John Hogg (President) Share this | Hansard source

During question time on 23 June 2009 I undertook to examine the transcript of two incidents in the chamber and come back to the Senate if need be.

The first incident occurred when Senator Macdonald, having been required to withdraw the word ‘dishonest’ in relation to Senator Wong, did so but substituted the term ‘duplicitous’. The latter term was not audible to me because of the noise in the chamber at the time. The word ‘duplicitous’ is simply a synonym for ‘dishonest’ and has not been accepted as parliamentary in the past. I ask senators not to use that term in relation to any other senator or other office holder protected by standing order 193.

In the second incident, Senator Abetz asked me to consider whether a supplementary question put by Senator Carol Brown to Senator Sherry was a hypothetical question. Senator Brown’s question asked the minister whether he was aware of any alternative strategies for addressing current economic conditions and what might have occurred to the Australian economy if the government had not taken its policy approach.

Questions in this form have been regularly accepted in the past. Asking the minister to refer to any alternative policies has become a stock-in-trade of question time. Asking a minister what the effects would be of a government policy not being adopted or changed has also been accepted. It is not hypothetical in the strict sense of the term as it is simply another way of asking a minister what the effects of government policy are. The question was therefore in order.