Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

Okay. I want to make clear to members while you're all here—

Government members interjecting—

I'll be the one making it clear, not those interjecting. If a quorum is called and you're in the House, you must stay. If you walk in, you must stay. Practice makes it clear it's highly disorderly to leave. On many occasions, the precedent is that you're named and suspended for 24 hours. I'm not going to do that on this occasion, but I'm making it clear while everyone is here: if a quorum is called and you're in the House or you come into the House, you must stay. The more recent precedent is to give the warning I've given. That wasn't what happened in the 1950s. I'm not about to go straight back to it. Having now communicated that clearly to everyone—I think the member for Gorton would be wise to keep listening and ignore the member for Newcastle for a while. Having now told everybody, I'm making it very clear: if that occurs again, a naming will occur.

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