Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney will resume his seat, and the member for Denison will resume his seat. Again I find myself delaying the House, which I am trying to avoid but manage to do all the time. For two reasons the member for North Sydney has been invited to resume his seat. Firstly, there was an attempt for a supplementary, which I will acknowledge, but I will take it that the attempt allowed the Leader of the Opposition to get on the record a point which goes to the matters that I was raising about other devices being used to put an argument. I think that would mean that in a strict interpretation of an opportunity and an attempt, even though it failed, a message was placed on the record which I cannot expunge by ruling it out of order.

On the second matter, which I am glad that we have addressed, I congratulate the member for North Sydney for highlighting a point, where he was attempting to raise a supplementary question on a question that had been asked by the other side, and I do thank him for that. But I have to disappoint him that, in my rulings on supplementary questions at this point in time—I repeat ‘at this point in time’—that is a bridge too far for me, even though the other jurisdictions that I referred to would have allowed it. In fairness to the member for North Sydney I have given a full explanation. As I said, I have decided that it is a bridge too far to allow it, but it is something that a mature house in other jurisdictions is able to accommodate and maybe sometime down the track, when others besides the Leader of the Opposition and his delegate can ask supplementaries, it is something that we should consider, because it would lead to a much more lively question time.

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