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

On indulgence and for the benefit of honourable members: it is proposed that after question time the MPI debate will not be proceeded with. We will proceed with the introduction of the notices of motion for bills. There are 16 of those—15 with notice and one without notice. Parliament will continue to sit until such time as those bills have been introduced, but certainly it is the intention of the government to ensure that there are no votes held this afternoon because of the function for Stewart McArthur that a number of the opposition members have to attend. That is why the Medicare bill was brought forward for debate prior to question time. On behalf of the government, I pass on our best wishes to Stewie. Certainly we have attempted to cooperate in the interests of opposition members.

I also want to give members a bit of notice for next week. It is the government’s intention to ensure that all our budget bills are passed in this sitting fortnight, and it can be anticipated that the parliament will be sitting late on Tuesday night. We hope to sit late earlier in the week rather than later in the week, as people often have plans towards the end of the week. I will certainly update members as we go through. I thank all members of the House for their cooperation.