The SPEAKER ( Hon. Tony Smith ) took the chair at 11:33, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
We're all gifted with the opportunity to succeed. But you get further if you extend the hand of friendship.
FEDERAL SHADOW MINISTRY 10 February 2020
Shadow Cabinet Ministers are shown in bold type.
The change in tariff from an effective 8% to 5% puts us on a par with our competitors in that market and provides the opportunity to increase our exports to Indonesia from their present level of 350,000 tonnes to more than 1 million tonnes.
Providing access to export markets with improved trading arrangements enables favourable conditions to expand the business, thereby giving confidence to invest domestically, leading to increased employment …
That the honourable member for Nicholls, Mr Damian Drum, be elected Deputy Speaker.
A nominee does not have to be present at the election or inform the House whether he or she accepts nomination.
A nominee does not have to be present at the election or inform the House whether he or she accepts nomination.
If a government Member is elected as Deputy Speaker, only a non-government Member may be elected as Second Deputy Speaker—
Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Protecting Consumers (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019
Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Stronger Regulators (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019
Treasury Laws Amendment (2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance) Bill 2020
This bill engages and limits the rights to privacy, social security, and equality and non-discrimination. As set out in the international human rights legal advice contained in the concluding comments of the report, the measures associated with this bill significantly intrude into the freedom and autonomy of individuals to organise their private and family lives by making their own decisions about the way in which they use their social security payments. They also appear to have a disproportionate impact on First Nations People.
… the dissenting members consider it is unclear whether the proposed cashless welfare scheme expansion is rationally connected with (that is, effective to achieve) those objectives, noting the mixed results outlined in the trial evaluations completed to date.13 Additionally, the dissenting members consider it does not appear that the proposed measures are proportionate to the objectives sought to be achieved. In particular, there appears to be extremely limited capacity for flexibility to treat different cases differently …
… … …
A human rights compliant approach requires that any such measures must be effective, subject to monitoring and review and genuinely tailored to the needs and wishes of the local community. The dissenting members consider the current approach, with its apparent lack of genuine consultation, amendments to the evaluation process and lack of legislative requirement to respect community wishes before amending the amount of restrictable income, falls short of this standard.
We consider it regrettable that it has become necessary to prepare another dissenting report for this previously well-functioning committee.
… the Human Rights Committee operates differently to every other committee in the Parliament.
In fact, I do not believe it is truly a committee of the Parliament.
I believe it is a bureaucracy that has appropriated the name of the Parliament.
The Committee is about bureaucrats judging Parliament, rather than the Parliament judging human rights.
… committee members just show up to rubber stamp a report prepared by unelected human rights lawyers.
It is hard, on the historical data available, to justify maintaining the stamping fee exemption from conflicted remuneration for these products.
Higher stamping (selling) fees for LICs and LITs are correlated with worse investment returns and bigger discounts to NTA [net tangible assets].
That Dr Allen, Dr Webster, Ms Hammond and Mr Sharma be appointed members of the Joint Select Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme.
National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2019
Treasury Laws Amendment (Research and Development Tax Incentive) Bill 2019
That this bill be now read a third time.
Trade Support Loans Amendment (Improving Administration) Bill 2019
Pete and Rebecca both graduate from North Rockhampton High School with good grades. Pete chooses university, Rebecca prefers an apprenticeship. Pete enrols in a Bachelor of Engineering degree, is accepted and can start studying in a guaranteed spot within weeks. Should Pete need it, fully funded programs exist to give him confidence and academic preparedness from even before his first class right through to graduation. As an Australian citizen, Pete is entitled to what is known as "the best loan you'll ever receive"—a low-interest HELP loan with generous income-threshold repayments. This loan covers 100 per cent of the student contribution component of the tuition fees for his four years of study, with the Commonwealth government funding 100 per cent of the remainder of his tuition fees. And Pete's first employer, a local civil engineering firm, gets a fully qualified, job-ready, mature graduate delivered on a silver platter, courtesy of the system. Pete's employer bore no direct expense and bore none of the risk in the administration of Pete's education.
What about Rebecca, the aspiring apprentice? The system expects Rebecca, as a 17-year-old, to scour her chosen industry for a potential employer, then negotiate the terms of her employment and training package with senior management. She has zero room for error here. If Rebecca doesn't nail this step, someone else will get her spot. There's no student loan available to Rebecca unless her apprenticeship is geared at the diploma level or higher. And even if she is eligible, Rebecca faces an upfront loan administrative fee that is taxed, from which Pete is exempt. Let's assume Rebecca begins her apprenticeship, which will take 3½ years to complete. There are zero guarantees that she will be allowed to complete her training, even if she performs at the very highest level. This is because she trains at the discretion of her employer, who hires at the discretion of the economy. Should the Australian dollar rise or the price of coal drop, Rebecca may lose her apprenticeship partway through her studies and is effectively cast out on the street to start over—and this happens regularly. Should Rebecca's employer manage to keep her on during volatile periods, they have to endure at least two costly years of high-supervision, low-skill output from Rebecca while her skills develop. Meanwhile, the government contribution received by my university to manage the vital classroom aspects of Rebecca's training is, on average, less than one-third of the funding received for an equivalent higher education qualification. This is despite the provision of qualified educators, practical workshops, learning materials, facilities and consumables being comparable to that of students such as Pete.
Luck is arguably the major factor in determining whether Rebecca's journey through the system is successful, whereas Pete has to worry only about his own merit. Does this reflect on how differently Australia respects the career choices made by Rebecca and Pete?
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 notes that the Government has failed students, workers, business and the economy by:
(1) presiding over a national shortage in skilled tradespeople, noting that the number of Australians doing an apprenticeship or traineeship is lower today than it was a decade ago;
(2) failing to tackle falling completion rates, as there are more people dropping out of apprenticeships and traineeships than finishing them; and
(3) cutting TAFE and training by over $3 billion and short-changing vocational education by nearly $1 billion".
The House divided. [17:46]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
That this bill be now read a third time.
Student Identifiers Amendment (Enhanced Student Permissions) Bill 2019
"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House notes that, under the Coalition Government, Australia's vocational education and training system is failing kids, workers, businesses and the economy, as demonstrated by presiding over a skills crisis where:
(1) 150,000 apprentices and trainees have been lost;
(2) more than $3 billion has been cut from TAFE and training;
(3) the Government has short-changed TAFE and training by nearly $1 billion; and
(4) our regions have been left behind while unemployment increases".
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 notes that, under the Coalition Government, Australia's vocational education and training system is failing kids, workers, businesses and the economy, as demonstrated by a skills crisis where:
(1) 150,000 apprentices and trainees have been lost;
(2) more than $3 billion has been cut from TAFE and training;
(3) the Government has short-changed TAFE and training by nearly $1 billion; and
(4) our regions have been left behind while unemployment increases".
The House divided. [19:10]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
That this bill be now read a third time.
Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No. 3) Bill 2019
A Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to taxation, corporations, competition, financial services, consumer credit, product grants and benefits, superannuation and legislative and other instruments, and for related purposes.
We are prioritising investment in the major projects needed to better support regional areas, ease congestion in and around Perth and reduce the terrible impact of road trauma by delivering safer roads.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Vasta) took the chair at 16:32.
That the House:
(1) notes with great concern:
(a) Turkey's military operation targeting Kurds in northern Syria;
(b) Turkey's actions which are causing further destabilisation in the region, worsening the humanitarian disaster in Syria, and risk undermining progress against ISIS;
(c) evidence that innocent civilians are being killed and injured by Turkey's military operations and forces associated with Turkey in Syria;
(d) reports of possible war crimes being committed by forces associated with Turkey; and
(e) reports of Turkish intentions to resettle refugees from Turkey into northern Syria outside of UN-sponsored mechanisms;
(2) recognises that the Kurdish forces in Syria have:
(a) been instrumental in fighting Daesh as an ally of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS; and
(b) lost over 10,000 fighters in the fight against Daesh in Syria; and
(3) calls on the Government to:
(a) urge Turkey to cease its unilateral military operations in Syria; and
(b) support international efforts to hold Turkey to account for its actions.
That this House:
(1) recognises:
(a) that society is more connected online than ever before in history; and
(b) the importance of keeping Australians safe online;
(2) notes that:
(a) the Government established the world’s first Children's eSafety Commissioner in 2015, and expanded this role to cover all Australians in 2017;
(b) in 2018 the Office of the eSafety Commissioner undertook research to examine some of the challenges faced by young people aged 8 to 17 in Australia online; and
(c) this research indicated that:
(i) 25 per cent of young people have been contacted by strangers/someone they did not know;
(ii) 13 per cent of young people reported receiving repeated unwanted· online messages from someone; and
(iii) 13 per cent of young people reported having lies or rumours spread about them;
(3) further notes the bipartisan support for the work of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner; and
(4) congratulates the Government for this world first initiative.
That this House:
(1) notes that:
(a) the captioned telephone handset, CapTel, is a popular service amongst the Australian deaf and hard of hearing community;
(b) according to the Department of Communications there are approximately 4,000 CapTel handset users in Australia;
(c) the average age of people using the service is 80; and
(d) with an increasing ageing population, it can be expected more and more Australians will need to rely on this service to communicate;
(2) acknowledges the distress and loss that CapTel users and their families are experiencing due to the planned discontinuation of the CapTel service in February 2020;
(3) condemns the Government for its decision to:
(a) remove the CapTel service without any consultation with its users; and
(b) purchase an inferior, outdated, and less user-friendly product, forcing often elderly users to learn a new piece of technology or lose the ability to communicate; and
(4) encourages CapTel users and their families to contact their federal member of parliament to explain to them the importance of the CapTel service for the deaf and hard of hearing community of Australia.
I certainly acknowledge any transition of this kind is challenging, particularly for older Australians who may not be as familiar with technology.
Since my last email I have had a government trainee to my house.
The National Relay Service is useless!
No one from NRS answers and you have to use a log on every 18 hours.
My lovely helper in the home from the government rang me through the NRS and we both chatted for ages ... no, not on the phone, side by side, while waiting for the NRS to answer!!
Eventually she—
had to hang up but said the on hold music was very nice.
And how would other people know how to ring us through the NRS?
So I tried the Live Transcribe option holding one mobile screen up against the speaker on the other mobile
This does a great job of transcribing what I've said, but I know what I'm saying …
It was absolutely hopeless, useless, for transcribing the caller.
Mostly nothing came up, but if a few words did they were incorrect anyway.
This Liberal Government has no empathy whatsoever. They cannot have even got any experts to look into this to see if it would actually work.
PLEASE SAVE CAPTEL.
Like thousands of Australians with hearing loss, the CapTel handset has provided with me a reliable and effective option for communicating by telephone for more than two years.
It provides me with a level of independence and freedom not offered by alternatives like the Internet Relay Function and web-browser captioned relay which require pre-planning to make and receive calls.
The Government's decision to stop supporting the CapTel handsets is unfair and will discriminate against thousands of Australians who rely on CapTel in both their work and personal lives.
CapTel must remain available so that all Australians with hearing loss or impairment can participate in our society on an equal basis and stay connected to the people we care about.
(1) notes that Malka Leifer, the former Principal of the Adass Israel Girls School in Melbourne, fled Australia in 2008 as child sexual abuse allegations against her surfaced;
(2) reaffirms the formal extradition request that was filed by Australia in 2014 requesting she be returned to Victoria to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse;
(3) acknowledges the bravery of Ms Leifer's alleged victims - especially Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper for their tireless pursuit of justice;
(4) further notes that over five years have elapsed, and over 60 court hearings have been held in Israel, since this extradition request was first lodged, without any significant progress having been made;
(5) expresses regret and concern at the numerous attempts to prevent and delay Malka Leifer facing justice in Australia; and
(6) calls for the immediate extradition of Malka Leifer to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
… unanimously and unequivocally determined that Leifer was mentally fit to stand trial and that she had been faking her mental incompetency all along.
The psychiatric panel's findings lead to the inevitable conclusion that over the past five years, the court and the mental health system have fallen victim to a fraud perpetrated by Leifer and her supporters.
The doubt itself regarding the credibility of the defendant in everything relating to her mental status creates the concern that this is an attempt by her to escape justice and to disrupt the legal proceedings.
We're trying to send a message to all survivors that even if you have been abused life can go on, justice can be served, and we want to stand strong on behalf of all others, not just ourselves.
1. In respect of the Tweed Heads South Centrelink Service Centre, what is the average daily:
a. number of customers attending or calling; and
b. waiting time for customers attending or calling.
2. In respect of the Tweed Heads South Smart Centre, what is the average daily:
a. number of customers attending or calling; and
b. waiting time for customers attending or calling.
3. In respect of the Tweed Heads Centrelink Zone Office, what is the average daily:
a. number of customers attending or calling; and
b. waiting time for customers attending or calling.
4. For clients making Centrelink claims in the electoral division of Richmond, what is the average current:
a. claim processing time; and
b. payment processing time.
5. For clients making Medicare claims in the electoral division of Richmond, what is the average current:
a. claim processing time; and
b. payment processing time.
6. For clients making Aged Care claims in the electoral division of Richmond, what is the average current:
a. claim processing time; and
b. payment processing time.
7. How many full time and casual staff were employed each year, from December 2013 to December 2019 in:
a. Tweed Heads South Centrelink Service Centre;
b. Tweed Heads South Smart Centre; and
c. Tweed Heads Centrelink Zone Office
1. As at 30 November 2019, financial year to date, the Tweed Heads South Centrelink Service Centre average daily:
a. number of customers attending is 240; and
b. wait time for customers attending is 14 minutes and 36 seconds.
2. As at 30 November 2019, financial year to date, the Tweed Heads South Smart Centre average daily:
a. Not applicable. Call distribution is on a National level.
b. Not applicable. Telephony wait times are calculated on a National level.
3. The Tweed Heads Centrelink Zone office does not provide face to face or telephony customer services.
4. As at 30 November 2019, financial year to date, for clients making Centrelink claims in the electoral division of Richmond, the median days to process a claim is 21 days.
5. As at 30 November 2019, financial year to date, for clients making Medicare claims in the electoral division of Richmond, the median days to process a Medicare claim is 0 days. It typically takes 48 hours after the date of processing a Medicare claim for a payment to be made to a customer's bank account
6. As at 30 November 2019, financial year to date, for clients making Home Care claims in the electoral division of Richmond, the median days to process a Home Care claim is 0 days.
7. The number of full time and casual staff employed each year, from December 2013 to December 2019 in:
a. Tweed Heads South Centrelink Service Centre as at 30 November each year:
b. Tweed Heads South Smart Centre as at 30 November each year:
c. Tweed Heads Centrelink Zone Office as at 30 November each year: