Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That:

(1) the resolution of appointment of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade be amended to read as follows;

(1) a Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade be appointed to inquire into and report on such matters relating to foreign affairs and trade as may be referred to it by either House of the Parliament or a Minister;

(2) annual reports of government departments and authorities and reports of the Auditor-General presented to the House shall stand referred to the committee for any inquiry the committee may wish to make and reports shall stand referred to the committee in accordance with a schedule tabled by the Speaker to record the areas of responsibility of each committee, provided that:

(a) any question concerning responsibility for a report or a part of a report shall be determined by the Speaker; and

(b) the period during which an inquiry concerning an annual report may be commenced by a committee shall end on the day on which the next annual report of that department or authority is presented to the House;

(3) the committee consist of 19 members, eight Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips, five Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips or by any minority group or independent Member, two Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, two Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and two Senators to be nominated by any minority group or independent Senator;

(4) every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(5) the members of the committee hold office as a joint standing committee until the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time;

(6) the committee elect a:

(a) Government member as its Chair; and

(b) non-Government member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee;

(7) at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting;

(8) in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, have a casting vote;

(9) six members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House;

(10) the committee:

(a) have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of three or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine;

(b) appoint the chair of each subcommittee who shall have a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equally divided vote, a casting vote; and

(c) appoint the deputy chair of each subcommittee who shall act as chair of the subcommittee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the subcommittee and who shall have a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equally divided vote, a casting vote;

(11) in addition to the members appointed pursuant to paragraph (10), the chair and deputy chair of the committee be ex officio members of each subcommittee appointed;

(12) at any time when the chair and deputy chair of a subcommittee are not present at a meeting of the subcommittee the members of the subcommittee present shall elect another member of that subcommittee to act as chair at that meeting;

(13) two members of a subcommittee constitute the quorum of that subcommittee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House;

(14) members of the committee who are not members of a subcommittee may participate in the proceedings of that subcommittee but shall not vote, move any motion or be counted for the purpose of a quorum;

(15) the committee or any subcommittee have power to:

(a) call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced;

(b) conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit;

(c) sit in public or in private;

(d) report from time to time;

(e) adjourn from time to time and to sit during any adjournment of the Senate and the House of Representatives; and

(f) conduct meetings for the purpose of private briefings at any time;

(16) the committee or any subcommittee have power to consider and make use of the evidence and records of the Joint Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defence, and Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, appointed during previous Parliaments;

(17) the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders; and

(2) a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and requesting that it concur and take action accordingly.

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

I move:

That subparagraph (6)(b) in paragraph (1) of the motion be amended to read:

"(b) Opposition member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee;"

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has had a very long tradition of having a chair from the government and a deputy chair from the opposition parties, given its long-term standing and importance to the nation. As a former diplomat, I know this committee has always worked in the national interest, has carried out incredibly important work on behalf of the nation and, on the whole, has always acted in a very bipartisan way. I think it's really important that that continues, and I hope that the government will support this amendment, which would continue that long tradition and make sure this very important committee can continue to do that important work.

Of course, there will be hefty debates within the committee about various things, but what we would like to see is that long-term tradition of a member of the government as chair and then a member of the opposition as deputy chair. That's why I'm moving this amendment. I made sure we notified the Leader of the House that we would be doing this.

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

Is the amendment seconded?

Cameron Caldwell (Fadden, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Housing) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment. I support the Manager of Opposition Business. This is a worthwhile amendment to the motion and one that respects the longstanding traditions held in relation to the conduct of this committee. To further support that I say that there should be no watering down of or walking back from the important role that government and opposition play in this place, and we should maintain the integrity of those two roles, particularly in the important business of a committee such as this.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

This is an amendment about who the deputy chair should be and whether they should be a member of the opposition. The deputy chair of the committee is a member of the opposition; it's Senator Dean Smith. As a result of this resolution, there would be changes to other parts of the committee, but it doesn't demand a new election of the deputy chair. I know there's a lot happening in the opposition these days, but my understanding is that Senator Dean Smith is still a member of the opposition and is still deputy chair.

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

The question is that the amendment be agreed to.