Selection of Bills Committee

Anne Urquhart

I present the 13th report of 2024 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and I seek leave to have the report incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The report read as follows—

Selection of Bills Committee

REPORT NO. 13 OF 2024

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Senator Anne Urquhart (Government Whip, Chair)

Senator Wendy Askew (Opposition Whip)

Senator Ross Cadell (The Nationals Whip)

Senator Pauline Hanson (Pauline Hanson's One Nation Whip)

Senator Jacqui Lambie (Jacqui Lambie Network Whip) Senator Nick McKim (Australian Greens Whip)

Senator Ralph Babet

Senator the Hon. Anthony Chisholm

Senator the Hon. Katy Gallagher

Senator Maria Kovacic

Senator Matt O'Sullivan

Senator Fatima Payman

Senator David Pocock

Senator Gerard Rennick

Senator Lidia Thorpe

Senator Tammy Tyrrell

Senator David Van

Secretary: Tim Bryant 02 6277 3020

1. The committee met in private session on Wednesday, 20 November 2024 at 7.14 pm.

1. The committee recommends that—

(a) the provisions of the Free TAFE Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 27 February 2025 (see appendix 1 for a statement of reasons for referral);

(b) the provisions of the National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 6 February 2025 (see appendix 2 for a statement of reasons for referral);

(c) the provisions of the Oversight Legislation Amendment (Robodebt Royal Commission Response and Other Measures) Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 30 January 2025 (see appendix 3 for a statement of reasons for referral);

(d) the provisions of the Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 30 January 2025 (see appendix 4 for a statement of reasons for referral); and

(e) the provisions of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 30 January 2025 (see appendix 5 for a statement of reasons for referral).

1. The committee recommends that the following bills not be referred to committees:

Help to Buy (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2023 [No. 2]

1. The committee deferred consideration of the following bills to its next meeting:

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Communications) Bill 2024

1. The committee considered the following bill but was unable to reach agreement:

(Anne Urquhart)

Chair

21 November 2024

Appendix 1

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Free TAFE Bill 2024

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To allow the Committee to scrutinise this legislation.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Education and Employment Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

January 2025

Possible reporting date:

27 February 2025

(s igned )

Wendy Askew

Appendix 2

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

National Broadband Network Companies Amendment (Commitment to Public Ownership) Bill

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To allow the Committee to scrutinise this legislation.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Environment and Communications Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

January 2025

Possible reporting date:

27 February 2025

(signed)

Wendy Askew

Appendix 3

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Oversight Legislation Amendment (Robodebt Royal Commission Response and Other Measures) Bill

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To allow the Committee to scrutinise this legislation.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

January 2025

Possible reporting date:

30 January 2025

(signed)

Wendy Askew

Appendix 4

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To allow the Committee to scrutinise this legislation.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Economics Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

January 2025

Possible reporting date:

17 February 2025

(signed)

Wendy Askew

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024

Reasons for referra1/principal issues for consideration:

To examine the Bill in more detail and hear from stakeholders

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Economics Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

Possible reporting date:

23 January, 2025

(signed)

Nick McKim

Appendix 5

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To allow the Committee to scrutinise this legislation.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

January 2025

Possible reporting date:

30 January 2025

(signed)

Wendy Askew

I move:

That the report be adopted.

Anthony Chisholm

I move:

At the end of the motion, add: ", and the provisions of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 be referred immediately to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 26 November 2024".

Nick McKim

I would like to move an amendment to the minister's amendment:

Omit "26 November 2024", substitute "3 February 2025".

Just so folks are clear, we've circulated a sheet in my name with two amendments. I'm just moving (a) at the moment, which is in respect of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. To anticipate the next matter, I believe my colleague Senator Hanson-Young would like to make a contribution on this amendment.

Sarah Hanson-Young

The stitch-up is in, isn't it? The two big parties are desperate for distraction and desperate to get something done in this space so quickly before anybody looks at the detail and before they've worked out they've got no answers to the real questions. They want to smash through before Christmas this bill that kicks young people off the internet. They want to smash it through the parliament with a fake inquiry of only five days. What a joke. Have the courage of your convictions to put forward legislation and have it scrutinised properly.

Why are they smashing this through so quickly? Why do they not want anyone to look at the details and to ask the hard questions? Their very own joint social media inquiry report, handed down only on Monday this week, didn't recommend this as a measure. In fact it was the exact opposite. All of the experts have said that, if you want to protect young people online, you have to make these platforms safer, you have to regulate them properly, you have to put in place guardrails and you have to work with parents to make sure their needs and their children's needs are being met. But you are desperate to get a distraction, because nothing else is getting through this parliament this fortnight. Your mis- and disinformation bill is a bloody bin fire. That's what's going on. This is a distraction because you haven't even been able to run the argument on your own response to mis- and disinformation, so you ram this through as a big distraction.

It's not very often, I must say, that I agree with Senator Canavan, but on this particular issue, on social media, I agree that this should not be rammed through. This should not be put through, on such a complex issue, without proper review and proper scrutiny. But, of course, we know what's going on here: the government's desperate for a distraction because of the mis- and disinformation bill bin fire, and the opposition are split on the issue of social media, so Mr Dutton wants this done as quickly as possible, before anyone realises that he can't keep his own team in the tent. That is what is going on here.

We're about to see it all over again on the next bill, which is, of course, the electoral reform legislation, another stitch-up. When the two big parties decide to get together and ram stuff through in this place, you know they are failing the public debate. They are always failing the public debate when they want to ram stuff through with no real inquiry, no review and no scrutiny, because they have no bloody answers. It's a disgrace.

Sue Lines

Senator Hanson-Young, please. Have you finished your remarks?

Sarah Hanson-Young

I have.

Jacqui Lambie

I would like to make a short statement, if I can, on this as well.

Sue Lines

You're free to speak for five minutes, Senator Lambie.

Jacqui Lambie

Thank you. I am terribly worried about this, as much as we all have good intentions. I haven't even seen a draft. How am I supposed to, over a weekend, get expert advice on this when you've given it five days?

Sarah Hanson-Young

It was tabled an hour ago.

Long debate text truncated.