The Office of the Clerk
MEDIA RELEASE
5 February 2015
In the business of democracy
Statistics from the 2014 sitting year
The Legislative Assembly has released its 2014 summary of parliamentary business. The report, The Business of the Assembly, covers the breadth of work conducted by the Assembly in both the chamber and its committees.
Tom Duncan, Clerk of the Assembly, believes that transparency is important. “One of our roles as custodians of the parliament is to record and highlight the important work of the institution we serve. It’s a critical aspect of accountability, a robust democracy, and a healthy parliament”, he said.
“This report, released each year details progress of bills, the work of committees, motions, Speaker’s rulings and statements, ministerial statements, and petitions presented,” said Mr Duncan.
Some of the interesting figures from this year’s summary and other statistics include:
The Assembly or at least one of its committees met on 123 days; An average of 37 questions without notice were asked of ministers each sitting day; A total of 126 questions were placed on the notice paper; 13 petitions, including 6 e-petitions, containing the signatures of 6,799 ACT residents were presented, with ministers providing 15 responses to the issues raised in the petitions; Ministers made 93 statements during the year, an average of two per sitting day, and non-executive members moved 65 private members’ business motions during the year; 29 committee reports were tabled during the year; and As in 2013, no private members’ bills were passed by the Assembly. This compares with an average of 7.75 bills passed each year in the previous seven Assemblies since 1989.
The report is available on the Assembly’s website.
ENDS