Senator Andrew Bartlett
Friday, June 10, 2005
 
The Last Seven Days

Only 7 sitting days of the Senate left before the Howard Government takes full control of the Parliament.

I arrived back home around 11.00 pm last night. Today I went to a funeral and then into my office to sign a huge pile of forms and letters that had been sitting there awaiting my pen marking. The draft program for the 7th last day also came through today. This can always change up to the last minute, but at 12.31pm on Tuesday 14th June (after prayers and paperwork), we will almost certainly begin debating the Personal Income Tax Reduction Bill.

I’ve written a couple of times previously about how I believe these tax cuts are grossly unfair and also miss a golden opportunity to put in place some meaningful long-term change by indexing the thresholds to reduce bracket creep. However, despite all the speculation, I think the outcome in the Senate is unlikely to surprise. The Bill will pass the Second Reading stage and then a stack of amendments will be moved. The Democrats will try to amend it in the way we think is best and will not get enough support from others for our amendments to pass. Labor will try to amend it according to their preferred option as they outlined in their reply to the Budget. This will probably pass on the grounds that it is less regressive than the Liberal’s version, and then the amended Bill will go down to the House of Representatives, where the Government will immediately reject the amendments and send it straight back to the Senate. It’s possible that someone may change their position at this stage and not insist on the Senate’s amendments, but I think it unlikely. However, there are a few uncertainties. I don’t know for sure what the independent Senators like Shayne Murphy or Meg Lees or One Nation’s Len Harris might do at this stage, or indeed whether they will support Labor’s amendments the first time around. It is their final couple of weeks as Senators so they don’t have anything much to lose. I also don’t know whether Brian Harradine will be there or not – and don’t know what his attitude will be if he is there. He hasn’t returned to the Senate since he had a stroke over three months ago. Whatever does happen in the Senate on this Bill, if it doesn’t end up to the Government’s liking, they will presumably pass it in its original form when they return with control of the Senate in August.

There are many other things that are listed as likely to happen on Tuesday. The day’s Notice Paper (sort of like the formal agenda) is available, although unless you know what order things come in and what gets priority, it’s hard to get a clear indication from it. One thing likely to happen is the First Speech by new Liberal Senator, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who has come into the Senate a month or so earlier than the other new ones because of the early resignation of Senator Tierney. She will probably be pigeon-holed as another Liberal lawyer from the right-wing of their NSW branch, but I prefer to wait to see what people say and do before categorising people too definitively.

Also listed is a motion by me aimed at establishing a Senate Inquiry into the Immigration Department and its decision making on things like detention, deportation and visa applications. I’ve had this motion on the books for a while waiting for the proper time to move it. It was initially focused on the Cornelia Rau case, but given all the other things that have come to light in the last month or two, I expect the wording of the motion will be changed before it is moved to ensure a wider range of evidence can be sought.
There will also be a motion by Democrat Senator Brian Greig aimed at preventing the Government’s accreditation of the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fisheries Management Plan. I don’t expect this to be successful, which I think is unfortunate, for reasons explained by the Human Society International in their statement on the issue.

Another Bill we may get to is one aimed at abolishing the superannuation surcharge for high income earners. This will provide an extra tax windfall for the highest income earners in addition to the large income tax cuts. I doubt this will pass either unless the four independent/One Nation Senators let it through, which is possible as they let through a reduction in it last year without getting any significant positive gains for low income earners to balance it out. Again, the Government will presumably pass this anyway come August if it doesn’t get through in the next couple of weeks.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, June 10, 2005 Permalink
|


<< Home