Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That business intervening before notice No. 6, government business, be postponed until a later hour this day.

Question agreed to.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent:

(1) the time and order of business for Tuesday, 11 October 2011 being as follows:

(a) the House shall meet at 9 a.m.;

(b) Government business shall have priority from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.; and

(c) during the period from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. any division on a question called for in the House, other than on a motion moved by a Minister during this period, shall stand deferred until the conclusion of the discussion of a matter of public importance; and

(2) any variation to this arrangement to be made only by a motion moved by a Minister.

I have done this at the earliest opportunity so that members can plan their day on 11 October 2011. It is open to the government on the first day of sitting to simply have the Prime Minister write to the Speaker to alter the time of sitting, but I think that would not be as convenient as notifying the House now and the House making the decision for itself. This will simply replicate the process that occurred so effectively yesterday morning in order to facilitate members' opportunity to participate in the clean energy legislation debate.

The motion I have moved would mean that the House, upon rising tomorrow, would commence at 9 am, that government business would have priority from 9 am until 2 pm and that during the period from 9 am to 2 pm any division would be deferred until after the MPI. It also provides for any variation to this arrangement to be made only on a motion moved by a minister, as is normal practice.

I note that the opposition spoke against this proposition yesterday and the Manager of Opposition Business indicates he will again today. Even when they know it is the right thing to do they cannot resist saying no. No matter what, they cannot resist saying no, even when they participate in the debate, as they did yesterday morning, and even though this is far preferable to sitting later at night, which is the other possibility. Once again, we could negate the adjournment, as we did last night. I note that the opposition's enthusiasm for debating the Parliamentary Budget Office waned after 10.30 pm. The member for Mackellar perhaps set a record for being interjected upon from her own side. The fact is this is a far preferable motion to go forward.

It is important to note that we have already had 28 hours of debate on the clean energy legislation. The member for Rankin asked me how that compares to previous debates. I indicate to the member for Rankin that the Work Choices debate went for 22 hours in total—from go to whoa—and took eight days. This legislation will have a month of discussion, proper consideration and a proper joint parliamentary committee that will report on 7 October. There have been 28 hours of debate so far and 99 speakers. The next speaker will be the hundredth, the ton, speaker on this legislation. Of those 99 speeches, 54 of them have been from the opposition because the government has been determined to ensure that every member has an opportunity to speak. We are particularly looking forward to the contribution from the member for Wentworth, who has indicated how consistent this plan is with the CPRS and other positions that have been put forward.

The fact is that we already had on 13 September one hour and 51 minutes of debate and then two hours and 40 minutes. On 14 September there were four hours and 45 minutes and then two hours. On 15 September we had one hour and 43 minutes and then one hour and 14 minutes. On 19 September we had one hour and 39 minutes and then one hour and 48 minutes. On 20 September there were four hours and 55 minutes and then two hours and 14 minutes, and so far today we have had three hours and 23 minutes. After this, we will have further contributions from both sides of the House. Certainly it is the case that there are more members wishing to speak on this debate than there is time available today or tomorrow in terms of the ability of all members to make a contribution. We look forward to people being able to participate in this debate. We know what those opposite will say.

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