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

by leave—I move:

That––

(1)

On Thursday, 24 March 2011:

(a)

the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to 6.30 pm, and 7.30 pm to adjournment;

(b)

consideration of general business and consideration of committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports under standing order 62(1) and (2) shall not be proceeded with;

(c)

immediately after motions to take  note of answers today, the routine of business for the remainder of the day shall be as follows:

(i)

tabling and consideration of a report of the Selection of Bills Committee,

(ii)

tabling of Clerk’s documents,

(iii)

committee memberships,

(iv)

government business order of the day no. 3––National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures—Access Arrangements) Bill 2011,

(v)

government business order of the day no. 7––Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011, and

(vi)

government business order of the day no. 8––Issues from the Advances under the annual Appropriations Acts;

(d)

divisions may take place after 4.30 pm;

(e)

the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed after the Senate has finally considered the bills listed in paragraph (c); and

(f)

if the Senate is sitting at 10 pm, the sitting of the Senate be suspended till 9 am on Friday, 25 March 2011.

I wish to take the Senate through the motion so that there is clarity. What the motion seeks to do is amend the hours for today so that we sit from 9:30 to 6:30 pm, then have an hour for dinner and then resume at 7.30 pm and continue until adjournment. We will continue to consider general business and committee reports. In addition to that, immediately after the motions to take note of answers today—so there will be question time and then the motions to take note of answers—the routine of business for the remainder of the day will be as laid out in the motion. It will include the tabling and consideration of reports—in other words, the bibs and bobs that the Senate would normally undertake and the tabling of the Clerk’s documents, as I understand that it is important to do that.

Then there will be government business order of the day No. 3, the National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures—Access Arrangements) Bill 2011. Then we will move to government business order of the day No. 7, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011. Then we will move to government business order of the day No. 8, issues from the advances under the annual appropriations acts. That will be collectively called ‘the appropriations bills’. Divisions may take place after 4.30 pm. In addition to that, the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed after the Senate has finally considered the bills listed in paragraph (c) of the revised motion that I have just moved.

In addition to that, if the Senate is still sitting at 10 pm this evening, the sitting of the Senate will be suspended until 9 am on Friday. I have also been asked to include that if it were to continue substantively into the remainder of Friday then, by agreement, we would suspend for one hour for lunch and one hour for a dinner break. We would then suspend at 10 pm on the Friday and resume on the following day, which would be the Saturday, at 9 am, and continue on that same program until those bills are completed—if that is clear.

I will provide some explanation for this unusual circumstance. The revised hours are because, if the NBN bills are not passed today, it is a minimum of seven weeks before they can be passed, which would—