Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought it might be helpful for members if I give a run-down of what we expect arrangements for the day to be. First of all, I put a couple of motions on the Notice Paper, which are common. But I should start with this principle: even though it is the last day of sitting for the week, it runs as a Wednesday, not as a Thursday. Some people have been asking whether they are likely to get away at 4.30 pm. I can assure them the answer is no. The resolution that we always use on the final day under both sides, whoever's in government, which is to suspend the automatic adjournment of the House and to effectively suspend the 6.30 rule, I'll be moving later in the day. But that's on the Notice Paper as well.

This morning there'll be a large number of introductions before we get to government business. At 4.15 pm today, following the MPI, we will have the first speech from the member for Dunkley. While that speech is taking place, a guillotine will arrive in the Senate, and they will start dealing with 15 bills in relatively short succession, I expect. Some of those bills will not involve amendments, some of them will. My intention, once we get back to government business, is to deal with each Senate message as it arrives, rather than bank them all up, and just try to get through them. So we'll go in and out of legislation during that time.

We are in the hands of the Senate as to how quickly all of that happens. For people who were thinking they might leave at 6.30 pm, I think that's highly unlikely, but depending on the timing of the Senate I'm not expecting a late night. Certainly, once we're at the point where we don't believe anything else is coming back that will have been amended—and, therefore, there will be no procedures required from the House—I'll advise the House, because I know that's helpful information for members who have further to travel for them to be able to have conversations with the whips. That will be the procedure here. We are obviously not in control of the Senate order of business, but anything that has been amended will have to have a process in the House to deal with it. Anything that hasn't been amended will hopefully be dealt with last by them. We'll then be able to get back to something closer to a normal Wednesday.

I hope that helps with arrangements for people.