Senators Xenophon, Brown and Joyce to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to provide for the accurate labelling of palm oil in food, and for related purposes. Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling—Palm Oil) Bill 2009.

Senator Humphries to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

recognises the service of those Australians who were employed as field constabulary officers (Kiaps) in the Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary between 1949 and 1974;

(b)

acknowledges the hazardous and difficult conditions that were experienced by the members serving with the Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary;

(c)

notes that former members of the regular constabulary of the Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary may be entitled to long service and good conduct medals, such as the National Medal, subject to meeting eligibility criteria;

(d)

supports moves to allow former members of the field constabulary to count their service towards the National Medal;

(e)

notes that qualifying service to meet the eligibility criteria for the National Medal must include at least one day of service on or after the medal’s creation on 14 February 1975;

(f)

expresses concern that many former Kiaps may not meet the eligibility criteria for the National Medal, as eligible Kiap service ceased on 30 November 1973;

(g)

recognises that the Trust Territory of New Guinea, under the terms of the Papua New Guinea Act 1949 and the Trusteeship Agreement for the Territory of New Guinea, held sovereignty unto itself and as such, was at law an international country (and foreign to Australia);

(h)

recognises that the Governor-General’s assent of the Papua New Guinea Act 1949 and the signing of the Trusteeship Agreement for New Guinea by the Australian Government, prescribed service activity whereby the service was carried out by members of the Australian Police Force and the service was undertaken as part of an international operation; and

(i)

calls on the Australian Government to change the eligibility criteria applying to the Police Overseas Service Medal so as not to prevent the award of the medal to those:

(i)

Australian public servants who were employed through the Australian Government and served in the Australian administered United Nations Trust Territory of New Guinea between 1949 and 1974, and

(ii)

individuals serving in Papua New Guinea as sworn and armed Commissioned Officers of the Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary (at the time an Australian External Territorial Police Force).

Senators Birmingham and Barnett to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the convention), which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, will be celebrated worldwide on 20 November 2009;

(b)

applauds the significant improvements in the status of children globally that have been achieved over these 20 years, including:

(i)

the decrease in child mortality rates such that the number of children dying before their 5th birthday is now the lowest in recorded history,

(ii)

the increased awareness of, and improved protections for, children in conflict situations, and

(iii)

the strengthened drive for, and provision of universal education for, both boys and girls; and

(c)

recognises the continued importance of the convention and its aims, as well as their complementarity to the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those goals to:

(i)

eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,

(ii)

achieve universal primary education,

(iii)

promote gender equality and empower women, and

(iv)

reduce child mortality.

Senator Hanson-Young to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

according to Human Rights Watch, three Iranian men have been sentenced to death, under charges of ‘male homosexual conduct’ allegedly committed when they were under the age of 18,

(ii)

Iran leads the world in executing juvenile offenders, with at least seven in 2008, and at least three so far in 2009, and

(iii)

in February 2009, the United Nations General Assembly called on Iran, as signatories to both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that prohibits the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of 18, immediately to suspend executions of all persons for offences committed by children under 18; and

(b)

calls on the Australian Government to add its voice to international calls for Iran immediately to abolish the death penalty of persons who were under age 18 at the time of their offence and halt all executions of those sentenced to death.

Senator Cormann to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

the Senate disallowed the massive reduction in MBS cataract surgery rebates pursued by the Rudd Labor Government, with the objective to have the MBS rebates for cataract surgery maintained at the ‘2008 Regulations’ level,

(ii)

the Minister for Health and Ageing justified the massive 50 per cent cut to Medicare rebates for cataract surgery by arguing that the procedure was now ‘quicker and easier’ to perform and now took only about 15 minutes instead of the 45 minutes when the procedure was first introduced,

(iii)

the Minister for Health and Ageing never provided any Australian data to substantiate those assertions, while an AMA survey of 334 ophthalmologists indicated that about 70 per cent of ophthalmologists took between 25 and 40 minutes to perform cataract surgery,

(iv)

that it is further understood that the procedure band for cataract surgery has not been altered on the National Procedure Banding List, indicating no significant cost/time changes have occurred, and further

(v)

the Minister for Health and Ageing has so far failed to acknowledge that MBS rebates for cataract surgery:

(a)

have been reduced twice before since they were first introduced, by 30 per cent in 1987 and by 10 per cent in 1996, and

(b)

have been indexed by about 2 per cent per annum since 1996, below CPI and below AWE, to take account of productivity improvements;

(vi)

the Minister for Health and Ageing or her department appear to have made some belated efforts to collect data to identify the average length of time taken to perform cataract surgery; and

(b)

orders that there be laid on the table by 12 pm on Friday, 20 November 2009:

(i)

any information the Minister for Health and Ageing, her office or the department has received, compiled or commissioned on cataract surgery times in Australia since the Senate successfully disallowed the reduced rebates for cataract surgery on 28 October 2009, and

(ii)

any information held by the Government in relation to procedure bands for cataract surgery on the National Procedure Banding List since its inception, including the cataract surgery related procedure band information on the most recently updated National Procedure Banding List.

Senator Ludwig to move on the next day of sitting:

That, on Thursday, 19 November 2009:

(a)

the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to 6.30 pm and 7 pm to adjournment;

(b)

consideration of general business and consideration of committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports under standing order 62(1) and (2) shall not be proceeded with;

(c)

the routine of business from 12.45 pm till not later than 2 pm shall be government business only, and from not later than 4.45 pm shall be the government business order of the day relating to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2] and related bills––second reading speeches only;

(d)

the routine of business from 3.30 pm till not later than 4.30 pm shall be valedictory statements;

(e)

divisions may take place after 4.30 pm;

(f)

the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall not be proposed until a motion for the adjournment is moved by a minister; and

(g)

if the Senate is sitting at midnight, the sitting of the Senate be suspended till 9.30 am on Friday, 20 November 2009.

Senator Ludwig to move on the next day of sitting:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:

Appropriation (Water Entitlements and Home Insulation) Bill 2009-2010

Appropriation (Water Entitlements) Bill 2009-2010.

I also table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR PASSAGE IN THE 2009 SPRING SITTINGS

APPROPRIATION (WATER ENTITLEMENTS AND HOME INSULATION) BILL 2009-2010

APPROPRIATION (WATER ENTITLEMENTS) BILL 2009-2010

Purpose of the Bills

To allow urgent payments for the installation of home insulation and for water entitlements for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The opportunity to install ceiling insulation in homes has been widely embraced by the Australian community. The take-up rate has been substantial and is currently running well above demand. More than 500,000 Australian households have already installed ceiling insulation putting them on the path to reductions in their heating and cooling costs of up to 40 per cent. Further appropriations are required to enable payments to meet the current offers and demand in the Home Insulation program. Existing appropriations are expected to be exhausted in January 2009.

A 2008-09 tender process to purchase water entitlements in the Murray-Darling Basin has been highly successful, with many more conforming offers than can be purchased within the current allocated budget in 2009-10. The acquisition of these water entitlements will greatly enhance the environmental water capacity within the Murray-Darling Basin and will ensure maximum benefit is derived from state agreements with the Commonwealth. Further appropriations are required to enable payments to meet the increase in demand. Existing appropriations are expected to be exhausted in December 2009.

The additional appropriation required for the two programs exceeds what is currently available to the department and from the Advance to the Finance Minister. The 2009-2010 Additional Estimates Bills are not expected to be agreed to by Parliament until the end of the 2010 Autumn Sittings. Consequently, a set of supplementary bills is required to ensure that the payments to the Australian community for home insulation installations and for environmental water entitlements are undertaken in a timely and efficient manner.

Reasons for Urgency

If timely passage were not granted to the supplementary appropriation Bills, payments for home insulation installations will have to cease from February 2010 and for water entitlements from January 2010.