The Standing Committee on Agriculture is a committee of the Australian House of Representatives.[1] The committee is a "General Purpose Standing Committee" governed by Standing Order 215. It consists of nine members, five government members and four non-government members (three members of the official opposition and one member of the crossbench). The chair is appointed by the Prime Minister and the deputy chair by the Leader of the Opposition under Standing Order 232.[2]
History
While General Purpose Standing Committees of the House of Representatives were first established in 1987,[3] Agriculture or Primary Industries were not explicitly called out until the amendment of Standing order 28B following the election of the Howard Government in 1996.[4] The committee has been regularly renamed since; some recent names include:[5]
Committee Name
Parliament(s)
Years
Primary Industries, Resources and Rural and Regional Affairs
McVeigh and Broad lost their positions on the committee upon joining the Ministry, with Marino and Gillespie being elected to replace each respectively. Swanson was discharged from the committee and replaced by Fitzgibbon. Swanson was again appointed to the committee when Keay lost her seat her seat in Parliament during the parliamentary eligibility crisis. Keay regained it at the ensuing by-election, and was reappointed to the committee in the place of Fitzgibbon.
