Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Electoral Matters Committee

Membership

Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Health Infrastructure, Minister for Medical Research) (12:11): I move, by leave:

That Will Fowles be discharged from the Electoral Matters Committee and that Luba Grigorovitch be appointed in his place.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:12): I want to just make two brief comments on this motion. Before making those two comments – and I will seek your guidance on those two matters, Speaker – I would like to note for the house that it is my personal view, and I think it is the view of all parties in this place, that the convention of parties proportionally having the right to elect the people that are appointed to committees in this place works well and parties work well together to ensure that that convention works and plays out well.

In relation to this matter, I would bring to the Speaker’s attention the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003. Earlier you spoke on a member resigning from a committee, and I did note that in relation to this motion the member appears to have not resigned. The committees act at section 21(3) states – if I may, for the house, read the subsection:

A member of the Council or Assembly ceases to be a member of a Joint Investigatory Committee if –

(a) the member’s seat becomes vacant; or

(b) the member resigns by writing delivered to the President and Speaker.

The section is exhaustive. The section sets out an exhaustive list of changes to committees, so I would seek your guidance in relation to the act and the motion that has been put forward as to whether or not there are issues in relation to the act and the motion that has come before the house.

The second point is in relation to the motion. The member for Ringwood has made public comment in relation to communication with him, and I would ask in relation to this motion: has there been any proactive communication with the member in relation to the motion that has been moved before the house today?

The SPEAKER (12:14): I thank the Manager of Opposition Business for raising these matters. Of course any questions to the Speaker will be dealt with offline, and I am happy to speak to you in relation to the question that was at the end of your comments.

This is a really good opportunity for me to share my thinking on this motion with the house. I have accepted the motion moved by the Leader of the House as I consider it competent for the house to deal with. Section 21(3) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, as you rightly pointed to, states that a member ceases to be a member of a joint investigatory committee if:

(a) the member’s seat becomes vacant; or

(b) the member resigns by writing delivered to the President and Speaker.

Members will realise there is no reference in section 21(3) to the power of the house to discharge a member, as there is in standing order 208 relating to standing committees. However, section 21(3) needs to be read in the context of section 4(1) of the act, which states:

The standing orders, joint standing orders and the practices of the Council and the Assembly apply to the committees referred to in this Act to the extent that they are not inconsistent with any provision of this Act.

The act does not prohibit the discharge of members, meaning the practice is not inconsistent with the act. As it was a routine part of the house’s practice prior to the commencement of the 2003 act, the practice continues. In a sense section 4(1) works to safeguard the practice that the house followed prior to the coming into operation of the 2003 act. The house’s right to discharge a member of the joint committees has been preserved.

Further, the merits of discharging or appointing members is a matter for the house, not the Speaker. If members have reservations about the motion, they may vote against it or seek to amend it. The Speaker’s role is to assess whether the motion is in order, and I believe that it is. Whether it should be supported is a matter for the house.

Motion agreed to.