Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker McClelland, thank you for giving me the call. I hope this does not get me into too much strife, but I want to make four points very quickly. Firstly, I want pay homage to this building on the 25th anniversary of its opening. I think it has been one of the great buildings of Australia. It is not the members' and senators' building; it is the building of the people of Australia. Serendipitously, Mr Deputy Speaker, you are in the chair. I announce to the public that you and I will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of this building with a commemorative photo being taken of us in front of the foundation stone. As former Prime Minister Hawke has often told me, he took great delight in the fact that he laid the stone and that this was witnessed by Senate President McClelland and Speaker Jenkins. And I can think of no more fitting way that you and I can celebrate this great building than by doing that in the next sitting fortnight.

The second thing I wish to do is congratulate all members of all the parliamentary departments for their professionalism—that is, the Department of the House of Representatives, the Department of the Senate, the Department of Parliamentary Services and the embryonic Parliamentary Budget Office. These are examples of great professionalism from a Parliamentary Service that sets an example throughout the world.

The third thing I wish to do is emphasise the work of the new House of Representatives Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration, which I think be one of the great highlights of this period of parliament. I hope that it continues. I hope that people see the great virtue of having such a committee of members of the House that can assist in the formulation of proper estimates and proper budgets for the House. This year the committee has indicated that the House was successful. There were a number of bids made for a total of $2.177 million. New bids were allocated $1.966 million. There was a deduction across the board of 15 per cent throughout the service. I think that these things are important. I urge people to take note of the work of the committee and make sure its effectiveness is maximised.

The last thing I wish to do in this short contribution is urge members of this place to continue to look at ways in which we can modernise the way we go about our business. The Federation Chamber, a chamber which debates many issues at the same time as the main chamber, is an important example of the way we can improve the opportunities given to members to be involved in debates and discussions about policy matters and bills. The Federation Chamber has been mimicked by Westminster, and I think that is important. I also urge that we do our work in consideration of the fact that we are one parliament but two houses. We often have jokes, sniggers and smirks about our colleagues in the Senate. The thing I have learnt is that they have a culture and we have a culture but together we are the one Australian parliament, and I think that is the way we should go forward.

In this period of minority government, where the strength of the House of Representatives committee system has been seen at its best, there has been a developing cooperation between Senate committees and House of Representatives committees so that we do not engage with the public in a way that would waste the community's time and we do not unnecessarily duplicate committee deliberations. Committees use the work of other committees, whether they be House of Representatives committees or Senate committees, to assist them, and I think this assists us.

In the mutual things that are under the control of the Department of Parliamentary Services, I think we should move forward and do even better and seek more efficiencies. To say that we are a parliament in the Westminster tradition is correct, but, in the provision of services, we would not want to be Westminster. At Westminster, a pipe down in the basement can suddenly go from being under the control of the House of Commons to being under the control of the House of Lords. There are very few examples of cooperative effort in Westminster. I believe that we can show the way if we look at this place as being controlled by the one parliament but used by the two houses. I hope that those who go after me and you, Mr Deputy Speaker, as we leave this place will see that there is no need to have these conflicts between the two separate chambers and that we can be cooperative. I think we can be cooperative if we understand that we are one parliament but two houses. I thank the Federation chamber.

Question agreed to.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.