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

I also commend this report to the Senate. The main thrust of this report is to try and accommodate private members’ bills and give them a dedicated timeslot for debate in this chamber. It is important because, in the past, governments and those managing the government’s program have always been able to say that debates on private members’ bills are only possible if time is allocated by the government. It is a move in the right direction to allow private members’ bills to be debated in this chamber.

It is only a temporary order and will require a lot of goodwill between the government, the opposition and the minor parties to make sure that it works smoothly. One thing we could not ensure was that private members’ bills or government bills were treated equally in this place. Initially there was some thought about perhaps putting shorter time limits on speeches or guillotining debate. A whole range of options were put forward. In fact, a private member’s bill is just as important as any other bill that comes into this place and it must be treated equally. A senator may hope that their private senator’s bill reaches fruition in a short time, but that would only be able to be done by agreement, in the same way that many other bills are put through this place, particularly towards the end of the session. By agreement, they are dealt with in an expeditious manner.

I look forward to the trial. I think it can work but, as I said before, it will take a lot of goodwill for it to be as successful as many senators, particularly those from minor parties, would hope it to be. Let’s see how it works. We have six months in the first half of next year to see how it progresses. Individual senators can still only expect to get the opportunity to debate their bills in a ratio of proportionality in this chamber, or close to proportionality—it will not always be exact—but I am sure that, if we go about it in the right manner, this can be a very successful addition to the procedures that we follow in this place. I certainly commend this report to the Senate.