David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I understand that we've had a period of mourning, but we've also lost an entire day of Senate business. I propose that we make that up. There are some incredibly important pieces of legislation before us, including on territory rights, which I fear may continue to drag out for the rest of the year. I think it's really important that senators have an opportunity to speak to it and that we then bring it to a vote. This is an incredibly important matter to many people living in the territories.

There is also the broader note of how much the Senate will actually consider legislation this year. By my calculation, it's 29 days. If you compare that to New Zealand, where they are sitting for 90 days this year, or Canada, where they are sitting for 120 days, I don't feel like the extra day is a huge imposition, given some of the really important legislation that's before us.