Chapter 3 Technical amendments
3.1
A number of oversights and inconsistencies have come to the attention of
the Committee during the course of the 43rd Parliament. The
Committee has proposed a range of technical amendments to rectify these issues
and enhance the operation of the House. Additionally, the amendments recognise
recently developed, but now firmly entrenched, House practice.
Referral of statements by indulgence
3.2
The Speaker or Chair may grant a Member indulgence to make a statement
on a variety of matters.[1] In the 42nd
Parliament it became the practice for further statements by indulgence to be
referred to the Federation Chamber when other Members wished to speak on the
same matter.[2] Such statements are at
the Speaker’s discretion in the House, but there is no provision covering them when
continued in the Federation Chamber. They have therefore been treated as
debates, even though technically they do not constitute debates.
3.3
At present, the standing orders only recognise the referral of bills and
motions to the Federation Chamber. The practice of referring statements by
indulgence to the Federation Chamber should be recognised and provided for in
the standing orders.
3.4
Currently there is no time limit specified for these statements so time
limits for debates ‘not otherwise provided for’ are imposed when they continue
in the Federation Chamber. A time limit of 10 minutes for Members wishing to
make further statements in the Federation Chamber would be appropriate.
3.5
The following recommendations are expressed in general terms for ease of
reference. They should be read in conjunction with the draft amendments at
Appendix A (pages 28-40).
Recommendation 6 |
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3.6
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The Committee recommends that:
a) standing
order 183 be amended to provide for the referral of statements by indulgence
to the Federation Chamber; and
b) standing
order 1 be amended to provide for a time limit of 10 minutes for further
statements by indulgence referred to the Federation Chamber.
(See Appendix A, pages 29 and 36, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Committee and delegation reports
3.7
Standing order 39, which provides for announcements concerning inquiries
and presentation of committee and delegation reports, contains two anomalies
that the Committee wishes to be rectified.
3.8
Firstly, there is no provision for the referral of debate on committee
and delegation reports to the Federation Chamber. Committee and delegation
Members must, therefore, after moving that the House take note of the report
presented, seek leave to move a ‘take note’ motion to the Federation Chamber.
3.9
Secondly, the standing order does not distinguish between committee and
delegation reports with regard to the reports being made Parliamentary Papers.
Committee reports are routinely made Parliamentary Papers when they are tabled
whereas delegation reports are not. Whether or not delegation reports are made
Parliamentary Papers is a decision for the Publications Committee.
3.10
The Committee recommends that these two anomalies be corrected by
amending standing order 39 to reflect actual practice.
Recommendation 7 |
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3.11
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The Committee recommends that:
a) standing
order 39(d) be amended to provide for the resumption of debate on committee
and delegation reports to be referred to the Federation Chamber; and
b) standing
order 39(e) be amended to clarify that committee reports (not delegation
reports) shall be made Parliamentary Papers on presentation.
(See Appendix A, page 31, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Referral of bills to committees
3.12
Similarly the Committee has identified two anomalies in standing order
143.
3.13
The first is an unintended consequence of the changes to the standing
order implemented at the beginning of the 43rd Parliament. Previously
standing order 143 provided for a bill to be referred by the House to a
standing or select committee for an advisory report.[3]
This was changed in the 43rd Parliament to accommodate the expanded
role of the Selection Committee in referring bills to committees.[4]
3.14
This change inadvertently removed from standing order 143 the provision
for a bill to be referred to a committee by a motion moved in the House,
although provision for this still exists under standing order 215(b). The
Committee wishes the provision to be restored to standing order 143 to provide
consistency and clarity.
3.15
The second discrepancy has become manifest with the practical implementation
of the bills referral provisions in standing order 143 during the 43rd
Parliament. Committees have developed the practice—from time to time—of making
a statement to discharge their obligation to provide an advisory report.[5]
This circumvents the necessity to provide a full report when a Committee determines
that the bill is uncontroversial or that to undertake an inquiry would be an
unnecessary duplication of work by other committees.[6]
3.16
The Committee believes that this practice should be formalised in the
standing orders.
3.17
Also, as the practice has evolved independently of the standing orders,
there is no obligation for a Committee making a statement to discharge to
present the minutes of the Committee’s proceedings. (This is a requirement for
the presentation of a Committee report under standing order 247(a).) In the
interests of openness and transparency, standing order 143 should be amended to
require that the minutes of the Committee’s deliberations are presented with
the statement to discharge the Committee’s obligation to report.
Recommendation 8 |
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3.18
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The Committee recommends that standing order 143 be amended
to:
a) restore
there the provision for the referral of bills to committees by a motion moved
in the House; and
b) provide
for statements discharging the requirement to provide an advisory report when
a committee finds no issue to report on and to require that the relevant
minutes of proceedings be presented with the discharge statement.
(See appendix A,
page 34, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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3.19
On a related issue, the Committee has identified an unnecessary
provision: standing order 227. This provides for House Members of joint
committees to be a committee for the purpose of considering bills referred by
the House. In practice, this standing order has never been used.
3.20
Essentially, standing order 227 has been superseded in the current
Parliament as the Selection Committee is authorised to refer bills to both
House and joint committees for consideration and report.[7]
Recommendation 9 |
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3.21
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The Committee recommends that standing order 227 be deleted.
(See Appendix A, page 40, for detailed proposed amendment.)
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Committee audio and video links
3.22
The use of technology is transforming the ways in which committee
inquiries are conducted. There is an ongoing need to update the standing orders
to accommodate emerging practice.
3.23
The Committee perceives such a need in regard to the use of audio and
video links. Currently, House committees need to resolve to conduct proceedings
using audio or audio visual links with committee members or witnesses (standing
order 235(b)). This reflects the experimental nature of the technology when the
relevant standing order was drafted. However, the use of such technology is now
routine and unremarkable. The need for such a resolution should be removed from
standing order 235 to reflect current practice.
Recommendation 10 |
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3.24
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The Committee recommends that standing order 235 be amended to
remove the need for a committee to resolve to use audio visual links.
(See Appendix A, page 40, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Six month amendments
3.25
Another anachronism, this time with regard to language use, has been
identified by the Committee in standing orders 146 and 155. Standing order 146
has been designed to enable the disposal of a bill at the second reading stage
and standing order 155 to enable the disposal of a bill at the third reading
stage.
3.26
For example, standing order 146 states:
An amendment may be moved to the question –
That this bill be now read a second time –
By omitting ‘now’ and adding ‘this day six months’, which, if
carried shall finally dispose of the bill.
3.27
Standing order 155 makes the same provision to dispose of a bill at the
third reading stage. House of Representatives Practice notes that, in
effect, if carried such an amendment is the equivalent of the House resolving,
‘That this bill be not read a second (or third) time’.[8]
3.28
The practice of moving the ‘6 month amendment’ derives from the United
Kingdom (UK) House of Commons. Originally in the House of Commons the
postponing of a bill for 6 months presupposed that the end of the parliamentary
session would arrive within the six months and the bill would therefore lapse.
This procedure has been regarded as obsolete by the House of Commons for many
years.[9]
3.29
With regard to Australian practice, House of Representatives Practice
notes:
It is now so long since this procedure has been used that it
could, especially in its current wording, perhaps be regarded as obsolete.[10]
3.30
The Committee recommends that the wording of standing orders 146 and 155
be amended to ensure that each is self-explanatory and easily understood. The
proposed clarification would not alter the effect of the provisions.
Recommendation 11 |
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3.31
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The Committee recommends that standing orders 146 and 155 be
amended to remove the unnecessary wording and state clearly that ‘the bill be
not read a second/third time’.
(See Appendix A, page 35, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Authority of the Chair and Senators
3.32
Standing order 257(c) has also become inadequate in meeting the present
needs of House practice. It provides for the admission of Senators to the
Chamber and obliges Senators to follow the Speaker’s instructions regarding
good order while in the Senators’ gallery:
257 Admission of Senators and visitors
(c) Senators shall have the privilege of being admitted into
the Senators’ gallery without invitation, but they must observe the Speaker’s
instructions regarding good order.
3.33
In reality Senators may also be present in the Distinguished Visitors’
Gallery or, by invitation, on the floor of the House. The standing order does
not cover either of these situations. To circumvent this deficiency and ensure
that there is no misunderstanding regarding the authority of the Speaker when
Senators are present in the Chamber, a separate provision has been included in recent
resolutions of the House covering occasions when Senators are invited to attend
the House. For example, the resolution to invite the Prime Minister of New
Zealand to address the House in June 2011 included the provision (in bold for
ease of reference) to extend the power of standing order 257(c):
Mr Albanese (Leader of the House), by leave, moved – That:
(1) the House invite the
Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand, to attend and address the House
on Monday, 20 June 2011, at 2.30p.m.;
(2) unless otherwise
ordered, at the sitting of the House on Monday, 20 June 2011:
a) the
sitting commence at approximately 2.30p.m. when the proceedings shall be
welcoming remarks by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and an
address by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, … and
b) the
provisions of standing order 257(c) shall apply to the area of Members’ seats
as well as the galleries;
(3) a message be sent to
the Senate inviting Senators to attend the House as guests for the welcoming
remarks by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and address by
the Rt Hon John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand…[11]
3.34
Standing order 257(c) should make clear that when Senators are present
anywhere in the Chamber or galleries, they must observe the Speaker’s
instructions regarding good order. This flows from a desire for clarity about
the authority of the Speaker regarding the attendance by Senators whether in
the galleries or on the floor of the House, rather than any apprehension about
good order not being maintained.
Recommendation 12 |
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3.35
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The Committee recommends that standing order 257(c) be
amended to state that Senators must observe the Speaker’s instructions
regarding good order wherever they are in the Chamber or galleries.
(See Appendix A, page 40, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Federation Chamber timetable format
3.36
The Federation Chamber[12] was established in 1994
as an additional chamber of the House to assist in handling the House’s
increasing workload and allow more time for debate.[13]
While business is carried on concurrently in both Chambers, business in the
House takes precedence over business being conducted in the Federation Chamber.
Therefore, although an order of business for the Federation Chamber is provided
in the standing orders, this order of business is only indicative, not
prescriptive.
3.37
The presentation of Figure 4 in standing order 192 could be slightly
amended to better reflect the indicative nature of the order of business for
the Federation Chamber.
Recommendation 13 |
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3.38
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The Committee recommends that the presentation of Figure 4
in standing order 192 be amended to clarify the indicative nature of the
order of business for the Federation Chamber.
(See Appendix A, page 37, for detailed proposed amendments.)
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Minor corrections of inconsistencies
3.39
The Committee has identified two further minor inconsistencies in
standing order 1 and standing order 198 that invite amendment.
3.40
Standing order 39 provides for Chairs and Deputy Chairs of committees to
make announcements concerning inquiries and uses the phrase ‘relating to an
inquiry’. The correlating section of standing order 1 setting speaking times uses
the phrase ‘(A)nnouncements of inquiries’. Standing order 1 requires a
slight alteration in the wording to make it consistent with the wording in
standing order 39 and clarify that such announcements may cover a range of
matters relating to an inquiry, not just the announcement of an inquiry.
Recommendation 14 |
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3.41
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The Committee recommends that standing order 1 be amended to
remove the inconsistency in wording with standing order 39.
(See Appendix A, page 29, for detailed proposed amendment.)
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3.42
Similarly, the heading of standing order 198 ‘Report of bill to the
House’ should read ‘Report to the House’ as the standing order covers all
reports from the Federation Chamber, not just reports on bills.
Recommendation 15 |
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3.43
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The Committee recommends that the heading of standing order
198 be amended to read ‘Report to the House’.
(See Appendix A, page 38, for detailed proposed amendment.)
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