David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent further consideration of all stages of the bill without limitation of time or for a specified period.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, can I clarify whether it is without an allocated time allotted or for a specific amount of time?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Without limitation of time. I understand there are a few others who want to give short, five-minute statements.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: Thank you for providing that clarity that the motion is without time limitation. Do you wish to speak to the motion?

Yes, please. There are now 622,000 problem gamblers in Australia, and that's up 22 per cent from just 12 months ago. In just 12 months we've gone up 22 per cent. This is a huge issue in Australia. As the late Peta Murphy said in her inquiry, this needs to be treated as a public health issue because it is a public health issue.

One amendment I am seeking to move goes to what we were speaking about this morning, and that is jobs for mates. I note I have moved this to a number of new bodies and institutions the government has set up over the last four years, from the High Speed Rail Authority to others. That is to actually ensure that there is a merits based appointment process and that we don't see a minister able to put someone political in there. This amendment was moved in the House by Dr Sophie Scamps, building on her long work advocating for change here. I really want to thank the member for Mackellar, Dr Sophie Scamps, for her work on this, really highlighting this and bringing us to the point where we have seen action from the Senate on the Briggs review.

In the absence of whole-of-government response, which has very sadly dragged on for two years now, we should be taking these sorts of actions and embedding in legislation clear appointment processes. I hope the chamber will agree with that.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our prisons are sites of public health crisis. People in prisons face higher rates of blood-borne viruses, mental illnesses, disability and chronic disease. In fact, many of our people with disabilities and complex needs, especially our children, are being locked up because they are being criminalised rather than receiving proper support. These harms extend beyond prison walls. Families, communities and health systems all bear the cost. That's why I've introduced an amendment to list health care in custodial settings as a public health matter, which would also require the CDC to consult with bodies providing health care to people in custody.

One preventable death in custody is one too many, yet the last two years have seen some of the highest numbers of deaths in custody, and many of these were entirely preventable. Thirty-three years on from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, it is about time we had national leadership on health care for people in custody. If public health means protecting people from disease and harm, then it must include those that states lock away.

Finally, my amendment introduces Indigenous data sovereignty principles. For generations our data has been collected, stored and used without our consent. We have been studied, measured and defined by others, particularly the colonisers. Data has been used to control us, rather than empower us. The CDC will hold vast amounts of health information. First Nations health data must be governed in partnership with First Nations people. My amendment requires the director-general to establish a framework that ensures the CDC's data governance aligns with Indigenous data sovereignty principles to protect Indigenous ownership, control and access to our own health data.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, can I bring you back to the suspension notice moved by Senator David Pocock. It was specifically about the suspension of standing orders, so, if you are speaking to the suspension motion, it must be about the urgency of suspending standing orders, not about the bill. It is about the suspension of the standing orders; that is the motion.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I continue?

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: If it is about the suspension of the standing orders—

It's about our people dying in this country. We're talking about a bill that can avoid preventable deaths, which I believe is an important part of the suspension motion.

The TEMPORARY CHAIR: That's fine. You can continue.

The CDC bill is an important step, but it cannot be complete without justice. A CDC that risks ignoring the root causes of poor health, racism, incarceration, dispossession and colonialism will not address First Nations health equity; it will only document it. We have the evidence. The Lancet shows that dismantling racism and restoring justice benefits not only First Peoples but everyone. The Lancet said that racism 'inflicts a collective trauma on us all' in this country and that 'lessening inequities' brings 'healing to society as a whole'.

The health of this nation will never be strong while its First Peoples are sick, silenced and still fighting to be heard. Taking a health justice approach and respecting our sovereignty will protect health by protecting rights, upholding truth and giving power back to the people who have been silenced for too long.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the question be now put.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the question be put.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the suspension motion moved by Senator David Pocock be agreed to.