SENATE

More documents

Recommendations

Info

74 <strong>SENATE</strong> Thursday, 13 October 2016 the Attorney-General over the last couple of weeks as he has had to answer questions on this is a similar thing occurring. My advice to the Attorney-General is that he needs to start being honest in this parliament and answer the questions properly. The trickiness must stop. It is important for the Attorney-General to front up and answer the questions. Question agreed to. New South Wales: Shark Nets Senator WHISH-WILSON (Tasmania) (15:34): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Education and Training (Senator Birmingham) to a question without notice asked by Senator Whish-Wilson today relating to policies to mitigate the risk of shark attacks. The issue of shark encounters in this country is very sensitive. It always grabs headlines and people's attention. Australians love to go to the coast to swim, surf and recreate at our beaches. I myself am a very passionate surfer and scuba diver, and the issue of sharks is never far from my mind when I am in the water. But I think we need to be very careful that the sad number of shark encounters that have led to the loss of human life and damage, both psychological and physical, to surfers, swimmers and people in the community at places like the north-east coast of Australia, around Ballina, is kept in perspective and that we have a calm conversation about how we mitigate risks of shark attacks and shark encounters. I want to make very clear that my personal opinion and the opinion of my party is that we need to be very cognisant of the fact that the ocean is not a risk-free environment. You go into the ocean at your own risk. It is good to understand those risks, and education and awareness are absolutely critical in that respect. To politicise this issue to get a headline in The Daily Telegraph or to respond in a way that actually encourages fear and misunderstanding is not productive. This is an issue about which we need to have a science based understanding as well as a community based understanding. There are a number of things we can do in this country to mitigate the risks of shark attacks. Those technologies are being trialled. I myself have been involved in a couple of mitigation strategies. Putting in shark nets at a place like Ballina on the New South Wales coast is a last-century solution. Shark nets kill all marine life indiscriminately. They are actually designed to capture and entangle sharks—any kind of shark—and reduce their near-shore populations. But they also kill other protected species, such as turtles, dolphins, whales and of course hundreds, if not thousands, of non-harmful shark species and, of course, also protected and endangered species. There is no evidence that they make us safer in the ocean—no evidence at all. I do not want to see any Australians given the false impression that because there are shark nets along beaches on the North Coast of New South Wales that somehow they are going to be 100 per cent safe from the risk of shark attacks—they will not be. So this is an issue that we need to take very seriously. The New South Wales government is coming to the federal government to seek approval on this issue, because under environmental protection and biodiversity and conservation laws, which are federal laws, we have a duty and an obligation—but it is also a moral obligation—to assess the impacts of things such as shark nets, which kill sharks and other species. This is something I expect the minister will take very seriously and that there will be a full assessment on the potential impacts. I want to say, as someone who does surf and who is aware of the issue, that this is a deep issue to me. I understand the fear and loathing and the concern in communities around shark encounters—I understand that very well. But it is never going to be 100 per cent safe when you go in the ocean, especially as a surfer. When you surf different spots and different places all around the coastline, some will never be netted and cannot be netted. There would literally have to be thousands of nets linking this country together, if that is what we wanted to do, and that would not reduce the risk of shark attacks. There will still be that risk. Yet, in this day and age we should not consider culling species in the ocean—we should be protecting them. We should have a mature and calm conversation about how to reduce the risks and what devices and processes we can employ. We should understand that the ocean is where sharks live and that this is perfectly natural. We need to have an awareness of that when we take risks by going into the ocean. Question agreed to. BUDGET Consideration by Estimates Committees Senator FAWCETT (South Australia—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (15:40): I present additional information received by committees relating to estimates: Incorporation:20161013:HSU to incorporate additional information for estimates CHAMBER
Thursday, 13 October 2016 <strong>SENATE</strong> 75 COMMITTEES Publications Committee Report Senator FAWCETT (South Australia—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (15:40): On behalf of Senator Reynolds, the Chair of the Publications Committee, I present the first report of the Publications Committee. Ordered that the report be adopted. Finance and Public Administration References Committee Report Senator URQUHART (Tasmania—Opposition Whip in the Senate) (15:40): On behalf of the Chair of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee, Senator McAllister, I present its report on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience of law enforcement and justice services, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee. Ordered that the report be printed. Senator URQUHART: I move: That the Senate take note of the report. I seek leave to continue my remarks. Leave granted. Debate adjourned. Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Government Response to Report Senator FIFIELD (Victoria—Manager of Government Business in the Senate, Minister for Communications and Minister for the Arts) (15:41): I present the government’s response to the report of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for its inquiry into the use of smoke alarms to prevent smoke and fire related deaths. I seek leave to incorporate the document in Hansard. Leave granted. The document read as follows— Australian Government response to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee report: Use of smoke alarms to prevent smoke and fire related deaths. BACKGROUND On 25 June 2015, the Senate referred the following matter to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry: The use of smoke alarms to prevent smoke and fire related deaths, with particular reference to: a) the incidence of smoke and fire related injuries and deaths and associated damage to property; b) the immediate and long term effects of such injuries and deaths; c) how the use, type and installation set-ups of smoke alarms could affect such injuries and deaths; d) what smoke alarms are in use in owner-occupied and rented dwellings and the installation set-ups; e) how the provisions of the Australian Building Code relating to smoke alarm type, installation and use can be improved; f) whether there are any other legislative or regulatory measures which would minimise such injuries and deaths; and g) any related matter. The Committee received 29 submissions and held three public hearings in Brisbane (29 October 2015) and Canberra (4 December 2015 and 22 February 2016). On 20 April 2016, the Committee tabled its report which included seven recommendations. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE The Australian Government (Government) has an indirect role in relation to the use of smoke alarms and wider building and construction matters. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science represents the Commonwealth on the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). The ABCB is the standards writing body responsible for the National Construction Code (NCC) which comprises the Building Code of Australia and the Plumbing Code of Australia. The Commonwealth is one of ten government members (including local government) on the ABCB, there are also five industry representative members. The NCC provides the states and territories with model regulation that is fully or partially adopted through their respective legislation, for which they remain responsible for implementing. CHAMBER
Page 1 and 2:
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA SENATE Ha
Page 3 and 4:
FORTY-FIFTH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSIO
Page 5 and 6:
Senator State or Territory Term exp
Page 7 and 8:
Title Minister Minister for Health
Page 9 and 10:
Title Shadow Minister Deputy Manage
Page 11 and 12:
CONTENTS—continued International
Page 13 and 14:
Thursday, 13 October 2016 SENATE 1
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36: Thursday, 13 October 2016 SENATE 23
Page 85: Thursday, 13 October 2016 SENATE 73
Page 125: Thursday, 13 October 2016 SENATE 11
show all

SENATE

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?