Tidying Up Standing Orders

Submitted by: Federal Conference Committee.
Mover: Duncan Brack.
Summation: Cllr Nick da Costa (Chair, FCC).

Conference notes that:

1. Conference standing orders currently do not allow for ‘hybrid’ conferences, where some voting members participate in person and some participate online.
2. Recent experience has revealed a number of issues on which conference standing orders lack clarity or could be improved.

Conference therefore agrees to the following amendments to conference standing orders:

1. In Glossary of Terms, delete the definition of ‘Emergency motion’ and replace with: ‘A proposal which derives from a significant recent development which occurred after the deadline for submission of motions. Emergency motions must be brief (maximum 500 words).’
2. In SO 1.3 (Right to submit agenda items) para (b), after ‘Federal Council’ insert ‘Federal Conference Committee’, and delete last sentence ‘Business motions, standing order amendments and secondary standing order amendments may also be submitted by the Federal Conference Committee’.
3. In SO 8.2 (Withdrawal of motions and amendments), add at end: ‘A request to withdraw a motion may be submitted to conference either by the movers of the motion or the Committee’.
4. In SO 9.1 (The method of voting), add at end: ‘and by voting members voting securely online’
5. In SO 11.4 (Separate vote), in lines 10–11, delete: ‘by the same deadline as that for emergency motions’ and insert:‘no later than 48 hours before the opening of conference’.
6. In SO 11.6 (Suspension of standing orders), para (a), insert after first sentence: ‘Such a motion may contain no more than one proposed change to the agenda or conduct of debate’.
7. In SO 12.4 (Supplementary questions to reports), lines 7-8, delete ‘two minutes’ and insert ‘1 minute’.

Applicability: Federal.

Motion prior to amendments

Conference notes that:

1. Conference standing orders currently do not allow for ‘hybrid’ conferences, where some voting members participate in person and some participate online.
2. Recent experience has revealed a number of issues on which conference standing orders lack clarity or could be improved.

Conference therefore agrees to the following amendments to conference standing orders:

1. In Glossary of Terms, delete the definition of ‘Emergency motion’ and replace with: ‘A proposal which derives from a significant recent development which occurred after the deadline for submission of motions. Emergency motions must be brief (maximum 500 words).’
2. In SO 1.3 (Right to submit agenda items) para (b), after ‘Federal Council’ insert ‘Federal Conference Committee’, and delete last sentence ‘Business motions, standing order amendments and secondary standing order amendments may also be submitted by the Federal Conference Committee’.
3. In SO 8.2 (Withdrawal of motions and amendments), add at end: ‘A request to withdraw a motion may be submitted to conference either by the movers of the motion or the Committee’.
4. In SO 9.1 (The method of voting), add at end: ‘and by voting members voting securely online’
5. In SO 11.4 (Separate vote), in lines 10–11, delete: ‘by the same deadline as that for emergency motions’ and insert:‘no later than 48 hours before the opening of conference’.
6. In SO 11.6 (Suspension of standing orders), para (a), insert after first sentence: ‘Such a motion may contain no more than one proposed change to the agenda or conduct of debate’.
7. In SO 12.4 (Supplementary questions to reports), lines 7–8, delete ‘two minutes’ and insert ‘30 seconds’.

The existing text of Conference standing orders is printed in this Agenda at pages 116–127.

Applicability: Federal.

Amendments

Amendment One

CARRIED

Submitted by: 15 members

Mover: Matt McLaren.

Delete 7. (lines 34–35) and insert:

7. In SO 12.4 (Supplementary questions to reports), lines 7-8, delete ‘two minutes’ and insert ‘1 minute’.