Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I heard that interjection from the Leader of the Opposition, but that does not insert itself into the standing orders just by mere declaration, unfortunately for him. The Leader of the House is quite right. There are a number of problems with the question. I'll hear from the Manager of Opposition Business. The first problem with the question is that it wasn't a question to anybody. It did attribute, part way through, a statement to the Prime Minister. That leaves the Speaker in a very difficult position as to who the question is to, but I stress, before the Manager of Opposition Business speaks, that that moment's passed.

Also, as I've said before, the question asked about the comments of a private member. The Practice is very clear on this. The Prime Minister's not responsible for the statements of private members and he's not responsible for decisions of parties, so I'm struggling. I'm a reasonable person—I can't find a single word that's relevant yet, but I'll let you have a go. Or do you want to give it up? It might be quicker! I call the member for Fairfax.

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