Parliament

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the first week of September was Early Learning Matters Week, which highlights how early childhood education supports the well-being of our children, families and society; and

(b) supports a well-resourced and accessibly early childhood education system with professional pay for staff.

HANSARD LINK

(13:33):

I have a few questions for the minister. Minister, the Moss review called for an Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports—one that would:

… review the performance of functions or exercise of powers by department staff members in the regulation of live animal exports.

This clearly calls for the ability to review the exercise of the functions of the department staff. So I want to understand why the government has subclause 10(2) in the bill, which basically would restrict the inspector-general in doing what the Moss review recommended.

I rise to speak to the Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports Bill 2019 and to indicate at the outset that, while the Greens will be supporting this bill, we do so only because even a little bit of something is better than nothing at all. At the end of the day, this bill, as it stands, is somewhat of a toothless tiger; it doesn't even meet the recommendations of the Moss review—the very advice this government is pretending to be taking. I foreshadow that I will be moving amendments to address some key flaws in this bill.

I, and also on behalf of Senator Kitching, Senator McCarthy, Senator Sheldon and Senator Patrick, move:

(1) That the Senate notes that:

(a) the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade into the management of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in and around Defence bases (PFAS report), was tabled on 3 December 2018, making nine recommendations; and

Voting together, One Nation and the Liberal-National Government blocked the release of the Climate Change Action Strategy for the Foreign Aid Program.

The Motion

I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, by no later than 9.30 am on 1 August 2019, all draft and final versions, produced since July 2018, of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's climate change action strategy for the foreign aid program.

Tonight I am speaking about one of my many passions: animals, in particular, greyhounds. Since 2018 hundreds of Australian greyhounds have been rescued from the infamous Yat Yuen greyhound racing track at Macau, known as the Canidrome. This track has been described by GREY2K as a death camp for dogs, where tens of thousands of greyhounds, including from Australia, have been killed or raced to death over the last 50 years.

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister Payne. Pacific nations have identified climate change as the single greatest threat to their security, calling on Australia to do more to reduce its carbon emissions.

I must say, it boggles my mind there are people sitting in this parliament who want to repeal a law that allows sick and injured people to receive the medical attention they need. How full of hatred must your heart be to say someone should be denied the medical treatment that they desperately need, simply because they are a refugee or an asylum seeker? Australia has imprisoned these people, there is no other way around this, and providing them with medical care is our obligation.

Motion passed.

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

   (i) the Australian Government has committed to the public release of summary reports from independent observers on live export ships,

More than one million Uygurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are detained in Xinjiang by the Chinese government in what the UN calls re-education camps. This mass detention of Uygurs against their will in internment camps is a total abuse of human rights. This systemic oppression includes the erosion of ethnic identity of the Uygur people and imposition of religious restrictions in a region that has transformed into a surveillance state.