Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney might as well sit down. The Prime Minister will resume her seat. The member for North Sydney will resume his seat.

Mr Adams interjecting—

The member for Lyons is warned. I really would like to know what the point of order of the Manager of Opposition Business was if it was not anything but the way in which the question was to be responded in a directly relevant manner. The only standing order that I have before me to use as the basis for a response is that they shall be directly relevant and it is open to me to interpret that. The point that the member for Sturt was making to me was about my interpretation of 'directly relevant'. I say again that this could be solved if we had the same rules for questions and answers. What I have tried to say, as is alluded to in Practice, is that it seems wrong that the same standard is not applied to responses. That is where I am trying to get to. The original point of order had to be under direct relevance. That is why I was not inclined to give the member for North Sydney the call, because I know that he knows that there can only be one point of order under direct relevance. I have said I will listen carefully to the response. There may be a learning curve in what we are trying to change here, but I will listen to the Prime Minister's response.

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