Legislative Assembly
Parliament of
Fact Sheet 5
Opportunities for Debate
Background
Members
participate in various debates but seldom have an opportunity to engage in
lengthy debate. This fact sheet provides
an overview of key opportunities for debate. A general summary of time limits
for various debates is included in this fact sheet.
Bills and motions
The rules of debate require a member’s contribution to
be relevant to the motion or bill before the House. This places limitations on what a member may
say. When considering bills, members
must confine their comments to matters covered by the bill. The time limits for speaking on bills and
motions are contained in Standing Order 131. Time limits vary from a maximum of
five minutes to an unlimited amount of time for the member who introduces the
bill. The general summary of time limits can be found in the centre of this
fact sheet.
Address-in-Reply
The Address-in-Reply is the formal response of the
House to the speech made by the Governor at the opening of each session of
Parliament. See Fact Sheet 26: Opening of
Parliament.
Traditionally, a newly elected
government member is chosen to move the motion, ‘that the Address-in-Reply to
the speech of the Governor to both Houses of Parliament, be agreed to by this
House’.
The official acknowledgement of the speech reflects
the formality of the occasion:
Governor,
We, the Legislative Assembly of Victoria assembled in Parliament, wish to express our loyalty to our Sovereign, and to thank you for the speech which you have made to the Parliament.
A major debate follows, presenting members
with one of the few opportunities to engage in unfettered but orderly debate in
the House.
This debate covers the full spectrum of
government administration and members are generally not concerned by the normal
rules of relevancy. Members may speak freely and across a wide range of
issues. For a newly elected member
making an inaugural speech, the Address-in-Reply is often the first opportunity
they have to speak in the House.
Appropriation
An appropriation bill is one which,
when passed by the Parliament, will allow the government to spend public
money. To appropriate is to put money
aside for a particular purpose and this happens reasonably often. In addition to the general appropriation
bills, there is also an annual appropriation bill, commonly known as the
budget. The debate on this bill is
called the appropriation or budget debate.
All appropriation bills must originate
in the Legislative Assembly. The
Legislative Council can amend or, in certain circumstances, suggest amendments
to appropriation bills, but cannot amend the annual appropriation bill. The Council has one month to pass the annual appropriation
bill. If the bill is not passed by the
Council within one month it automatically proceeds to the Governor for royal
assent.
The annual appropriation bill, or
budget, is usually introduced into the House by the Treasurer in May. It seeks appropriation for the coming
financial year. The Treasurer has
unlimited speaking time and, at the conclusion of his or her speech, debate is adjourned
usually on the motion of the Shadow Treasurer.
When the budget debate is resumed, the
Shadow Treasurer normally leads the debate and has unlimited time in which to
make a contribution.
The general debate on the appropriation
bill may take several weeks. The scope
of the debate is almost unlimited reflecting the impact of the budget on all
government portfolios.
Grievances
The grievance debate gives members the opportunity to
raise matters concerning individual constituents or other issues of concern.
Standing Order 38 provides for the grievance
debate to take place on the first Wednesday of a sitting period and every subsequent
third sitting Wednesday. On such Wednesdays, the grievance debate starts with
the question ‘that grievances be noted’.
Members then have a time limit of 15 minutes each in which to speak.
This presents another forum for
wide-ranging debate in the House and is similar to the adjournment debate that
takes place at the end of the day. The
whole debate lasts for two hours, or until eight members have spoken, whichever
is the shorter.
The grievance debate is thought to
derive from an old
Adjournment Debate
The adjournment debate is an
opportunity for members to raise an issue of ‘urgent government
administration’. A member may raise an
issue on which he or she wishes a specific minister to take some action. The adjournment debate takes place after all
other business for that day has been completed.
The time available for members is a
total of 30 minutes, or until 10 members have spoken, whichever is the
shorter. Each member is restricted to a
maximum of three minutes. Ministers can
respond during a total period of 30 minutes.
For full details about the debate see Fact Sheet 29: Adjournment of the House.
Matters
of Public Importance
Standing Order 39 provides for
discussions on matters of public importance (MPIs). This process is one of the main ways members
can initiate discussions on topics of concern.
Each Wednesday morning on a sitting
week, other than every third Wednesday morning which is set aside for
grievances, the House discusses an MPI. The subject of discussion must be
approved by the Speaker before it can be discussed in the House. There are a number of criteria to be met
before a topic is deemed to be in order.
These criteria are fully explained in Fact Sheet 10: Matters of Public Importance.
The choice of subject for discussion
alternates between government and non-government members. The MPI lasts a
maximum of two hours, with the first government and non-government members
speaking for a maximum of 15 minutes and all other members limited to
10 minutes.
Statements by Members
After formal business each day, half an hour is set
aside for members to make statements on any matter of concern. Each member may
speak for a maximum of 90 seconds.
Although this is not an opportunity to participate in a debate on an
issue, it does allow members to highlight contemporary events or matters affecting
individuals from within or outside their electorates.
Statements on Parliamentary
Committee Reports
Under Standing Order 41, time is set aside each
Wednesday after the grievance debate or MPI for members to make statements on
parliamentary committee reports.
Statements can be made on any committee report tabled in the Legislative
Assembly during the current Parliament, except Alert Digest reports made by the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations
Committee (SARC) under section 17 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003.
The time for making statements on parliamentary
committee reports is 30 minutes or until six members have spoken, whichever is shorter.
For more information on parliamentary committees,
see Fact Sheet 27: Parliamentary
Committees.
Issued by the Clerk of the Legislative
Assembly, April 2005
Fact Sheets
The Legislative Assembly Procedure Office
has produced a series of Fact Sheets that explain parliamentary procedure and
terminology. All Fact Sheets are available on Parliament’s website www.parliament.vic.gov.au
or through the Procedure Office. Contact Details
Procedure Office, Legislative Assembly,
Parliament House, Spring Street, Phone No: 03
9651 8563 Fax No: 03 9650 7245 Email: assembly@parliament.vic.gov.au |