The SPEAKER ( Hon. Tony Smith ) took the chair at 12:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Bill 2020
Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Measures No. 2) Bill 2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2019-2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2019-2020
Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Bill 2020
Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus (Measures No. 2) Bill 2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2019-2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2019-2020
That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring:
(1) the House of Representatives to meet on Wednesday, 13 May 2020 and Thursday, 14 May 2020;
(2) the Federation Chamber not to meet today, and to meet on Wednesday, 13 May 2020 and Thursday, 14 May 2020;
(3) immediately following the resolution of this motion the Treasurer to make a ministerial statement, with the Shadow Treasurer to respond; and
(4) any variation to this arrangement to be made only by a motion moved by a Minister with leave granted by the Manager of Opposition Business.
That the following words be added after paragraph (4):
“(5) the first item of business on Wednesday, 13 May 2020, be the presentation of a revised program of sittings for 2020”.
The Prime Minister was very strong on how there would be a snap back. They were his words. The economy would 'snap back' and we wanted the economy to bounce back stronger.
Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Bill 2020
That this bill be now read a second time.
They were perfect for one another and had made plans for their future together.
As the sun surely sets, dawn will see it arise.
For service above self demands its own prize.
You have fought the good fight; life's race has been run,
and peace, your reward, for eternity begun.
And we that are left shall never forget.
Rest in peace, friend and colleague, for sun has now set.
We will remember, we will remember.
Hasten the dawn.
… he wore a uniform, but he was a person under that uniform who came home to someone, and that day he didn't.
The need to manage the economy in the interests of all Australians.
… he's probably enjoying the clampdown too much …
The House divided. [16:18]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
That the House take note of the report.
That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate.
Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Bill 2020
That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:
(1) notes that:
(a) since the beginning of this public health crisis, the Opposition has sought to work constructively and in good faith with the Government to ensure that Australians are kept safe during this health emergency;
(b) the Opposition made a number of constructive suggestions to improve the bill prior to its introduction into the Parliament and the Attorney-General considered, in good faith, all of those suggestions;
(c) to be a valuable public health tool, the Prime Minister has said that at least 40 per cent of the Australian population – or 10 million Australians – would have to download the Government’s COVIDSafe contact tracing app;
(d) to date, approximately 5.5 million Australians have downloaded the COVIDSafe app; and
(e) the passage of this bill, which incorporates a number of suggestions made by the Opposition, is likely to encourage more Australians to download the COVIDSafe contact tracing app; and
(2) is of the view that, in order to reach the Prime Minister’s 40 per cent target, there are other things the Government can and should be doing to build public confidence in the COVIDSafe app, including:
(a) explain to the Australian people why the Government preferred to trust overseas multinational Amazon Web Services over a range of Australian certified cloud service providers when it came to awarding the COVIDSafe data storage contract;
(b) take concrete steps to reassure and guarantee to the Australian public that none of the COVIDSafe app data stored by an overseas multinational cloud service provider can be accessed by foreign nationals, including Amazon employees and contractors and overseas law enforcement and intelligence services;
(c) provide additional funding to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and appoint a standalone Privacy Commissioner, to ensure that the Commissioner is able to properly perform the important oversight functions provided for in this bill;
(d) urgently address the security and technical concerns that have been raised about the COVIDSafe app by technology experts and members of the public; and
(e) provide the Australian people, including older and culturally and linguistically diverse Australians and Australians with disabilities, with clear, easy to understand and accurate information about the COVIDSafe app''.
What we can say is that the quality of the bluetooth connectivity for phones that have the app installed running in the foreground is very good, and it progressively deteriorates and the quality of the connection is not as good as you get to a point where the phone is locked and the app is running in the background.
Don't Panic! Users are advised to be aware of these issues but in most cases might reasonably conclude that they are not significant enough to warrant not using the app.
That the bill be now read a third time.
National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment (Governance and Other Matters) Bill 2020
One of the groups in our community here in Australia that was so important early on was the Chinese-Australian community … the responsibility, discipline, the support for each other, demonstrated by the Chinese-Australian community … the willing, enthusiastic, patriotic cooperation we had with the Chinese-Australians here was magnificent. And we owe them a great debt as a nation.
I deplore that sort of behaviour against any Australian, regardless of their ethnicity or their religion or whatever it happens to be.
Sadly, in the past couple of months, these Australians have been the victims of extraordinary acts of racism and abuse that simply cannot go unchecked in modern Australia.