It is usual for the Procedure Committee to inquire into how the standing orders and any sessional orders in place have operated over the course of a Parliament. As the 46th Parliament nears its conclusion, this report provides the committee’s reflections on various aspects of House procedure and on how the standing orders have operated in the past two and a half years. Some observations are specific to the 46th Parliament, while others relate to more technical aspects of the standing orders.
The committee’s recommendations aim to improve practices and procedures of the House and its committees, and span disparate topics, from publishing ministerial responses to petitions prior to their presentation to the House, to removing the need for Members to accompany the newly-elected Speaker to his or her presentation to the Governor-General on the opening day of a new Parliament. The more technical recommendations are intended to make the standing orders more reflective of current practice, improve consistency within the standing orders or remove redundant references. The committee recommends that some minor technical amendments be made as Clerk’s amendments.
The report also adds some observations further to the committee’s December 2020 report about the practices and procedures put in place in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic.
Finally, the report discusses a number of items of House practice relating to the operation of particular standing orders. I hope that, in doing so, the committee assists Members by clarifying some practical points about the day-to-day operation of the House and its committees.
Ross Vasta MP
Chair