Shorter Debates Aim Of New Standing Orders

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29843, 8 June 1962, Page 12

Shorter Debates Aim Of New Standing Orders

Ifrom uur Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 7. Shorter speeches, new types of debate, and additional safeguards for the rights of private members form the basis of streamlined Parliamentary procedure recommended to the House of Repesentatives today.

Among the comprehensive reforms recommended by the Select Committee on Standing Orders is a new question and oral-answer system modelled on House of Commons procedure and a twice-weekly half-hour debate which will allow topics of the moment to be debated in a series of six rapid-fire five-minute speeches.

The report of the committee was presented to Parliament this afternoon and will be debated on Tuesday afternoon. With or without amendment, as the House decides the new Hiles will then be implemented forthwith.

The committee recommends the amalgamation of a number of select committees into smaller, more compact groups and suggests tbe creation of a year-round public expenditure committee to supervise the spending of public money through all stages from appropriation to audit with the object of ensuring that money voted by Parliament is spent in the way Parliament intended Adjournments of a week should be taken at intervals throughout the session, the committee suggests, to facilitate the work of select committees, to allow members to keep in touch with their constituencies and to assist busy Ministers in keeping abreast of their administrative duties

More frequent discussions are proposed on the annual reports of Government deoartments. and other Parliamentary papers and the committee suggests that a twohour period be set aside or Wednesday afternoons to permit debates on motions put forward by private members Time limits on speeche' are cut by one-third to onehalf on major debates The effect would be to shorter the Address-m-Reply debate by one week and the Budset debate by as much as a fortnight Debates on bills could be cut by one-half Summarised. the main changes suggested are:— Address-in-Reply. The mover and seconder will be permitted 30 minutes (no changel. but other members will have 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes

Budget Debate.—The firs' speaker from either side of the House will have 40 minutes (previously 60>. and other members will have 30 minutes 601 Second Reading of a Btl> 'the main debate on legislation) —For all members ths time limit will be 15 minutes iri'iead of 30 minutes On a motion to agree to a report of committee of ths whole House on a bill—a procedural motion frequently debated for the purpose o' “stonewalling" or “fillibustering*’—all members will be allowed 10 minutes (previously 30 minutes)

Third Reading of a Bill.— *ll members to fee allowed 15 minutes (previously 30 m’nutes).

Under the existing rules ar extension of time granted to a member by the House allows him to continue speaking Tor as long as he desires. It is now pronosed that an extension be for a fixed period, in each case

being half the time allowed for the original speech. An extension of time in the Address-in-Reply debate would therefore permit s member to speak for a total of 30 minutes Another move against “stonewalling” has beenmade by the committee in reducing the time limits in the clause-by-clause debate on bills in committee of the whole House. Previously, in speaking to the “short title"

Qf a bill in committee a member had the right to four speeches each of 10 minutes Now he wU! be entitled to three speeches, one of 10 minutes and two of five minutes The same recommendation is made in respect of time limits in the debate on the first item of the departmental estimates of expenditure. For speeches on individual clauses of a bill or on other items in the estimates no change is proposed