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Hansard
- Start of Business
- TAX LAWS AMENDMENT (PERSONAL INCOME TAX REDUCTION) BILL 2005
- SOCIAL SECURITY AMENDMENT (EXTENSION OF YOUTH ALLOWANCE AND AUSTUDY ELIGIBILITY TO NEW APPRENTICES) BILL 2005
- SUPERANNUATION LAWS AMENDMENT (ABOLITION OF SURCHARGE) BILL 2005
- TAX LAWS AMENDMENT (MEDICARE LEVY AND MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE) BILL 2005
- MATTERS OF PUBLIC INTEREST
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
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Whistleblowers
(Bolkus, Sen Nick, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Border Protection
(Brandis, Sen George, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Ms Cornelia Rau
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Workplace Relations
(Santoro, Sen Santo, Abetz, Sen Eric) -
Immigration Detention
(Kirk, Sen Linda, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Immigration Detention
(Bartlett, Sen Andrew, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Airport Security
(Ludwig, Sen Joe, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Environment: Kyoto Protocol
(Harris, Sen Len, Hill, Robert (Leader of the Government in the Senate)) -
Airport Security
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Women: Government Policies
(Fierravanti-Wells, Sen Concetta, Patterson, Sen Kay) -
Telstra
(Lundy, Sen Kate, Coonan, Sen Helen) -
Immigration
(Greig, Sen Brian, Vanstone, Sen Amanda) -
Foreign Debt
(Sherry, Sen Nick, Minchin, Sen Nick)
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Whistleblowers
- QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: ADDITIONAL ANSWERS
- QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS
- PRIVILEGE
- PETITIONS
- NOTICES
- COMMITTEES
- NOTICES
- COMMITTEES
- TOBACCO
- FAMILY PLANNING
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COMMITTEES
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee
- Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee
- Australian Crime Commission Committee
- Economics Legislation Committee
- Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee
- Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee
- NUCLEAR ENERGY
- REFUGEES
- COMMITTEES
- BUDGET
- AUDITOR-GENERAL’S REPORTS
- PARLIAMENTARY ZONE
- MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION
- COMMITTEES
- FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (FAMILY ASSISTANCE AND RELATED MEASURES) BILL 2005
- TAX LAWS AMENDMENT (MEDICARE LEVY AND MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE) BILL 2005
- AGED CARE AMENDMENT (EXTRA SERVICE) BILL 2005
- FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (FAMILY ASSISTANCE AND RELATED MEASURES) BILL 2005
- BUSINESS
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AUSLINK (NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT) BILL 2004
AUSLINK (NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT—CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2004 - DOCUMENTS
- NOTICES
- ADJOURNMENT
- Adjournment
- DOCUMENTS
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QUESTIONS ON NOTICE
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Natural Heritage Trust: Advertising Campaign
(Faulkner, Sen John, Macdonald, Sen Ian) -
Transport and Regional Services: Advertising Campaign
(Faulkner, Sen John, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Namoi Valley Structural Adjustment Package
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Namoi Valley Structural Adjustment Package
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Regional Partnerships
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Ansett Ticket Levy
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Fishing Vessels
(Brown, Sen Bob, Macdonald, Sen Ian) -
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(Bishop, Sen Mark, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Therapeutic Goods Administration
(Allison, Sen Lyn, Patterson, Sen Kay) -
Child Support Agency and Centrelink: Employee Entitlements
(Mason, Sen Brett, Patterson, Sen Kay) -
Orang-Outangs
(Brown, Sen Bob, Macdonald, Sen Ian) -
Deer Park Bypass
(Allison, Sen Lyn, Campbell, Sen Ian) -
Australian Federal Police
(Ludwig, Sen Joe, Ellison, Sen Chris) -
Industry, Tourism and Resources: Fraud
(Ludwig, Sen Joe, Minchin, Sen Nick) -
Veterans’ Affairs: Fraud
(Ludwig, Sen Joe, Hill, Sen Robert) -
Industry, Tourism and Resources: Overseas Travel
(O’Brien, Sen Kerry, Minchin, Sen Nick) -
Political Activity
(Brown, Sen Bob, Coonan, Sen Helen) -
Abortion
(Allison, Sen Lyn, Patterson, Sen Kay)
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Natural Heritage Trust: Advertising Campaign
Page: 121
Senator STOTT DESPOJA (5:56 PM)
—by leave—I move:
(1) Schedule 2, item 1, page 12 (lines 5 and 6), omit the item, substitute:
1 Paragraph 36(5)(b)
Repeal the paragraph.
(2) Schedule 2, item 2, page 12 (lines 7 to 11), omit the item.
(3) Schedule 2, page 12 (after line 11), after item 2, insert:
2A At the end of section 36
Add:
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), a child is a person under the age of consent, where age of consent has the same meaning as in the Social Security Act 1991; and
Statement pursuant to the order of the Senate of 26 June 2000—
The effect of the amendments will be to allow an increase in the number of children eligible for a payment under the bill. These payments would be met from the appropriation provided for in A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999.
This increase in the number of beneficiaries under the bill will have the effect of increasing expenditure from the standing appropriation, and the amendments are therefore presented as requests.
Statement by the Clerk of the Senate pursuant to the order of the Senate of 26 June 2000—
The Senate has long accepted that an amendment should take the form of a request if it would have the effect of increasing expenditure under a standing appropriation in an Act amended by the bill. These requests are therefore in accordance with the precedents of the Senate.
I will not take long with my comments. I have made my appeals and I am clear as to the government position. Obviously I want the ALP to articulate their position. I want to make this point for the record: it is the maternity payment, not the newborn payment. If we are going to introduce a payment that is available to very young babies and babies that have just popped out, then let’s call it the newborn payment. Maternity is defined in the dictionary as:
the state of being a mother; motherhood. 2. motherliness—
don’t we love that, and—
belonging to or characteristic of motherhood or of the period of pregnancy.
Obviously the debate about eligibility and the age range will not be had here or won here and now. The fact is that previous legislation—that is, the baby bonus—and the maternity payment now, particularly as a result of the government changes today, if not my own requests, recognise that the maternity payment is more than a newborn payment. It does recognise that people grow their families and take on children of different ages and at different stages of development. I think that is an important point in any of these debates because we do risk, through our terminology or otherwise, discriminating against adoptive parents.
I acknowledge the changes made by the government in the legislation before the chamber. It is not quite good enough. If I am correct in quoting the minister, I think she said that 72 per cent of adoptive families would be covered by this legislation, in which case the 28 per cent that remain is a relatively small number. That is not an argument for excluding them; it is an argument for including them. This would not be a huge impost on government revenue and it would just make it simple and fairer. I urge senators to support an amendment that I think was moved last night in the House of Representatives by the Labor Party and supported by the Labor Party. I hope they will do the same thing today in the Senate when the vote does matter and the vote will count. I commend to the Senate the requests standing in my name on behalf of the Democrats.