House debates

Wednesday, 2 September 2020

Statements on Indulgence

COVID-19: Parliamentary Procedure

7:29 pm

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

Before I call on the adjournment, I'm just going to call on the Manager of Opposition Business, on indulgence, dealing with some important procedural matters with respect to the remote parliament.

7:30 pm

Photo of Mr Tony BurkeMr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | | Hansard source

on indulgence—Mr Speaker, as we've been doing for the remote parliament, those crossbenchers who can't be here during this time have texted through at different points which way they would have voted. We've had so many divisions today that, rather than pop up every time, I thought I'd do it now.

For the Australia Post division that took place, the member for Clark indicated that he wanted to note his vote was the same way as the opposition. For all the suspensions of standing orders—I'm not sure how many there were—and the various votes associated with them, the member for Melbourne asked that it be recorded that his vote would have been with the opposition on those occasions.

Photo of Tony SmithTony Smith (Speaker) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the Manager of Opposition Business. That's saved a lot of time, compared to him having to do it on each vote.