Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following:

(1) unless otherwise ordered, the House suspending at approximately 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 10 September 2024 for the purposes of undertaking a security exercise;

(2) the House resuming at the conclusion of the exercise, without the ringing of the bells;

(3) upon the Chair being resumed, the House immediately adjourning until 9 am on Wednesday, 11 September 2024;

(4) in the Federation Chamber on Thursday, 12 September 2024 the motion, 'That the Federation Chamber do now adjourn' being moved by no later than 12.30 pm, and debate on the motion continuing for no longer than 60 minutes; and

(5) any variation to this arrangement being made only on a motion moved by a Minister.

This is a very unusual suspension. For different security reasons, there are exercises that have been run around this building for as long as the building's been here, where, at different points, alarm bells ring and things like that happen. People have to leave the building, or leave different parts of it. We've done that in every part of the building, and even the Senate has done one, but we've never had an exercise of that form in the House. Tonight, for those of you who have been preparing your speeches for the adjournment debate, you're no longer on it. At 7.30 the House will suspend for a lockdown exercise and then resume at the conclusion of the exercise and adjourn immediately. The exercise covers the whole House of Representatives wing of the building, which knocks out band practice as well. They didn't tell me this when I was moving it!

It's part of the program of routine emergency exercises in Parliament House. It's the first time an exercise has been done while the House is sitting. The Senate, as I said, conducted a similar exercise last year. The timing of 7.30 was chosen to cause as little disruption as possible to the sitting day, but, for those who were scheduled for the adjournment debate tonight, this motion will also extend the adjournment debate on Thursday by 30 minutes to make up for it so that the speeches are still able to be delivered.

Question agreed to.