Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Pairing arrangements in this chamber are, of course, informal arrangements. They are very important arrangements to ensure that the decisions in this chamber properly reflect the will of the Australian people as expressed at the previous election. They have worked very effectively for a very, very long time and, despite all of our appropriately robust engagement in the battle of ideas, senators from all parties and the crossbench have respected the important convention in relation to pairing arrangements. There have been some informal discussions in relation to pairing arrangements in the context of the current COVID induced arrangements in the Senate, with a number of senators—indeed entire parties—participating in these proceedings remotely.

In this context, what I would like to set out on behalf of the government is that the government agrees, for the ongoing operation of pairing arrangements in the Senate, that, where requested by any whip, voting instructions for any party or senator that will not otherwise be represented in the chamber during a division shall be provided by that party's whip or the senator concerned before the commencement of any division. It is indeed reasonable for voting instructions that have been received and are intended to be claimed in the context of pairing arrangements to be provided by the relevant party or senator concerned where requested. Disclosing this information ensures the transparent operation of pairing arrangements and its ongoing success moving forward and that the voting intention of any party or senator not represented in the chamber is accurately reflected by governments and oppositions. I thank the Senate.