Mr PYNE ( Sturt — Minister for Defence and Leader of the House ) ( 18:05 ): I present a chart showing the program of sittings for 2019. Copies of the program have been placed on the table. I ask leave of the House to move that the program be agreed to. Leave granted. Mr PYNE: I move: That the program of sittings for 2019 be agreed to. Firstly, I'm sure members will be pleased to have the schedule in good time before the end of the year in order to allow them to plan their 2019 arrangements around their work and family commitments. Some of the highlights of the schedule—it's quite unexceptional in terms of the schedule planning—include 17 sitting weeks of the House of Representatives, which would be about the average. In fact, under the former Leader of the House, we sat for 16 weeks in one of the years he put up during the 43rd Parliament. Mr Albanese: Are you bagging me? Mr PYNE: That's rubbish; I never would have bagged you! You lost 76 votes in the 43rd Parliament; I'll give you the table. Opposition members interjecting— Mr PYNE: There are 17 sitting weeks—I'm being rudely interrupted, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker—which is about the average, and they are evenly spread between the first half of the year and the second half of the year. We will begin sitting again on 12 February, and the budget will be on 2 April, and there will be a normal period of about four or five weeks before the budget, in which time the Treasurer will prepare the first surplus budget since the last coalition government. Obviously, there's an election next year, in 2019, due by midyear. Whoever wins the election—which we hope will be the coalition!—will probably return in the second half of the year with a different sitting schedule, but obviously we are required to put a whole year of proposed parliamentary sittings to the parliament. I commend the sitting schedule to the House.