This week we look at the Order of Precedence and how Private Members’ Business is chosen for government consideration!
The Order of Precedence
First up, what is the Order of Precedence? It’s the list of items that the government is going to be dealing with, and the order that they’ll be addressed. Government business (Bills and Motions) can be dealt with in any order the ruling party decides, but Private Members’ Business is added to the list in a more strict order to ensure every MP has an equal opportunity to have their say in how the country is run.
The Order has up to 30 items on it, as evenly divided between Bills and Motions as possible. (So normally 15 Bills and 15 Motions, though if there aren’t enough items ready to keep it balanced that can change)
Qualifying Items
Before anything can be added to the Order of Precedence it needs to be introduced. For Bills that means they’ve completed their First Reading, for Motions a Notice of Motion needs to be submitted at least a day before new items are added to the Order.
The Draw
So how is the Order chosen? By random draw! Every MP that has an item that qualifies for the Order of Precedence has their name thrown in a lottery to determine where they sit on the Order. When chosen they get to decide which of their items they put on the Order (if they have multiple). Bills are drawn first, then Motions. If an MP’s name is drawn for both their name is skipped for the Motion. Nobody is allowed to be on the Order of Precedence more than once.
After the names have been drawn a second draw is done to determine the order each MP sits on the Order.
The Order of Precedence can never have less than 15 items on it, so additional draws are held as needed to top it back up to 30. When these draws occur they again attempt to balance out what’s on the Order, so if there’s 5 Motions and 10 Bills then the new draw would be for 10 Motions and 5 Bills. Anyone who is already on the Order of Precedence is skipped for these draws.
Anything that isn’t chosen in one of these draws stays on the list of qualifying items until it’s chosen or its sponsor decides to withdraw it.
Withdrawal of Items
At any point an MP can withdraw an item that’s waiting to get on the Order of Precedence. If they want to withdraw an item that’s already on the Order they need to get unanimous consent from the House to do so.
Popular Support
Bit of an interesting note with items being added to the Order of Precedence. If an item can get support by 100 MPs, including at least 10 MPs each from a majority of the recognized parties in the House it will be automatically added to the Order as long as the sponsor doesn’t already have an item there.