Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Hume, I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Industry and Innovation, by no later than midday on 1 December 2025, all research materials received by the Net Zero Economy Authority in 2024-25 from BIS Oxford Economics Pty Ltd.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will oppose this motion. A briefing has been offered on this issue; I understand it has not yet been accepted. The number of OPDs has also doubled since the 2022 election, and the scope of these requests has also expanded significantly. The Senate has agreed an average of four OPDs per sitting day in the 48th Parliament, double the average of two per sitting day in the 47th Parliament and almost four times the average in the last term of the coalition government. On 27 August, the Senate agreed to 14 OPDs—

Paul Scarr

Fourteen OPDs in a single day.

Jess Walsh

in a single day, Senator Scarr.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 272, standing in the name of Senator Hume and moved by Senator Askew, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Hume, I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Industry and Innovation, by no later than midday on 1 December 2025, all ministerial submissions to the Minister for Industry and Innovation by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation respectively, from 1 June 2025 to date, which directly concern the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will oppose this motion. A briefing has been offered on this issue that I understand has not yet been accepted. The number of OPDs has also doubled since the 2022 election, and the scope of these requests has also expanded significantly. The Senate has agreed an average of four OPDs per sitting day in the 48th Parliament, double the average of two per sitting day in the 47th Parliament and almost four times the average in the last term of the coalition government. On 27 August, the Senate agreed to 14 OPDs in a single day.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 271, standing in the name of Senator Hume and moved by Senator Askew, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

On behalf of Senator Hume, I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Industry and Innovation, by no later than midday on 1 December 2025, all documents currently held by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation which contain the phrase 'Patties Food Group'.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted.

Jess Walsh

The government will oppose this motion. A briefing has been offered on this issue that I understand has not yet been accepted. The OPD relates to an investment made by the NRF and covers too many documents to comply with by this date. The number of OPDs has also doubled since the 2022 election, and the scope of these requests has also expanded significantly. The Senate has agreed to an average of four OPDs per sitting day in the 48th Parliament, double the average of two per sitting day in the 47th Parliament and almost four times the average in the last term of the coalition government. On 27 August, the Senate agreed to 14 OPDs in a single day.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 269, standing in the name of Senator Hume and as moved by Senator Askew, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Dean Smith, I move:

(1) That the Senate—

(a) notes that order for production of documents no. 186, requiring all written or digital correspondence, briefing notes, file notes, meeting notes, meeting agendas or minutes, budgets or other records of interaction from 1 May to 27 October 2025 between the Treasury and the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services or their office in relation to potential amendments to the Consumer Data Right, including a banking de minimis threshold, agreed to on 28 October 2025 has not been complied with; and

(b) orders that if the order has not been fully complied with by midday on Wednesday, 26 November 2025 the Minister representing the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services attend the Senate on Thursday 27 November 2025 immediately before government business is called on to provide an explanation of the failure to fully comply.

(2) That time limits be applied in relation to paragraph (1)(b) as follows:

(a) explanation by the minister—5 minutes; and

(b) motion to take note debate—individual speakers, 5 minutes; overall limit, 30 minutes.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will be opposing this motion. The order for the production of documents moved by Senator Smith is exceptionally broad in scope, and the process of identifying all documents captured by the order requires considerable time. It is also necessary to assess any potential commercial sensitivities that may warrant appropriate redaction. Minister Mulino's office has offered a briefing to Senator Smith and Senator Sharma, who jointly sponsored the order. My understanding is that no response has been received to that offer. The government has acted in good faith in seeking to comply with the order. However, the documents have not been provided at this time due to the complex scope of the request and the need to protect commercially sensitive information.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 268, standing in the name of Senator Dean Smith and as moved by Senator Askew, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Dean Smith, I move:

(1) That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) its agreement to orders for the production of documents no. 47, on 29 July 2025, and no. 100, on 26 August 2025, requiring the tabling of the incoming government briefs prepared by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for its incoming ministers following the 2025 federal election,

(ii) the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and the Minister for the Environment and Water provided similar responses to subsequent compliance orders on 31 October and 5 November 2025, and

(iii) that each brief has been provided with significant redactions applied on the basis of various public interest immunity claims and Appendix D of Volume 1 of each brief, relating to 'other department policy areas', has been fully redacted on the ground that the material relates to work in another minister's portfolio;

(b) accepts that, in this instance, it is appropriate for personally identifying information, such as personal phone numbers and email addresses, to be redacted;

(c) otherwise rejects the public interest immunity claims raised by the ministers for the following reasons:

(i) it is not sufficient that the subject matter of a document ordered to be tabled by the Senate may come before a future Cabinet meeting for discussion; what must be established is that disclosure of material would disclose actual deliberations of the Cabinet,

(ii) the Senate does not agree that disclosure of the material would make officials temper what they write or say in future, as this would be contrary to the concept of officials providing frank and honest advice, encapsulated in the Australian Public Service values,

(iii) there is insufficient information provided in the ministers' responses to support their claims that release of the material would prejudice relations between the Commonwealth and the states or international relations, and

(iv) it is not sufficient that material in a document simply touch on an area of shared Commonwealth and state responsibility; what must be shown is that the release of the particular material would damage relations;

(d) does not accept that there is a valid basis to withhold Appendix D of Volume 1 of each brief; and

(e) requires the Minister for the Environment and Water and the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to each attend the Senate after the consideration of private senators' bills on Wednesday, 26 November 2025, to provide explanations of the failure to fully comply with orders nos 47 and 100, respectively, and that any senator may move to take note of the explanations; and

(2) That time limits be applied in relation to paragraph (1)(e) as follows:

(a) an explanation by a minister—5 minutes, and

(b) motion to take note debate—individual speakers, 5 minutes; overall limit, 30 minutes.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will be opposing this motion. We have provided the incoming government briefs requested by this OPD. All governments have the right to redact documents as appropriate.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 267, standing in the name of Senator Dean Smith, be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Dean Smith, I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, by no later than midday on 2 December 2025, all documents in the possession of the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, or their offices or departments, related to a hospital or other healthcare facility in Yanchep, Western Australia.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will be opposing this motion. Minister Butler's office has offered Senator Smith a briefing on this issue. The scope of this OPD is so large that it amounts to nothing more than a fishing expedition. Minister Butler's office has encouraged Senator Smith to narrow the scope of the order.

The number of OPDs has doubled since the 2022 election, and the scope of these requests has also expanded significantly. The Senate has agreed to an average of four OPDs per sitting day in the 48th Parliament, which is double the average of two per sitting day in the 47th Parliament and almost four times the average in the last term of the coalition government. On 27 August 2025, the Senate agreed to 14 OPDs in a single day.

Sue Lines

The question is that general notice of motion No. 266 standing in the name of Senator Dean Smith and moved by Senator Askew be agreed to.

Fatima Payman

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Minister representing the Minister for Communications (the minister) has failed to comply with order for the production of documents no. 37, agreed to on 28 July 2025, relating to the development of legislative instruments for the social media ban,

(ii) in a letter relating to a subsequent order requiring the tabling of an explanation of the basis for the minister's public interest immunity claim, the minister advised that no further information is available regarding the claim, and

(iii) no further information has been provided since the minister attended the Senate on 5 November 2025 to provide an explanation; and

(b) requires the minister to attend the Senate on 26 November 2025, at the conclusion of question time, to provide an explanation of no more than 5 minutes of the failure to comply with the order, and that:

(i) any senator may move to take note of the explanation, and

(ii) any such motion may be debated for no longer than 20 minutes and shall have precedence over all business until determined, and senators may speak to the motion for not more than 5 minutes each.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The government will be opposing this motion. The government has provided documents to Senator Payman and has offered a briefing which I understand has not been accepted.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 264 standing in the name of Senator Payman be agreed to.

Fatima Payman

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the Minister representing the Minister for Housing has failed to comply with order for the production of documents no. 208, agreed to on 3 November 2025, relating to the Australian Government 5% deposit scheme; and

(b) requires the Minister representing the Minister for Housing to comply with the order by no later than midday on 1 December 2025.

Jess Walsh

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jess Walsh

The extremely broad scope of this order means that a substantial number of documents must be reviewed to consider whether they may be in scope. The scope of the order includes all ministerial submissions, records of conversations, letters, briefing notes, meeting agendas, file notes, meeting invitations, meeting notes, meeting minutes, emails, instant messages and electronic messages across both Housing Australia and the Treasury. These documents need to go through the proper and usual processes, and I expect that the minister will respond to the order in due course, along with the remainder of the record high number of orders in this portfolio.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 262, standing in the name of Senator Payman, be agreed to.

Dorinda Cox

The question before the chair is that amendments (1), (2), (4) and (6) be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question is that the remainder of the motion as moved by Senator Wong be agreed to.