Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate not meet on Friday, 20 June 2008.

The predominant reason for this motion is that the opposition have referred 11 bills, which we would have expected to deal with during this sitting fortnight, to committees that will report in September. We would have been able to deal with them on Friday, and we would have needed those hours. When we first looked at the sitting timetable and examined the hours of work that we would require, we determined that it would require a Friday sitting. However, the opposition, in their disregard for the Senate being able to deal with budget bills prior to 1 July, referred bills to committees that will report in August and September. We will not now need the Friday this week to sit. However, I can add that the opposition have committed to only three bills being dealt with on Friday by committees to be reporting next week. I can say that we will be able to deal with those in the ensuing week. That will of course put pressure on the Senate to be able to deal with those bills next week. I am confident that the Senate will be able to adequately manage, given the hours of sitting next week.