Business Statement

Next week in the House the first item of Government business will probably be the completion of the first reading of the Care of Children Bill. Urgency will then be taken. The likely business to be included in the motion is the remaining stages of the Fair Trading Amendment Bill (No 3), the Consumer Protection (Definition of Goods and Services) Bill, the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Stockholm Convention) Amendment Bill, the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Amendment Bill, the Biosecurity Amendment Bill, the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 6), the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Bill, and the second reading of the Retirement Villages Bill. It is possible that the Wool Industry Restructuring Bill will also be included. The House will rise by 6 p.m. on Friday.

Could the Leader of the House give us some indication of when the Responsible Gambling Bill might come into the House? He may remember that I asked this question during the last parliamentary sitting. A number of organisations around the country have applications pending. My understanding is that those applications are not being processed currently at the rate they should be, because of the industry expecting changes to come. Although some of us do not approve of those, it would be interesting to know when the House might get around to dealing with this particular issue.

I think the intention will be to try to pass that in the next mini-session of Parliament.

Could I seek clarification from the Leader of the House about whether it is possible that the foreshore and seabed legislation will be taken under urgency next week?

I have a feeling the process of consultation will take a little longer than that.