The purpose of requiring a second is to prevent time being wasted by the assembly's having to dispose of a motion that only one person wants to see introduced.
[1] After hearing a second, the chair then states the question and the motion is placed before the assembly for discussion.
[12] Seconds are not required in either house of the Parliament of New South Wales nor in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory.
[17] In Queensland the Best Practice Standing Orders for Local Government requires a second for all motions.
[20][21] However the importance of a Second is not clear in Scobell's work, and in any event it has been progressively overturned by legislatures since the 19th Century.
It has been held judicially that the Common Law does not demand a Second, except when the "custom and practice" of the organisation requires it.