Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a question for you, Speaker. I note you have, as other Speakers have in the past, allowed such questions to be asked of you, including by leaders of the House.

As you would be aware, on 29 September 2010, the House adopted a resolution concerning government responses to committee reports. For the information of members, this resolution is at page 131 of the Standing and Sessional Orders. The resolution states:

If a period of six months has elapsed from a report being presented and a response has not been presented, the relevant Minister (or Minister representing the Minister) shall:

(a) present to the House at the next available opportunity a signed statement stating the reasons for the delay in presentation of the response …

As you are probably aware, Mr Speaker, around 50 reports that have been delivered by Labor chaired committees remain unresponded to per the terms of this resolution. Some of these unanswered reports have inquired into financial abuse as a form of domestic violence, antisemitism on university campuses and the National Redress Scheme, which supports victims of child sexual abuse. In accordance with the resolution adopted by the House, relevant ministers who have not provided responses to committee reports within six months are required to 'present to the House at the next available opportunity a signed statement stating the reasons for the delay in presentation of the response'.

In terms of the operation of the House, can you please tell members how this resolution is given effect? Administratively, is procedural advice provided by departmental staff to committee chairs advising them of overdue committee responses? And can I take this opportunity to also ask what action you, as Speaker, will make to ensure compliance with clause 1 of the resolution in the future? The clause states:

Within a period of six months from the presentation in the House of a report by a House or Joint Committee, the Government shall present its response to the recommendations contained in the report to the House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Manager of Opposition Business for raising this important issue. He refers to the resolution adopted on 29 September 2010 on page 131 of standing orders. The first point I'll make is that questions to me are about administrative matters around the parliament. So the running of the House or the Department of Parliamentary Services does not fit into that category. You're asking me a question about the interpretation of a resolution and what actions or powers I have. You quoted the resolution, but you left out a very important part of the resolution, which, for members of the House, I will update. That says:

(3) If a response has not been presented in the required time and an explanatory statement has not been presented and questions on the statement not answered to the satisfaction of the committee, the committee may bring the matter to the attention, if appropriate, of the Auditor-General for assistance in resolving matters referred to in the report or to the Speaker for assistance in resolving the response process.

So the critical part of that resolution is 'the committee'. What you've done is not in line with the resolution. I'm not sure if you're aware of that or whether you just wanted to raise this and used this as an opportunity to raise that. That's certainly not allowed under the standing orders. But I have been generous to the manager to enable this issue to be ventilated. Just for moving forward, so all members know, if you're concerned about this, the first port of call would be the committee, by resolution, in writing. Then I may come into the course of action, but only after that.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, can I just say thank you for that clarification.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are welcome, Manager of Opposition Business; I enjoyed doing business with you.