Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House is overseas on government business, so for today and probably tomorrow I will act on his behalf. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will be Acting Deputy Leader of the House.

As members know, the House continues to sit today awaiting the receipt of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009 [No. 2] and related legislation from the Senate. As is often the case at this time of the year, we are—some would say regrettably—in the hands of the Senate, but we will patiently wait until we see the legislation emerge from the Senate. I advise members—and I have had a conversation with the Manager of Opposition Business about these matters—that, whilst the blue lists us as sitting until five o’clock this evening, it is possible that we may sit as late as seven o’clock but not later than seven o’clock. I will keep the House informed about this in the course of the day. In the meantime, whilst we patiently await the CPRS outcome from the Senate—which, of course, is very important to the government and the nation—we will deal with government legislation as listed.

It has been agreed between the Manager of Opposition Business and me—and I hope it is agreeable to the Independent members whom, regrettably, I have not had the chance to consult—that we will have an unofficial break for lunch from 12.30 to 2 pm. By this I mean that there is an agreement that neither quorums nor divisions will be called between 12.30 and 2 pm, which will enable members to have an agreeable lunchbreak if that is their desire.

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