Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. There have been three speakers for the motion and only two speakers against the motion. In calling Senator Carr, there will have been four speakers for the motion and only two speakers against the motion. When Senator Whish-Wilson was in the chair, he called Senator Wright after Senator Abetz rather than calling Senator Faulkner at that time. This means that when you were making the call in the chair, Mr Acting Deputy President, and called Senator Faulkner you called two non-government speakers in a row, whereas the convention in this place is that debate in the chamber alternates between government and non-government speakers. If you can have two non-government speakers in sequence, there is no reason why, in order to balance that, you should not at the moment have two government speakers in sequence. The pattern that is usually followed in relation to the calling of speakers has not occurred. If you grant Senator Carr the call, there will, as I say, have been four speakers for the motion and only two speakers against the motion. There will have been four non-government speakers and only two government speakers in relation to the motion.