Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

I have taken the opportunity to get some advice, and I can rule on the point of order. Standing order 164(3) provides opportunities for senators after question time to seek an explanation from a minister if a minister does not comply with an order for documents within a specified period and does not, in that time, provide to the Senate 'an explanation of why the order has not been complied with which the Senate resolves is satisfactory'. Although that provision was inserted into the standing orders in 2005, it has only been used on a handful of occasions and its interpretation has not been the subject of any previous rulings. The provisions are, however, analogous to the provisions of standing order 74(5), which allows senators to seek explanations for unanswered questions on notice and estimates questions. Early rulings on that standing order established that it ceases to be available once an answer has been provided. Standing order 164(3), in my view, operates in the same way. If a minister has complied with an order for documents, the process set out in the standing order is no longer available and a senator may not seek an explanation under the order.

As I understand it—and I appreciate Senator Faruqi's contribution here—the government's responses to the order are unequivocal in stating that no documents exist that meet the terms of the order. Absent any motion being moved in the Senate to contradict the government's response, I consider it reasonable in my position to accept the government's responses and to conclude that the order has been complied with. I'm not in a position to determine contested claims. If there is a disagreement over the interpretation of an order, as seems to be the case here from what I've just heard and from the advice I have received, the standing order does not provide a means for determining that disagreement. There are, however, other procedures in the Senate that a senator can use to further pursue the matter. I thank senators.