Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That leave of absence be given to every member of the House of Representatives from the determination of this sitting of the House to the date of its next sitting.

Question agreed to.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—Just in recognition of the unusual times that we're in and the fact that, to hold this sitting here today across this chamber, 47 of our colleagues—on this side and on the opposition benches—aren't here, as they've been paired. I'd like to just acknowledge their names for the record: the member for Bennelong, the member for McPherson, the member for Moncrieff, the member for Monash, the member for Wright, the member for Dawson, the member for Stirling, the member for Cowper, the member for Banks, the member for Dickson, the member for Leichhardt, the member for Brisbane, the member for Lyne, the member for Moore, the member for Curtin, the member for La Trobe, the member for Canning, the member for Mitchell, the member for Page, the member for Petrie, the member for Swan, the member for New England, the member for Hughes, the member for Bowman, the member for Chisholm, the member for Capricornia, the member for Maranoa, the member for Forrest, the member for Groom, the member for Hume, the member for Fairfax, the member for Flynn, the member for Barker, the member for Braddon, the member for Hinkler, the member for Durack, the member for Grey, the member for Ryan, the member for Sturt, the member for Herbert, the member for Bonner, the member for Fisher, the member for Mallee, the member for Robertson, the member for O'Connor, the member for Hasluck and the member for Longman.

I would like to thank the House and thank all the members for their assistance in being prepared to not be here to assist the House to hold these sittings today and to pass this very important legislation.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I, too, would like to name all the members who are not here today from the opposition. Their nonattendance has allowed us to be here to pass necessary legislation to help in relation to the coronavirus. The opposition agreed to pair 47 government members, and, because of that, many of my colleagues were not able to be here today. As a matter of fact, as a consequence, only 21 Labor members are here in the chamber. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who showed their cooperation in allowing us to have our sitting today with the necessary social distancing that applies.

I would like to thank Ms Aly, the member for Cowan; Mr Burns, the member for Macnamara; Ms Butler, the member for Griffith; Mr Byrne, the member for Holt; Mr Champion, the member for Spence; Ms Chester, the member for Bendigo; Ms Coker, the member for Corangamite; Mr Conroy, the member for Shortland; Mr Dick, the member for Oxley; Mr Dreyfus, the member for Isaacs; Ms Elliot, the member for Richmond; Mr Fitzgibbon, the member for Hunter; Mr Georganas, the member for Adelaide; Mr Giles, the member for Scullin; Mr Gorman, the member for Perth; Mr Hill, the member for Bruce; Ms Kearney, the member for Cooper—and I also pause to acknowledge the tragic death in their family and pay my respects to her and her partner, Leigh Hubbard; Mr Kelly, the member for Eden-Monaro; Mr Keogh, the member for Burt; Mr Khalil, the member for Wills; Mr Mitchell, the member for Lyons; Dr Mulino, the member for Fraser; Ms Murphy, the member for Dunkley; Mr Neumann, the member for Blair; Ms O'Neil, the member for Hotham; Ms Owens, the member for Parramatta; Ms Payne, the member for Canberra; Mr Perrett, the member for Moreton; Mrs Phillips, the member for Gilmore; Ms Rishworth, the member for Kingston; Ms Rowland, the member for Greenway; Mr Snowdon, the member for Lingiari; Ms Swanson, the member for Paterson; Ms Templeman, the member for Macquarie; Mr Thistlethwaite, the member for Kingsford Smith; Ms Thwaites, the member for Jagajaga; Ms Vamvakinou, the member for Calwell; Mr Watts, the member for Gellibrand; Ms Wells, the member for Lilley; Mr Wilson, the member for Fremantle; and Mr Zappia, the member for Makin.

I would also like to acknowledge: we did have a reserve list of members to be in the building but not necessarily in the parliament, just in case we needed to have others to attend. So I acknowledge Ms Bird, the member for Cunningham; Dr Freelander, the member for Macarthur; Mr Husic, the member for Chifley; Mr Gosling, the member for Solomon; Ms McBride, the member for Dobell; and Mr Smith, the member for Bean. I generally thank those members for their cooperation in allowing us to sit the way we have to pass the necessary legislation to help and assist in relation to the coronavirus.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Greens on indulgence.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence, if I may—it's not in exactly the same category, but the member for Kennedy, Mr Katter, who I spoke to beforehand, has expressed that he is also staying away to facilitate a parliament that can meet with restricted numbers. I understand that the members for Mayo and Clark may have also separately corresponded and had their correspondence tabled; they are in the same position.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Chief Government Whip, the Chief Opposition Whip and the Leader of the Greens for placing the names of all of those members on the record. It is very important that those members are recognised. I know electorate offices are very, very busy, as we know here, but I thank them for the sacrifice of agreeing not to come. Looking around the chamber, it's self-evident why they couldn't all come.