Senator Moore to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Community Affairs Committee on the Poker Machine Harm Reduction Tax (Administration) Bill 2008 be extended to 12 August 2008.

Senator Bartlett to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent this resolution having effect.

(2)

That the Freedom of Information Amendment (Open Government) Bill 2003 [2004] be restored to the Notice Paper and that consideration of the bill resumed at the stage reached in the 41st Parliament.

Senator Minchin to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

welcomes the discovery of the missing wreck HMAS Sydney II, 66 years since the tragic battle that lost the ship in 1941 off the coast of Western Australia;

(b)

notes the importance of finding the missing wreck for families and friends of the 645 crew members on board HMAS Sydney when she was lost in fierce engagement with the German raider Kormoran;

(c)

congratulates the search team for the discovery of HMAS Sydney’s resting place;

(d)

notes the Coalition’s strong support for efforts to find the wreck, including $4.2 million in funding under the Howard Government;

(e)

calls on the Government to move quickly to proclaim HMAS Sydney an official war grave to ensure that she and her crew are protected; and

(f)

further calls on the Government to recognise the needs of the families and friends of the victims by ensuring a memorial service is held as soon as possible.

Senator Scullion to move on the next day of sitting:

(1)

That a select committee, to be known as the Select Committee on Remote Indigenous Communities, be appointed to inquire into and report on:

(a)

the effectiveness of Australian Government policies following the Northern Territory Emergency Response, specifically on the state of health, welfare, education and law and order in remote Indigenous communities;

(b)

the impact of state and territory government policies on the wellbeing of remote Indigenous communities;

(c)

the health, welfare, education and security of children in remote Indigenous communities; and

(d)

the employment and enterprise opportunities in remote Indigenous communities.

(2)

That the committee report to the Senate on 30 September 2008, 30 March 2009, 30 September 2009, 30 March 2010 and 30 September 2010.

(3)

That the committee consist of 6 members, 2 nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, 3 nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and 1 nominated by any minority group or groups or independent senator or independent senators.

(4)

(a)

On the nominations of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and minority groups and independent senators, participating members may be appointed to the committee;

(b)

participating members may participate in hearings of evidence and deliberations of the committee, and have all the rights of members of committee, but may not vote on any questions before the committee; and

(c)

a participating member shall be taken to be a member of the committee for the purpose of forming a quorum of the committee if a majority of members of the committee is not present.

(5)

That the committee may proceed to the dispatch of business notwithstanding that not all members have been duly nominated and appointed and notwithstanding any vacancy.

(6)

That the committee elect an Opposition member as chair.

(7)

That the committee elect a Government member as deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee, and at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting.

(8)

That, in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote.

(9)

That the quorum of the committee be 4 members.

(10)

That the committee have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of 2 or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine.

(11)

That the committee and any subcommittee have power to send for and examine persons and documents, to move from place to place, to sit in public or in private, notwithstanding any prorogation of the Parliament or dissolution of the House of Representatives, and have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and interim recommendations.

(12)

That the committee be provided with all necessary staff, facilities and resources and be empowered to appoint persons with specialist knowledge for the purposes of the committee with the approval of the President.

(13)

That the committee be empowered to print from day to day such documents and evidence as may be ordered by it, and a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings as take place in public.

Senator Crossin to move on the next day of sitting:

That the time for the presentation of the report of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Rights of the Terminally Ill (Euthanasia Laws Repeal) Bill 2008 be extended to 23 June 2008.

Senator Boyce to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate congratulates the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman and the Liberal Council team on their victory in the local government elections in Queensland on Saturday, 15 March 2008.

Senator Siewert to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes with deep regret the passing of Professor Peter Cullen on 13 March 2008;

(b)

acknowledges the significant contribution Professor Cullen made:

(i)

to the environment, natural resource policy, freshwater ecology, and the management of Australia’s water resources, particularly within the Murray Darling Basin, and

(ii)

to the knowledge and understanding of these complex and vital issues, including his significant role in the development of sustainable water policy in Australia, and that his insightful analysis will be sorely missed;

(c)

acknowledges that Professor Cullen was particularly skilled at bridging the gap between science and the policy and practice of water management, and had a flair for using language that made complex issues accessible and got the point across; for example, some ‘Cullen-isms’ include:

(i)

on the importance of water accounting, ‘Flying blind hasn’t worked and we must know how much water we have, where it is and how it is being used. We need to know the health of our waterways’,

(ii)

on managing water scarcity, ‘Believing we could meet the water needs of these communities by fixing a few leaking taps and having shorter showers was always a fantasy’,

(iii)

on the Murray Darling, ‘We don’t have all the answers—nobody does—but before we start laying bricks and mortar, we have got to get the foundations right, otherwise the cathedral will tumble with the smallest of tremors’, and

(iv)

on climate change, ‘We’re doing a wonderful experiment in global warming at the moment but by the time it gets through peer review there might not be many humans left on the planet’; and

(d)

offers its condolences to his family and friends.

Senator McEwen to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Joint Standing Committee on Migration be authorised to hold private meetings otherwise than in accordance with standing order 33(1) during the sittings of the Senate.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

a bushfire in the magnificent Tarkine wilderness area in north west Tasmania had burnt 1 800 hectares by 17 March 2008,

(ii)

that the fire was started in conjunction with a car accident on the ‘Road to Nowhere’ known as the Western Explorer Road, and

(iii)

the high risk of fire from opening the inaccessible area to vehicle access was identified by conservationists as a major threat and reason for objection when the road was proposed and approved by the Tasmanian Liberal Government in 1994; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

urge the Tasmanian Government to close the road and convert it to a world-class cycling and walking track, and

(ii)

advance the world heritage nomination of the area to secure its permanent protection.