Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Having the bills declared urgent bills means that, within the standing orders, we're not seeking to extend time at this stage, although we would note that yesterday, during the day when we usually get the most government time, we did not get to these bills at all. We do want to send a signal to the chamber that we are going to progress these bills and that we will progress these bills. This allows us some capacity, if needed—if we are not progressing these bills—to manage that within the standing orders. We are not seeking to gag or take away anyone's ability to speak on the bills, but we do want to send a message that we are serious about getting these bills done and this allows us some flexibility. If we were to need to move motions to progress the bills, we would have to win those motions as they were put, but it does give us some procedural flexibility for that.