Sue Lines

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

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Bragg, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) on 28 October 2025, the Senate agreed to order for the production of documents no. 197, requiring the Minister representing the Treasurer (the minister) to produce the independent review commissioned by the Treasury and delivered by Intersection into the governance and operational concerns at Housing Australia in early 2024,

(ii) on 4 November 2025, the Senate agreed to an order concerning compliance with the original order, requiring the minister to attend the Senate on Wednesday, 5 November 2025 at the conclusion of question time to provide an explanation of the failure to comply with the order,

(iii) on 5 November 2025, the minister provided an explanation of the failure to comply with the order,

(iv) on 13 November 2025, the Minister representing the Minister for Housing provided a letter of response to the order, raising public interest immunity claims over the full document, and

(v) the order has still not been complied with;

(b) rejects the public interest immunity claims raised by the Minister representing the Minister for Housing; and

(c) requires the Minister representing the Treasurer to comply with the order by no later than midday on Thursday, 27 November 2025.

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave not granted.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 299, standing in the name of Senator Bragg, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Bragg, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) on 24 July 2025, the Senate agreed to order for the production of documents no. 27 relating to advice provided by the Treasury to the Treasurer and the Minister for Housing in relation to the Government's plan to invest $10 billion to construct 100,000 new homes for first home buyers,

(ii) on 28 July 2025, the Minister representing the Treasurer (the minister) provided an interim response to the order stating that officials in the Treasury were progressing the request for documents but that additional time was required to comply with the order,

(iii) on 3 November 2025, the Senate agreed to a further order, noting that 3 months had passed since the minister provided an interim response requesting more time to comply with the original order, noting the failure to release the documents in a timely manner was in contempt of the Senate and its functions, and ordering the minister to attend the Senate on 4 November 2025 to provide an explanation of the failure to comply,

(iv) on 4 November 2025, the minister provided 2 records with redactions of details of non-executive staff, third parties and internal Treasury email addresses; and withheld other documents on public interest grounds,

(v) on 6 November 2025, the Senate agreed to a further order noting that the minister's explanation of the failure to fully comply with the order did not provide a credible response as to why the requested documents had not been released in their entirety and ordering the minister to comply with the order by no later than 5.30 pm on Thursday, 6 November 2025, and

(vi) the order has still not been fully complied with; and

(b) requires the Minister representing the Treasurer to comply with the order by no later than midday on Thursday, 27 November 2025.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 298, standing in the name of Senator Bragg, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator McKenzie, I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 297 before asking that it be taken as formal.

Leave granted.

At the request of Senator McKenzie, I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) order for the production of documents no. 176 was agreed to by the Senate on 27 October 2025 with a compliance date of 3 November 2025,

(ii) the order required the Minister representing the Treasurer to provide the outstanding government response to the report of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee entitled Bank closures in regional Australia: Protecting the future of regional banking,

(iii) the government response to the committee report was due by 24 August 2024,

(iv) in response to the order, the Treasurer's letter that was tabled in the Senate on 3 November 2025 states that 'there is no document within scope of this order for the production of documents', and

(v) there is no restriction on the Senate ordering the creation of documents; and

(b) orders the Minister representing the Treasurer to fully comply with order no. 176 by midday on 4 December 2025.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 297 standing in the name of Senator McKenzie, as amended and moved by Senator Askew, be agreed to.

David Pocock

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) on 23 July 2025, the Senate agreed to order for the production of documents (OPD) no. 9, which required the Minister representing the Prime Minister to table all written or digital correspondence, attachments to any written or digital correspondence, briefing notes, text messages, file notes, meeting notices or minutes or other records of interaction since 10 October 2024 between the Prime Minister and his office and, among other entities, Responsible Wagering Australia and any commercial media company, where the meeting related to gambling advertising reform,

(ii) on examination of the Government's response to OPD no. 8 on gambling advertising, it was identified that the Prime Minister participated in a meeting with the Minister for Communications and representatives from Nine Entertainment to speak about gambling advertising reform,

(iii) this meeting was in-scope of OPD no. 9 but was not disclosed and no documentation relating to it, including any briefing materials, meeting notices, files notes or minutes, have been provided to the Senate,

(iv) the Government's answers to questions on notice from supplementary Budget estimates confirm that the Prime Minister did attend the meeting referred to in paragraph (a)(ii), and

(v) the Government's answers to questions on notice also confirm that at least one email from Responsible Wagering Australia to the Prime Minister has not been provided to the Senate;

(b) considers that OPD no. 9 has not been fully complied with; and

(c) requires the Minister representing the Prime Minister to fully comply with the order by no later than 9 am on Monday, 1 December 2025, including by providing:

(i) all briefing notes, files notes, meeting notices, minutes or other documents relating to the meeting of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Communications with Nine Entertainment on the morning of 23 July 2025,

(ii) the full email correspondence, including any covering emails, between the Prime Minister and his office and Responsible Wagering Australia, and

(iii) any other documents in-scope of OPD no. 9 that have not yet been provided.

Peter Whish-Wilson

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave not granted.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 292, standing in the name of Senator David Pocock, be agreed to.

Peter Whish-Wilson

I move general business notice of motion No. 289, relating to an order for the production of documents—with significantly reduced scope from the last time I introduced it, President:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for the Environment and Water, by no later than 10 am on Friday, 19 December 2025, any correspondence, ministerial or departmental briefing notes, dated from 1 June to 31 October 2025, provided to or by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and/or the Department of Industry, Science and Resources relating to any floating production, storage and offloading vessel currently or previously situated in Australian Commonwealth or state waters, and the Hazardous Waste Act, Article 11 of the Basel Convention and/or Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Approval Condition 10(b).

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm

The government will not be supporting this motion. As already outlined to this chamber, the 48th Parliament has seen an increasingly inappropriate use of OPDs. Historically, the scope of OPDs insisted on specificity or sought a particular document. The broad scope of this order means that a substantial number of documents may be reviewed to consider whether they may be in scope. The government encourages the senator to further narrow the scope of their order.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 289 standing in the name of Senator Whish-Wilson be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

On behalf of Senator Paterson, I wish to inform the chamber that Senator David Pocock will also sponsor general business notice of motion No. 288, and I seek leave to amend the motion.

Leave granted.

At the request of Senator Paterson, and also on behalf of Senator David Pocock, I move the motion as amended:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Finance and the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, and the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, by no later than 12 pm on Friday, 28 November 2025, all correspondence (including emails, letters, text or instant messages) between:

(a) the Department of the Treasury, the Treasurer or the Treasurer's office;

(b) the Department of Finance, the Minister for Finance or the Minister's office;

(c) the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's office;

and any Minister or Department or Agency concerning cost savings targets as referenced in an article by John Kehoe and Ronald Mizen published in the Australian Financial Review on 25 November 2025.

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave granted.

The government will be opposing this motion. The document referenced in the original motion does not exist. No letter has been sent by the Minister for Finance or the Department of Finance. Senator Gallagher's office made contact with Senator Paterson's office to explain this. Instead of withdrawing this OPD, Senator Paterson has now amended the motion to embark on a fishing expedition. These kinds of approaches are not in line with the intent of an order for the production of documents.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 288, standing in the name of Senators Paterson and Pocock, as amended, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Liddle, I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Indigenous Australians, by midday on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, all written or digital correspondence, all attachments to any written or digital correspondence, briefing materials, text messages, file notes, meeting notices or minutes or other records of interaction since 1 July 2022, between the Minister for Indigenous Australians or her office, the Central Land Council (CLC) and/or the National Indigenous Australians Agency, related to:

(a) the ascertainment and management of conflicts of interest of CLC councillors, directors and senior staff, including but not limited to connections to and involvement with proponents;

(b) the involvement and conflicts of interest between CLC councillors, directors or senior staff with the Centrecorp Aboriginal Investment Corporation, the Centrecorp Foundation Board, the Central Australian Aboriginal Charitable Trust and the Central Aboriginal Charitable Trust; and

(c) the involvement and conflicts of interest with any other organisation or Commonwealth statutory body.

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm

The government will opposing this motion. I understand Senator Liddle was offered assistance to identify any specific documents that she's looking for in response to this OPD. She was also offered a briefing that could be provided to answer any specific questions. Senator Liddle declined these offers and proceeded with the OPD anyway. I also note that Senator Liddle will have the opportunity next week to ask the questions that she wants of the NIAA and the Central Land Council. If Senator Liddle were serious about this issue, she would have taken up these constructive offers from the government.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 287, standing in the name of Senator Liddle, be agreed to.

Fatima Payman

I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Science, by no later than 5 pm on Friday, 28 November 2025, the final written report of the independent review of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's financial sustainability and governance arrangements, conducted by Mr David Tune AO PSM.

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm

The government will be opposing this motion. A briefing has been offered to Senator Payman on this topic. These issues relate directly to cabinet deliberations.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 282, standing in the name of Senator Payman, be agreed to.

Penny Allman-Payne

I move general business notices of motion Nos 280 and 281:

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 280

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, by no later than 5 pm on Thursday, 11 December 2025, copies of all communications in relation to the development of amendments to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025 and Schedule 5 (benefit restriction notices) between:

(a) the Minister for Home Affairs;

(b) the Minister for Social Services;

(c) the Minister for Government Services; and

(d) the Attorney-General.

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 281

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, by no later than 5 pm on Thursday, 11 December 2025, copies of all communications in relation to the development of amendments to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025 and Schedule 5 (benefit restriction notices) between the Department of Social Services and:

(a) the Department of Home Affairs;

(b) the Department of Education;

(c) the Attorney-General's Department; and

(d) the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Anthony Chisholm

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anthony Chisholm

The government will not be supporting this motion. As already outlined to this chamber, the 48th Parliament has seen an increasingly inappropriate use of OPDs. Historically, the scope of OPDs had insisted on specificity or sought a particular document. The scope of this OPD is so large it amounts to nothing more than a fishing expedition. The government encourages the senator to narrow the scope of their order.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notices of motion Nos 280 and 281, standing in the name of Senator Allman-Payne, be agreed to.