How long did the shortest sitting go for?

Thanks for your question! Each sitting day, senators and members of House of Representatives meet to conduct the business of Parliament. These meetings or sittings usually run continuously for 7 to 11 hours.

Sometimes sittings are much shorter. There are lots of reasons this may be the case. For example, on 24 October 2002 the Senate sat for 2 minutes! The reason this sitting was adjourned – suspended – was so senators could attend a memorial service for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Bali.