The SPEAKER ( Hon. Bronwyn Bishop ) took the chair at 12:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
(a) informing the House that Senator Ludwig has been discharged from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and Senator Bishop has been appointed a member of the committee; and
(b) informing the House that Senators Bishop Eggleston, Fawcett, Faulkner and Ludwig have been appointed members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
The Parliament intends that bodies or associations that the ACMA—
is satisfied represent sections of the telemarketing industry should develop codes … that are to apply to participants in the respective sections of the industry …
.. act in a manner that, in the opinion of the ACMA, enables public interest considerations to be addressed in a way that does not impose undue financial and administrative burdens on participants in sections of the telecommunications industry …
(a) the number of customers who would be likely to benefit from the code or standard—
(b) the extent to which those customers are residential or small business customers; and
(c) the legitimate business interests of participants in sections of the … industry; and
(d) the public interest, including the public interest in the efficient, equitable and ecologically sustainable supply of:
(i) carriage services; and
(ii) goods for use in connection with carriage services; and
(iii) services for use in connection with carriage services …
… concentrate resources on a limited number of comprehensive codes rather than numerous fragmented codes.
The legislation is vague on the code development process. There are no provisions that require independent consumer input to code development or prevent ACMA from registering a code which does not have consumer input.
As … detailed ... in 2009-10, the TIO registered 215,000 cases. This means that in a country with less than a third of the amount of people—
had almost 25 times more complaints than the UK.
… acquiring new customers can cost 5 to 7 times more than satisfying and retaining—
The notion that a 16 year old can rack up a $3,000 bill in the space of a week, or that travellers can return home with over $22,000 in international roaming charges is unacceptable. It's not an answer to say people have choices if the choices aren't great.
It's no wonder Australians are unhappy with our industry. Almost one million complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman about bills and customer service can't be wrong.
Optus is tackling these issues head on, by cutting our reliance on data breakage fees and unfair roaming charges.
To me, the sweet spot in public policy is when government identifies the objectives and sets ground rules and incentives to achieve those objectives—and then gets out of the way to let individuals and businesses do the work.
That this bill be now read a third time.
Most of our big export industries do their business out of sight of city dwellers. Mines are dug and ore extracted without stirring the dust on suburban streets. There is one such industry, though, whose major commodity is visible in our capitals. That commodity is human beings. They are the confused young people trying to serve us in low-rent fast food outlets. They are the lonely kids on city streets or sharing rooms—and even beds—in crowded houses in the suburbs. They are an underclass in the labour market, with working conditions that undermine those for all lower paid workers.
This impressive building is about providing a space where applied and fundamental researchers can be innovative and ultimately produce science for the benefit of Australia, particularly for our agricultural sector.
Its location in regional Australia in the heart of the Murray Darling Basin will help the scientists engage with rural industries, agencies and students.
That the resumption of the debate on the Prime Minister's motion of condolence relating to the death of the Hon. Arthur Thomas Gietzelt be referred to the Federation Chamber.
That further statements on indulgence on Ariel Sharon be permitted in the Federation Chamber.
I think any government which makes it harder to manufacture cars is making it harder for us to continue to be a first world economy because without cars … we are not really a sophisticated economy anymore.
… it is the Government’s strong wish that Toyota continue to manufacture in this country. We will be talking to them about the best ways of ensuring that that happens.
In a signal to the union movement that there could be a limit to his support, the Opposition Leader said he would call on the union leadership to ban the wearing of any bikie colours or badges by union members … on worksites.
It's not the truth. That's right, it's lying.
That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion forthwith:
That the House censures the Prime Minister for:
(1) failing to stand up and fight for Australian jobs at:
(a)Toyota;
(b) Electrolux;
(c) Simplot;
(d) Holden;
(e) Qantas;
(f) Ford;
(g) the Gove alumina refinery;
(h) SPC Ardmona; and
(i) countless other small businesses around Australia;
(2) failing to lead a Government united in supporting and protecting Australian manufacturing jobs;
(3) failing to support the workers, small businesses and communities affected by job losses;
(4) misleading the Australian people by blaming employees and their conditions for job losses; and
(5) having no plan for Australian jobs.
The House divided. [15:39]
(The Speaker—Hon. Bronwyn Bishop)
That statements on indulgence on the death of Peter Hartford Drummond to be made in the Federation Chamber.
That Ms M. L. Landry be appointed as a participating member of the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia.
The Government’s failure to act to protect Australian jobs including at Toyota, Holden, SPC Ardmona and Rio Tinto at Gove.
Our nation is facing an historic shift the like of which we have not seen in two generations. That does not mean that change will be easy or swift. These are incredibly challenging times.
Mr Sardelis said he was angry at policymakers. "In the end, they didn't want an industry and they've got what they wanted."
Our nation is facing an historic shift, the like of which we have not seen in two generations.
That does not mean that change will be easy or swift. These are incredibly challenging times.
Many manufacturers have found the higher exchange rate extremely difficult to handle.
International education is a pillar of the people-to-people relationships that drive economic, cultural and social outcomes for Australia in the Asian Century …
In the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, the priority of sustainability provides rich, engaging and authentic contexts for developing students’ abilities in number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability.
The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics provides opportunities for students to develop the proficiencies of problem solving and reasoning essential for the exploration of sustainability issues and their solutions.
The four years of surpluses I announce tonight are a powerful endorsement of the strength of our economy, resilience of our people, and success of our policies. This Budget delivers a surplus this coming year, on time, as promised, and surpluses each year after that, strengthening over time.
The Sustainability priority is futures-oriented, focusing on protecting environments and creating a more ecologically and socially just world through informed action.
That this bill be now read a third time.
(1) Page 40 (after line 12), after Schedule 15, insert:
Schedule 15A—Public notification and recovery
Therapeutic Goods Act 1989
1 After paragraph 30EA(2)(b)
Insert:
(ba) to inform the public or a specified class of persons, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to either or both of the following:
(i) therapeutic goods;
(ii) the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(a) in relation to therapeutic goods;
2 At the end of subsection 30EA(2)
Add:
; (d) to notify the Secretary, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to the persons to whom therapeutic goods have been supplied.
3 After paragraph 32HA(2)(b)
Insert:
(ba) to inform the public or a specified class of persons, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to either or both of the following:
(i) the biological;
(ii) the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(a);
4 At the end of subsection 32HA(2)
Add:
; (d) to notify the Secretary, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to the persons to whom the biological has been supplied.
5 Subsection 41KA(2)
Omit "one or both", substitute "one or more".
6 At the end of subsection 41KA(2)
Add:
; (c) to inform the public or a specified class of persons, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to either or both of the following:
(i) medical devices of that kind;
(ii) the circumstances referred to in paragraph (1)(a);
(d) to publish, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, specified information, or information of a specified kind, relating to the manufacture or distribution of medical devices of that kind;
(e) to notify the Secretary, in the specified manner and within such reasonable period as is specified, of specified information, or of information of a specified kind, relating to the persons to whom medical devices of that kind have been supplied.
7 Application of amendments
Therapeutic goods
(1) The amendments of section 30EA of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 made by this Schedule apply in relation to requirements imposed on or after the commencement of this item, whether the therapeutic goods to which the requirement relates are registered or listed before or after that commencement.
Biologicals
(2) The amendments of section 32HA of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 made by this Schedule apply in relation to requirements imposed on or after the commencement of this item, whether the biological to which the requirement relates is included in the Register before or after that commencement.
Medical devices
(3) The amendments of section 41KA of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 made by this Schedule apply in relation to requirements imposed on or after the commencement of this item, whether the kind of medical device to which the requirement relates is included in the Register before or after that commencement.
The bill will clarify the approval and authorisation arrangements for travel for treatment for eligible persons and attendants under the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act.
In 2012-13 the department processed over 165,000 claims for reimbursement for travel expenses for treatment purposes.
Travel expenses can include costs for transport, meals and accommodation for eligible persons and where necessary an attendant to accompany the eligible person.
Amendments to the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Australian Participants in British Nuclear Tests (Treatment) Act will make it clear that the Repatriation Commission may approve or authorise travel for treatment, before or after the travel has been undertaken.
Further amendments in the bill will enable special assistance under the Veterans' Entitlements Act and the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act to be delivered in a more timely manner.
This will be achieved by enabling special assistance to be provided by legislative instrument instead of by regulation.
The result will be a more streamlined and therefore quicker process for providing special assistance to veterans, members, former members and their dependants.
Amendments in the bill will update the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act as a consequence of the enactment of the Legislative Instruments Act and will replace obsolete references to pharmaceutical allowance and telephone allowance in the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.
… … …
Minor amendments will also ensure that the Veterans' Entitlements Act debt recovery provisions will be applicable to all relevant provisions of the act, the regulations and any legislative instruments made under the act.
Other amendments in the bill will rationalise and align the maintenance income provisions of the Veterans' Entitlements Act with the Social Security Act.
The remaining amendments in the bill will make minor technical changes to Veterans' Affairs and related legislation.
Although relatively minor, the amendments in the bill will clarify, update and improve the accuracy of Veterans' Affairs legislation.
With Australia's decade-long war in Afghanistan coming to an end, all but a handful of the troops are returning home. For most who made it back in time for Christmas it will mean a welcome return to the routines of family life and work. For others, it will mark the start of a new, silent war that they cannot return from, played out in the homes they find themselves unable to leave, medically discharged from the jobs they love in their early 30s, and wracked by night terrors, panic attacks and isolation
There is a large wave of sadness coming our way, and the system - DVA and Defence - needs to be ready for it. I wonder whether we are?
The House divided. [20:17]
(The Deputy Speaker—Mr Craig Kelly)
That this bill be now read a third time.
We have got to have this thing over here whatever it costs, and with a bloody Union Jack flying on top of it.
Wartime secrecy produced a distortion of constitutional government in countries such as Britain where atomic matters were never discussed within the small War Cabinet, and Mr Attlee, as Deputy Prime Minister, the Service Ministers and the Chiefs of Staff knew almost nothing about it.
… Communists and … fellow travellers who wanted our tests to stop while Russia continued with hers.
When the bomb was fired, you [would] get the sight of every shadow in front of you from the flash, and you [would] turn around and [you'd be] watching the mushroom cloud forming, just like a big, boiling oil-fire …
It's that technicolour effect inside the bomb that makes it so magnificent.
But you're not thinking, because it's so far away …
And there's no noise.
And then suddenly you can see this wall coming towards you.
And as it comes towards you … it picks up more and more dust.
And then … the shock hits you.
He describes it like a black mist that rolled through, along the ground, through the tops of the trees, and … silently it moved.
It totally confused the animals.
Animals were so used to dust storms, and the noise that [a] dust storm brings … but this was a black mist that came silently across the land.
My name is Yami Lester / I hear I talk I touch but I am blind / my story comes from darkness / listen to my story now unwind.
We didn't ask our Government to poison us with radiation many years ago.
We didn't ask to roll around in the nuclear fallout dust from the bomb blast that settled onto the ground, we were ordered to do so. Nor did we ask to be lined up with our backs to the nuclear bomb as it went off and then again to turn around and face it. This was done in an unsafe area with no protection at all. We did as we were ordered to. It was as though the British treated us like toast, they wanted both sides done to find out which side got the most radiation poisoning from the bomb blast or the fallout and after-effects. The powers that be needed to know what would happen to us by doing so. We were the guinea pigs used so to keep safe their own personnel.
Well, we died, that is what happened to us, or we got very sick, then and for many years later with many different cancers or attacks to our bones of our bodies.
While at all times the British were fully aware as they equipped their own men with all protection that they could issue at the time, the Australians had none.
We didn't ask to fly our planes through the clouds of nuclear radiation caused by the explosion of the atom bomb. We did our ordered duties to fly through the cloud to get samples for testing.
We didn't ask to unload trucks and to carry in our bare hands with no protective clothing or masks highly contaminated with radiation material directly from the nuclear bomb sites into the British scientists' building at the RAAF base Edinburgh in South Australia, we were ordered to.
One of the Air Force servicemen carrying that contaminated material in his bare hands now has bones growing out of each disc in his back, top and bottom, front and back, which are joining up to each other and fusing all his spine together. This is not normal. No doctor can help him nor wants to. He is a too hard basket case to the medical profession.
We didn't ask to get onto the back of the truck and sit on the contaminated material but were ordered to by the officer in charge. We choked on the desert dirt and dust which was full of contaminated particles as the truck raced along the runway over to where the British scientists were. At every bump we would go up in the air with the contaminated materials but when we came down we were covered again in the dirt and dust that came off the contaminated materials. Our clothes, only a pair of overalls, were completely covered in the contaminated desert dirt and dust which had come directly from the nuclear bomb sites.
Nor were we allowed to change our clothes immediately on returning to our normal duties or have a shower from the period from early in the morning until 6.30 pm that night. We were once again ordered that we could not shower or change but to continue on with our daily work.
As Navy servicemen, we were ordered up on deck to witness the nuclear explosion at Monte Bello Islands. We were ordered to turn our backs to the blast, take off our glasses, close our eyes and cover them with our hands. This turned out to be useless as when the blast from the nuclear bomb happened we could see straight through our eyelids, through our hands past the bones, exactly the same as looking at an X-ray of our hands.
Food security exists when populations have access on an ongoing basis to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
With global population expected to reach more than nine billion by 2050, FAO estimates that agricultural production will need to grow by 70 percent if it is to keep the world's population fed and healthy. Only about 10 percent of this growth will come from availability of new lands which means that 90 per cent will need to come from intensification of current production. Ensuring that this intensification is sustainable will require enormous investments for primary agriculture and storage and processing infrastructure—just to stay abreast of the population growth.
And I want to give people this absolute assurance: no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no changes to pensions, and no changes to the GST.
We don't want to condemn people to what is virtually a dead-end these days in terms of the DSP.
This—
is one of the fast-growing areas of government expenditure. The Commission of Audit is looking at this whole area for us ... and is expected to make some recommendations on how that can best be achieved by the end of January.