Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Longman can resume his seat. I've carefully reflected on the Hansard record of the response by the Attorney-General—in particular, those aspects which referenced the Leader of the Opposition. The Attorney-General's statements on this went largely to what was not said or done. While the statements might be regarded as critical of the behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition, the language used was not unparliamentary. It did not contain offensive words or make personal reflections. I appreciate that the subject of the question itself—protests which involve public displays of Nazi symbolism—is highly sensitive and emotive in nature. In such circumstances, I understand that offence might be felt more readily than in relation to less sensitive subjects. I note that no request for withdrawal was made at the time that the answer was given, which is the expectation of the House where a withdrawal is sought. Nevertheless, it was for this reason that I granted indulgence to the Leader of the Opposition to make a statement in relation to the same question after the Attorney-General had completed his answer. I considered that this opportunity, together with the further personal explanation by the Leader of the Opposition after question time, afforded him sufficient opportunity to respond to the issues raised.

I will address the issue that the Manager of Opposition Business raised about, in particular, page 515 of the House of Representatives Practice, where it says that a Speaker has, at a later time, called on a member to apologise for remarks made earlier and to withdraw them. In relation to the two referenced occasions in 1955, the remarks were, in one case, not heard by the Speaker but recorded in Hansard, and, in the other case, made during a division. The circumstances involved, whereby the Speaker took action at a later time, were therefore quite different to the situation that arose yesterday.

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