Standing committee system restructured
On 1 July 2005 the Liberal/National Party government gained a majority in the Senate. A year later the Senate amalgamated each pair of references and legislation committees into a single committee with a government chair. Each of the eight committees had eight members—four government, three opposition and one minor party or independent senator.
For the three-year duration of the government majority in the Senate, all references of inquiries to committees required government support. Despite some commentators arguing that this would restrict committee activity, government-chaired committees did continue to closely examine government bills and at times recommend amendments. However, fewer broad-ranging policy inquiries or politically controversial inquiries were referred to committees during this time.
The changes were approved by the Senate on 14 August 2006 and came into effect on 11 September 2006.
Image courtesy of Christine Jones.
Members of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee inspect wheat grown at a soil monitoring site at Warren, NSW, during an inquiry into climate change and agriculture in 2008
Image courtesy of Christine Jones.
Geoff Pryor, 'It needs a tighter rein…', The Canberra Times, 9 August 2005
Cartoon in response to comments by Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Robert Hill, that the government would use its Senate majority to seek to confine the activities of the Senate estimates committees.
Geoff Pryor, 'It needs a tighter rein…', The Canberra Times, 9 August 2005
Find out more
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Parliamentary Studies Paper 4, 2008 |
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ABC Radio National PM program, 20 June 2006 |