Chapter 7 - Meetings
of the Senate
Sittings and adjournment of the Senate
When a Parliament or a session of
Parliament has been opened as described above, the Senate determines its own
sittings.
A sitting of the
Senate begins when the Senate first meets after an adjournment, and concludes
when the Senate again adjourns, either till a specified time or a time to be
fixed by a specified procedure. The bells are rung
for five minutes prior to the time appointed for the commencement of a sitting,
and the President then takes the chair to begin the sitting (SO 49). Before
proceeding to business the President recites the prayer prescribed
by standing order 50. (See Supplement)
Except where the standing orders provide for the President to adjourn
the Senate without putting a question from the chair, the Senate adjourns only
by its own resolution (SO 53). Where the
Senate is to meet again at a time specified by the standing orders or by any
special order, the Senate simply resolves to adjourn. If the time of the next
meeting has not been so fixed, a resolution is passed fixing the time before
the question for the adjournment is proposed.
Normally the Senate adjourns to a specified time, which
has been fixed by an order setting a schedule of sitting days or an order
setting the next meeting day at the end of a long adjournment. When adjourning
for a period of time longer than normal, for example, at the beginning of the
summer and winter long adjournments, the Senate may adjourn to a specified time
or such other time as may be fixed by the President.
In exercising the power to fix another time of meeting, the President
may exercise an independent discretion to change the time of meeting for any
reason related to the orderly conduct of Senate proceedings. The President may
set an earlier or a later time of meeting than that specified, and may alter a
time of meeting which has been set. In exceptional
circumstances the President may postpone a meeting of the Senate. For example,
on 22
May 1973
the time appointed was 11 am, but the Canberra airport was closed due to fog and 20 senators were
unable to land. With the concurrence of the party leaders, President Cormack ordered that the
meeting of the Senate be postponed until 3 pm. There are also precedents for the President delaying
the commencement of sittings where official functions have extended beyond the
time fixed for the meeting of the Senate. On
17 September 2001 the President altered the time of meeting from 12.30 pm to
2 pm to allow senators to attend a memorial service for victims of
terrorist attacks in the United States (17/9/2001, J.4851).
In exercising the power to alter the time of meeting the President also
by convention acts upon the advice of the executive government; a statement of
this convention was made by President Givens in 1916 (SD, 29/9/1916,
p. 9115). The convention operates only for the consideration of government
business and not for the political convenience of the government, for example,
in deciding upon an early general election. In other words, it is not a
substitute for the power of prorogation (see below). In 1972 the President, at
the request of the Prime Minister, put senators on provisional notice for a
meeting of the Senate on 4 August. The purpose of the proposed sitting was to
deal with an emergency arising from a strike in the oil industry. On 3 August
the Prime Minister advised the President that, in the light of developments
that had taken place, he did not seek a meeting on 4 August and senators
were so advised. Subsequently, the Senate met as originally planned, namely, 15 August 1972.
An adjournment resolution which empowers the President to change the
time of meeting usually also empowers the Deputy President to
act for the President if the President is not available. Where both the
President and the Deputy President are to cease to be senators during a long
adjournment, a special resolution is passed empowering the holders of those
offices, as named persons, to exercise the power of altering the time of
meeting (12/6/1981, J.401).
The adjournment of
the Senate may be moved at any time by or on behalf of a minister (SO 53(2)), but such a
motion may be moved only when there is no other business before the chair, so
that debate on a matter under consideration must be adjourned before the
adjournment of the Senate is moved.
A senator who is not a minister may not move the adjournment of the
Senate except by leave of the Senate or pursuant to a suspension of standing
orders (see under Leave of the Senate and Suspension of standing orders,
below).
At the time
specified by standing order 55 for each sitting
day, the President proposes the question that the Senate do now adjourn,
without a motion being moved (SO 54). If the Senate is in
committee of the
whole at that time, the Chair of Committees leaves the chair and reports to the
Senate, and on that report being made the President proposes the question for
the adjournment.
The question that
the Senate do now adjourn is open to debate, and matters not relevant to the
question may be debated (SO 53(4)). This means
that senators speaking to the motion may refer to any matters, and the question
for the adjournment is one of the principal opportunities for senators to raise
matters they wish to debate. A speaking time
limit of 10 minutes per speaker applies. (See Supplement)
There are, however, limitations on the debate. The normal rules of
order, for example, relating to offensive words (SO 193), apply to the
debate. It is not in order to anticipate debate on a matter on the
Notice Paper (SO 194(1), subject
to (2)), although this
rule is interpreted liberally, as explained in Chapter 10, Debate. It is also
not in order to attempt to revisit a debate adjourned or concluded earlier in a
sitting. It has been ruled, however, that this does not prevent a senator
during the adjournment debate seeking an explanation about a matter relating to
a debate earlier in the sitting (SD, 30/10/1975, p. 1654). Unconcluded
proceedings in a committee cannot be debated (SO 119).
The President
adjourns the Senate without putting the question at the conclusion of debate on
Tuesdays, and on other days at the conclusion of debate, at the expiration of
40 minutes or at the time specified, whichever is the earlier.
When a minister
moves the adjournment, this is normally by agreement. If the adjournment were
moved by a minister at a time not specified by order of the Senate, and it
appeared that there was opposition to the adjournment, the chair would be
obliged to put the question for the adjournment. This would prevent the Senate
being adjourned against its will, and would be in keeping with standing order
53(1).
The question for
the adjournment of the Senate may not be amended (SO 53(3)).
On 12 September 1972 President Cormack ruled that the question for the
adjournment at 10.30 pm be not put until a point of order had been resolved. He
considered that it was proper that there should reside in the chair a
discretion to delay the question for the adjournment until a point of order had
been determined, especially when it involved a serious matter of the conduct of
a senator. This ruling is supported by standing order 197(3), which
provides that all questions of order, until decided, suspend the consideration
and decision of every other question. The President further ruled that, as the
time taken after 10.30 pm was outside the normal debating time and was for the purpose of
finalising the matter of order, the speaking time of the senator affected would
be calculated to 10.30 pm (SD, pp 790, 809).
An order may be
made that the Senate adjourn at a certain time. When the specified time is
reached, the President interrupts the debate then proceeding and adjourns the
Senate forthwith to the next sitting day.
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