Bob McMullan (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to ask you a question, Mr Speaker, relating to the matter that the Manager of Opposition Business raised during question time which you asked be raised after question time. The House of Representatives Practice says at page 538:

… Ministers are required to answer questions only on matters for which they are responsible to the House. Consequently Speakers have ruled out of order questions or parts of questions to Ministers which concern—

a number of things, but relevantly for the purpose of this point—

statements by people outside the House including other Members, notably opposition Members.

I realise that does not exclude comments by government members, but we seem to have had a practice previously—and I am not sure whether you are proposing to change this practice or are referring to other precedents of which I am not aware and which do not seem to be referred to here—where statements by opposition members are allowed to be put in questions and are answered by ministers but statements by government members are not. That seems, on the face of that reading, to be a significant change in the practice. I wonder whether there is some precedent of which I am not aware to which you are referring or whether you are changing the procedures as outline in House of Representatives Practice.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fraser. As I think I have indicated a couple of times this week, he has gone straight to the point in House of Representatives Practice where I have ruled parts of questions out of order. I will continue to uphold the practice as it has been in the past. I will take each case on its merits, as the member for Fraser would expect.