Parliament

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (4.07 pm)—I, and also on behalf of Senator Xenophon, move: That the Senate—
(a)    welcomes the launch of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce on Tuesday, 22 March 2011;

(b)    raises concern at the significant impacts of problem gambling on our community, including relationship breakdown, mental health issues, unemployment, debt and financial hardship, theft and social isolation, with an estimated cost to our community of $4.7 billion a year;

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (3.42 pm)—I, and on behalf of Senator Fifield, move: That the Senate—
(a)    acknowledges the success of the Deafness Technology Demonstration Forum in Parliament House on 19 August 2009, and notes the interest expressed by parliamentarians in technologies to enable deaf students to better participate in mainstream education;

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (4.07pm)—I move: That the Senate—

Native Title Amendment (Reform) Bill 2011 Second Reading Speech - Senator Rachel Siewert

The Native Title Amendment (Reform) Bill 2011 begins to address the failure of the Native Title Act 1993 (NTA) to deliver on its initial intent to provide meaningful rights and a basis for economic and community development to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the 18 years since its introduction.

Second Reading

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (1.19 pm)—The Greens support the need to ensure the integ-rity of the public revenue expended on Medicare ser-vices. Expenditure on the Medicare scheme was over $14 billion in 2008-09 and it has grown by more than a billion dollars per annum over the last two years. We believe that compliance audits are necessary checks to confirm that a medical practitioner was eligible to pro-vide a Medicare service, that the service was actually provided and that it met the requirements of the Medi-care item paid in respect of the service.

Senator SIEWERT (2.32 pm)—My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Senator Arbib. I ask today about alcohol related harm and abuse in Alice Springs. Firstly, is it true that there has in fact been a decrease in the incidence of violent crime in Alice Springs since the introduction of alcohol supply reduction measures in 2006? Secondly, what changes have there been in alcohol related hospital admissions since the introduction of those initial alco-hol supply reduction measures?

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (3.29 pm)—I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Develop-ment, Minister for Sport and Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness (Senator Arbib) to a question without notice asked by me today, relating to alcohol related issues in Alice Springs.

I note that Senator Arbib did not answer my question about the issue of a floor price or minimum price for alcohol in Alice Springs or in fact answer my questions about reducing access to takeaway alcohol.

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (4.25 pm)—I move:

That the following bill be introduced: A Bill for an Act to amend the Native Title Act 1993 to further the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and for related purposes.

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (4.25 pm)—I present the explanatory memorandum and move: That this bill be now read a second time.

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (5.23 pm)—In July 2010 the government lifted restrictions on the number of pathology collection centres a pathology provider could operate. Collection centres collect patient samples from pathology tests, the issue we are talking about.

Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia) (3.38 pm)—by leave—I move: That the Senate take note of the statement. I must admit I was disappointed to see the government’s response to the UN Universal Periodic Review where they did not respond in a comprehensive manner at the time of the review at the committee.

A lot of what was contained in that Universal Periodic Review report, 145 recommendations, was in fact hardly a surprise to the government that these recommendations were made.