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senate vote 2017-03-22#11
Edited by
mackay staff
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2017-04-14 19:40:03
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Title
Motions — Child Sexual Abuse- Motions - Child Sexual Abuse - List of perpetrators
Description
<p class="speaker">Brian Burston</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That the Senate—</p>- The majority voted against a [motion](http://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2017-03-22.155.1) introduced by Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party Senator [Brian Burston](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/brian_burston), which means it was unsuccessful.
- ### Motion text
- > *That the Senate—*
- > *(a) notes the statements made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council to the [Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_into_Institutional_Responses_to_Child_Sexual_Abuse) (the Royal Commission) identifying the extent of the abuse perpetrated by priests and members of religious orders;*
- > *(b) is of the opinion that, given the obligations on local bishops to disclose to the Vatican incidents of child sexual abuse, the Catholic Church must be aware of the identities of those perpetrators; and*
- > *(c) calls on the Government to request the Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana to provide a list of those perpetrators, as a gesture of co-operation and responsiveness, to the work of the Royal Commission.*
<p class="italic">(a) notes the statements made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Church's Truth, Justice and Healing Council to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Royal Commission) identifying the extent of the abuse perpetrated by priests and members of religious orders;</p><p class="italic">(b) is of the opinion that, given the obligations on local bishops to disclose to the Vatican incidents of child sexual abuse, the Catholic Church must be aware of the identities of those perpetrators; and</p><p class="italic">(c) calls on the Government to request the Apostolic Nuncio, His Excellency Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana to provide a list of those perpetrators, as a gesture of co-operation and responsiveness, to the work of the Royal Commission.</p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>I seek leave to make a short statement.</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Parry</p><p>Leave is granted for one minute.</p> <p class="speaker">James McGrath</p><p>Thank you. The government supports the very important work of the royal commission. The commission is independent, directs its own processes and conducts its own investigations. The inquiry is ongoing. The Australian Embassy to the Holy See ensures that the Vatican is aware of the work and mandate of the commission. The embassy has assisted with document requests and the taking of evidence from Vatican officials in Rome and is unaware of any outstanding requests made by the commission. Because of the commission's independence, a motion to request the production of documents should not be directed at the federal government.</p> <p class="speaker">Katy Gallagher</p><p>I seek leave to make a short statement.</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Parry</p><p>Leave is granted for one minute.</p> <p class="speaker">Katy Gallagher</p><p>The opposition will not be supporting this motion today. Whilst we recognise Senator Burston's intent behind the motion, we do not believe it is sensible for the Senate to attempt to instruct the royal commission on how it should conduct its inquiry.</p><p>The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was established by the Gillard government in January 2013 and has conducted its incredibly important work with integrity and fairness for the last four years, free from political interference. The opposition notes that the royal commission is vested with significant powers, including the ability to compel evidence if required, and believes it should be allowed to operate without political interference. We expect that all individuals and institutions called to appear before the royal commission will provide full cooperation with its inquiries.</p><p>We did ask Senator Burston to postpone this notice of motion yesterday to allow for further discussions to take place, and we are grateful to him for doing so, but we regret that it is not possible to reach agreement on this occasion.</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Parry</p><p>The question is that the motion moved by Senator Burston be agreed to.</p>
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