I would like to make a statement concerning private members' business. Standing Order 86.1 states that items of private members' business shall stand from session to session.
In practical terms, this means that the list for the consideration of private members' business, established by a random draw at the beginning of the 40th Parliament pursuant to Standing Order 87, shall continue for the duration of this Parliament.
There were 267 motions on the order paper at the time of prorogation and they shall stand on the list of items outside the order of precedence. Bills that had received first reading shall also stand on that list. Bills that had met the notice requirement and were printed in the order paper, but had not yet been introduced, will be republished on the order paper under the heading “Introduction of Private Members' Bills”. However, bills that had not yet been published on the order paper need to be re-certified by legislative council and resubmitted for publication on the notice paper.
Items of private members' business will keep the same number as in the first session of the 40th Parliament.
Finally, Standing Order 87 provides that the order of precedence shall be established on the 20th sitting day following the draw. Eight sitting days having elapsed in the previous session, the order of precedence will be constituted on the 12th sitting day of this session. Members who are at the top of the list will have until 6 p.m. that day to introduce a bill or place a motion on notice and two further sitting days to select which item will be placed on the order of precedence. Private members hour will begin shortly after the tabling by the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business of its report on the items that will remain votable.
I trust that this will assist the House in understanding how private members' business will be conducted in the second session. The Table Officers can answer any other questions members may have.