Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aviation and Transport Security) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on Tuesday this week the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations moved a motion which Hansard records in the following terms:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the House from condemning forthwith the Member for Perth.

The member for Grayndler asked whether or not that motion was in order, saying:

Is it in order for the House and for you to accept a motion before this House that simply condemns the member for Perth …

To which you responded:

The minister has moved a suspension of standing orders and he is in order.

As the debate unfolded, that motion which you advised was a suspension of standing orders was actually dealt with as both a suspension and censure in the one vote, contrary to the earlier advice given to the member for Grayndler. My question to you, Mr Speaker, concerns the wording of the original motion. You may be aware that your department has, just in the last week, installed the latest Macquarie Dictionary on our parliamentary systems. It defines ‘forthwith’ as ‘immediately’, ‘without delay’ and ‘as soon as can be reasonably be expected’ and lists the alternatives in its thesaurus as ‘hurriedly’ or ‘momentarily’. None of those definitions represent concurrent or simultaneous activity, nor did the motion moved by the minister for employment have words to the effect that the censure occurred by passage of the suspension motion.

Given that it is customary for motions in this parliament to include the words ‘forthwith’—for example, ‘that the third reading be moved forthwith’—in what circumstances will the use of the word ‘forthwith’ now take on a meaning different to that in simple English as defined by the Macquarie Dictionary and thesaurus? Mr Speaker, will you review whether or not the motion moved by the minister was, as you advised the member for Grayndler, a suspension of standing orders or, as later occurred, a combined suspension and censure? Alternatively, will you provide guidelines as to when the word ‘forthwith’ will have its normal English meaning as opposed to the meaning that it was given on Tuesday?

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