The largest proportion of the time of the House is taken up with government business; that is, government sponsored legislation and, to a lesser extent, motions and ministerial statements. All members, subject to time constraints, are able to participate in debate on government business and this is the time when they can put forward their views on the Government’s agenda. As well as this, the rules of the House provide opportunities for private members to initiate legislation and motions for debate (private members’ business) and to make speeches on topics of their own choice—they can propose and discuss matters of individual concern regardless of whether the Government has any related items on its agenda.
Committee and delegation business
There are periods available on Mondays in both the House and Federation Chamber for presentation and debate on reports of parliamentary committees and delegations on which private members serve. During this period in the House, chairs and deputy chairs of committees may make statements about ongoing committee inquiries. Additional periods may be scheduled on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the Federation Chamber. The objective of most committee inquiries is the presentation of a report to the House, setting out the committee’s conclusions and recommendations (see Infosheet No. 4 Committees). Reports may be presented by a member of the committee (usually the chair or deputy chair) or by the Speaker on behalf of the committee. Reports are also presented from delegations of members who have taken part in fact-finding visits overseas or who have attended parliamentary conferences. The member presenting a report and other members may make statements about it. The member presenting the report usually also moves ‘that the House take note of the report’. This is a way of making the report an item of business on the Notice Paper so that it can be debated further at a later date, generally in the Federation Chamber. Following the presentation of reports, proceedings may be resumed on reports presented on an earlier occasion.
The Selection Committee decides the order of presentation and allots time for the consideration of committee and delegation reports.
Private members’ business
After committee and delegation business in the House and Federation Chamber on Mondays, debate takes place on private members’ business, that is, bills (proposed laws) and motions sponsored by private members.
A private member wishing to move a motion or introduce a bill gives notice (that is, advance warning of his or her intention) in writing to the Clerk. Notices are listed on the Notice Paper under the heading ‘Private members’ business’. Those not selected by the Selection Committee for debate within eight sitting Mondays are removed from the Notice Paper.
The arrangement of private members’ business is the responsibility of the Selection Committee. When the House is sitting the Committee meets to look at the notices lodged by private members. The Committee then reports to the House, listing the matters recommended for debate on the next sitting Monday. The Selection Committee ensures that all members have a fair chance of having matters debated and also takes into account the nature of the subject, for example, its importance and topicality.
Private members’ business time in the Chamber
Private members’ motions
A motion is a proposal framed in such a way that, if agreed to, it would claim to express the will or judgment of the House. Typical private members’ motions may take the form ‘That this House places on record its support for/opposition to/concerns about . . .’ or ‘That this House notes/acknowledges/condemns . . .’ An extremely wide range of propositions has been put to the House under these procedures. Topics of national and international importance have been discussed, as well as matters of concern to particular regions, groups or industries.
Private members’ motions are generally used as a vehicle for debating an issue rather than to commit the House to an opinion or bind it to action, so the majority of motions considered as private members’ business are not voted on. At the end of the time allotted they are placed on the Notice Paper for a subsequent sitting Monday.
Private members’ bills
The introduction of a private member’s bill is given priority over other private members’ business. When the notice for a private member’s bill is called on by the Clerk, the member presents the bill and any explanatory memorandum. It is then read a first time. If copies of the bill are available, the member may then immediately move the second reading of the bill and make a second reading speech. At the conclusion of the member’s speech the debate is adjourned to a future sitting. The Selection Committee may allocate time for the remainder of the second reading debate. If the second reading is agreed to by the House, further consideration of the bill takes precedence over other private members’ business. (For an explanation of the stages in consideration of bills see Infosheet No. 7 Making laws.)
Under the procedures of the House, private members have great freedom in the introduction of bills, with the important exception that only the Government may initiate a bill imposing or varying a tax or requiring the appropriation of revenue or money. Private members’ bills (like government bills) are unable to become law unless they gain the support of the majority of members (and subsequently also pass the Senate). Since they are prepared by an opposition or crossbench member, or by a government member outside the party’s formalised approval mechanisms, this does not happen often. However, it does happen occasionally, and even if the Government does not not support a private members’ bill directly, it may be influenced to adopt similar legislation). It is important that every member of the House has the right to put legislative proposals before it. It is a way for members to signal publicly matters they believe need legislative action or to stimulate a debate on specific items of concern.
Procedures in operation since 1988 have seen an increase in the number of private members’ bills, although bills initiated by private members are still a small proportion of legislation dealt with by the House. Between 1901 and 1988, 104 private members’ bills were introduced into the House—by the end of the 46th Parliament (April 2022) this figure had risen to 652. Since Federation, 31 non-government bills have passed into law—24 introduced by private members or private senators and 7 by the Speaker or President of the Senate. In addition, provisions of other private members’ bills have become law by being incorporated into government legislation.
Members’ statements
Members may make short statements each day in the House and on Mondays in the Federation Chamber. In the House, 30 minutes is allocated prior to Question Time each day, and in the Federation Chamber, 45 minutes is allocated from approximately 4 pm on Mondays, for any member other than a minister or a parliamentary secretary to seek the call of the Chair to make a statement of up to 90 seconds in duration. The call is alternated between non-government and government members. If no other member seeks to speak, a member who has already spoken may speak again. Members may make statements on any topic of concern to them. They may also use the occasion to present a petition.
A similar opportunity occurs at the beginning of every meeting of the Federation Chamber except that the period, known as members’ constituency statements, is 30 minutes in length, individual statements may be up to three minutes long and all members are able to participate (including ministers and parliamentary secretaries). Thirty minutes is allocated irrespective of any interruptions caused by suspensions or by divisions in the House.
Grievance debate
At 6.30 pm on Tuesdays in the Federation Chamber, the Chair proposes the question ‘That grievances be noted’. Debate on the question is practically unlimited in scope, giving members the opportunity, in 10 minute speeches, to raise matters in which they have a particular interest or to discuss concerns of constituents. It would be unusual for two or more members participating in the debate to speak on the same subject. Members may present petitions during the grievance debate and may also speak about the petition for all or part of their 10 minute speech.
The origins of the grievance debate lie in the former financial procedures of the House (pre–1963), which were derived from the ancient practice of the House of Commons insisting on airing its grievances before granting money to the Crown. However, the grievance debate today has no practical significance, its value being the provision of an opportunity for wide debate, similar to that provided by the motion for the adjournment of the House. The distribution of the call to speak is similar to that of the adjournment debate, the first call going to a non-government member, then alternating. Ministers are allowed to participate, although in practice they rarely do.
Other opportunities
Adjournment debate
An adjournment debate is scheduled at the end of every sitting day in the House for half an hour. Debate takes place on the motion ‘That the House do now adjourn’ and the usual rule that debate must be relevant to the question before the House does not apply. This means that the scope of debate is practically unlimited. Members may speak for five minutes each. A non-government member traditionally is called to speak first and the call then alternates in the normal way. If no other member wishes to speak, a member who has already spoken may speak again. Normally at 8 pm (Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays) or 5 pm (Thursdays), the Speaker interrupts the debate in order to adjourn (close) the House until the time of its next meeting. A minister may, however, require the debate in the House to be extended for up to 10 minutes to enable ministers to speak in reply to matters raised in the debate.
A member who intends to raise a matter in the adjournment debate which falls within the responsibilities of a particular minister or concerning a particular member would usually alert that minister or member beforehand. As well as being courteous, this practice allows the minister or member to be present during the debate if they so wish and, in the case of a minister, to make a response.
A half hour adjournment debate also takes place on Thursdays (and sometimes on other days) in the Federation Chamber (see Infosheet No. 16 The Federation Chamber) from 12.30 pm, or earlier if the day’s business is completed.
Budget debate
Traditionally, it has been considered appropriate for any matters connected with government activity or possible government activity to be canvassed in the debate on the second reading of Appropriation Bill (No. 1) (the annual budget debate). The standing orders allow for this by exempting the debate from the usual rule of relevance and allowing ‘matters relating to public affairs’ to be debated. The budget debate thus provides a significant opportunity, often extending over several weeks, for members to speak on matters of their choosing.
A private member speaking in the Chamber
Address in Reply
At the beginning of each new Parliament, a formal ‘Address in Reply’ is prepared in response to the Governor-General’s opening speech, which outlines the government’s legislative program for the coming Parliament. A wide-ranging debate on the motion ‘That the Address be agreed to’ then takes place, possibly lasting several weeks. Each member may speak for 20 minutes. The Address in Reply debate is traditionally an opportunity for newly elected members to make their first speeches in the House.
For more information
House of Representatives Practice, 7th edn, Department of the House of Representatives, Canberra, 2018, pp. 573–99.
The House of Representatives Order of Business chart is available from: www.aph.gov.au/house/chamberdocs.
About the House website: www.aph.gov.au/athnews.
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Images courtesy of AUSPIC.