Page 3329 - Week 11 - Thursday, 11 November 2021

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Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11.46): I move:

That the Assembly shall meet as follows for 2022 unless an absolute majority of Members request, in writing, that the Speaker or in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, or in the absence of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the Clerk, fix an alternative day or hour of meeting or the Assembly otherwise orders:

MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.46): I move:

Add:

I have circulated an amendment which would extend the proposed sittings next year by one week. The reason I do that is that the number of sittings proposed in this motion is historically the lowest in living memory. Indeed, Mr Rattenbury and I, and Madam Speaker, first came into this place in 2008 and in the following year, 2009, there were 15 sitting weeks. The following year there were 14. The year after that there were 14. And then, in the election year, there were probably fewer. I have not seen the number.

But what has been the normal form of this place is that there have been 14, 15, and then that seems to have reduced to 13. Of course, an election year sometimes is a little different. I see no reason why we would be setting a new low bar in terms of the number of sitting weeks in this place.

This year has been a bit of an anomaly because of COVID. We, as the opposition, offered to come back for a further sitting week in December so that we could actually allow time for a proper inquiry and report into the budget. The government chose not

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