Senator MURRAY (10:34 AM) —I will deal with the last matter first. Senator Bolkus, I would give your amendment No. 22 precedence, as it is similar to our No. 3. If that gets up, ours will just fall away. I think that is the appropriate way to deal with it.

The clerks and the persons participating in the debate were a little inconvenienced yesterday. I think it should go much more smoothly now that we have got a revised running sheet and now that the negotiations between the government and ourselves on these gender specific matters have concluded. You will see before you sheet No. 968 revised, in which the revised amendments agreed with the government are noted. Those are R2, R4 and R5 on the revised sheet. The government has accepted R4 and R5 and has accepted our belief that R2 should accompany them. When the minister arrives, we will seek to deal with the first item on the issue sheet.

The CHAIRMAN —The question is that opposition amendments 1, 3, 22 and 29 be agreed to.

Amendments agreed to.

Amendments (by Senator Murray)—by leave—proposed:

(R2) Clause 15, page 17 (line 23), at the end of the clause, add:

; and (f) reporting to both Houses of the Parliament on any occasion when a rule-maker has been advised that a registered instrument contains inappropriate use of gender-specific language.

(R4) Clause 42, page 43 (after line 24), at the end of the clause, add:

(4) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Principal Legislative Counsel must not knowingly register a legislative instrument that, but for this subsection, would be required to be registered under section 41, if the instrument contains any gender-specific language unless that language is necessary to identify persons by their sex.

(5) The registration of an instrument that contains gender-specific language is nonetheless a valid registration.

(R5) Clause 43, page 44 (after line 17), at the end of the clause, add:

(3) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Principal Legislative Counsel must not knowingly register a copy of a legislative instrument that, but for this subsection, would be permitted to be registered under section 43, if the instrument contains any gender-specific language unless that language is necessary to identify persons by their sex.

(4) The registration of a copy of an instrument that contains gender-specific language is nonetheless a valid registration.