Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The President has received a message from the House of Representatives proposing a variation in the appointment of members to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate concur with the resolution of the House of Representatives.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak briefly on this message that has come from the House of Representatives. I do so having for some 8½ years been Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. I am deeply concerned at the process that is behind this message coming to the Senate. A joint standing committee is just that: a joint standing committee. When I found out that the Chief Government Whip and the Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives had decided between them that they were going to increase the numbers of members on this committee without any consultation with the Senate and without any consultation of any depth with the chair of that committee, Senator Michael Forshaw—he was only told that this was happening, and I commend him for his work on this committee—I thought that it is about time those on the other side of this parliament genuinely made some effort to consult with senators—before they decide that they will increase the size of a committee.

It was only done in order to accommodate a difference of opinion on that side when there was going to be a contest between some members of the House of Representatives for positions on this committee. If this is the way that they are going to solve any contests or disputes that might occur in the future, we will have a committee of 34, 36, 38 or 40—probably again without any consultation with the Senate.

I want to place on record that, if we are going to have joint committees in this place, they need to be joint committees. If there are going to be changes to joint committees, they need to be made in consultation with both houses. The House of Representatives should consult with the Senate if it wants to add more members of the House of Representatives to a committee.

There have been 32 members on this committee for as long as I can remember, and for even longer. It is a one of the very important committees of this parliament. If there are going to be changes which affect the composition of the committee, the very least people on the other side of this parliament could do is consult with the Senate and get some agreement before they bring a message such as this to the Senate.

The first that I as a member of that committee heard about the fact that there was to be a change in the membership of the committee was when I read on the Notice Paper that there was a message coming from the House of Representatives about it. That is no way for us to conduct our relationship with the House of Representatives. It is no way for committee structures to be changed. I would hope that in future the people involved—in this case, the Chief Government Whip and the Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Representatives—would at least have the courtesy to consult with their Senate colleagues instead of unilaterally increasing the size of the committee in order to accommodate their own wishes.

Question agreed to.