Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (18:47): I seek leave to table a document.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is not given, Senator Faruqi. If you can just give a brief outline of what the document is and circulate it—yes, Minister?

Senator Seselja: We haven't seen this document.

Senator Siewert: Yes, you have.

Senator Seselja: Well, I haven't, and the leader hasn't.

Senator Siewert: The whip has.

Senator Seselja: Until we know what it is, the usual courtesies—

Senator Siewert: We have shown you—

I rise to speak to this matter of utmost urgency. The climate collapse our world is experiencing is a threat like no other. The Australian government's inaction in the face of this is nothing short of criminal. A little more than a week into spring, unprecedented fires are raging in New South Wales and Queensland, destroying our rainforests, habitats and homes. Inaction on this climate crisis has put one million of the world's species at risk of extinction. In Australia, the Murray-Darling is close to the brink of collapse.

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

The Greens have called for an urgent moratorium on water barons and non-water users buying up water while the Murray-Darling Basin remains in crisis and farmers and communities fear more mass fish-deaths this summer.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, the Greens’ Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, has welcomed the Government’s decision to adopt Greens’ amendments to the Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports bill 2019. The amendments insert a much needed focus on animal welfare into the bill, which had previously been completely missing.

The amendments change the objects of the Act to introduce a requirement to consider animal welfare and amend clause 10 of the bill to specifically provide that the Inspector-General must consider the welfare of animals as part of their reviews. 

(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.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, the Greens’ Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, has welcomed the Government’s decision to adopt Greens’ amendments to the Inspector-General of Live Animal Exports bill 2019. The amendments insert a much needed focus on animal welfare into the bill, which had previously been completely missing.

The amendments change the objects of the Act to introduce a requirement to consider animal welfare and amend clause 10 of the bill to specifically provide that the Inspector-General must consider the welfare of animals as part of their reviews.

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson, Adam Bandt MP, today said that the latest Climate of the Nation report released by The Australia Institute reaffirmed that most Australian

The Senate has tonight passed Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi’s motion ordering the Government to table their response to the recommendations contained in the PFAS report by midday tomorrow, 10 September.

Senator Faruqi said: