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Chapter 7 - Meetings
of the Senate
Suspension
of sittings
During any sitting there are usually suspensions of the sitting, which
means that the sitting is temporarily interrupted and resumes at the point in
the routine of business at which the Senate left off (a suspension of a sitting
is often followed by business taken at a fixed time, such as question time at 2
pm). A suspension of a
sitting is therefore to be distinguished from an adjournment, which ends a
sitting, so that when the Senate sits again the routine of business is
commenced anew. Standing order 55 provides for
suspensions of sittings at particular times.
A sitting may also be suspended by a motion moved and carried when
there is no other business before the chair. A minister may move such a
motion without notice under standing order 56, but a senator
who is not a minister may not move such a motion except by leave of the Senate
or pursuant to a successful motion for the suspension of standing orders (these
matters are explained in Chapter 8 under Leave of the Senate and Suspension of
standing orders).
Occasionally a
sitting is suspended over one or more days so that the Senate can resume on
another day at the point in its business where it left off without beginning
the routine of business anew. For example, the sitting of the Senate which
began at 10
am on
Thursday,
12 November 1992 continued until 6.11 am on Friday, 13 November, because of protracted
consideration of the appropriation bills in committee of the whole. A motion
was then carried to suspend the sitting of the Senate until 2 pm on Monday,
16 November. When the Senate assembled on Monday the sitting continued,
which meant that the consideration of business was resumed at the place in the
routine of business where it was left off, and consideration of the appropriation
bills proceeded. The sitting continued until 12.41 am on Tuesday,
17 November. A motion to suspend the sitting until 9.30 am that morning was
then carried. When the sitting resumed consideration of the appropriation bills
continued until concluded that afternoon. Similarly, the sitting which began on
Thursday,
16 December 1993 continued on 17, 18, 20 and 21 December, with protracted
proceedings on the Native Title Bill 1993, and the sitting of 9 July 1998 continued on 10
and 11
July 1998, mainly because of telecommunications legislation. In some instances
the Senate has provided by order in advance for the suspension of its sittings
(12/8/2004, J.3904).
The advantage of
suspending a sitting instead of adjourning is that the Senate can continue with
government business without interruption by other items in the routine of
business, such as question time (on 17 November 1992, however, a special order
was made to allow for question time on that day). If used excessively by a
determined majority, the procedure could be severely restrictive of the rights
of individual senators. The suspensions have been rationalised by the need to
pass the appropriation bills and other urgent legislation, and the fact that
the Senate was not originally scheduled to sit on the extra days, so that no
scheduled sitting days were lost so far as other business was concerned.
The extension of
one sitting over three days raises the question of the effect of statutory
provisions for the tabling of delegated
legislation. Those provisions require delegated legislation to be tabled in the
Senate within a specified number of sitting days, usually 6 sitting days, and
legislation which is not tabled within the specified time ceases to have
effect. It has not been
determined whether a sitting extending over more than one day is one sitting
day for the purposes of those statutory provisions. Departments
responsible for forwarding delegated legislation for tabling have been advised
that to avoid any doubts they should assume that the days to which sittings are
suspended are separate sitting days for the purposes of statutory tabling
requirements. (see also Chapter 15, Delegated Legislation)
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