Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the remarks of the chair with respect to availability for hearings this week and last week. I indicate that my own legislative schedule is very heavy. On today’s Notice Paper, for instance, I have six bills, and that is the way it is for me every day of the week, so I cannot attend the hearing. We all know it is an election period. Of course, if it were a government bill that was urgent and had to be passed this week, the committee report might have had to have been brought down. But this is not a bill which will carry urgency; it is not a bill which will be considered during this sitting, so it is preferable, if the bill is to be properly examined, that it be examined when there is time and the personnel available to examine it. Frankly, it has happened in the past that committee inquiries have happened without hearings. My own memory is that in the last 12 months probably two or three economics bills alone have been dealt with on that basis. In this case, a hearing was desired and will be accommodated. It just will not be accommodated this week or in the forthcoming weeks. I want to support the chair with those remarks.

Question agreed to.