House of Representatives

4. SITTINGS OF THE HOUSE AND ORGANISATION OF BUSINESS

Sittings of the House—Terminology

The following definitions cover some of the parliamentary terms associated with sittings of the House and the intervals between sittings:

A Parliament commences upon the first sitting day following a general election. The Constitution provides that Parliament must be summoned to meet not later than 30 days after the day appointed for the return of the election writs. The day for the new Parliament to assemble is fixed by the Governor-General by proclamation, in practice on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day.

A Parliament comes to an end automatically at the expiration of three years from the first meeting of the House, or on the earlier dissolution of the House. A general election for the full membership of a new House is then held.

A session commences upon the first sitting day following a general election and concludes either by prorogation, dissolution or at the expiration of three years from the first meeting of the House. A further session commences upon the first sitting day following a prorogation and concludes in the same manner. In recent times Parliaments have consisted of only one session.

Dissolution is the formal action of ending a Parliament or a House of the Parliament. The House is dissolved by proclamation of the Governor-General, in practice on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day. When the House is dissolved or expires the Senate continues to exist, except in specific circumstances set out in the Constitution when both Houses may be dissolved simultaneously (double dissolution) following legislative deadlock.

Prorogation is the formal ending of a session by proclamation of the Governor-General, in practice on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day.

Sitting periods occur within a session. The sittings of the House in each calendar year are divided into three distinct periods: the Autumn sittings in February/March; the Winter (Budget) sittings in May/June; and the Spring sittings from August to December. In earlier years the practice was to have two sitting periods: Autumn sittings, from February to June, and Budget sittings, from August to December, and this arrangement, with an August Budget, may still occur when a general election interrupts the usual parliamentary calendar.

A sitting commences pursuant to the standing or sessional orders, or in accordance with a resolution of the House at a previous sitting, and concludes with the adjournment of the same sitting. The same sitting may extend over more than one day.

Suspension of sitting—a sitting may be suspended, that is, interrupted, with the Speaker or Member presiding leaving the Chair, for a variety of reasons, including scheduled meal breaks.

An adjournment is said to occur when the House stands adjourned for any period of time. Thus the term covers the period between the end of one sitting day and the commencement of the next; the gap (usually of two weeks) between sitting weeks within a sitting period; and also the much longer periods of time between the main sitting periods each year, which are technically not recesses although they are often referred to as such.

A recess is a period between sessions of the Parliament or the period between the close of a session by prorogation and the dissolution or expiry of the House.

Days and hours of sitting

Unless otherwise ordered, the House sits in a four-weekly cycle of two sitting weeks followed by two non-sitting weeks (S.O. 40).

The normal hours of sitting are as follows:

On days the House sits into the late evening (i.e. Mondays and Tuesdays) sittings are usually suspended for meal breaks from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A motion to vary the time and/or day of the next meeting of the House is needed whenever the House departs from the sitting pattern specified by the standing orders. Such a motion may be moved by a Minister at any time without notice (S.O. 51).

Meeting of the House

Before a meeting of the House the bells ring for five minutes to call Members to the Chamber. At the time fixed for the House to meet, the Speaker, preceded by the Serjeant-at-Arms with the Mace, enters the Chamber and takes the Chair (S.O. 41). Having ascertained that a quorum is present, the Speaker reads the Prayers specified in S.O. 43, with Members standing, then calls on the first item of business.

Adjournment of sitting

The House is adjourned by agreement to the motion That the House do now adjourn, which may only be moved by a Minister (S.O. 50), or in accordance with the automatic adjournment provisions (S.O. 48A).

At the times specified by the automatic adjournment rule (S.O. 48A) the Speaker interrupts proceedings to propose the question That the House do now adjourn. If a division is occurring at the time of interruption, the division (and any consequential division) is completed and the result announced.

A Minister may require the question to be put immediately (to allow it to be negatived to enable the business before the House to continue). If the question is then negatived the House resumes its proceedings at the point they were interrupted. Otherwise the interrupted business is set down on the Notice Paper for the next sitting, and debate may then take place on the question That the House do now adjourn. This is the adjournment debate during which the rule of relevance does not apply, giving Members the opportunity to speak on matters of their own choosing (see Adjournment debate).

The adjournment debate is interrupted by the Speaker at the time scheduled for the House to adjourn (i.e. at 11 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and 6 p.m. on Thursdays). At this point a Minister may require the debate to be extended for up to 10 minutes to enable Ministers to speak in reply to matters raised in the debate. If the debate is not extended, or if it is extended after 10 minutes or the earlier ending of debate, the Speaker automatically adjourns the House until the time of its next meeting.

If the adjournment motion is negatived when first proposed and the business of the day is not finished within 30 minutes, that is, by the standard time for the adjournment of the House, a Minister moves the adjournment motion at the conclusion of ordinary business and debate on the motion (adjournment debate) may then occur without any limitation of time.

If the days business finishes before the time at which the motion to adjourn would be automatically proposed, the adjournment motion is moved by a Minister immediately. Debate on the motion may continue until the standard time for the adjournment of the House set by standing order 48A.

Quorum

The quorum is the minimum number of Members which must be present to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers. The size of the quorum is defined by the House of Representatives (Quorum) Act 1989 as at least 1/5 of the whole number of the Members of the House. The quorum of the current House of 148 Members is thus 30 Members. The quorum includes the occupant of the Chair and is not reduced by the death or resignation of a Member.

A quorum must be present to constitute a meeting of the House and to record a vote of the House when one is called for, but it is not necessary to maintain a quorum continuously. The House regularly conducts its business when less than a quorum of Members is present in the Chamber. However, any Member is entitled at any time to insist on the presence of a quorum by formally taking notice that a quorum is not present (S.O. 45)—see below.

In ascertaining whether or not a quorum is present, all Members within the physical limits of the Chamber (all areas on the floor of the Chamber, including officials seats) are counted (S.O. 47).

Lack of quorum at time of meeting

If a quorum is not present when the Chair is taken at the time fixed for the meeting of the House, the bells are rung and a period of 5 minutes is allowed for a quorum to form (S.O. 41). During this period no Member is permitted to leave the Chamber unless a quorum is present (S.O. 42). If, after the five minutes have elapsed and a quorum is still not present, the House is suspended or adjourned as described below.

Lack of quorum on division

If the result of a division reported to the Chair by the tellers shows that the number of Members voting was less than a quorum, the result of the division is voided (S.O. 44) and the House is suspended or adjourned as described below.

Quorum called for by Member

A Member calls for a quorum to be formed by drawing the Chairs attention to the state of the House. It is out of order to debate the situation or to draw attention while the Speaker is in the process of putting a question. Once a quorum has been called for the call cannot be withdrawn and the House must be counted. The Chair counts the House or has it counted and, if a quorum is not present, has the bells rung for four minutes, as for a division (S.O. 48). No Member may leave the Chamber until a quorum has been formed or four minutes have elapsed (S.O. 47). If there is not a quorum after the bells have rung for four minutes, the House is suspended or adjourned as described below.

A call for a quorum when a quorum is in fact present is regarded as disorderly, and it is normal in these circumstances for the offending Member to be named by the Chair and suspended from the service of the House.

Adjournment or suspension of House because of lack of quorum

In all cases, when a lack of quorum has been established the Speaker may either:

• adjourn the House to the next day of sitting, or

• if satisfied there is likely to be a quorum within a reasonable time, announce that he or she will take the Chair at a stated time, and the sitting is suspended until that time. If, at that time, there is still not a quorum, the Speaker adjourns the House until the next sitting day. (S.Os 41, 4445)

Quorum in the Main Committee

The quorum in the Main Committee is three, including the occupant of the Chair, one government Member and one non-government Member (S.O. 272). This quorum must be present at all times. If the Chair notes that a quorum is not present he or she must suspend the Committee until a stated time or adjourn it until the day of the next sitting of the House (S.O. 285).

Attendance of Members

The attendance of Members at each sitting of the House is recorded in the Votes and Proceedings (S.O. 31)—in practice the names of Members not present are listed. A Register of Members Attendance is maintained by the Serjeant-at-Arms. For a Members attendance to be registered he or she must be physically present in the Chamber of the House at some time during the sitting. Members attendance is normally registered at question time, and Members who only enter the Chamber outside question time should ensure that their attendance has been recorded.

Leave of absence

A Members place becomes vacant if, without permission of the House, he or she does not attend the House for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament (Constitution, section 38).

Leave of absence is usually granted for reasons such as parliamentary or public business overseas, or ill health. A motion to grant leave of absence does not require notice, states the cause and period of leave, and has priority over all other business (S.O. 35). Leave of absence excuses a Member from service in the House or on a committee (S.O. 36). If a Member granted leave of absence attends the House before the period of leave expires, the remaining leave is forfeited (S.O. 37).

It is the usual practice at the end of a period of sittings for a Minister to move That leave of absence be given to every Member of the House of Representatives from the determination of this sitting of the House to the date of its next sitting.

Opening of a new Parliament

The opening of a new Parliament is characterised by traditional ceremony:

• Members assemble in the House of Representatives Chamber, and the Clerk of the House reads the proclamation summoning Parliament (S.O. 2)

• Members go in procession to the Senate Chamber to hear the Governor-Generals Deputy (normally the Chief Justice of the High Court) formally declare the Parliament open.

• Members return to the House to be sworn in by a justice of the High Court. The Clerk tables the returns to the writs showing the Member elected for each electoral division, after which Members are called to the Table in groups to swear an oath or make an affirmation and sign the oath or affirmation form.

• The Speaker is elected, as described elsewhere. The sitting is then suspended.

• Members reassemble in the Chamber before accompanying the Speaker as he or she is presented to the Governor-General in the Members Hall. Members then return to the Chamber.

• Members go in procession to the Senate Chamber where the Governor-General makes the opening speech (S.O. 4). This is a formal declaration of the causes of the calling together of the Parliament and contains a brief review of the affairs of the nation and a forecast of the Governments proposed program of legislation.

• Members return to the House of Representatives (S.O. 6) where some formal business (the presentation and first reading of a formal or privilege bill) is transacted (S.O. 7). This is a symbolic declaration by the House that it is master of its own program of business.

• The Speaker reports the Governor-Generals speech to the House and a committee of three Members is appointed to prepare an Address in Reply—see below (S.O. 8). The sitting is suspended.

• When the sitting resumes the House may proceed to other business. This usually includes the election of the Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker and condolence motions. The proposed Address in Reply may be presented to the House at this sitting. However, this usually occurs at the next sitting.

Opening of a new session

Procedure for the opening day of a new session of the Parliament following a prorogation is similar to that for the opening day of a new Parliament except that, as the session is a continuation of and not the commencement of a Parliament, no Deputies are appointed by the Governor-General to open Parliament, only those Members elected at by-elections since the last meeting are sworn in (by the Speaker), and the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker continue in office without re-election.

Address in Reply debate

An Address is a formal communication from the House to the sovereign or the Governor-General (S.Os 31718, 39398). Such communication is unusual except for the Address in Reply at the start of each Parliament, thanking the Governor-General for his or her opening speech (S.O. 8).

The appointment of the Address in Reply committee (traditionally comprising the Prime Minister and two newly elected government Members) and the preparation of the Address are formalities—the wording does not change in substance from Parliament to Parliament. The proposed Address is presented to the House by one of the private Members of the committee and is read out by the Clerk. The Member then moves That the Address be agreed to. The motion is seconded by the other private Member of the committee.

A wide ranging debate on the motion That the Address be agreed to takes place, usually spread over several sittings. The debate provides an opportunity for Members to speak on any matter they wish, provided the other rules of debate are observed. Each Member may speak for 20 minutes. This debate is traditionally an opportunity for newly elected Members to make their first speeches in the House. The debate may be referred to the Main Committee. An amendment, in the form of an addition of words, may be moved to the Address.

At the end of the debate the Address is agreed to. It is later presented to the Governor-General at Government House by the Speaker accompanied by other Members (S.O. 9).

Normal routine of business

The normal routine of business (S.O. 101) is as follows:

Notices and orders of the day, government business.

Questions without notice , at 2 p.m.—see Questions seeking information.

Presentation of papers—see Papers.

Ministerial statements—see Ministerial statements.

Matter of public importance—see Matter of public importance.

Notices and orders of the day, government business.

Adjournment debate—see Adjournment debate.

The different order of business on Mondays, informally known as Private Members Day, is described elsewhere.

Notices and orders of the day—government business

The largest proportion of the time of the House is spent considering government business—motions and bills sponsored by Ministers. Most government business is legislation. Notices are items of business being introduced for the first time; orders of the day are items of business which have been introduced previously and listed for further consideration on a later day.

Notices and orders of the day are taken in the order they appear on the Notice Paper. The order of business can be changed by agreement of the House to a motion moved by a Minister, for example, to postpone an item to a later hour or to the next sitting (S.Os 155, 189).

Matters not on the Notice Paper may also be introduced, where permitted by the standing orders (for example, taxation bills or motions for tariff proposals) or by leave of the House.

Other business

As necessary or convenient other business may be taken during the sitting between scheduled items of business. Such matters may include the presentation of papers, the announcement of messages from the Governor-General assenting to bills, messages from the Senate, the presentation of committee reports, and motions relating to the sittings or the business of the House.