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Title

Ch16 Non-government business / ADJOURNMENT DEBATE

Database

House Practice

Date

01-05-2005

Source

House of Reps

Parl No.

41

Chapter

Non-government business

Chapter No.

Chapter 16

Page

573

Section No.

 

System Id

procedural/practcer/chapter16.16.doc


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Ch16 Non-government business / ADJOURNMENT DEBATE



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House of Representatives                                Ch 16                                                 p 573

 

Non-government business

 

Adjournment debate

Debate on the question ‘That the House do now adjourn’ is specifically exempted from the normal rules of relevance applying to other debates, 1 and by this means the adjournment debate provides Members with an opportunity to speak on any matter they wish to raise. The opportunities provided in adjournment debates in terms of the total time available to private Members are not inconsiderable. Because of this, and because an adjournment debate takes place on a majority of sitting days, the adjournment debate is particularly valued by Members.

Although, technically, Ministers are not excluded from participation in the adjournment debate, in practice the period is regarded as an opportunity for private Members. Objection has been raised when Parliamentary Secretaries have participated. 2 The Speaker has stated that he would give preference for the call to backbenchers over front benchers from the same side of the House, 3 and that it would be improper for the Chair to recognise a member of the Executive in the adjournment debate, except at times when no other Members have risen to speak. 4

The standing orders provide for a half hour adjournment debate to take place at the end of every sitting day. The detailed arrangements for the moving of the motion or the proposing of the question for the adjournment of the House are described in the Chapter on ‘Order of business and the sitting day’. In brief, when the motion for the adjournment is not moved by a Minister, the automatic adjournment provisions apply as follows: 5

  • the Speaker interrupts proceedings to propose the question ‘That the House do now adjourn’ at 9 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesdays and at 4.30 p.m. on Thursdays;

  • a Minister may require the question to be put immediately without debate. If the question is then negatived, the House resumes its proceedings at the point at which they were interrupted;

  • if the question is not put immediately, it may be debated. No amendment can be moved to the question.

    • In all cases, whether the adjournment debate has been initiated by a Minister or by the Chair, if debate is still continuing at 9.30 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, or at 5 p.m. on Thursdays, it is automatically interrupted by the Chair. At this point a Minister may require that the debate be extended for 10 minutes to enable Ministers to speak in reply to matters raised in the debate. A Minister may start his or her reply before the Speaker interrupts the debate, providing no other Member seeks the call. In this case the debate is still interrupted at the due time and the Minister may then require the debate to be extended. 6 If no such extension is sought, or after the extension or on the earlier cessation of the debate, the Speaker automatically adjourns the House until the time of its next meeting. 7 Standing and sessional orders have been suspended, by leave, to enable the debate to extend beyond the normal time. 8



    S.O. 76(a).



    H.R. Deb. (30.9.97) 8832-3—point of order objecting to Parliamentary Secretary’s participation disallowed.



    H.R. Deb. (11.3.98) 1040, 1042.



    H.R.Deb. (16.10.2003) 21678. Example of a Minister speaking as the last participant in the debate when no other Member sought the call, H.R.Deb. (25.11.2003) 22808-9.



    S.O. 31.



    H.R. Deb. (23.8.79) 613.



    S.O. 31(c).



    E.g. VP 1993-95/2567-8; VP 1998-2001/712, 1063.