Portfolio — 31 March 2026

The Minister for the Arts, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Cyber Security, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Leader of the House, Mr Tony Burke, drove the House's business agenda on 31 March 2026 through a series of procedural motions while also defending the government's fire ant containment policy during question time.

The dominant procedural act of the day was the Leader of the House's suspension of standing and sessional orders to clear the path for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief) Bill 2026 to be debated and passed within a single sitting day [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s003]. The suspension structured speaking time to run as normal until 1.30 pm — interrupted for 90-second statements, question time, a matter of public importance, and one delegation report — before all questions were to be put by 5.30 pm.

The order also provided that consideration-in-detail amendments circulated in advance would be treated as moved without further formality at that point, and that any departure from the arrangement required a Minister's motion. The procedural design reflects the government's intent to deliver fuel excise relief legislation in a single compressed sitting day, leaving limited scope for procedural delay.

Across the same sitting, the High Seas Biodiversity Bill 2026 was referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration early in proceedings and returned to the House later that day [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s001]. The Leader of the House separately moved to remove the debate time limit on the motion to take note of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement progress report ministerial statement, opening that discussion to unconstrained chamber time.

Documents tabled under a circulation list included a note from Australia's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations to the President of the Security Council, reporting lawful measures in the Middle East under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s037].

During question time, the Minister for Home Affairs responded to questions on fire ant containment in Queensland, stating that the government remains committed to ongoing funding for the program [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s156]. The Minister acknowledged that full eradication has not been achieved and is unlikely to be, but argued that containment efforts — tracing back to funding initiated under the Howard government and sustained by successive administrations — have measurably slowed the spread of fire ants [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s156].

The government's stated position frames the slowing of spread as a significant and defensible policy outcome in its own right, distinct from eradication. This positions the Minister to defend the program's record on practical rather than aspirational grounds.