Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, join this Thursday afternoon general business debate. I have always thought that this period of the parliament, at the end of the week, is a real dead rubber period. It is not broadcast. No vote is ever taken on this. No divisions are ever allowed, according to standards orders. We know that out there—outside this chamber—there is a dash for the airport going on at this very moment.

Having been a whip in the past I know how hard it is to get people to speak in the afternoon of a Thursday. This period is a real indulgence of the opposition and the minor parties. I notice that even they do not take much advantage of it because most of the motions are Senator Carr’s. They always give Senator Carr a big say on Thursday afternoons because, I guess, he never wants to go home to his own state of Victoria; he is so notoriously known in his state.

Senator Lundy is always here on a Thursday afternoon. She will speak on anything, let alone move her own motions. I should say that while this is an opportunity for the opposition to move motions, debate and speak, I notice that the real heavy hitters—like Senator Conroy, Senator Ludwig and the like—are never here to debate anything on a Thursday afternoon.

So it is very much a dead rubber. But could it be any deader than today? Could a Thursday’s general business be any deader than today’s? This is one of the weakest speaking lists—