Report

Senator SHELDON (New South Wales—Chief Government Whip in the Senate) (11:14): I present the fourth report of 2025 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. 4 OF 2025

31 July 2025

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Senator Tony Sheldon (Government Whip, Chair) Senator Wendy Askew (Opposition Whip)

Senator Pauline Hanson (Pauline Hanson's One Nation Whip) Senator Nick McKim (Australian Greens Whip)

Senator Ralph Babet Senator Leah Blyth

Senator the Hon. Anthony Chisholm Senator Jessica Collins

Senator the Hon. Katy Gallagher Senator Susan McDonald Senator Fatima Payman

Senator David Pocock

Secretary: Tim Bryant 02 6277 3020

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

REPORT NO. 4 OF 2025

1. The committee met in private session on Wednesday, 30 July 2025 at 7.18pm.

2. The committee recommends that—

(a) the provisions of the Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025 and the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 be referred immediately to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 21 August 2025 (see appendix 1 for statements of reasons for referral);

(b) the provisions of the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 be referred immediately to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 21 August 2025; and

(c) the provisions of the Pacific Banking Guarantee Bill 2025 be referred immediately to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 21 August 2025 (see appendix 2 for statements of reasons for referral).

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

Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025

Customs Amendment (Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2025

Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2025

Great Australian Bight (World Heritage Protection) Bill 2025

National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025.

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

Australian Education Legislation Amendment (Prohibiting the Indoctrination of Children) Bill 2020

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025

Broadcasting Services Amendment (Audio Description) Bill 2019

Constitution Alteration (Right to Free Speech) 2025

Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023

Crimes Amendment (Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2025

Customs Legislation Amendment (Commercial Greyhound Export and Import Prohibition) Bill 2021

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Communications) Bill 2025

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Fair Territory Representation) Bill 2024

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Fairer Contracts and Grants) Bill 2023

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Lowering the Voting Age) Bill 2023

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Climate Trigger) Bill 2022

Fair Work Amendment (Paid Reproductive Health Leave and Flexible Work Arrangements) Bill 2025

Higher Education Support Amendment (End Dirty University Partnerships) Bill 2025

Housing Investment Probity Bill 2024

Interactive Gambling Amendment (Ban Gambling Ads) Bill 2024

Landholders' Right to Refuse (Gas and Coal) Bill 2015

Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) Bill 2025

National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024

Parliamentary Joint Committee on Public Consultancy and Services Contracts Bill 2025

Right to Protest Bill 2025

Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Amendment (Frontline Emergency Service Workers) Bill 2025

Treasury Laws Amendment (Payments System Modernisation) Bill 2025.

5. The committee considered the following bills but was unable to reach agreement:

Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025

Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025.

(Tony Sheldon)

Chair 31 July 2025

Appendix 1

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Aged Care (Accommodation Payment Security) Levy Amendment Bill 2025

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To scrutinise this legislation

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Community Affairs Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

August

Possible reporting date:

21 August 2025

(signed)

Senator Wendy Askew

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

To scrutinise this legislation

Possible submissions or evidence from:

Interested parties and stakeholders

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Community Affairs Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

August

Possible reporting date:

21 August 2025

(signed)

Senator Wendy Askew

Appendix 2

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Pacific Banking Guarantee Bill 2025

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

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):

August

Possible reporting date:

21 August 2025

(signed)

Senator Wendy Askew

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

Proposal to refer a bill to a committee

Name of bill:

Pacific Banking Guarantee Bill 2025

Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:

to provide relevant stakeholders with an opportunity to provide feedback on the Bill.

Possible submissions or evidence from:

South Pacific and Australian banks.

Committee to which bill is to be referred:

Economics Legislation Committee

Possible hearing date(s):

hearing on the papers

Possible reporting date:

21 August 2025

(signed)

Senator Nick McKim

Senator SHELDON: I move:

That the report be adopted.

Senator WALSH (Victoria—Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth) (11:14): I move:

At the end of the motion, add: "and the following bills not be referred to a committee:

(a) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025;

(b) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025

(c) Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025; and

(d) Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025.

Senator SHOEBRIDGE (New South Wales) (11:15): At the request of Senator McKim, I move the following amendment to Labor's amendment in the terms circulated in the chamber:

At the end of the motion, add: "and, in respect of:

(a) the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025, the provisions of the bill be referred immediately to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by

28 October 2025; and

(b) the Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025, the provisions of the bill be referred immediately to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 28 October 2025".

The amendment that we are moving provides that the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025 be referred immediately to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 28 October. We're also seeking that the Orwellian named Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025 not go to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the Labor-coalition stitch-up, but instead go to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. We'd really like to take at least one of those secret security bills out of that dark, smoke-filled room of the war parties and instead put it to a public inquiry—particularly this bill, which is proposing to give the PJCIS even more powers for their secret review of intelligence.

But I really want to dwell on the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025. You can't make some stuff up in politics, but what about this? In the last parliament, we saw Labor coming up with a million reasons they couldn't do anything on public housing. They couldn't help people out on rents, they couldn't build public housing, and they kept saying it was all the Greens' fault for not supporting their crap bills. Then, in this parliament, they start with a public housing bill. Well done, Labor! You bring a public housing bill into the chamber. You push it through the lower house. And do you know what public housing they're building? They're building public housing for US troops under AUKUS. That's their public housing bill.

Right now, they want to build 700 public housing units over in WA—not for Australians who haven't got a place to live and not for renters who can't afford to buy a home. They're building public housing for US troops because Uncle Donald asked them to. Surely they read this bill, didn't they? Didn't somebody in the Labor caucus say, 'Our first public housing bill in the new parliament can't be to build housing for US troops under AUKUS'? Surely someone did a reality check. But no. That's their bill. And do you know what? They can't even say how many hundreds of millions of public dollars will be used to build public housing for US troops under the bill.

Even the coalition were asking some questions about it. The coalition normally wave through anything to do with AUKUS. If it's anything to do with the US alliance, they'll wave it through. But even the coalition downstairs asked some little, quiet, tentative questions like: 'Please, sir, can you tell us how much money we're going to be paying to build the US troops public housing? Please, minister, you haven't explained in the bill how much this is going to cost; is it going to come from the Defence budget or some other budget?' When the coalition got no answers, they crawled back into their shell and went quiet on it. And that's so typical of this non-opposition opposition—

The PRESIDENT: Senator Scarr?

Senator Scarr: A point of order on the language being used by Senator Shoebridge—Senator Shoebridge can do better than using language like 'crawl'. Yesterday, we had 'crunch' from the other side.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Scarr. That's quite enough on your point of order. It's not unparliamentary language, but I would suggest that all senators and Senator Shoebridge can do better.

Senator SHOEBRIDGE: Thank you, President. Maybe the problem is the 'Uncle Donald' reference. Maybe it's that the coalition and Labor are embarrassed about the fact that they're teaming up today to help the Senate ram through legislation to build public housing for US troops under AUKUS. It is a bloody disgrace.

The PRESIDENT: Senator Shoebridge—

Senator SHOEBRIDGE: I withdraw that.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you.

Senator SHOEBRIDGE: There are already 2½ thousand US marines cycling in and out of Darwin. Are we building housing for the 2½ thousand marines cycling in and out of Darwin? There are already plans to put 700 US troops into the surrounds of Garden Island, off Fremantle, with all their families. How many houses are we building for US troops in Fremantle under this bill? There's already a housing crisis over there.

We say to both the coalition and Labor: if you're going to do another stitch-up on AUKUS, at least have the guts to do it in public. At least have the guts to take this bill to an inquiry so we can find out how many hundreds of millions in Australian taxpayers' dollars are going towards building housing for US troops under the plan from the war parties, Labor and the coalition. AUKUS is already bleeding us dry, with billions of dollars going to Donald Trump and billions more going to Rolls-Royce in the UK. And now, in the first housing bill that Labor brings into this new parliament, they decide to put an unknown number of millions of dollars into building houses—not for people in Australia who can't afford them, but for Labor's mates in the US and for US troops. It's a disgrace. Send it to inquiry.

The PRESIDENT: The question is that the Greens amendment as moved by Senator Shoebridge, and standing in the name of Senator McKim, to the amendment moved by Senator Walsh be agreed to.