28 July Legislative Assembly Sitting & The Programme

The following substantive matters were discussed at the meeting of the Legislative Assembly this week:

•Authorisation under section 17A(1)(e) of the Immigration Act 1980 for Rauni and Nalani Lange to make application for a general entry permit. The motion was passed with the Minister advising the House that this was the first occasion that the Assembly had been asked to approve an application of this nature under the Immigration Act.
•Appointment for 12 months under the Public Sector Management Act 2000 of Frederick John Grose as a member of the Public Service Board and of David John South as a deputy of a Board Member of the Public Sector Board. The motions were passed.
•The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2010 was presented and then referred by the House to the Impact of Bills and Subordinate Legislation Committee for its consideration and report back to the House. Members on the Committee are Tim Sheridan, Mike King and Melissa Ward with Lisle Snell as the alternate member. Mr Sheridan has stood down from serving on the Committee during this inquiry because he is the Minister introducing the Bill. Mr. Snell will sit on the committee in his place.
•The three motions introduced at the 23 June 2010 sitting to transfer the registration of tourist accommodation units were all agreed to, with minor amendments. Subject to compliance with conditions specified in the motions approving the transfers, the motions achieve the following:
oTransfer of one unit from “The Bounty Lodge” to “Buck’s Point House”’
oTransfer of one unit from “Castaway Hotel and Apartments” to “Hideaway Retreat”
oTransfer of one unit from “The Bounty Lodge” to “Ball Bay House”.

The period prescribed in the Standing Orders for asking Questions without Notice is 60 minutes. Time was extended by 30 minutes at this sitting to accommodate the asking of further questions. Answers were provided to 11 of the 14 Questions on Notice and some 17 papers were tabled in the House at various stages of the proceedings. This would probably be a record for the number of papers tabled at one sitting since the inauguration of the Legislative Assembly in August 1979.

The formal Minutes of Proceedings of the business conducted in the Assembly will be published within seven days on www.info.gov.nf under the heading Legislative Assembly/Minutes of Proceedings.

To accommodate Members official and private travel in August and September the Legislative Assembly resolved to not meet again formally until 22 September 2010. Notwithstanding this decision, Members will continue to come together on a Tuesday as they do at present to discuss matters of topical interest in a more informal forum. In recent weeks Members have been discussing whether there is merit in the Assembly meeting every six weeks rather than monthly; and whilst no firm decision has been taken on this possibility, the lengthy time between now and the next sitting date in September will be used to assess whether the adoption of a six week meeting calendar could have merit. I would find it most helpful if members of the community have a view on this proposal to email me on speaker@assembly.gov.nf or write to, or phone me at, the Legislative Assembly.

Last week I undertook to share with you each week some of the procedures of the Legislative Assembly, so let’s continue.

The Programme
The Programme (always printed on blue paper) details the actual business that is to be transacted at a meeting of the Legislative Assembly. The order of business on the programme is prescribed in Standing Order 78. Should the Assembly wish to change the order of business as prescribed in Standing Order 78, it is necessary to move a motion under standing order 244 to suspend so much of standing orders as is needed in order to accommodate the change. Matters for listing on the Programme should be lodged with the Clerk by 10 am on the day before the sitting of the House. The Clerk prepares and circulates the Programme by email/hard copy on the day before a meeting of the Legislative Assembly.

Issued from the Office of the Speaker on 30 July 2010.