New hours for Aust. Parlt

Press, 9 December 1983, Page 21

New hours for Aust. Parlt

NZPA-AAP Canberra The Australian House of Representatives will reintroduce sitting hours first tried five years ago and dropped after they proved unpopular. Under the system, approved by the caucus, the House will sit for two weeks straight, then have two weeks off, and so on. However, the number of hours would remain virtually unchanged with mem-

bers attending from Tuesday to Friday in the first week, and from Monday to Friday in the second. The so-called two-by-two system was last introduced during the autumn sitting in 1978 by the then Leader of the House, Mr lan Sinclair. However, members felt that the Friday and Monday sittings interfered with electoral work and the experiment was ended after about two months.

Sitting hours have been a notoriously controversial issue and the agreement on what is called the “definitive consensus proposal” was reached after long debate.

Acceptance was based on consideration for members from remote electorates who, under the new system, would spend 10 days straight in Canberra and then go back for two weeks. One senior Minister was

reported to have argued that there was "nothing to do” in Canberra in the evenings when Parliament adjourned early. The new hours, to begin when parliament resumes on February 28, has already been cleared by Mr Sinclair, now the Opposition Shadow Leader of the House.

The Senate, which has control over its own sitting hours, was expected to follow suit.