the President of the Council only has a deliberative vote. The speaker may therefore only vote when a matter is tied, with their casting vote determining the outcome. This is consistent with the Westminster tradition of the speaker acting as an impartial arbiter. Some pieces of legislation, such as altering the Constitution, require an absolute majority (45 of the 88 possible votes) to pass. It is therefore mathematically impossible for a speaker to pass such legislation with their casting vote, as the largest possible tied vote is 43:43. The President used to have the same power, but their role has changed over time. Consequently, the President now has a deliberative vote but not a casting vote. This is modelled on the Australian Senate and ensures that a region of Victoria would not be deprived of one of its five votes. A tied vote in the council is considered to have failed to pass regardless of how the President cast their vote. The President does not need to move to one end of the chamber during a division, but instead advises the clerk which way they are voting. Parliamentary Committees Committees are made of members of either house. They have a specifically defined role designed to seek community input about ideas or to investigate matters Parliament deems important. The membership of a committee is determined by the parliament, usually as a new parliament begins. Each committee contains members of many political parties, not just the governing parties, although the government still generally aims to give itself functional majorities within each committee. Lobbyists, members of the public and organisations communicate with committees in order to give input into the drafting of bills. The Parliament of Victoria outlines the committee process as: Terms of reference Calling for submissions Public hearings Research Reporting to Parliament Government response The government will usually be given six months to respond to the committee's recommendations. As they need as broad an understanding as possible of the issues at hand, committees may perform inquiries with the authority to subpoena documents and summon witnesses. This assists with research and is a means of holding parties to account. Committees have broad powers when performing inquiries although there are some legal protections in place for witnesses, similar to those for witnesses in the judicial system. The different types of committees are: joint investigatory committees, comprising members of both houses, standing committees, comprising