Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

That is an interesting question. There have been previous rulings from the chair, both from myself and my predecessor, that repeated attempts to suspend standing orders are out of the order. We have dealt with that on Thursdays, when we have been dealing with lots of legislation at once. This is not a repeated attempt; this is the first attempt to suspend the standing order that prevents the Senate considering this discussion. That's why it's not a dissent from my ruling, and I wouldn't view it as such. The Senate is always capable of suspending its own standing orders to deal with a matter it considers should be dealt with separately. However, if the Senate did vote to not suspend standing orders here, repeated attempts—and I wouldn't say it would only be a second attempt when we resume in August—would be out of order if, every day, there was an attempt to suspend standing orders to deal with the first reading of this bill. But it does need to be repeated attempts. My recollection is that, after two or three attempts, the Senate or the chair has determined that there have been multiple attempts to suspend standing orders to deal with the matter that way and we will not entertain any further measures. I hope that answers your question, Senator Hanson.