Senator Watson to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Thursday, 11 May 2006, from 11 am to 12.30 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into financial reporting and equipment acquisition at the Department of Defence and Defence Materiel Organisation.

Senator Troeth to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Legislation Committee on the provisions of the Australian Research Council Amendment Bill 2006 be extended to 11 May 2006.

Senator Chapman to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services be authorised to hold a public meeting during the sitting of the Senate on Tuesday, 13 June 2006, from 5 pm to 8 pm, to take evidence for the committee’s inquiry into the statutory oversight of the operations of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Senators Kemp and Lundy to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

congratulates all the athletes in the Australian Commonwealth Games Team for achieving an outstanding result at the XVIIIth Commonwealth Games in Melbourne;

(b)

particularly congratulates medal winners in helping the Australian team achieve its record result of 221 medals including 84 gold, 69 silver and 68 bronze;

(c)

acknowledges:

(i)

the contribution of all the support staff including the coaches, doctors, trainers and vast array of other support staff who are now so necessary for success on the international sporting stage,

(ii)

the Australian Commonwealth Games Association for its contribution in managing the Australian Team, and

(iii)

the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Sports Commission on their key contributions to the preparation of the Australian Commonwealth Games team;

(d)

congratulates:

(i)

the 15 000 volunteers whose outstanding contribution made the Melbourne Commonwealth Games a memorable and enjoyable experience for all those involved, and

(ii)

the Chairman of the M2006 Corporation, Mr Ronald Walker, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Harnden, and their team in delivering an outstanding Commonwealth Games described by the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mr Mike Fennell, as ‘simply the best’; and

(e)

acknowledges the contributions of the Australian and Victorian Governments to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, including the delivery of a safe and secure games.

Senators Kemp and Lundy to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

congratulates the Australian Paralympic Team for achieving an outstanding result at the Winter Paralympics in Torino, Italy;

(b)

particularly congratulates medal winners Mr Michael Milton and Mr Toby Kane in helping the Australian team achieve this result at the Winter Olympics;

(c)

congratulates the Olympic Winter Institute, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Paralympic Committee on its key contribution to the preparation of the Australian Winter Olympic team; and

(d)

acknowledges the important contribution of the Australian Sports Commission to the preparation of the team.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the call by French President Jacques Chirac for French car manufacturers to produce hybrid vehicles at affordable prices within 10 years, and

(ii)

that Citroen now plans to have a diesel hybrid vehicle on the road in this time frame, noting its fuel efficiency benefits over petrol hybrid vehicles; and

(b)

encourages the Government to similarly call for Australian auto manufacturers to produce diesel hybrid vehicles.

Senator Bob Brown to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following matters be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 8 August 2006:

The role of the religious organisation Exclusive Brethren in:

(a)

family breakdown and psychological and emotional effects related to the practice of excommunication or other practices;

(b)

Australian politics and political activities, including donations to political parties or other political entities and funding specific advertising campaigns;

(c)

the receipt of funding from the Federal Government or other political entities;

(d)

taxation and other special arrangements or exemptions from Australian law that relate to Exclusive Brethren businesses;

(e)

special arrangements and exemptions from Australian law that relate to Exclusive Brethren schools, military service and voting; and

(f)

any related matters.

Senator Allison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

1 800 nuclear physicists, including many Nobel Laureates, have joined in a petition opposing the ‘new US nuclear weapons policies that open the door to the use of nuclear weapons on situations such as Iran’s’,

(ii)

petitioners note that the policy of the United States of America (US) did, until recently and since WWII, consider nuclear weapons to be weapons of last resort to be used only when the survival of the nation or of an allied nation was at stake, or at most, in cases of extreme military necessity,

(iii)

the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons to destroy underground installations as being considered by the Bush Administration against Iran is ‘a major and dangerous shift in the rationale for’ the use of ‘nuclear weapons’, and

(iv)

petitioners argue that ‘using or even merely threatening to use a nuclear weapon preemptively against a non-nuclear adversary tells the 182 non-nuclear-weapon countries signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that their adherence to the treaty offers them no protection against a nuclear attack by a nuclear nation. Many are thus likely to abandon the treaty, and the nuclear non-proliferation framework will be damaged even further than it already has, with disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world’;

(b)

agrees with petitioners that the US Administration should announce publicly that it is taking the nuclear option off the table in the case of all non-nuclear adversaries, present and future; and

(c)

urges the Government to make representation to the Bush Administration calling for such a commitment.

Senator Stott Despoja to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the decision by the British Court of Appeal to reject any further appeals by the Home Office to block Mr David Hicks’ British citizenship application,

(ii)

the repatriation of nine British citizens, previously detained at the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, by the British Government,

(iii)

that Mr Hicks’ primary citizenship is Australian, and

(iv)

that Mr Hicks’ has now been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than 4 years in contravention of his fundamental human rights; and

(b)

calls on the Government to either repatriate Mr Hicks to Australia or to confirm that it will not discourage the repatriation of Mr Hicks to the United Kingdom if it enters into dialogue on the issue with either the United States of America or the United Kingdom.

Senator Ludwig to move on the next day of sitting:

That the report of the Border Rationalisation Taskforce prepared in 1998 be provided no later than 18 May 2006 by the Minister for Justice and Customs to the President under standing order 166(2) for presentation to the Senate.

Senator Bartlett to move on Thursday, 11 May 2006:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the loss suffered by the Australian music community and music lovers with the death on 6 May 2006, of Queensland born and bred songwriter and musician, Mr Grant McLennan,

(ii)

the contribution made to music by Mr McLennan as a songwriter and performer over nearly three decades, which is highly respected and widely recognised as very influential,

(iii)

that the song ‘Cattle and Cane’, written by Mr McLennan and performed by the Go-Betweens was named by the Australian Performing Rights Association as one of the ten greatest Australian songs, and

(iv)

the significant inspiration that Mr McLennan and the Go-Betweens provided to musicians from Brisbane over many years; and

(b)

conveys its sympathies to his mother, immediate family and past and present band members.

Senator Ellison to move on the next day of sitting:

That the government business orders of the day relating to the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Trustee Board and Other Measures) Bill 2006 and the Superannuation Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 may be taken together for their remaining stages.

Senator Nettle to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

over the past decade, the Indigenous people of Chile, Mapuche, have been in conflict with the Chilean Government over the use of Indigenous lands for forestry and hydroelectric development,

(ii)

the criminalisation of their campaign for equal rights under Chile’s terrorism laws has been criticised by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous people, and

(iii)

currently four Mapuche political prisoners are on their eighth week of a hunger strike and in a serious medical condition; and

(b)

calls on the Government to raise this matter with the Chilean Government requesting that they:

(i)

carry out negotiations with the Mapuche political prisoners and their legal representatives to end the hunger strike, and

(ii)

implement an independent review of the cases in which Mapuche people have been tried and convicted on terrorism charges, in order to verify observance of due process, and, if necessary, order a new trial with full respect for fair trial guarantees.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That, as recommended in the Bringing them Home report tabled in the Senate on 26 May 1997, the Senate recognises that 26 May is National Sorry Day, a day of remembrance each year to commemorate the history of forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and its effects on individuals, families and communities.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the recent 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the Ukraine,

(ii)

the observation of the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev who said recently ‘Chernobyl opened my eyes like nothing else: it showed the horrible consequences of nuclear power, even when it is used for non-military purposes’,

(iii)

that the sarcophagus that encases the reactor site remains in a dangerous state of disrepair and, if it were to collapse, it would send a second plume of radioactive dust across Europe, and

(iv)

that although the exact number of people who have died or are dying as a result of the Chernobyl accident will never be known with accuracy, the latest reports from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences cite a figure of 212 000;

(b)

rejects the construction of any nuclear power stations in Australia; and

(c)

calls on the Government to abandon its support for nuclear power and instead to invest in energy efficiency, demand management and renewable energy.