)
Before I come to you, Senator Stewart, I draw to the attention of honourable senators the presence in the gallery of the Singaporean Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology, Dr...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Middle East (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. It's been over a month since the beginning of the conflict in Iran. Since then, the Albanese Labor government has...
- Fuel (25 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. I refer to reporting by Sky News reporter Cam Reddin that government ministers have started cancelling travel to...
- Budget: Fuel (8 speeches)
My question is to the finance minister, representing the Treasurer, Minister Gallagher, about the upcoming budget and the effects of the war. Fuel prices went up at the pump almost immediately...
- Economy (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Australians are facing growing uncertainty in the global economy—particularly, the impact of conflict in the...
- Tasmania: No. 34 Aboriginal Health Service (8 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister McAllister. No. 34 is an Aboriginal rural health service in Tasmania's north-west. It provides services...
- Water (24 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Senator Watt. The government continues to spend billions on water buybacks which rip the economic rug out from underneath communities...
- Pensions and Benefits (13 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Watt. Hundreds of thousands of people on income support are being forced to spend their...
- Rural and Regional Australia (10 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture—
- Fuel (23 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. How many petrol stations in Australia have dropped their petrol prices by 26c per litre today?
- Wages and Salaries (9 speeches)
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Watt. Getting wages moving again has been a key pillar of our government's agenda to...
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence, Education and Employment References Committee, Taxation of Gas Resources; Membership (2 speeches)
The President has received letters requesting changes in the membership of committees.
- Impact of the Conflict in Iran Select Committee; Appointment (4 speeches)
I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the establishment of a select committee on the impact of the conflict in Iran as circulated. Leave not granted. Pursuant to contingent notice standing...
- A Certain Maritime Incident Select Committee, Adopting Artificial Intelligence Select Committee, Community Affairs References Committee, Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Joint Select Committee, Education and Employment Legislation Committee, Environment and Communications References Committee, Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, Human Rights Joint Committee, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Northern Australia Joint Committee, Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities Select Committee; Government Response to Report (1 speech)
I present 19 government responses to committee reports as listed in today's Order of Business, including one from 2002. In accordance with the usual practice, I seek leave to have the documents...
- Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
- Fuel (6 speeches)
With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clocks in accordance with informal arrangements agreed to by the whips.
- Budget: Fuel (4 speeches)
I move: That the Senate take note of answers to questions that I asked of the Minister representing the Treasurer. From the moment that Trump and Netanyahu's war began, fuel companies started...
- Petitions (0 speeches)
- Gun Control (1 speech)
by leave—I table a non-conforming petition that includes an addition of 3,607 signatures. That takes the number of signatures that have signed 'say a hard no to the Labor Party's unfair gun...
- Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers (0 speeches)
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Documents (0 speeches)
- Business (0 speeches)
- Rearrangement (1 speech)
I, and also on behalf of Senator David Pocock, move: That on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, general business notice of motion no. 475 standing in the name of Senators Shoebridge and David Pocock,...
- Bills (0 speeches)
- Motions (0 speeches)
- Defence Procurement (1 speech)
I, and also on behalf of Senator David Pocock, move: That the Senate requests the Auditor-General to urgently reinstate the Australian National Audit Office's annual major projects report in...
- Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
- Cost of Living (11 speeches)
Senator Sharma has submitted a proposal, under standing order 75, today, which has been circulated and is shown on the Dynamic Red: After four years of the Albanese Labor Government, Australians...
- Matters of Urgency (0 speeches)
- Climate Change (7 speeches)
The Senate will now consider the proposal, under standing order 75, from Senator McKim, which has been circulated and is shown on the Dynamic Red: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the...
- Business (0 speeches)
- Days and Hours of Meeting (2 speeches)
I move: That— (a) the Senate, at its rising, adjourn till Tuesday, 12 May 2026, at midday, or such other time as may be fixed by the President or, in the event of the President being...
