Parliament House : News from the Hill

Every second counts - fighting the food allergy epidemic


As the number of children suffering life-threatening food allergies continues to increase, federal MPs are looking for ways to help protect anaphylactic children while in the care of school, preschools and day care.


This episode of About the House TV first screened in March 2007.


To view this six minute program segment and to read more this issue in the PDF version of the accompanying About the House magazine article, visit the ATH web page

The House of Representatives Health Committee will hear from representatives of the advertising industry at a public hearing in Brisbane on Wednesday 1 October.


For more details, including the public hearing program, visit the House News page on the APH website.

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 24 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. A Question Time extract of Hansard (the transcript of proceedings) is also available from the page.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 23 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. A Question Time extract of Hansard (the transcript of proceedings) is also available from the page.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

The parliamentary Human Right Sub-Committee is set to examine international and regional human rights mechanisms and models for the Asia-Pacific in its new inquiry.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation will hold the final public hearing for its inquiry into research training and research workforce issues at Parliament House on Wednesday (24 September).

This week in the House - a summary of expected business in the House of Representatives for the week beginning 22 September - is now available from our website.

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 18 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. A Question Time extract of Hansard (the transcript of proceedings) is also available from the page.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

Federal parliament’s Treaties Committee has released a report recommending against ratifying an agreement with the Russian Federation on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes until Russia meets certain conditions to guard against use of this uranium in weapons. If this agreement proceeds, it will, for the first time, allow Australia to provide uranium for use in Russia ’s nuclear power plants.

The House of Representatives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Committee will hear at its next public hearing in Canberra from two very different parts of the world about how local networking is the foundation to build sustainable Indigenous businesses, and how global networking can open up big business opportunities at the local level.

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 17 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


This version of Question Time includes the swearing in of the new Member for Lyne, Mr Robert Oakeshott.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. A Question Time extract of Hansard (the transcript of proceedings) is also available from the page.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

Interviews with participants at a Parliament House architecture roundtable for 20th anniversary of the building

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 16 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats. A Question Time extract of Hansard (the transcript of proceedings) is also available from the page.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

The September 2008 issue of the About the House magazine is available from our website in PDF format.


About the House is a free colour feature magazine produced up to five times a year by the Liaison and Projects Office of the House of Representatives. It covers the varied work of Members of the House, especially Committee investigations. The magazine is available through the offices of every Member of the House of Representatives, or can be ordered directly through the Liaison and Projects Office (telephone: freecall 1800 139 299, email: liaison.reps@aph.gov.au).

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 15 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

Australia’s Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be the major topic for discussion on 12 September when Parliament's Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee conducts its first public hearing as part of its inquiry into Australia’s relationship with ASEAN.


Announcing the public hearing, Sub-Committee Chairman Michael Danby said the committee is keen to be advised of details of the FTA with ASEAN when the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade appears before it in Canberra on Friday.


Members of the public and the media are welcome to attend the public hearing in Committee Room 1R1, Parliament House in Canberra.


Full details, including the public hearing program and links to the Inquiry website are available from the About the House news page.

The Federal Parliament’s Treaties Committee has released a report supporting amendments to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora subject to a number of recommendations.


The Convention, known as CITES, provides for international cooperation to protect and conserve species of fauna and flora from over-exploitation due to international trade.


The Committee has recommended that the Australian Government continue to monitor and assess the impact of trade in this species, which is considered critically endangered internationally. It has also made several recommendations concerning the policies and procedures associated with the protection of the species under Australian domestic law.


For more information, visit the About the House news page

The House of Representatives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Committee will hold a second public hearing in Western Australia on 12 September as part of its inquiry into developing Indigenous enterprises.


The hearing will be held from 9.00 am to 12.30 pm, in Room 230, Centre of Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley WA.


Members of the public and media are welcome to attend the public hearing.


More details, including a full program are available from the About the House website

The Migration Committee will be holding a public hearing in Melbourne on Thursday 11 September as part of a newly defined direction for its inquiry into immigration detention.


In Melbourne, the Committee will be hearing from a range of witnesses including the Australian Red Cross, the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, the Justice Project and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.


They will also be visiting Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre, Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation, and the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre in West Melbourne.


Members of the public and media are welcome to attend the public hearing.


Full details of the public hearing and links to the inquiry home page are available from our About the House web page.

The ParlReplay of Question Time of 4 September 2008 is now available in streaming video from the About the House website.


The video is available as in Flash format, in both high and low resolution formats.


This video content will be available from the site for approximately two weeks.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Harry Jenkins has announced the launch of a new website featuring the work of the House of Representatives and its committees.


About the House, the House of Representatives news and features website, is available at: www.aph.gov.au/ath


This website includes a range of video news items from parliamentary committee investigations, replays of recent Question Times, House highlights such as the Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples, plus a documentary on the people who built Parliament House 20 years ago.


Subscribers to this RSS feed will be alerted when new content is added to the site, including the daily upload of the Question Time replay.

The Speaker, Mr Harry Jenkins, has announced his intention to issue a writ on Monday, 4 August 2008 for the election of a Member to serve for the Electoral Division of Lyne and Member to serve for the Electoral Division of Mayo to fill the vacancies caused by the resignations of the Hon mark Vaile and the Hon Alexander Downer.

The House Economics Committee announced the next public hearing with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia will be in Melbourne on Monday 8 September during the release of its report into the previous hearing.

The Speaker, Mr Harry Jenkins, has announced his intention to issue a writ on Monday, 19 May 2008 for the election of a Member to serve for the Electoral Division of Gippsland to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of the Hon Peter McGauran. The by-election will be held on Saturday, 28 June 2008.

The House of Representatives Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts Committee is to conduct an inquiry into climate change and environmental impacts on Australian coastal communities.

The House Health Committee is to conduct a new inquiry into obesity in Australia.

In September 1987 the House of Representatives established a system of general purpose standing committees to inquire and report upon activity undertaken by the Commonwealth Government. Together with the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, the committee system provided the House with the ability to scrutinise the entire range of government activity. On 15 February 2008 the Speaker of the House hosted a seminar to mark twenty years of operation of the House committee system.