7.6 Private Members Bills
In addition to Ministers, other Members of Parliament have the
opportunity to introduce Bills and have them debated in the Legislative
Assembly. These Bills are known as Private Members' Bills.
Once a Private Members' Bill is introduced in the Legislative Assembly, the
Premier and the Leader of the House will confer in order to identify which
Minister is to take portfolio lead in responding to the proposed legislation.
The lead Minister will coordinate consultation with other Ministers with
portfolio interests in the proposed legislation.
To respond to the proposed legislation (the Bill), the lead Minister is
required to prepare a Cabinet submission in the form of a policy submission for
Cabinet's consideration. The submission must address the policy matter of the
Bill from the government's perspective and recommend support, amendment or
opposition to the Bill on the floor of the House. Specifically, the submission
must:
- state the nature of the Bill;
- analyse the Bill's consistency with government policy generally;
- give detailed legal policy analysis (including consistency with other laws and internal consistency); and
- state the Bill's financial and other impacts.
This submission must be considered within six weeks of the Bill being
introduced, with the normal Cabinet process being adhered to in lodging the
submission. In the event that consideration of the Bill is not possible within
this timeframe, the prior approval of the Premier must be obtained.& After
consideration by Cabinet, the lead Minister will draw the matter to the
attention of Caucus.
Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009
Last updated: 22 July, 2009
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