Mr REITH (Workplace Relations and Small Business) (3:56 PM) —Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I have two matters. The first is to say something about the House arrangements and the second matter is to table papers as is usual.

Mr Robert Brown —Put on your balaclava.

Mr SPEAKER —The honourable member will remain silent.

Mr REITH —I will start reading your speeches on the adjournment again if you are not careful.

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —I made a few remarks a while ago about silence in this House. The next person who intervenes, I suggest, will be absenting himself or herself from the chamber for a while.

Mr REITH —The arrangements are expected to be as follows. There have been discussions between the government and the Manager of Opposition Business (Mr Crean) regarding the handling of bills and government business this week and next week. There are a very significant number of bills which need to be dealt with by the House due to various time limits, scheduling and the like. What we are attempting to do—

Mr Adams interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —I ask the member for Lyons to leave the House under standing order 304A. I told you that the next person to intervene would be required to leave. The honourable member will leave the House for one hour.

The honourable member for Lyons thereupon withdrew from the chamber.

Mr REITH —We are attempting to ensure that we have reasonable opportunity for people to speak on all the matters but at the same time deal with the matters before us. To that end, whilst we do not as yet have an agreement about all the matters, I think it would be fair to say that we have in mind a general in-principle framework for this week and next week. I hope we will be able to come to an agreement about the details of that, but I can say to the House that, as part of this cooperative effort to manage the affairs of the House, it is intended that the House—

Ms Macklin interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —The member for Jagajaga will leave the House under standing order 304A for an hour.

The honourable member for Jagajaga thereupon withdrew from the chamber.

Mr REITH —On this understanding, it is therefore intended that the House will sit tomorrow night, Wednesday night, but I think I can safely say it has been agreed with the Manager of Opposition Business—and I am sure the member for Watson (Mr Leo McLeay) as well—that as we sit tomorrow night there will be no divisions or quorums so that everybody can have their opportunity to speak on the appropriation bills.

In return for that magnanimous gesture—I would hope that we would have the support of the Independents for this sensible measure—it is proposed to have some discussion in the House on the appropriation bills. It will be limited to Thursday morning. The appropriation bills will then be sent off to the Main Committee. It will allow us to have more debate on the appropriation bills in the House than we had last year but not as much as the year before. I think that is a fair compromise.

We have provided to the Manager of Opposition Business a long list of bills which we would like through next week. He has responded by saying, `There's no way known that that lot can get through,' so we will attempt to cull that list on a reasonable basis to obviate the necessity to have a whole lot of time wasting divisions, gag motions and guillotines, which I can assure you we will have if we do not come to a sensible arrangement.

That is where things are at. It does mean that we will sit tomorrow night. I presume—we have not as yet discussed this—there is a possibility that we will do the same next week to make sure that people have an opportunity to speak on bills, but we have not as yet had a chance to speak on those issues.