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Chapter 9 - Motions
and amendments
Notice of motion
Motions cannot be moved unless at
least one sitting day’s notice has been given (SO 76(10), 79), except for
motions which the standing orders authorise to be moved without notice. Notice
of a motion is given by a senator stating its terms to the Senate and handing a
signed copy to the Clerk, or by lodging the copy only, at the time provided in
the routine of business for the giving of notices. Notices cannot be given at
any other time except by leave of the Senate, but an exception to this rule is
a notice of motion to refer a matter to one of the legislative and general
purpose standing committees (SO 25(11); see also SO
81 for
privilege motions).
If the Senate
dispenses with or alters the routine of business in such a way as to supersede
the time for giving notice, this removes only the opportunity to give notices
orally, and senators may still lodge notices in writing. This is significant in
respect of disallowance motions, where the time for giving notice is
statutorily limited for most kinds of delegated legislation (see Chapter 15,
Delegated Legislation and Disallowance).
Notice is not
required for the following motions:
-
for the
adjournment of the Senate, when moved by or on behalf of a minister (SO 53(2))
-
connected
with the conduct of the business of the Senate, when moved by a minister (SO 56)
-
to
determine the postponement till another day of business for which a senator has
lodged a postponement notification (SO 67)
-
for the
reference of a bill to a
committee after the second reading (SO 115(2))
-
for a
bill to be taken to the stage of the second reading being moved, without the
delays otherwise imposed by the standing orders (SO 113(2))
-
for the
consideration of a bill as an urgent bill, and subsequent motions, when moved
by a minister (SO 142)
-
for the
chair of the committee of the whole to report progress and ask leave to sit
again (SO 148(2))
-
for a
message to be sent to the House of Representatives communicating a resolution
of the Senate (SO 154)
-
for a
petition not to be received (SO 69(3))
-
for
taking note of a document presented
by a minister after
notices (SO 61)
-
relating to a
committee report, at the times allocated on Wednesday and Thursday for the
consideration of reports then presented (SO 62(4))
-
in relation to a
question or an estimates question on notice, or an order for documents, not
answered within 30 days, after a minister is asked to explain that failure (SO 74(5), 164(3))
-
in relation to a
committee report on a bill, when the bill is considered (SO 115(5))
-
for the recommittal
of a bill, at the report and third reading stages (SO 121, 123)
-
for a
document quoted by a senator to be laid upon the table (SO 168)
-
for the printing or
consideration on another day of a
document which has been presented (SO 169)
-
for the
extension of time for a senator to speak, in general debate (SO 189(1))
-
for
dissent from a ruling of the President, and that the question of dissent
requires immediate determination (SO 198(1))
-
for the
adjournment of a debate (SO 201(1))
-
for the
closure of a debate (SO 199(1))
-
for the
business of the day to be called on, moved during discussion of a matter of public
importance (SO 75(8))
-
for a senator to be suspended from the sitting of
the Senate, in case of disorder (SO 203(3))
-
in cases
of urgent necessity, for the suspension of standing or other orders (SO 209(1)).
A motion which
otherwise requires notice may be moved by leave of the
Senate, that is, unanimous consent of all senators present (SO 88).
When the Senate has directed that a report, for example, a report of
the Procedure
Committee, be considered on a day, so that there is an order of the day for the
consideration of the report, motions may be moved without notice in relation to
the report, for example, to adopt or endorse the recommendations of the report.
Notices are
statements of intention by senators that they intend to move particular motions
on particular days indicated by the notices. Notices are technically not
business which is before the Senate.
Notices are entered on the Notice Paper in the order in which they are
given. If they are given by a minister they are placed under government
business, and if given by a senator who is not a minister under general
business. Other categories under which notices of motion may appear are
business of the Senate and matters of privilege; special precedence is given to
those notices under standing orders 58 and 81 (see also Chapter
8, Conduct of Proceedings, under Special precedence for certain business).
The opportunity for senators to carry out the intentions stated in
their notices and to move the motions of which they have given notice does not
arise until the notices are reached in accordance with the rules relating to
the conduct of proceedings. As explained in Chapter 8, the Senate usually
has more business before it than can be dealt with in a session, and notices of
motion, particularly general business
notices, will not necessarily be reached in the normal course of proceedings.
The following rules
apply to notices of motion (SO 76):
-
a
notice must not contain matters not relevant to each other
-
a
notice must consist of a clear and succinct proposed resolution or order of the
Senate
-
a
notice must deal with matters within the competence of the Senate
-
a notice must not
contain statements, quotations or other matter not strictly necessary to make
the proposed resolution or order intelligible.
The President is
empowered to delete extraneous matter from notices, to divide notices
containing different matters, and to require a senator giving a notice which is
contrary to the standing orders to reframe the notice. (See Procedure
Committee, 4th Report, 63rd Session, PP 463/1989; statement by
President Sibraa, SD, 13/11/1991, p. 2999.)
A senator may give
a notice on behalf of another senator who is not present (SO 76(4); it is a
general practice of the Senate to allow senators to take actions in the course
of proceedings on behalf of other senators).
Two or more
senators may join together as joint movers of a motion, and their names are
placed on the notice (SO 76(4)).
A senator may give
notice of a motion in general terms, provided that, at least one day before the
day on which the notice is to be moved, the senator provides a written copy of
the complete motion. A senator may, for example, give notice of intention to move
on a future day a motion relating to the report of a committee or other body,
and may provide before the day for moving the motion the terms of the motion
asking the Senate to make particular decisions in relation to the report (for
precedent relating to the summoning of certain witnesses: 12/6/1975, J.809).
This procedure is not often used.
A senator may not
give two notices of motion consecutively if another senator has a notice to
give (SO 76(9)). The
rationale of this rule is that a senator giving a number of notices could take
up a number of places in the queue of business on the Notice Paper, and thereby
make it less likely that subsequent notices would be reached. For convenience,
however, the chair may allow senators to give notices consecutively, on the
basis that they are placed on the Notice Paper in the order in which the
senators would normally have received the call (SD, 25/11/1980, p. 9).
Because a notice of
motion is simply a statement of intention by a senator and not business before
the Senate, it is entirely in
the control of the senator who gives the notice (ruling of President Givens, SD, 1/9/1916, p. 8408).
Thus a senator may change the terms of a notice before the day on which it is
to be moved, may specify a later day for moving the motion, and may withdraw a
notice at any time before it is moved or when it is reached in the order of
business (SO 77; but see below
in relation to disallowance motions). It follows that a senator cannot be
compelled to move a motion of which the senator has given notice, and if a
senator has given notice for a future day the senator cannot be compelled to
move the motion earlier; this can come about only by leave (28/9/1993, J.515;
30/9/1993, J.550; 25/11/1993, J.889-90). There are precedents for motions,
moved pursuant to a suspension of standing orders, to have motions of which
notice was given called on and thereby debated and determined early (9/10/1986,
J.1273; 28/2/1989, J.1392-3). This was done, however, as an agreed strategy to
bring on an early debate; it could not have prevented the senators moving the
motions on a later day in accordance with their notices. (See Supplement)
If a senator does
not move a motion when it is called on, it lapses and is removed from the
Notice Paper (SO 83(2), but see
below and Chapter 15, Delegated Legislation, for the special case of a
disallowance motion). A senator may
postpone a notice at the appropriate time in the routine of business (SO 67). A notice not
reached on the day for which it is given remains on the Notice Paper for the
next day of sitting (SO 80(2)).
The provision in standing order 77(2) for the terms of a notice to be
altered by lodgment in writing on any day earlier than the day for proceeding
with the motion has been used to alter the day for moving a motion. It cannot
be used, however, to change the day for moving a motion to a day earlier than
that originally designated. This would defeat the condition in standing order 77(1) that only a later day can be set,
and would be objectionable in principle in that it would allow a motion to be
brought on earlier without senators being aware, except by looking at the
Notice Paper for the day, that the motion is to be moved. On this basis a
request by a senator to designate by letter an earlier day for moving a motion
is not effective.
An alteration of a notice of motion under standing order 77(2) may be used to
divide a notice into two or more notices, provided that the original notice
contains a motion which could be divided under standing order 84(3) and the effect
of the division is not to give notice of a distinctly new motion. This was done
on 28
October 1997, when a government business notice of a motion to exempt a list of
bills from the operation of standing order 111(5) was divided
to distribute the bills on the list over 3 notices. Similarly, a notification under standing
order 77(2) may be used to combine two or more notices into one, provided that
they deal with related matters and a new notice is not sought to be introduced
by that means. Notices in different categories of business, such as business of
the Senate and general business, could not be combined by that means.
Special procedures
apply to the withdrawal of notices of
motion for the disallowance of
delegated legislation. Various statutory provisions provide that, for delegated
legislation to be validly disallowed by the Senate, the notice of motion for
disallowance must be given within a statutorily-specified period after the
legislation is laid before the Senate (see Chapter 15, Delegated Legislation).
If a senator were to give notice of motion for the disallowance of an
instrument of delegated legislation and then withdraw the notice after the
expiration of the statutory period for giving notice, another senator who
wished to move for the disallowance of the delegated legislation could not do
so by giving a fresh notice. Standing order 78 therefore
provides that a senator who has given notice of a disallowance motion may not
withdraw it until an opportunity has been provided for any other senator to
take over the notice.
It was ruled in
1982 (21/4/1982, J.853-4) that a
senator could not give notice of a motion in the same terms as a notice already
on the Notice Paper. This ruling was not correct and has not since been
followed. There is nothing in the standing orders to prevent senators giving
identical notices of motion. The ruling seems to have been based on an analogy
with the anticipation rule
(see below), but that rule clearly does not apply to notices. If the ruling
were followed a senator could give notice of a motion with no intention of ever
moving it, for the purpose of preventing, or attempting to prevent, a matter
coming before the Senate.
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