Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Let me read the proposed amendment to standing order 132. It says:

(a) If confusion, or error concerning the numbers reported by the tellers, occurs and cannot be corrected, the House shall divide again.

(b) If a division has miscarried through misadventure caused by a Member being accidentally absent or some similar incident, any Member may move on the same sitting day, without notice—

The reason that this is being pushed forward today without agreement, when he is unwilling to deal with the issues that were put forward in the joint letter from the opposition and the crossbench, is simple: the Leader of the House had a humiliation last Thursday and he is determined to be able to promise the Prime Minister that it will never happen again. What he is trying to do in this motion and the motion we will deal with next is change the rules to cover the fact that the members of his own side cannot be guaranteed to be here when votes are taking place.

See this speech in context