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

While members are here, I have a short statement on some procedures in the House for this next fortnight. If members are able to stay that would be appreciated. As we begin this last fortnight, it's obviously been a challenging year for all concerned. The year's not over, but I do want to acknowledge the success that we've had here in the chamber so far in having a balance between the House continuing its essential democratic role and members maintaining their representative roles while still preserving, as best we can, the health and wellbeing of members and staff in the building. As you know, this has been supported by medical advice, for which I'm grateful, and I'm also grateful to all members for their contribution to this.

By its very nature, the House has been an area of significant risk as members and staff gather from every corner of the country. The risk doesn't stay constant or just attached to Parliament House, of course. Members and their staff come together here during sittings and then return to their electorates right across the country. For many members, there have been sacrifices when they've needed to stay in their electorate during sittings or when they weren't able to be in the chamber at certain times, and I want to acknowledge that the chamber has only been able to continue its work because a significant number of members, at various times, have volunteered not to be here.

As much as possible, the capacity of members to undertake their role has been accommodated, whether by constant revisions of the seating arrangements, which you're all very familiar with; by pairing which has been put in place; by the use of central lecterns on either side; and, more recently, from 24 August, by the ability to remote in by video facility. In this short period, the House has demonstrated its ability to adapt to the unusual circumstances without sacrificing either the integrity of its role and operations or the wellbeing of participants and their constituents.

Even though we can be happy with the situation, we of course can't be complacent. We must maintain the balance between enabling members to fulfil their parliamentary roles as much and as normally as possible and acknowledging the health implications of coming together as representatives of 151 electorates. I know all members would agree that the Australian people would expect the House to set an example. The advice that we've received since the onset of COVID-19 is that the very nature of Parliament House creates a greater risk than elsewhere, and as such we must continue to be particularly cautious. We must ensure the integrity of the COVID-19 arrangements that we have in place to ensure the health and wellbeing of every occupant in the building.

There are just a couple of things to note with respect to this last sitting. You will note that with the seating we have the maximum number of seats here; it's the highest we've been since February. Those seats mean that we don't have the attendants sitting. That means that the attendants will still do their job; it'll take them a little longer to come from the attendants' stations. I should say the additional seats, as the tellers have just discovered, include three seats in the advisers' boxes on each side, so we've added that to the seating plan. So that means we've got the maximum in here. The other thing I would just add, of course, is that, with the seats that have been placed, a lot of work has gone into that, so if members can not move them—not try and be helpful and move them to accommodate other members—that would be appreciated. It would just save a lot of time, because they'll be moved back straightaway.

So that's where we are, and I just wanted to update members on that. So the chamber will look a little bit different, particularly in question time today, with, as I said, the attendants coming and going but not here permanently. You can see all the seats around the back, which is the maximum number we can squeeze in. I thank the House. I just thought I'd update you on that now rather than at the start of question time.