Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the same matter, I acknowledge what Senator Fifield has said to the chamber. In support, I noted that the clock did exactly what Senator Fifield indicated. Also, when I took a point of order—and I take Senator Faulkner’s point—I certainly raised that it was a point of order relating to the sessional matter in the Notice Paper concerning relevance, which I mentioned first up. But also, in my point of order, the clock continued to run and did not stop. I think it is very easy for us to indicate that the timekeeper has not stopped the clock, but it is very difficult in the volatility of question time. I am wondering whether an additional mechanism needs to be introduced to assist in the timekeeping of those matters relating to question time, because it is very difficult to indicate when the clock should stop. When we are talking about a one-minute response, I think it is important to note that every second does count.