No double sitting weeks are planned for the Legislative Assembly in 2024. Photo: Region.
The current Legislative Assembly will sit for the last time in the first week of September, 2024, according to the “election year sitting calendar” notified on Tuesday (October 24).
Only one double sitting week is planned in 2024, with business needing to be wrapped up ahead of the October election.
“The number of sitting days will be adequate to provide enough time to manage the business of the Assembly,” manager of government business Mick Gentleman said as he presented the calendar.
With the three parties consulted on the draft calendar, Mr Gentleman said all feedback from the Canberra Liberals had been taken on board.
It’s intended the final budget of the current term of government will be presented on 25 June, with debate held during the double sitting between 27 August and 5 September, 2024.
“A standard estimates timeframe has been included after the July school holidays, there are eight sitting weeks and 24 sitting days, with the caretaker period commencing on the 13th of September,” Mr Gentleman said.
The 2024 calendar for the Legislative Assembly will be:
- February: 6, 7, 8
- March: 19, 20, 21
- April: 9, 10, 11
- May: 14, 15, 16
- June: 4, 5, 6 and 25, 26, 27
- August: 27, 28, 29
- September: 3, 4, 5
Ginninderra Greens MLA Jo Clay said she had some concerns about the presented 2024 calendar.
Part of the estimate committee hearings into the 2023-24 ACT Budget, Ms Clay drew the Assembly’s attention to recommendation one from the inquiry’s report, which called for a period of four weeks between the closing of estimates hearings and the committee’s report due date.
She said extending the timeframe between hearings and the report had also been recommendations from the 2022 estimate committee.
“These recommendations were made because the timeframes have been too short,” Ms Clay said.
“There were 21 business days from the final day of hearings to the day when the budget debate commenced [this year] and it is just not enough time. The committee had just five business days after the last hearing to submit questions on notice, the government then had just five business days to respond to questions on notice.
“The secretariat need at least seven to 10 business days to write up the report and the committee needs time to meet and discuss and agree to those recommendations, and that’s where that recommendation for four weeks comes from.”
Ms Clay pointed out this year’s questions on notice weren’t back in time for the committee report, and argued more time was needed to provide a “more thoughtful” document which could provide more scrutiny of the budget.
She said the short timeframe also put pressure on the politicians to have fully read the report before debate began and unnecessarily on staff.
“We pride ourselves here from having a culture that’s different to the culture up on the hill,” Ms Clay said.
“I’m concerned if we keep making recommendations for longer timelines, and we don’t get those, that that might be where we’re heading.
“[Government directorates] had less than a week to respond to 150 recommendations.”
She suggested presenting the ACT Budget at the start of June as one way to ease time pressures.
The calendar will be agreed to unless an absolute majority of members requests an alternative.
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