Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

Before we recommit the vote, I do want to address the matter of the Manager of Opposition Business's point of order, which I did dismiss. The difficulty that I have as Speaker, of course, is that the standing order provides for missing a vote through 'misadventure', which in my interpretation is pretty much everything other than deliberately not voting. That's why that word is there. The other difficulty I have is that, with members not being here, to require an explanation from them means that we couldn't proceed to the final vote. We would have just been suspended, not doing anything.

But I do think that the Manager of Opposition Business raises a reasonable point. The Senate certainly have a different approach. We can learn from them—not on everything, I hasten to say! But I do think the approach I took was reasonable, inasmuch as the Leader of the House speaks for government members; the Manager of Opposition Business speaks for members of the official opposition. But I have reflected on his point, and I do think that, now that members who missed the vote are here, they should explain to the House that they missed the vote through one of the reasons in the standing orders, notably misadventure. Unless anyone crossed sides, there are two.

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