Adjournment Debate

Sittings and Business

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (17:29): I move:

That the council at its rising do adjourn until Tuesday 4 September 2018.

For the benefit of members, we have some messages still to arrive from the House of Assembly, so we will fill in the time with the traditional adjournment motion, brief though it might be. In acknowledging the end of this particular session, can I thank you, Mr President, for your presidency, albeit for a very short session from May through to the start of August.

I thank the Leader of the Opposition and the two Whips for their sterling work. I think there were some early teething issues, but hopefully we can settle down to our rhythm in terms of collaborative working relationships in the Legislative Council. I thank the crossbenchers, those who have been here for us some time and those who are enjoying a new experience. We thank them for their cooperation.

An honourable member: The acting deputy half-whip.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: And the acting deputy half-whip, whoever he is. I think there have been some useful new developments in terms of the operations of the council. I think the weekly planning meeting that all parties attend on a Monday afternoon before we sit is a useful development. I think we can refine the operation of that and hopefully that will help a better and more collaborative working relationship in the Legislative Council.

There has been some flexibility in terms of sitting times and the standard sitting time of Thursday morning. We only had the one Tuesday morning sitting time. I think we managed to avoid evening sessions, which I know some of our family friendly MPs are very supportive of.

As we get to the absolute end of the session with the backlog of work, it might inevitably mean the occasional Wednesday evening sitting, but the government's position, I think, supported by all parties is, if we can avoid those by sitting on a Thursday morning and occasionally on a Tuesday morning, that makes more sense and we would continue to progress with that.

I think the flexibility in relation to private members' business being adjourned to after government business on Thursday has worked well in terms of the last two or three sitting weeks. From the government's viewpoint, we would see that continuing.

I have had a brief conversation a week or so ago with the Leader of the Opposition that I would hope during the break we might be able to convene a meeting of the standing orders committee. I will not go over what I have said previously in relation to that, but I am sure there are potentially a small number of issues upon which everyone could agree that we might be able to proceed with by way of amending the standing orders. Perhaps we could do the more substantive and difficult issues over a period of time.

Mr President, can I thank on behalf of government members the new clerking team, if that is the appropriate phraseology. It is a whole new experience when you move up and you are the boss and you have to make the final decisions, as opposed to referring the decisions to somebody else who is the boss and makes the final decisions. So I thank the new clerking team and the officers at the table. We thank you very much for your support.

Without going through individually all of the staff and Parliament House as sometimes we do, we acknowledge all the staff in Parliament House from the attendants right through to all of the other staff in Parliament House who assist us in terms of the process. I will give one personal grieve. I am still mightily aggrieved that even under the new government the legal tender of the Commonwealth of Australia is still unable to be received in the parliamentary bar as a result of a decision of the former government.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: They won't even take American Express.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: They will not even take cash, Mr President, which I think is just outrageous. One can understand it in big venues like the Adelaide Oval where you need to do thousands of people in 10 minutes, but the numbers of members of parliament, when we do not accept legal tender in the Parliament House bar—I am sure this is an issue that in due course, whilst not a high priority, may well be able to be pursued at another stage. With that, on behalf of government members, we thank all members in this chamber for their cooperation and we look forward to reconvening on 4 September.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (17:35): I thank the Leader of the Government in this place for his words, and some of the new innovations that have been shown. I think they have a way to go but may work well, and I join with him in thanking the Parliament House staff, Hansard staff, catering staff, table and chamber staff, honourable members and of course you, Mr President.

If my memory serves me correctly we have previously moved motions to suspend standing orders to allow messages to be received after we sit. If that is something we want to entertain now I think the Clerks are capable of doing that. In that way we can adjourn immediately rather than wait around for whatever divisions and shenanigans the House of Assembly may be engaging in. I do not think we would oppose leave being sought to receive the messages so that we can finish now. I think we have done that before.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:36): Firstly, thank you to the Leader of the Government. It has been a learning curve for me and also my honourable colleague Connie Bonaros. I must say that I have been impressed that the government has stayed true to its word in delivering answers to questions without notice almost on time or under the month that they promised. I am not so sure about the Dorothy Dixers that the Treasurer promised we would not hear—they are still there.

An honourable member: It's valuable information.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Well, exactly. It has been a learning opportunity for us. Thank you again to the Leader of the Opposition and other members. I would like to also thank both sides of the house who have also kept us briefed on bills that are currently before us. We have had cordial and productive discussions, contrary to what has been in the press. I have always found their contributions to be quite productive. I hope that we have also been quite receptive in terms of welcoming them into our office and discussing their proposals. To you, Mr President, again, thank you for indulging a greenhorn like me.

Motion carried.