Slade Brockman

I remind senators that yesterday evening after 6.30 pm divisions were called on two motions moved by Senator Bragg proposing references to the Economics References Committee. I understand it suits the convenience of the Senate for the deferred votes to be held now.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Sue Lines

I now intend to go to the amendment as moved by Minister Gallagher. Senator Duniam, I understand you wanted to split that amendment.

Jonathon Duniam

That's correct.

Sue Lines

So we'll firstly deal with (a) of Senator Gallagher's amendment. The question is that part (a) of Minister Gallagher's amendment be agreed to.

Question agreed to.

The question now is that part (b) of the amendment as moved by Minister Gallagher be agreed to.

Slade Brockman

The question is that the amendment on sheet 3804 be agreed to.

Australian Greens' circulated amendment—

(1) Schedule 1, item 5, page 10 (lines 19 and 20), omit ", but section 42 (disallowance) of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply to the instrument", substitute "and, despite anything in section 44 of the Legislation Act 2003, section 42 (disallowance) of that Act applies to the instrument".

Question agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question is that the remaining stages of the bill be agreed to and the bill be now passed.

Katy Gallagher

I move:

That on Thursday, 14 May 2026:

(a) the questions on all remaining stages of the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Bill 2026 be put at 11 am; and

(b) paragraph (a) operate as a limitation of debate under standing order 142.

Just briefly, the motion essentially brings on a vote, at 11 o'clock today, on the bill that was debated yesterday and will be debated this morning.

Matt O'Sullivan

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Gallagher be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question is that business of the Senate No. 5, standing in the name of Senator Hanson, be agreed to.

Sean Bell

At the request of Senator Hanson, I move:

(1) That the following matters be referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 3 September 2026:

(a) the appropriateness of granting tax Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), or charity status to Equality Australia;

(b) prior decisions of government bodies, tribunals or courts in relation to the DGR status of Equality Australia;

(c) the appropriateness of granting DGR status to lobby groups;

(d) patronage of Equality Australia; and

(e) any other related matters.

(2) That standing order 193(2) not apply to the inquiry.

Matt O'Sullivan

by leave—At the request of Senator Cash, I move an amendment as circulated:

Omit paragraphs (1)(a) to (e) and paragraph (2), substitute:

(a) the appropriateness of granting tax Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), or charity status to lobby groups including, but not limited to, Equality Australia and the Environmental Defenders Office;

(b) prior decisions of government bodies, tribunals or courts in relation to the DGR status of Equality Australia and other lobby groups;

(c) any other related matters.

Sarah Hanson-Young

I just note that it feels as though that side of the chamber can't work out—

Sue Lines

Senator Hanson-Young!

Sarah Hanson-Young

who they want to beat up on the most—

Sue Lines

Senator Hanson-Young!

Sarah Hanson-Young

the LGBTI community or the koalas.

Sue Lines

Order! May I remind you, Senator Hanson-Young, that you don't stand and launch into a statement; you stand and seek leave. I called you three times. You completely ignored me. That's incredibly disrespectful when I was simply calling you to order. I remind senators that you do not stand up and launch into a statement. You seek leave. Senator David Pocock, were you seeking leave at the same time or not?

David Pocock

No.

Sue Lines

The question is that an amendment to business of the Senate No. 5 moved by Senator Cash be agreed to.

Michaelia Cash

I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the establishment of a select committee on the impact of the conflict in Iran as circulated.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to contingent notice standing in my name, I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to give precedence to a motion relating to the establishment of a select committee on the impact of the conflict in Iran.

I don't know how much more urgent it needs to get before this government understands that standing orders need to be suspended and we need to set up a select committee into the impact of their mismanagement, quite frankly, of what has happened since the war in Iran started.

If today's answers in question time don't tell Australians that this is desperately needed, I do not know what does. Because what did we have? In the first instance, you have the Prime Minister, on Monday, standing up and saying to the Australian people: 'Enjoy your Easter. Have a happy Easter break; do not cancel your holidays.' The next thing you know, the Prime Minister is today telling Australians, 'I'm going to stand up and provide a national address.' Guess what that's in relation to? 'We want you now to stop driving and save fuel.' Then, we have the Prime Minister saying: 'Drive. Keep driving. There's nothing to see here.' Then, you have the Minister for Climate Change and Energy himself saying, 'There's no issue with supply in Australia,' but the problem with that is almost 900 bowsers have now run dry across Australia.

Then, of course, we had the very confusing message today from one government minister, who stood up and basically told Australians he doesn't have confidence in the fuel supply, despite what the Prime Minister has said and despite what the energy minister has said because, 'They're actually thinking about bringing down less staff to Canberra in the budget,' and, more than that, 'We're actually thinking of catching a bus.' Catching a bus to Canberra, seriously? The number of mixed messages that this government has given to the Australian people in a time of crisis is appalling.

We are now almost five weeks into this crisis, and the government keeps telling Australians everything is okay. There's more fuel circulating in the economy now than there was before the crisis, and yet, sadly, every single day that this goes on, the Australian people wake up, and what do they see? They see more bowsers running dry across Australia. One of the things that this Senate committee needs to look at is what in God's name has gone wrong on the ground with this government. If there is more fuel in Australia today than there was before the crisis, then there is a distribution problem, and that distribution problem is the fault of the government. It's the fault of the Prime Minister and the energy minister.

The fact is that they cannot pick up the phone to the energy companies or the fuel companies and say to them, 'You need to get that tanker to that servo that has run dry.' It is actually as simple as that because they know that, at any given point in time in Australia, where that fuel is. Yet, sadly, we get mixed messages—drive, don't drive; happy Easter, not a happy Easter; no fuel in Australia, more than enough fuel in Australia. You would not know what is actually happening under this government. What I think is worse is the total contempt that they have for any form of scrutiny when it comes to answering questions that are asked of them. All the Australian people want during a time like this is transparency.

When you have got farmers saying, 'We are not going to be able to plant our crops, because we can't get diesel,' what that ultimately means is that it will impact fuel security. You have Meals on Wheels saying, 'We can't get to our people to feed them.' You've got the taxi industry saying: 'Our taxis for disabled people run on diesel. We can't get access to the diesel to pick up our clients.' You've got NDIS carers saying, 'We can't afford the fuel to put in our tanks to get to our clients.' You've got the waste management industry across Australia saying to the government, 'Do you know that, if we don't get access to diesel, within two days, there will be a catastrophic event in this country, particularly in relation to the aged-care industry and the healthcare industry?' Guess what happens if you don't pick up the rubbish? Disease spreads.

I don't know what else could possibly constitute urgency to suspend the standing orders so the Senate can properly debate and then vote on putting in place a select inquiry to monitor the government's response to this crisis—which quite frankly, to date, has been appalling. (Time expired)

Katy Gallagher

I look forward to further discussions on this over the break. I move:

That the question be put.

Slade Brockman

The question is that the question be put.

Katy Gallagher

I table an addendum and correction to the explanatory memorandum relating to the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025.

Sue Lines

The question is that this bill be now read a second time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Jonathon Duniam

by leave—At the request of Senator Canavan, I move amendments on sheets 3768 and 3769 as circulated:

SHEET 3768

(1) Page 2 (after line 12), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of digital assets framework

Requirement to conduct review

(1) The Minister must cause an independent review to be conducted of the operation of the amendments made by this Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider the effectiveness of the digital assets framework, including as supported by any Act amended by this Act and any instruments made under those amended Acts.

Timing of review

(3) The persons conducting the review must

(a) commence the review as soon as practicable after the end of 2 years starting on the day this section commences; and

(b) complete the review before the end of 4 months after the day the review commences.

Consultation

(4) The review must make provision for consultation with industry stakeholders that the persons conducting the review consider relevant.

Minister to be given report of review

(5) The persons conducting the review must give the Minister a written report of the review as soon as practicable after the review is completed.

Minister to table copy of report of review

(6) The Minister must cause a copy of the report of the review to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report.

_____

SHEET 3769

(1) Schedule 1, page 36 (after line 30), after Part 2, insert:

Part 2A — Giving reasons for refusing financial services

Corporations Act 2001

42A After Division 1 of Part 7.8

Insert:

Division 1A — Giving reasons for refusing financial services

980C Giving reasons for refusing financial services

If an Australian ADI refuses to provide a financial service to a financial services licensee, the ADI must give the licensee written reasons for refusing to do so.

Sue Lines

The question is that amendments on sheet 3768 and 3769 be agreed to.

Sue Lines

I will deal with the committee of the whole amendment to the two bills starting with the amendment circulated by the opposition. The question is that the amendments on sheets 3704, 3705 and 3706 be agreed to.

Opposition's circulated amendments—

(1) Page 2 (after line 11), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of alcohol excise and customs tariff system

(1) The Minister must cause an independent review to be conducted of the alcohol excise and customs tariff system.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider options to reform alcohol taxes, including options to reduce industry burdens.

(3) The persons conducting the review must give the Minister a written report of the review on or before 2 November 2026.

(4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report of the review to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report.

(1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 30), after section 19AABC, insert:

19AABCA Temporary freeze in indexation for tap spirits

Temporary freeze in indexation

(1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 19(1) applies, in relation to a tap spirit and each CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days:

(a) 1 August 2026;

(b) 1 February 2027.

Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2026 will be unchanged for the next year.

Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 19(1)).

(2) In this section:

CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate means a rate of duty in the following:

(a) the rate column of subheading 2208.20, 2208.20.10, 2208.20.90, 2208.30.00, 2208.40.00, 2208.50.00, 2208.60.00, 2208.70.00, 2208.90.10, 2208.90.20 or 2208.90.90 in Schedule 3;

(b) the rate column of an item in the table in Schedule 4A or a later Schedule that relates to a subheading in Schedule 3 specified in paragraph (a).

indexation day has the same meaning as in section 19.

tap spirit means:

(a) an alcoholic beverage not exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container:

(i) of at least 8 litres but not exceeding 48 litres; and

(ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system; or

(b) an alcoholic beverage exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container:

(i) of at least 4 litres but not exceeding 20 litres; and

(ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system.

(1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 23), after section 6L, insert:

6N Temporary freeze in indexation for tap spirits

(1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies, in relation to a tap spirit and each CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days:

(a) 1 August 2026;

(b) 1 February 2027.

Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2026 will be unchanged for the next year.

Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 6A(1)).

(2) In this section:

CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate means a rate of duty set out in:

(a) item 2 of the Schedule; or

(b) subitem 3.1, 3.2 or 3.10 of the Schedule.

indexation day has the same meaning as in section 6A.

tap spirit means:

(a) an alcoholic beverage not exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container:

(i) of at least 8 litres but not exceeding 48 litres; and

(ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system; or

(b) an alcoholic beverage exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container:

(i) of at least 4 litres but not exceeding 20 litres; and

(ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system.

Sue Lines

I will now deal with the amendment circulated by One Nation. That amendment is on sheet 3635. The question is that the amendment on sheet 3635 be agreed to.

One Nation's circulated amendment—

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate calls on the Government to support hospitality venues struggling under the growing burden of government regulation and growth in overheads by eliminating alcohol excise duty on any alcoholic product sold for consumption on-premises in a hospitality venue".