One day left to finish all bills

Plans to finish all business before the Legislative Assembly
Friday were scuppered when the majority of members voted to end the day’s
legislative meeting at 4.30pm.

This means that the government has just one more day –
Monday, 25 March – to pass the 12 bills the
house is considering before Governor Duncan Taylor dissolves the Legislative
Assembly on Tuesday, 26 March.

Deputy Premier Rolston Anglin said he had hoped that the
Legislative Assembly could finish its work Friday, but that legislators still
had one more day to deal with bills.

“Anything that is not finished by 26 March falls away,” he
said after the meeting was adjourned until Monday morning.

According to Standing Orders – the rules of the Legislative
Assembly – members must vote on whether to continue business past 4.30pm. When
the routine motion to continue business past that time came up Friday, eight
opposition members voted against it.

Two bills, amending the
immigration and election laws, still have not reached the second reading
stage and one – the Mental Health Bill – is
in the middle of the second reading debate. Second
readings usually entail debate and often take up some time.

All 12 outstanding bills still
need to go through the committee
stage, in which any amendments are made, and
then a formal and final third reading.