Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House) : When the House resumes next Tuesday, the Government intends to make progress on bills on the Order Paper, two bills that will be introduced today, and notices of motion. Depending on satisfactory progress being made on the Government’s agenda, it is expected that the House will lift at some point next week for the summer adjournment. I might add that it is not only the Government’s progress but perhaps the weather, as well, that may be a factor in this.

Hon DARREN HUGHES (Senior Whip—Labour) : First of all, I offer my warm congratulations to the Leader of the House, as it appears we will go through an entire sitting of Parliament without urgency. I think it worthy of strong congratulations to him on his strong respect for the parliamentary process. In that same spirit of cooperation, I inform the Leader of the House of the Labour Opposition’s strong desire to see the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill pass through all its stages before Christmas. We are very keen to cooperate with the Government for that to happen, so that New Zealand can be part of the first tranche of signatories to the agreement that was started off by Mr Goff as the Minister for Disarmament and Arm Control and has been ably continued by Mrs te Heuheu. We would want to see that bill passed before Christmas and we give our full cooperation to him for that to happen.

Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Leader of the House) : In response to that, I say to the shadow Leader of the House he should not count his chickens before they have hatched. The House has certainly moved along this week at the shuffling pace that Labour may be more used to. But we appreciate the offer on the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill, and I think it is worth considering. I suggest that we have a bit of a discussion offline with other whips, to see if it is possible to have a second and third reading combination that would facilitate that bill passing. I quite genuinely appreciate the offer.