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House of Representatives                                Ch 2                                                 p 63

Leader of the House

The office of Leader of the House was created without legislation and without any formal decision of the House. By convention, it is now accepted as an office which is necessary for the proper functioning of the House. Because of the demands placed on the incumbent during the sittings of the House, the office has received special consideration by the Remuneration Tribunal by way of payment of an allowance additional to that paid to other members of Cabinet.

The position of Leader of the House as a defined and separate office originated in 1951. ¹ In a press statement on 10 May 1951, Prime Minister Menzies announced the appointment of the first Leader of the House, the Hon. E. J. Harrison, then Vice President of the Executive Council and Minister for Defence Production. The Prime Minister’s aim was to improve the organisation and conduct of business in the House of Representatives, from which both he and the Deputy Prime Minister were of necessity often absent.

The appointment is made by the Prime Minister, and the Leader of the House is responsible to the Prime Minister who has ultimate authority and responsibility for government business. As it is a delegated function, it is not unusual for the Prime Minister, when in attendance, to intervene in the proceedings of the House and even to move procedural motions.

In broad terms the Leader of the House is responsible for the arrangement and management of government business in the House of Representatives. In respect of the daily business of the House, it is his or her responsibility, in consultation, as necessary, with the Prime Minister and other Ministers, and the Opposition, to determine the order in which the items of government business will be dealt with, and to ensure that, as far as practicable, the passage of government business is not unduly delayed or disrupted. The majority of formal or general procedural motions are moved on behalf of the Government by the Leader of the House. ²

The Leader of the House works closely with the government whips and consults with them regarding the selection of speakers from the government parties. He or she arranges the allocation of time for debates and, where problems arise in regard to the program, determines the tactics to be followed by the Government.

An important function of the Leader of the House is to undertake or oversee negotiations (often resulting in a ‘trading’ of available parliamentary time) with the opposition counterpart, the Manager of Opposition Business, on matters relating to the programming of the House. In respect of the programming of Main Committee business this function has been delegated to the Chief Government Whip.

There is a continuing process of negotiation with the Opposition on such matters as the order in which bills will be debated; arranging for cognate debates to be held on related bills; the making of, and the Opposition’s reply to, ministerial statements; the amount of time to be made available for particular debates; and on any other matter that may arise during the course of proceedings that may have a bearing on the progress of government business.

It is essential for the Leader of the House to ensure that a constant liaison is maintained with the Speaker and the staff of the House in regard to the arrangements for programming government business, ³ and in regard to the wide range of procedural questions which arise from time to time. The Leader of the House must also be kept in touch with developments in the Senate that may have a bearing on the future programming of the House—for example, where it appears that the Senate may return a bill to the House with amendments—and must also take into account the Senate’s own programming requirements when planning the program for the House. The Leader of the House is assisted in carrying out these responsibilities by the Parliamentary Liaison Officer, an employee of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Day-to-day functions must be set against the longer term policy objectives of the Government. The principal body concerned with these longer term objectives, apart from the Cabinet itself, is the Parliamentary Business Committee of Cabinet of which the Lea der of the House is a member. This committee decides the composition of the Government’s legislation program for a period of sittings and undertakes a general supervisory role over the progress of legislation.

The office, combined as it is with a ministerial portfolio, can be demanding, especially during the sittings of the Parliament when the Leader of the House normally gives some priority to the functions of the office and spends a great deal of time in the Chamber itself.

The Manager of Government Business in the Senate, also a Minister, performs an equivalent function in the Senate.

For a list of Leaders of the House see Appendix 8.

For example, motions for leave of absence to Members, suspension of standing orders, alterations in the order of business, changes in days and hours of sitting, and often motions for the closure, declarations of urgency (guillotines), the adjournment, etc.

See also Ch. on ‘Order of business and the sitting day’.