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House of Representatives                                Ch 17                                                 p 600

Votes and Proceedings

The Votes and Proceedings are t he official record of the proceedings of the House of Representatives. This record contains the proceedings and decisions of the House and the Main Committee; and the attendance of Members in the House, including any leave. ¹

It is the purpose of the Votes and Proceedings to record all that is, or is deemed to be, done by the House, but to ignore everything that is said apart from the words of motions, unless it is especially ordered to be entered. The Votes and Proceedings are, in effect, the minutes of the House and should not be confused with Hansard, which is a verbatim report of the debates of the House.

The entries are compiled, on the authority of the Clerk, in the Table Office and are printed and circulated the next day in proof form. This proof is checked against the notes kept by the Deputy Clerk and the original documents of the House. The Votes and Proceedings are then printed and distributed in final form and are issued for each session in bound volumes. Since 1999 the proof issue of the Votes and Proceedings has been published combined with the daily proof Hansard. The Votes and Proceedings are available electronically on the House’s internet site.

The standing orders require that Members’ attendance, ² divisions, ³ and any reason stated by the Chair for its casting vote, ⁴ be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. The standing orders also provide that a Member may, if he or she wishes, have dissent to any question recorded if he or she is the only Member calling for a division. ⁵ The names of Members voting for or against the question are recorded for each division. ⁶ ‘Pairs’ have been recorded since 1999.

A day’s Votes and Proceedings record the items of business considered by the House. Depending on the sequence of business on the particular day, they also record that questions without notice were asked, ⁷ the documents presented by Ministers, ministerial statements, any committee reports presented, the matter of public importance discussed, and legislation presented or considered, and they conclude with a reference to the adjournment, a list of documents deemed to have been presented and the record of Members’ attendance (the names of absent Members are recorded).

In respect of notices called on and orders of the day, the record in the Votes and Proceedings is, broadly speaking, an account of what actually takes place in the House. The decisions of the House on all questions before it are recorded irrespective of whether or not a division is called for, as are the terms of every motion proposed in the House. If debate takes place on any question, that fact is also recorded.

On the days on which the Main Committee meets, the Minutes of Proceedings of the Main Committee, under the name of the Deputy Clerk in his or her capacity as Clerk of the Committee, are included as a supplement to the Votes and Proceedings. ⁸ During the trial, under sessional orders, of legislation committees and estimates committees in 1978 and 1979, it was the practice to record the minutes of these committees in the Votes and Proceedings as a supplement. ⁹

The Votes and Proceedings also record the substance of statements by the Speaker on matters of privilege and important procedural and administrative matters. Some matters not formally being business of the House in a technical sense are also recorded because of the importance attached to them by the House. These include announcements concerning ministerial arrangements, ¹⁰ the absence of the Governor-General ¹¹ (on occasions), and references to the deaths of persons that are not the subject of motions of condolence. ¹²

The standing orders provide that motions and amendments not seconded shall not be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. ¹³ These are the only specific exclusions mentioned in the standing orders. However, it has been the practice to exclude from the Votes and Proceedings certain matters which are not considered to be part of the business of the House. Proceedings which are not recorded include:

As it is the purpose of the Votes and Proceedings to record those things done by the House and not what has been said in the House, no record is made of debates other than to record that debate took place on a particular question.

S.O. 27.

S.O. 27(c).

S.O. 135(a).

S.O. 135(c).

S.O.s 126. On one occasion the dissent of the Opposition was recorded, by leave, VP 1978-80/686.

Except if there are four or fewer Members on a side only the names of the minority are recorded, S.O. 127.

This entry was first included in 1962, VP 1962-63/15.

S.O.s 27(b), 189.

VP 1978-80/427-8, 1109-32.

E.g. VP 1978-80/1662; VP 1996-98/241.

E.g. VP 1978-80/966.

E.g. VP 1978-80/213.

S.O.s 116(a), 121(b); but see VP 1978-80/700-1 where a motion to suspend standing orders, although not seconded, was recorded as it led to further proceedings.

S.O. 108.

See VP 1978-80/848, 913-14; and see Ch. on ‘Control and conduct of debate’.

VP 1978-80/153.

VP 1974-75/169.

VP 1978-80/1182-3; VP 1996-98/462; and see Ch. on ‘The Speaker, Deputy Speakers and officers’.