Year in Brief – 2015

2015-12-14

Laws Passed
Increasing the threshold for unfair contract terms for small business 9/14/15  | Introducing a register of foreign ownership of water licenses 11/23/15  | Introducing transparency requirements for large private companies and strengening multinational tax avoidance measures 12/3/15  |
Questions without Notice
Trade - TPP  3/5/15  | Trade - TPP 3/18/15  | Trade - TPP 6/18/15  | Trade - TPP 6/25/15  | Competition Policy - Effects Test 8/20/15  | Trade - ChAFTA 9/10/15  | Trade - ChAFTA 9/17/15  | Trade - ISDS10/15/15  | Trade - TPP11/11/15  | Whaling11/30/15  |
Successful Motions
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement 3/26/15  | Protection of cetaceans 5/14/15  | Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service—Funding 6/18/15  | Grass-fed cattle levies 8/19/15  | Food labelling standards—Seafood (with Senators Xenophon, Sterle, Madigan, Lambie, Lazarus and Wang) 8/19/15  | Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (with Senators Xenophon, Lazarus, and Muir) 10/13/15  | Japan–Whaling activity (with Senator Wang) 12/2/15  |
Adjournment Speeches
Centenary of Anzac 3/25/15  | Lapoinya 8/19/15  | Marine Environment 9/8/15  | Shark Culling 8/18/15  | Tasmania: Fish Farming 3/2/15  | Tasmania: Gunns Ltd 3/16/15  | Defence Procurement 11/26/15  | Small Business (including penalty rates) 11/11/15  |
Inquiries
Food Standards Amendment (Fish Labelling) Bill 2015  | The Commonwealth's treaty-making process  | Regulation of the fin-fish aquaculture industry in Tasmania ChAFTA  | Credit card interest rates  | Scrutiny of financial advice  | Forestry managed investment schemes  | Foreign Investment Review framework  | Australian grape and wine industry  | Mental health of ADF serving personnel  | Corporate tax avoidance  | Cooperative, mutual and member-owned firms  | Marine Plastics  | Supertrawlers  | Joint Strike Fighter  | Regional capitals  | Infrastructure  | White-collar crime  |
Media Highlights
Japan–Whaling activity (with Senator Wang) 12/2/15  | The mercury - Hunt on for rogue fishers in Australian Antarctic waters as Interpol, Sea Shepherd join search 1/16/15  | Fairfax - Weapons companies use Australian War Memorial in Canberra for celebrations 2/26/15  | Lateline - TPP Debate: Alan Oxley and Peter Whish-Wilson 3/31/15  | ABC - Senate inquiry to look at defence mental health in wake of Williamtown suicides 4/2/15  | AFR - John Fraser, Dennis Richardson play dead bats on politics (senate estimates) 6/3/15  | Fairfax - Greens push for royal commission into finance scandals 6/24/15  | News Ltd - ATM fees: Senate to put banks’ dodgiest fee under microscope 6/24/15  | Fairfax - Meet the new Greens economics team preparing to shake up Australian politics 6/26/15  | Saturday Paper - WikiLeaks Exclusive: Secret core text from Trade in Services Agreement negotiations 7/1/15  | The Mercury - Editorial: Fish focus a welcome development (salmon farming inquiry) 7/20/15  | ABC - Misconduct alleged at Senate inquiry into forestry investment schemes (MIS inquiry) 8/6/15  | AFR - Saul Eslake says Abbott government could borrow $50b to boost jobs (infrastructure inquiry) 8/14/15  | Fairfax - Greens are fighting for the small business without a voice (effets test) 9/4/15  | The Guardian - Australia's treaty-making process is broken: The China free trade deal is a case in point 9/11/15  | The New Daily - Turnbull must get the economic numbers right (Whish-Wilson triggers the demis of Abbott, apparently, but don't believe everything you read on the internet!) 9/15/15  | The Examiner - University presents case for city campus (regional capitals inquiry) 9/25/15  | The Australian - Seafood labelling petition handed to govt 10/15/15  | ABC PM - Government and Greens strike deal on foreign investment rules 11/23/15  | Fairfax - CBA's $80 million compensation claim should come with penalties (white-collar crime inquiry) 11/26/15  | Fairfax - Push for inquiry into Australia's $24 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter purchase 11/27/15  | SBS - Australia criticises Japan's whaling resumption 11/28/15  |