Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I am going to rule on this quickly and members cannot interject while I do so. Whilst I have heard both the Leader of the House and the Manager of Opposition Business, Speaker Andrew addressed points of order like this, and it is the approach I think is best to take in free-flowing debate: when an assertion is made the chair cannot be there to judge the factual accuracy of assertions, and in preventing the question it prevents the minister, in this case the Prime Minister, from refuting it if they wish. With respect to the Leader of the House's point about misleading the parliament, questions need to be very careful in that regard. Without hearing the question again and delaying the House, I am just going to ask the Prime Minister to ignore that part of the question.

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