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House of Representatives                                Ch 10                                                 p 381

Subsequent proceedings

If the second reading is to be moved immediately, copies of the bill must be available for distribution in the Chamber. Stocks of the bill are usually received from the Senate when the message transmitting the bill is sent to the House. ¹ Should copies of the bill not be available, leave is required to move the second reading immediately. ²

It is common, following the first reading of a bill brought from the Senate, for a motion to be moved that the second reading be made an order of the day for the next sitting instead of moving the second reading immediately. ³ The order of the day for the second reading of a Senate bill may be referred to the Main Committee. When, on a future sitting day, the order of the day is called on (either in the House or the Main Committee), the second reading is moved and the second reading speech made. The debate may then be adjourned to a future day. ⁴ However, the second reading debate may proceed immediately ⁵ as the mandatory provision concerning the adjournment of the debate when the second reading has been moved immediately after the first reading does not apply. When copies of the bill are available, it may be the wish that the second reading be moved at a later hour rather than immediately. When the second reading is moved in these circumstances at a later hour, the debate may not proceed immediately unless leave is obtained.

It is usual for a contingent notice to be on the Notice Paper enabling a Minister to move the suspension of standing orders to permit a bill received from the Senate to be passed through all its stages without delay. ⁶ In the case of a Senate bill for which a private Member has responsibility for carriage, it has been considered that subsequent proceedings should follow the procedures for private Members’ bills ( see Chapter on ‘Non-government business’).

If the bill is not amended by the House, the Clerk’s certificate is attached to the top right hand corner stating that ‘This Bill has been agreed to by the House of Representatives without amendment’. It is returned to the Senate by message in the following form:

The House of Representatives returns to the Senate the Bill for an Act [remainder of long title], and acquaints the Senate that the House of Representatives has agreed to the Bill without amendment.

When a Senate bill has been amended by the House, the bill is returned with a schedule of amendments certified by the Clerk. ⁷

The further procedural steps involved when the Senate returns the bill with any of the amendments made by the House disagreed to, or further amendments made, are covered in the Chapter on ‘Senate amendments and requests’.

E.g. VP 1993-95/138.

E.g. VP 1974-75/383.

E.g. VP 1996-98/302;VP 1998-2001/532.

E.g. VP 1977/256.

E.g. VP 1996-98/257-8;VP 1998-2001/124.

E.g. VP 1993-5/92, H.R. Deb. (13.5.93) 892-4.

S.O. 167.