Mr BURKE (Watson—Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for the Arts and Leader of the House) (15:19): Mr Speaker, I have a question to you. The SPEAKER: You may proceed. Mr BURKE: As is normally the case under page 592 of Practice: The terms of a matter of public importance … are made known to the Leader of the House or the Manager of Opposition Business, as the case may be, some time after 12 noon … When we received it today, it's in the normal form described under Practice, where Practice, on the same page, goes through that you have to say 'in accordance with standing order 46' and you have to propose exactly when you want it to take place. The member for Fairfax has proposed that today's matter of public importance should take place on Thursday 9 March. The Practice presumes that you can request it, as it says, today, tomorrow or on a subsequent day. This is the first time anyone has requested that it be two weeks ago. Previously, in similar circumstances, when we were in opposition, we'd been advised that the MPI would be ruled out, and I simply wish to draw this to your attention. The SPEAKER: I will hear from the Manager of Opposition Business. Mr Fletcher: It is correct. There was a clerical error, but it is a factual matter—for which I take full responsibility, I hasten to add. The fact of the matter is that a letter was delivered to the Speaker today proposing a matter of definite public importance, and none of those facts have been changed by reason of the fact of a mere clerical error.