Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

The President has received the following letter from Senator Siewert:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

The Abbott government's failure to commit to the intake of an additional 20,000 refugees from Syria, despite escalating conflict and all-time high levels of human displacement.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today's debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.