Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

while Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory all insure public assets with a comprehensive disaster cover obtained on the international re-insurance market, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania do not,

(ii)

the recent comments by the Prime Minister (Ms Gillard) that Queensland’s lack of insurance cover for its public assets was a ‘matter for Queensland’, are obviously incorrect, given that the flood levy will be borne by the majority of taxpayers, and

(iii)

the extent to which the Commonwealth reimburses the states and territories for expenditure related to natural disaster relief and recovery, as set out by the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, does not take into consideration whether a state or territory has taken out insurance cover; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

reveal the Commonwealth Government’s insurance arrangements for its infrastructure,

(ii)

transparently estimate what the cost to the Commonwealth Government would have been had the Queensland Government purchased reinsurance to cover the cost of damage to public infrastructure caused by recent natural disasters,

(iii)

table all communication between the Commonwealth and the Queensland, Northern Territory and Tasmanian Governments relating to their lack of natural disaster reinsurance for public infrastructure, since the 2007 election, and

(iv)

consider how future Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements can take into consideration the extent to which the state and territory governments are insured against damage to public infrastructure caused by natural disasters.

Senator Milne to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

in 2006 the Australian Greens instigated an inquiry by the Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport into Australia’s future oil supply and alternative transport fuels,

(ii)

neither the former Howard Government, the former Rudd Government nor the Gillard Government have implemented the nine recommendations of that inquiry’s tripartite report, with only ‘Recommendation 6’ relating to incentives for fuel efficient vehicles even having been considered,

(iii)

following a series of whistleblower leaks, the International Energy Agency in 2010 for the first time publicly acknowledged the real threat of peak oil, and

(iv)

a series of diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks and published in the week beginning 6 February 2011 reveal growing confidence that Saudi Arabian oil reserves have been overstated by as much as 40 per cent and that the world’s biggest oil exporter may not be able to supply enough oil to the global market to prevent prices rising dramatically; and

(b)

calls on the Government immediately to develop a national plan to respond to the challenge of peak oil and Australia’s dependence on imported foreign oil.

Senator Xenophon to move on the next day of sitting:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Customs Act 1901 in relation to anti-dumping duties, and for related purposes. Customs Amendment (Anti-Dumping) Bill 2011.