Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Hansard source

I inform the Senate that at 8.30 am this morning, Senators Gallagher and Siewert each submitted a letter in accordance with standing order 75, proposing a matter of public importance. The question of which proposal would be submitted to the Senate was determined by lot. As a result, I inform the Senate that the following letter has been received 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 brutal detention of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru, and the government's cynical effort to amend the Migration Act to bar them from ever entering Australia.

Is the proposal supported?

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

The proposal is supported. 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.