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

I present the second report of 2014 of the Procedure Committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

This report by the Procedure Committee proposes a number of suggested reforms to streamline some procedures and enhance the rights of senators to speak on adjournment debates and at lunchtime on Wednesdays, which the committee proposes be renamed as Senators' Statements. The committee is still considering the overall shape of the routine of business but in the meantime presents these ideas for discussion amongst senators, with a view to the Senate adopting them as temporary orders later in the year. I commend the report to the Senate.

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too want to speak, but briefly, on the Procedure Committee report. This report does in fact represent a work in progress for the Procedure Committee. The Procedure Committee began the task of reviewing the Senate's routine of business in the last parliament. It has met on numerous occasions to examine and engage on that issue, but now, for the first time, the Procedure Committee put some substance on its proposals for reform in the Senate. I join with the Deputy President in commending this report. I acknowledge, as I am sure you would, Mr President, that its progress has been best described as slow in this regard. I also think it is important to acknowledge that the elements that are discussed in this report are, if you like, the low-hanging fruit. But, nevertheless, if they are adopted, it will mean some genuine reform to our routine of business, some improvement and some rationalisation, and that would be a good thing.

Effectively it covers six areas, firstly in relation to documents. This report proposes a half-hour period for debate on all documents other than committee reports on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and for those documents not dealt with on those days—if you like, documents that are rolled over—there would be debate for an hour on Thursdays. In relation to documents, time would be limited to five minutes per speaker per document. Secondly, the Procedure Committee reports on committee reports and provides an opportunity on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for 60 minutes, and then there is a revisiting of reports that are, if you like, rolled over, for another hour on Thursday evenings. In this case, the Procedure Committee is recommending a 10-minute speaking period for a speaker on an individual committee report.

Thirdly, the committee proposes streamlined procedures for determining postponement of business, committee meetings and hearings during sessions, and extension of time for committees. These matters, the committee suggests, could be reported by the Clerk and formally agreed unless, by exception, any senator were to dissent. In that case, such a matter would be decided by the Senate. This works well at the moment and the proposal of the Procedure Committee is to extend it into those additional areas. Fourthly, the committee recommends that the opportunity to debate a matter of public importance or an urgency motion on Thursdays would be removed.

Fifthly, the committee recommends that the open ended adjournment which takes place in the Senate on Tuesday night occur on Thursday. But in doing that, the committee also proposes that the Tuesday adjournment debate occur for a maximum time of two hours and 10 minutes, concluding no later than 9.30 pm, as it currently occurs on the open ended Tuesday evening adjournment debate with a series of five-minute speeches, followed by a series of 10-minute speeches within that time frame. As I have indicated, the committee proposes the open-ended adjournment debate now for Thursday night.

The sixth and final recommendation of the Procedures Committee is basically a change of nomenclature. There has always been a little concern that we currently have an opportunity for a matter of public importance, an MPI, effectively on each Senate sitting day. We have an opportunity for matters of public interest, between 12.45 pm and 2 pm on a Wednesday. It is also called an MPI. So we have got two different types of MPIs and the Procedure Committee in a very radical move has decided to rename one of those MPIs. The loser, as you know, Mr President, is 'matters of public interest'. The 'matter of public importance' has survived and the committee, after a furious debate, recommends that matters of public interest on the Wednesday be renamed to 'Senators Statements'. I am not going to bore the Senate. Because these matters are private to the committee's discussion, I would not have in the public arena about some of the suggestions that were proposed by senators at the Procedure Committee. But it is a sensible idea to change the MPI 'matters of public interest' on a Wednesday to Senators Statements.

I commend these reforms. They are modest. I want to see the routine of business far more significantly reformed than that, but it is a start. I would commend the report to the Senate. I hope these reforms are quickly dealt with in the next session because while it is slow progress and they are small reforms, they are nevertheless substantive, important and will assist the routine of business in the Senate.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is the motion moved by Deputy President Senator Marshall be agreed to.

Question agreed to.