Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

I present the Procedure Committee's second report of 2015.

Ordered that the report be printed.

Ordered that consideration of the report be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

This report addresses two matters that have been considered by the Procedure Committee for some time, and it makes recommendations in relation to the routine of business. Senators will be aware that there are two groups of temporary orders that expire on 30 June this year. The first group provides for the consideration of private senators' bills for two hours and 20 minutes on Thursday mornings and the corresponding 10 am start on Mondays. These have been in operation since the beginning of 2011. The second group are the temporary orders adopted as a trial last September for the streamlining of various types of business, including routine committee extensions and authorisations to meet while the Senate is sitting; the consolidation of opportunities to present and debate documents and reports; and an experiment with the adjournment debate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the exception of changes to the adjournment debate, the Procedure Committee considers that the temporary orders have worked well and should be incorporated into the standing orders with effect from the first sitting day in August.

In relation to the adjournment debate, the committee recommends that the Senate return to what is currently provided for in the standing orders: namely, an open-ended adjournment debate on Tuesday evenings with tiered speaking times of five, 10 and 20 minutes, and a 40-minute adjournment debate on Thursdays. Therefore, when the order of the day for consideration of the report is called on tomorrow, as a consequence of the motion just agreed to, I shall be moving that the Senate adopt the recommendations of the report to achieve changes to the standing orders and a return to the previous arrangements for the adjournment debate.

The second issue covered by the report is third-party arbitration of public interest immunity claims. This was referred to the committee on the adoption of a recommendation made by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee in its 2014 report entitled A claim of public interest immunity raised over documents. That committee asked the Procedure Committee to examine the system in operation in the New South Wales Legislative Council and consider how it might be adapted for the purposes of the Senate. The committee has considered the New South Wales procedures but has concluded, for a number of reasons, that the procedures are not readily adapted to the Senate and that the Senate's current procedures, which involve a range of solutions, are preferable. The committee does not reject the possibility of third-party arbitration or assessment in the right circumstances, but considers that such a procedure should not be a remedy of first resort. The committee has consolidated some guidance for ministers in responding to orders for production of documents, and proposes to monitor responses to orders for the production of documents over the next 12 months, after which it will report to the Senate. I commend the report to the Senate and seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.