Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to speak later. I was going to speak later but because the debate had started I thought I would finish it all now and get it out of the way.

Leave granted.

I thank the Senate. Just briefly, even though this motion does relate to the lunch—and I have not decided whether I will go or not, not that anyone will particularly care—I do think that, following on from other comments, it has been the Democrat view, repeatedly stated, that the Great Hall is a better place for addresses by visiting foreign leaders. But I should note that the message that is going to appear from the House of Representatives does conform with recommendations and, indeed, a resolution adopted by the Senate and I think by the House of Representatives after the last occasions where we had visiting dignitaries speaking. So it has at least been an advance in that the government is listening to the recommendations and resolutions put forward regarding these sorts of addresses.

It is still something that obviously changes a bit as we go along because Mr Blair is not a head of state, of course. Indeed, I think we have a head of state in the country at the time who is not coming to address us here. But that is a separate matter. I certainly have always preferred the Great Hall to the House of Representatives, but at least the structure of it this time is by way of invitation rather than some so-called joint sitting of dubious constitutionality. So at least it is a step forward, although I still would suggest that the Great Hall is more appropriate and that we do have some codified set of procedures for these sorts of things.