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House of Representatives                                Ch 6                                                 p 199

Powers and duties of Deputy Speaker as Chair of Main Committee

In the Main Committee the Deputy Speaker has the same responsibility for the preservation of order as the Speaker has in the House. ¹

However, on the occurrence of disorder the powers of the Chair of the Main Committee are less than those of the Speaker in the House. The standing orders do not provide for the naming of a Member in the Main Committee or for the lesser penalty available in the Chamber of the Chair being able to direct a Member to leave the Chamber for one hour. The standing orders provide that if disorder arises in the Main Committee the Chair may, or on motion without notice by any Member must, immediately suspend or adjourn the sitting and report the disorder to the House. ² In practice there are several factors which minimise the likelihood of disorder in the Main Committee—the general ethos of co-operation in respect of the Committee’s proceedings, the ability of any Member to cause further proceedings on a matter before the Committee to be taken in the House, the ability of any Member to move the adjournment of the Committee, and the unresolved question mechanism whereby opposed votes are referred to the House for decision. Disorder has arisen in the Main Committee ³ when these characteristics have not been evident, following the suspension of standing orders to allow debate in the Main Committee to continue regardless of any resolved questions. ⁴

In other respects, the Deputy Speaker’s functions in the Main Committee are basically the same as those of the Speaker in the House. He or she calls Members to speak, proposes and puts questions and declares the decision, enforces the rules of debate, rules on points of order and ensures that the provisions of the standing orders in their application to the Main Committee are applied.

While the standing orders make no specific provision for a Member to move dissent to a ruling of the Chair in the Main Committee (as they used to in relation to the committee of the whole), ⁵ a dissent motion may occur. However, the factors referred to above which work to minimise disorder in the Committee, would also work to minimise both the likelihood of dissent and the likelihood of a ruling which might lead to dissent. Dissent motions have been moved in the Main Committee. These followed (and were in relation to) the suspension of the unresolved question procedure noted above. ⁶ The Chair of the Main Committee has no casting vote (the unresolved question procedure makes this unnecessary).

A motion of no confidence in the Chair of the Main Committee cannot be moved in the Main Committee, which can only consider matters referred by the House. Additionally, the Chair of the Main Committee is appointed pursuant to the standing orders, and a resolution of the Main Committee cannot prevail over the standing orders. Such a motion could be moved in the House pursuant to notice or by leave. ⁷

The Deputy Speaker may be relieved in the Chair of the Main Committee by the Second Deputy Speaker or a member of the Speaker’s panel. ⁸ In practice a roster is maintained.

S.O.s 60, 187(a).

S.O. 187.

E.g. VP 1996-98/765; VP 2002-04/137-8.

E.g. VP 1996-98/551-5. The context was the referral to the Main Committee of a bill (the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996) which many Members wished to debate in the House.

See pp. 236-7 of the 2nd edition.

Because of disorder the proceedings were suspended by the Chair, VP 1996-98/765, H.R. Deb. (31.10.96) 6346-51. On resumption the dissent motion was not proceeded with by the Member who had moved it, H.R. Deb. (6.11.96) 6733. On the second occasion, by the time the dissent was reported to the House it had become meaningless in view of later proceedings, and the question was not put to the House. H.R. Deb. (26.8.2002) 5676-8; (29.8.2002) 6192.

H.R. Deb. (29.8.2002) 6192.

S.O.s 16(c), 17(c).