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senate vote 2020-12-03#5
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2022-10-22 12:14:11
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Title
Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020 and another - in Committee- Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020 and another - in Committee - Refer to committee
Description
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- The majority voted in favour of an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2020-12-03.30.1) to the motion "*That the report be adopted,*" which South Australian Senator [Penny Wong](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/sa/penny_wong) (Labor) introduced.
- Senator Wong [explained that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2020-12-03.30.1) this amendment:
- > *...simply relates to ensuring that the annual report, which we have previously inserted into the legislation, will be referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report.*
- ### Amendment text
- > *At the end of the motion add:*
- >
- > *"and that, in relation to amendment (1) on sheet 1112:*
- >
- >> *(a) each annual report tabled by the Minister for Foreign Affairs pursuant to section 53A of the Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 ('the Act'),stand referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report in accordance with standing order 25(20);*
- >>
- >> *(b) should the committee, as part of its inquiry into each annual report, request and receive information from the Minister related to the exercise of the Minister's decision-making powers under the Act that is information of the kind referred to in subsection 53(3) of the Act, the committee is to examine that information in confidence, including hearing any evidence in relation to such material in camera; and*
- >>
>> *(c) this order is of continuing effect.*- >> *(c) this order is of continuing effect.*
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senate vote 2020-12-03#5
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2022-10-22 12:13:21
|
Title
Bills — Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020, Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2020; in Committee- Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020 and another - in Committee
Description
<p class="speaker">Marise Payne</p><p>I move:</p>-
- The majority voted in favour of an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2020-12-03.30.1) to the motion "*That the report be adopted,*" which South Australian Senator [Penny Wong](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/sa/penny_wong) (Labor) introduced.
- Senator Wong [explained that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2020-12-03.30.1) this amendment:
- > *...simply relates to ensuring that the annual report, which we have previously inserted into the legislation, will be referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report.*
- ### Amendment text
- > *At the end of the motion add:*
- >
- > *"and that, in relation to amendment (1) on sheet 1112:*
- >
- >> *(a) each annual report tabled by the Minister for Foreign Affairs pursuant to section 53A of the Australia's Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 ('the Act'),stand referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report in accordance with standing order 25(20);*
- >>
- >> *(b) should the committee, as part of its inquiry into each annual report, request and receive information from the Minister related to the exercise of the Minister's decision-making powers under the Act that is information of the kind referred to in subsection 53(3) of the Act, the committee is to examine that information in confidence, including hearing any evidence in relation to such material in camera; and*
- >>
- >> *(c) this order is of continuing effect.*
<p class="italic">That the report be adopted.</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Wong</p><p>I move the following amendment to the report from the Committee of the Whole:</p><p class="italic">At the end of the motion add:</p><p class="italic">"and that, in relation to amendment (1) on sheet 1112:</p><p class="italic">(a) each annual report tabled by the Minister for Foreign Affairs pursuant to section 53A of the <i>Australia</i><i>'</i><i>s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 </i>('the Act'),stand referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report in accordance with standing order 25(20);</p><p class="italic">(b) should the committee, as part of its inquiry into each annual report, request and receive information from the Minister related to the exercise of the Minister's decision-making powers under the Act that is information of the kind referred to in subsection 53(3) of the Act, the committee is to examine that information in confidence, including hearing any evidence in relation to such material in camera; and</p><p class="italic">(c) this order is of continuing effect.</p><p>It simply relates to ensuring that the annual report, which we have previously inserted into the legislation, will be referred to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report.</p> <p class="speaker">Marise Payne</p><p>Senator Wong and I did speak about this very, very briefly, and I did that without the amendment in front of me. It is an amendment of continuing effect. I don't believe it's just consequential to the resolution to the amendment that the chamber agreed in relation to the annual report. In that case, the government will oppose the amendment.</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Wong</p><p>Thank you for giving me notice of the fact that you are not going to agree with what we agreed previously at the table. And I just say, yet again, here is a minister, on a bill we agreed with—</p><p>The TEMPORARY CHAIR: Senator Wong, you need to seek leave.</p><p>I seek leave to make further statements.</p><p>Leave granted.</p><p>We have written to this minister. We have invited them to negotiate on amendments. There has been silence as a result. She has not had the outcome in the chamber that she wanted—all for want of picking up the phone and actually having a discussion. Now we have, frankly, an absurd proposition that a bill which has been amended to include an annual report—an uncontroversial amendment—that would require that report to go to a committee that the government controls, she's now going to oppose. You want a fight when you don't need to have one. There's an annual report that we can send to a references committee. It is a very responsible and sensible amendment to send to a committee the government controls.</p> <p class="speaker">Marise Payne</p><p>Senator Wong, you'd be sadly mistaken if you thought that I was seeking a fight. I'm not seeking a fight. Senator Wong, we had an informal discussion—</p><p>The TEMPORARY CHAIR: Minister, you need to seek leave as well.</p><p>I seek leave to make a short statement.</p><p>Leave granted.</p><p>Let me repeat. If Senator Wong thinks I'm seeking a fight she's sadly mistaken. She most certainly will know if I am. But I would say, on this matter—</p><p class="italic">Senator Wong interjecting —</p><p>Senator, that's not my intention whatsoever. I don't think this matter is merely a consequential amendment to the amendment that was agreed by the chamber in relation to the annual report. Of course I accept that that is agreed by the chamber and now forms part of the bill. There is no question in relation to that. If, with the provision of the annual report, the chamber is then minded to refer it to a committee at the time then that will be a matter for the chamber. But this is an order of continuing effect, Senator. It's not a minor amendment and the government doesn't support it.</p> <p class="speaker">Penny Wong</p><p>I seek leave to make a statement of no more than two minutes.</p><p>Leave granted.</p><p>So we are clear, and the coalition senators can be very clear about what we are now going to have a division on: we are having a division because the minister is refusing to have an order which requires an annual report, which has now been inserted in the bill, to go to a committee that the government controls.</p> <p class="speaker">Janet Rice</p><p>The Greens will be supporting this motion for having this report in continuing effect, to report on what has occurred under this legislation. It is a tiny measure that we have been able to get through this chamber to provide some level of accountability for this bill. It is a tiny measure, which is why we will support it.</p><p>In terms of the bill overall, the Greens know that issues of foreign interference are serious. We know that it is far preferable to have the Commonwealth, the states, the territories, universities and local governments, actually working collaboratively and coherently together to make sure that their interactions with foreign governments and foreign universities are in the national interest. The Greens would have supported reasonable legislation that aimed to do that—legislation that was developed collaboratively and cooperatively, with input from the states, the territories, the universities and local governments, before the legislation was put into this place. But we cannot support this legislation. As I said, this motion is to have an annual report on the legislation. Other than that, this legislation gives unbridled power to the foreign minister. It hasn't been developed in consultation with affected parties; it hasn't got definitions in it; there are no guidelines on how decisions are going to be made as to overriding decisions that sovereign governments have made with foreign entities. There are no reasons for decisions that have to be issued to people who are going to be affected—who have had their decisions overridden. There is retrospectivity, so that states, territories and universities can enter into arrangements, and at some stage in the future, because foreign policy is deemed to have changed, suddenly their arrangements can be overridden. There is no procedural fairness, as we discussed earlier on today. It has all been, 'Trust us; everything will be fine.' Frankly, we do not trust you. You have form in not being able to be trusted to work cooperatively and genuinely with everyone to make sure things are occurring in the national interest and in the interests of all Australians, not just for your vested interests, not just for the people that you happen to get on with. The Greens, as I said, would have supported legislation that went to the serious issue that we're facing. We are supporting this amendment as one tiny measure, but, overall, we cannot support this legislation.</p> <p class="speaker">Marise Payne</p><p>I seek leave to make a short statement.</p><p>Leave not granted.</p> <p class="speaker">Wendy Askew</p><p>The question is that the amendment to the report of the Committee of the Whole moved by Senator Wong be agreed to.</p> -
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