Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

There is an expectation that because of the overall changes to question time there would be a greater application of the standing order about questions. I indicate to the Leader of the House, now that he has alerted me to the point and given me the opportunity to indicate that it is my intention to tighten the rulings on questions, that that would be the case. If I had come to a conclusion that I should have done anything in response to the member for Durack’s question, I would have invited him to rephrase the question with less argument in it. I will take it that at this point in time we acknowledge that there is to be less argument and that the points in the standing order in relation to questions will be much more tightly adhered to than in the past. That was part of the levelling of the playing field of question time. In this case, I will allow the question, but I indicate to the House that the Leader of the House has given an important reminder to us.

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