Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I ask leave of the House to amend the notice relating to the proposed amendments to the standing orders in the terms as circulated.

Leave granted.

I thank the opposition and I move:

That standing orders 34, 55, 133 and 192 be amended, as follows:

34    Order of business

The order of business to be followed by the House is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. House order of business

55    Lack of quorum

(a) When the attention of the Speaker is drawn to the state of the House and the Speaker observes that a quorum is not present, the Speaker shall count the Members present in accordance with standing order 56.

(b) On Mondays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between 10 am and 12 noon, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House at 12 noon, if the Member then so desires.

(c) On Mondays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House after the discussion of a matter of public importance on Tuesday, if the Member then so desires.

(d) On Tuesdays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House prior to 2 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House after the discussion of the matter of public importance, if the Member then so desires.

(e) On Tuesdays, if any Member draws the attention of the Speaker to the state of the House between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm, the Speaker shall announce that he or she will count the House at 9.30 am on Wednesday, if the Member then so desires.

(f) If a quorum is in fact present when a Member draws attention to the state of the House, the Speaker may name the Member in accordance with standing order 94(b) (sanctions against disorderly conduct).

133    Deferred divisions on Mondays and Tuesdays

(a) On Mondays, any division called for between the hours of 10 am and 12 noon shall be deferred until 12 noon.

(b) On Mondays, any division called for between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm shall be deferred until after the discussion of the matter of public importance on Tuesday.

(c) On Tuesdays, any division called for prior to 2 pm shall be deferred until after the discussion of the matter of public importance.

(d) On Tuesdays, any division called for between the hours of 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm shall be deferred until 9.30 am on Wednesday.

(e) The Speaker shall put all questions on which a division has been deferred, successively and without amendment or further debate.

(f) This standing order does not apply to a division called on a motion moved by a Minister on Mondays and Tuesdays, during the periods specified in this standing order and on which a Minister requests that the division take place.

192    Federation Chamber’s indicative order of business

The normal order of business of the Federation Chamber is set out in figure 4.

Figure 4. Federation Chamber indicative order of business

The meeting times of the Federation Chamber are fixed by the Deputy Speaker and are subject to change. Times shown for the start and finish of items of business are approximate. Adjournment debates can occur on days other than Thursdays by agreement between the Whips.

In moving this motion, I might just explain the process and what we are proposing to do with the standing orders. Yesterday we made a number of noncontroversial changes to the standing orders as agreed between the opposition, the crossbenchers and the government and today we are moving another change. Then, when we return on 12 September, there may well be other changes that we can agree between the government, the opposition and the crossbenchers. Of course, where we do not agree we might still pursue those changes, depending on the government's attitude at the time.

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