Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

Order! The House will come to order. First of all, to the point of order by the Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister is being directly relevant to the question. As I have said, that does not mean that I or any other occupant of the chair can actually dictate to the person responding what the nature of their response is.

On the point of order made by the minister for regional development, which I would characterise as a point of order on the basis of a belief that the original point of order was an interference in the proceedings, I am happy that the standing orders allow that there be one point of order on relevance during a question and I am then obliged to rule on that. I do suggest that it is the form of the points of order that perhaps the House or the Procedures Committee could look at where the standing order that the point of order is about should be the subject of the point of order without debating the point of order. It is the debating of the point of order that is the interference. The Prime Minister has the call. She has been relevant to the question and she has the call.

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