Rules Schedule 3

Meeting Procedure Generally

1.1 Subject to the provisions in this Schedule the conduct of meetings of the State Council are at the discretion of the State Council.

1.2 The State Council may, from time to time, adopt Meeting Procedure Protocols which are to be observed by delegates.

1.3 A Meeting Procedure Protocol may provide for a meeting of the State Council to be held wholly in person, wholly by electronic means or partly in person and partly by electronic means.

1.4 Any Meeting Procedure Protocol adopted by the State Council must not be inconsistent with these Rules.

2. Confirmation of the Minutes

2.1 A copy of the minutes of the immediately preceding meeting of the State Council must be sent to the delegates at least one (1) business day before the meeting at which confirmation of the minutes is to be considered.

2.2 The minutes of any meeting are to be confirmed at the next following meeting of the State Council to which they relate and are to be the first business dealt with at that meeting.

2.3 If a copy of the minutes of the preceding meeting has not been delivered within the period specified in sub-clause 2.1, delegates will be permitted to read the minutes prior to the confirmation of such minutes.

2.4 No discussion will be permitted on the contents of the minutes except as to their accuracy as a record of proceedings.

2.5 When the minutes have been confirmed by the meeting they will be signed by the President (or, in the absence of the President, by a Deputy President).

3. Order of Business

The order of business at the meeting will be the order in which the business stands in the notice of the meeting, unless the delegates in attendance resolve to alter it.

4. Conduct at Meetings

4.1 Any delegate wishing to move a motion or amendment or take part in discussion on any matter will address the Chairperson and must not be interrupted unless called to order, at which point they must sit down until the delegate (if any) calling to order has been heard and the question of order disposed of. The delegate moving the motion or amendment or taking part in the discussion may, following this, proceed with the subject.

4.2 Any person in attendance at any meeting who is not a delegate may take part in discussion only at the discretion of the Chairperson but may not move a motion or amendment or vote on any matter.

5. Proposing Motions or Amendments

5.1 Any delegate wishing to propose an original motion or amendment must state the nature of the motion or amendment before they address the meeting.

5.2 No motion or amendment may be withdrawn except where leave of the meeting has been given.

5.3 No motion or amendment may be discussed or put to the vote unless it has been seconded.

5.4 A delegate moving a motion will be held to have spoken on the matter, but a delegate merely seconding a motion will not be held to have spoken to it.

5.5 If two or more delegates rise to speak at the same time, the Chairperson will decide who is entitled to priority.

5.6 No delegate may speak a second time on the same motion, unless entitled to reply or to ask a question of clarification or to give an explanation when they have been misrepresented or misunderstood.

6. Submission of Motions

If required by the Chairperson, all motions (whether original motions or amendments) will be put in writing, signed by the mover and delivered to the Chief Executive Officer immediately on their being moved or seconded.

7. Dealing with Amendments

7.1 No second or subsequent amendment (whether on an original proposition or on an amendment) will be taken into consideration until the previous amendment has been dealt with and finalised.

7.2 If any words of an original motion are rejected, the insertion of other proposed words will form the next motion, whereupon any further amendment to insert other words may be moved.

7.3 If an amendment is lost, then a second amendment may be moved to the motion to which the first amendment was moved, but only one amendment may be submitted to the meeting for discussion at a time.

8. Right of Reply

The mover of every original motion, but not of any amendment, will have a right of reply immediately after which the question will be put from the chair, except no delegate will be allowed to speak more than once on the same matter unless permission is given to explain or the attention of the Chairperson is called to a point of order.

9. Time Limits

9.1 The original mover of a motion will not speak for more than two (2) minutes and all other speakers will be allowed not more than two (2) minutes to speak on any motion or amendment. The original mover of the motion will have a right of reply of not more than one (1) minute.

9.2 Any speaker may be granted an extension of time for a further two (2) minutes upon a motion being moved, seconded and carried by the meeting, but no discussion will be allowed upon a motion to grant an extension of time.

10. Adjournment of Meeting

10.1 No discussion will be allowed on any motion for adjournment of the meeting.

10.2 If the motion for adjournment is lost, the subject then under consideration or the next subject on the business paper, or any other matter that may be allowed precedence, will be discussed before any subsequent motion for adjournment is made.

11. Enforcement of Schedule

A delegate may require the enforcement of any clause in this Schedule by directing the Chairperson’s attention to any failure to observe it.

12. Points of Order and Delegate Conduct

12.1 If a delegate raises a point of order they must state the provision, rule or practice they rely upon.

12.2 When called upon to decide on points of order, the Chairperson will state the provision, rule or practice which the Chairperson deems applicable to the case without discussing or commenting on it, and the Chairperson’s decision as to order in each case is final.

12.3 No delegate may digress from the subject matter of the question under discussion or comment on the words used by any other delegate in a previous debate, and all imputations of improper motives and all personal reflections on delegates will be deemed out of order.

12.4 Whenever any delegate makes use of disorderly expression or one which is capable of being applied offensively to any other delegate, the delegate so offending will be required by the Chairperson to withdraw the expression and to make an acceptable apology to the meeting.

13. Putting Questions To Vote

The Chairperson, in taking the sense of the meeting, will put the question before the meeting first in the affirmative, then in the negative, and the result of the vote will be recorded in the minutes.

14. Absence of a Quorum

If debate on any motion which has been moved or seconded is interrupted by the absence of a quorum, the debate may be resumed at the next meeting.

15. Suspension of Procedures

Any one or more of the clauses this Schedule may be suspended by resolution for a special purpose at any meeting.