Introduction
1.1
Early in the 46th Parliament, the Committee resolved to adopt an inquiry into the practices and procedures relating to Question Time. The Procedure Committee had last completed an inquiry focused specifically on Question Time in 1993 (inquiries begun in the 41st and 44th Parliaments were not completed before those parliaments were dissolved or prorogued).
1.2
Although it can be far from representative of the way much of business is conducted in the House, as the most visible part of the parliamentary day Question Time is often the period on which the House is judged.
1.3
The inquiry heard that public perception of Question Time is by and large not positive and there is significant scope for improvement. The Committee makes a range of recommendations in this report, and while many of these relate to specific changes to standing orders it is hoped that, if adopted, the net effect of the changes would be to improve the conduct of Question Time overall. The Committee considers a reformed Question Time would improve how the House, and indeed the Parliament, is viewed.
1.4
While the standing orders set out the formal rules governing Question Time, practice and culture also play a role in the dynamic of this period of the parliamentary day. How Question Time is used is ultimately a matter for Members and parties. The recommendations in this report seek to improve the tenor and conduct of Question Time and the quality of questions and answers; however, it will always remain up to participants to decide how they make use of the opportunities within the standing orders.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.5
The Committee was keen to hear a variety of perspectives on Question Time. It therefore issued a general call for submissions in August 2019 and also invited submissions from Members, the Leader of the House, the Manager of Opposition Business, the current Speaker, former Speakers, and Speakers of Australian state jurisdictions, the Parliamentary Press Gallery and the Clerk of the House, the Department of Parliamentary Services and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It also launched two online surveys in October 2019, one for the public and one for Members.
1.6
The Committee held private briefings with parliamentary colleagues, the Clerk of the House and some state and territory Speakers between March and September 2020.
1.7
A series of public hearings was also held between June and October 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic (declared in March 2020), the Committee postponed or cancelled a number of planned engagements and reduced its intended plan of public hearings. It had originally intended to travel to meet with a variety of witnesses. In the end it met face to face only with occupants of Parliament House; the other public hearings and private briefings took place via teleconference or videoconference.
1.8
A list of the submissions received is at Appendix A. Public hearings and witnesses are listed in Appendix B. Additional documents are listed in Appendix C and exhibits in Appendix D.
Acknowledgements
1.9
The Committee would like to thank firstly all those members of the public who took the time to respond to the survey, make a submission or write to the Committee and provide their perspective on Question Time. The Committee also appreciated the considered contributions made by students from Catholic College Wodonga during a public hearing held by videoconference.
1.10
The level of engagement, depth of feeling expressed and number of suggestions for improvement made an impression on the Committee, which saw the strong response as an indicator of the importance that people place on parliament. Not all suggestions could be considered, but the Committee explored many of them.
1.11
The Committee is also grateful to the parliamentary practitioners, former Members of Parliament—including three former Speakers of the House—academics and other experts who participated in public hearings. The Committee would particularly like to acknowledge the Hon. Mr Kevin Rozzoli AM, who drafted possible changes to standing orders for the Committee’s consideration. The Committee found these invaluable in formulating their recommendations.
1.12
The Committee received submissions from and/or held private briefings with Speakers from every state and territory. The Committee appreciates the time Speakers took to help it understand how Question Time works in practice in other jurisdictions. This was an important source of background information on the range of approaches taken to Question Time and the options available for reform.
1.13
Finally, the Committee members would like to thank their parliamentary colleagues who provided feedback and ideas through submissions, private briefings and the Members survey, giving their unique perspective on Question Time.
Structure of the report
1.14
Chapter 2 of the report outlines the history of Question Time to provide background and context to the inquiry and its recommendations. Chapter 3 reflects on the complex dynamic of Question Time and sets out the evidence received and the concerns raised during the inquiry. In the following chapters the Committee then considers how these concerns might be addressed. Changes to the structure of Question Time that could improve accountability are discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 looks at how changing the rules relating to questions and answers could encourage more relevant answers and make it more straightforward to manage Question Time. Chapter 6 considers how else Question Time might be improved and, through this, how trust in the House might be lifted. The Committee’s concluding remarks are then set out in Chapter 7.