Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Gippsland, having done some research, consulted with the clerks, had a motion drafted, put it on the Notice Paper and no doubt lobbied the member for Leichhardt hard to have his matter put before the House. We know many members put motions on the Notice Paper and, despite the additional private members' time we have available to us, still there is some competition. We cannot possibly deal with all of the motions in the House. The member for Gippsland obviously lobbied members of the opposition—those who sit on the Selection Committee—hard to have his motion debated in the House. We have done that. Rather extraordinarily, opposition members on the Selection Committee decided that this was a matter that should be voted upon. That surprised me, because I thought it was a bit like putting Christmas to a vote. I do not think anyone in this House would find the motion objectionable—

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