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House of Representatives                                Ch 2                                                 p 43

The Government and House proceedings

The Executive Government exercises a controlling influence over the decisions of the House of Representatives. The principal factors in this are that:

The capacity of the parties to control the votes of the majority of Members provides the means by which the Government, either directly or indirectly, may exercise its control over the House. At the same time the Government’s control is constrained by its accountability and responsibility to the Parliament in which the Opposition (the significance of which is discussed at p.  77 ) and the Senate play vital and at times determining roles. Notwithstanding these factors, as all decisions of the House are taken by majority vote, the Government is able to exert substantial influence over the operations of the House.

Indicative of the significance of some of the matters governed by standing orders but subject to the will of the majority are:

3. the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers;
4. decisions on legislation;
5. additions to, and amendments of, standing and sessional orders;
6. the curtailment of debate under the various closure and guillotine provisions;
7. the suspension of standing orders;
8. the determination of the days and hours of sitting; and
9. the establishment and terms of reference of most parliamentary committees.

Other significant ways in which the business of the House is controlled by the Government under the standing orders include the requirements:

0. that government business takes precedence of all other business on each sitting day except the period on Mondays when non-government business has precedence; ¹ and
1. that the Leader of the House may arrange the order of government business as he or she thinks fit. ²

Priority for government business acknowledges the need for the Government to be provided with sufficient parliamentary time for the pursuit of its legislative program and the communication of its policies.

Other provisions of the standing orders which give a preference or latitude to Ministers ³ are:

2. a motion for fixing the next meeting of the House (S.O. 30) may be moved by a Minister without notice;
3. a motion for the adjournment of the House (S.O. 32) may be moved only by a Minister;
4. a motion (or amendment) of no confidence in or censure of the Government may be allowed precedence over other business only if accepted by a Minister (S.O. 48);
5. a motion to discuss a matter of special interest (S.O. 50) may only be initiated by a Minister;
6. the initiation of financial proposals (partly for constitutional reasons) is restricted to Ministers (S.O.s 178-179);
7. documents may be presented by Ministers at any time when there is no other business before the House (S.O. 199); and
8. a motion to take note of a document, or to make it a Parliamentary Paper, at the time of presentation (S.O. 202) may be moved by a Minister without notice.

The principle of responsibility and accountability of Ministers to Parliament is to some extent recognised by standing orders in that:

0. the procedures in relation to grievance debate and matters of public importance (S.O.s 44 and 46) are used for the purposes of ministerial accountability.
1. a motion or an amendment which expresses a censure of or no confidence in the Government may be moved (S.O. 48) (there is no specific provision for a motion of censure of or no confidence in an individual Minister);
2. questions with or without notice may be asked of Ministers in accordance with the rules of the House governing questions (S.O.s 97-105);

S.O. 35.

S.O. 45.

 Or Parliamentary Secretaries, see p. 69 .

This is an important exception as it has regard to the concept of ‘executive privilege’ which has been invoked in respect of the publication of government documents and information. See Chs on ‘Documents’ and ‘Parliamentary committees’.