Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister will resume his seat. The member for Lindsay is warned. At this point I'm asking the Minister to resume his seat, because I just want to make it very clear to the House that I'm concerned we're about to get into territory that is sub judice.

Mr Dutton interjecting—

I'm going to address the matter without the minister giving a running commentary, otherwise I'll solve the problem in another way, frankly. I'm entitled to address the House on what I consider to be an important matter. The minister may well find that, if he's looked at Practice, there are general principles with respect to the sub judice rule. One of those key principles is:

As a general rule, matters before the criminal courts should not be referred to from the time a person is charged until a sentence, if any, has been announced; and the restrictions should again apply if an appeal is lodged and remain until the appeal is decided.

What the minister has done so far is on the right side of the line; he's merely referring to a public fact. But I've taken the decision to sit him down to warn in advance that matters that could be sub judice need to be avoided, and I'm making that clear in advance.

Mr Burke interjecting—

That's a very good point, and the minister knows the rules on props.

See this speech in context