Vexed Bermoothes

Last week, MP John Barritt wrote in the Royal Gazette about some changes proposed to the “standing Orders” of the House of Assembly that have been proposed by he and Deputy Speaker Dame Jennifer Smith.

The MPs have had the draft since the House broke for summer recess last year, and one hopes the House will consider the changes as soon as possible.

The changes supported by both Barritt and Smith include:

• Provision for the election of Speaker by a secret ballot should there be more than one candidate
• An express requirement to attend meetings of the House unless excused by the Speaker
• A set Question Period of up to 60 minutes in length, after the period set aside for congratulatory and obituary remarks, in which questions may be asked of Ministers on issues of the day and without prior notice
• A time limit of up to 30 minutes per member after the lead member for Government and the Opposition have spoken on a bill – with provision to transfer time from one speaker to another if members wish
• The annual Budget debate to be extended by two further days
• The introduction of an electronic Hansard and other additional provisions for e-communication in the House
  

I support all of these amendments.  Given the importance of this years budget it is a pity that the House has evaded their adoption until, presumably, after the February 19 budget announcement.  And if you can’t get the full Hansard going, at least start posting the schedule, minutes, and draft legislation online.

It is also a dire shame that these proposals do not include opening up meetings of committees of the House – such as the Private Bills and the Public Accounts committees – to the public.  As the public legislature, all deliberations should be public!  This is not controversial:  open meetings are a staple of democracies around the world.  (Update:  I understand that the UBP strongly supports opening the committees but the PLP has resisted taking that step.  Why?)

It is ironic that Government wishes to “reform” the Corporations of Hamilton and St George in a great rush, but drags its feet on reform of its own House.  The Throne Speech talked about a project to tackle this in future with the aid of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.  Where’s that stand?  Or do we need another $800,000 American lobbyist to help us figure that out by July?